Ancient Societies
Explain what tomb architecture and decoration reveal about afterlife beliefs of nobles.
In New Kingdom Egypt the tombs of the nobility contributed to their continued existence in their afterlife and were their monument which preserved and showcased the most important episodes of their lives. Through the tomb architecture and decoration, afterlife beliefs can be acknowledged and thoroughly studied. The private tombs of the nobles can be referred to be as great masterpieces of the art of the New Kingdom. The tomb architecture consists of the basic structure of the tomb, whereas the tomb decoration focussed on the embellishment of the walls. The two combined illustrated the beliefs and afterlife of nobles, and how the deceased presented themselves as worthy of the afterlife and its rewards.
Unlike the royal tombs, tombs of the nobility were decorated with paintings which depicted scenes and moments of daily life. The traditional Theban tomb consisted of a inverted T-like plan, first with a vestibule and a second long room with its main axis perpendicular to the previous followed by a chapel ending in a niche, in which the statue of the deceased was found. The tombs of the nobles provided a resting place for the body, a house for the spirits of the dead and a visiting place for the living.
The Egyptians commonly believed that the dead could live different afterlives at the same time. For this to happen the body has to be treated as if it were still alive. The body was preserved to make it look life-like and a tomb called the Per Djet (house of eternity) was built. The Ka (soul) also needed food, clothing, everyday objects, incense and fine oils. These were placed in the tomb and pictured on the walls. They were also listed in a formula called the ‘Hetep-di Neswt’ (an offering which the king gives). This spell magically provided the dead person with everything on the list. This spell was often followed by the tomb owner sitting at a table of offerings. In this way the Ka could enter the picture and take pleasure in every gift. Thus, even when the tombs of the nobles and their spirits ceased to be taken care of, the tomb decorations, inscriptions and objects were designed to ensure they would still be well supplied in the afterlife. The wall painting located in the antechamber of Sennefer’s tomb, shows an offering of linen tissues, torches, a foreleg of beef and bread, the bed and Sennefer’s personal belongings. Similarily, in the tomb of Benia, the first room contains a number of scenes with the deceased having been offered various types of food, and a specific reference where the food is purified in an act of worship before a table of offerings, before being presented to his Ka. Hence these offerings were common and essential in order for the Ka to survive, through these ‘living’ offerings.
The Ka and Khet spent eternity in the tomb area. The second spirit, the Ba, came into existence after death. With the body of a bird and the face of the dead tomb owner, it could leave the tomb, enter the regions of the dead and take any shape it liked, every night returning back to the tomb. On the southwestern wall of Sennefer’s burial chamber scene illustrates chapter 151 of the Book of the Dead, where Sennefer’s mummy lying on his deathbed is situated beneath his ba, his soul represented in the shape of a bird. The third element called the Akh, looked exactly like the dead person. This was the name given to any who passed the judgement of Osiris. As an enlightened spirit, the Akh was free to enjoy in pleasure and travel freely, spending eternity in a paradise called The Fields of Aru. The Shadow (shown as a blacked out figure) and the dead person’s Name were two other spiritual elements. The shadow could leave the tomb. A dead person’s Name was powerful because it kept them ‘alive’ whenever it was mentioned by the living. Destroying the name on a person’s tomb destroyed or ‘killed’ them.
The Decoration of the tomb reveals that the pilgrimage to Abydos, a common occurrence in private tombs can be seen in a vast number of noble tombs. It is in the holy city of Abydos that the traditional tomb of Osiris, Lord of the Afterlife, was considered to be located. It was necessary for the deceased to make this trip in order for his soul to be judged by weighing it on a set of scales against the feather of Ma'at. In the tomb of Sennefer, a senior official who served under the reign of Amenhotep II, located on the eastern side of the wall in the burial chamber, this shows scenes of the green boat that Sennefer and his wife travel aboard on the Nile, the colour symbolizing papyrus but also regeneration.
Another element of tomb decoration was the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, where the deceased magically recovers the use of his senses and speech. On both the southeast and northeast pillars of the tomb of Sennefer, moments of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony are depicted. In the tomb of Rekhmire, there were scenes of religious rites, such as the “Opening of the Mouth” and the Beautiful feast of the Valley, which are the most important among those that took place in the necropolis.
Rekhmire owned one of the most outstanding and interesting tombs of the whole Theban necropolis. Rekhmire was a vizier and lived in the time of Thutmose III and Amenhotep II in the age of great expansion of the empire. According to Siliotti, “Even though the tomb of Rekmire has a rather simple and conventional “T” structure, typical of the 18th dynasty tombs, it differs from all others in its imposing dimensions, in the quality of the decoration and in the variety of the iconographic program.” The paintings of the chapel are certainly the most interesting and the best preserved of the whole tomb. On the narrow background wall a niche is seen where a stele was found and, below this a false door, which was a decorative element symbolically leading into the afterworld.
A way in which the deceased remained connected to the world of the living was through the mortuary chapel. The superstructure, which included the courtyard and the mortuary chapel were situated above ground. The courtyard had a basin of water and trees for the use of the Ka. Within the tomb, the above ground chapel walls were decorated with funerary scenes and the deceased’s statue. The false door was another important architectural feature. This architectural substructure illustrated the symbolic connection which allowed the Ka to pass through into the mortuary chapel above ground to allow the ka to take advantage of the offerings. In the tomb of Benia, three painted limestone statues, arranged in the niche of the chapel represent the deceased, placed between his mother, Tirukak, on his right and his father Irtonena on his left. The Ka, was able to access the chapel through the tomb’s false door and take up a physical form by inhabiting a statue of the dead person. This allowed the ka to accept the food, drink and other essentials that visitors placed on the nearby offering table. The chapel allowed the deceased noble to be worshipped after his burial and allowed direct offerings to the Ka be made. The substructure consisting of the shaft and burial chamber were vastly decorated with wall paintings and or reliefs. Again the Decoration of the tomb reveals that similarly to the Ka, the name of the deceased needed to survive and hence biographical texts decorated the entrance to tombs. In the vestibule of Rekmire, on the adjoining western wall, there is a long biographical text, followed by tributes and duties. The substructure included a shaft or stairs which led to the sealed burial chamber where the mummified Khet and Ka rested in the coffin.
The private tombs of the nobles can be referred to be as great masterpieces of art of the New Kingdom. Through the use of architecture and tomb decoration, the afterlife beliefs of nobles are illustrated all throughout the tombs, with religious scenes of the underworld, autobiographical texts and the processes and tests in which one must surpass. These tangible elements can be thoroughly studied to create a better understanding of afterlife beliefs and customs.
Bibliography:
Dorey, F Life Beyond the Tomb: death in ancient Egypt
http://www.amonline.net.au/life/education/background-info.pdf#search=%22egyptian%20afterlife%20beliefs%20of%20nobles%22
Nelson, M Sennefer’s “Tomb of Vines”
http://www.osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/snfr/e_snfr.htm#
Andrews, M The Private Tomb of Sennefer on the West Bank at Luxor
http://touregypt.net/featurestories/sennefer.htm
Siliotti, A Guide to the Valley of the Kings, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1996, pp.140-159
Source: http://www.riversideg-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/public/riverside%20maat/NK%20SOciety/Final%20NK%20soc%20essays/nobles%20afterlife%20beliefsANNA.doc
Web site to visit: http://www.riversideg-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/
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