Having now visited either end of Ancient Egyptian society it is now time to take a look at the nobility. The best way to do this is through the Tombs of the Nobles, our starting point for day four.
Our driver dropped us in the parking area and we began the uphill path to the tomb of Sennefer, high up on the Qurna hillside. One of the few actual burial chambers open to visitors. Sennefer’s tomb is most probably famous for its ceiling. The uneven roof surface has been cleverly painted to give the visitor the impression of standing in a vineyard with large bunches of grapes hanging overhead.
Next was Rekhmire, this long and high tomb is currently undergoing restoration but that didn’t stop us having a good look. For me, one of the points of interest is the depiction of a tree-lined pool which clearly demonstrates the ideas behind Egyptian imagery and how, maybe, art is the wrong term to use. This is visual description, not a pretty picture to look at; rather it attempts to paint its picture in the mind of the viewer. It is actually a very clever way of conveying information. Noteworthy are the scenes of tribute from foreign peoples including Punt and Crete.
Menna’s tomb shows all to clearly his importance as Overseer in the agricultural set up under Tuthmose IV and Amenhotep III, while not leaving out his temple duties as Scribe. The fabulously painted scenes of Menna overseeing the ploughing and harvesting are executed in incredible detail even down to tiny eggs in the birds nests in the trees.
Although seemingly not a high-placed official, Nakht’s tomb has fine examples of the ploughing/harvesting process.
Our last tomb for this morning was that of Ramose. The recent restortaion work to the roof has taken away some of the atmosphere of this incredible tomb. Apart from the exquisite offering processsion, the timing of the tomb, lying as it does between Amenhotep III and his successor Akhenaten, with the two distinct art forms of each era standing next to each other is fascinating. This tomb was always my personal favourite, apart from one, but more on that in another post.
I do have one complaint. During this morning and on the previous day at the Valley of the Queens, there were microlights flying overhead. Their noisy engines totally ruined the ambience of being in these special places, and I think we should remember and be aware of the fact that these were once and maybe still are sacred places and should be treated with respect. I hope something is done to restrict these inconsiderate people. Time for lunch.
Lunch was delicious, as always. It must be said that all the restaurants I use on the west bank serve up the most incredible food, and mountains of it. One always retires, defeated by quality and quantity.
Our second morturay temple was up next. Just a short walk from our lunch venue lies the House of Millions of Years of Usermaatre Setepenre, the Ramesseum, mortuary temple of Rameses the Great. Although not as complete as Medinet Habu, it is still a fine example of 19th Dynasty workmanship and, again, the existing colours at the top of columns have to be seen to be believed. Dominating all is the fallen statue of the king, immortalised by Percy Bysshe Shelly in his poem “Ozymandias”.
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Shelley
It was two engineers in the service of Napoleon who mistakenly identified the Ramesseum with the Palace of Memnon.
This neatly led us to our last spot of the day, the Colossi of Memnon.