DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4860#0046
THE TOMB OF USERHET
welcomed by Hathor, goddess of the West. She stands in front of a
curious building which must represent the tomb, though it is in even
more absurd contrast than usual with the sepulcher in which it occurs.
However, it resembles closely enough a side view of the Ramesside
pyramidal tombs of Drarabu'l Naga and presents the salient features of
the temple of Mentuhotep at Deir el Bahri, which contained the shrine
of Hathor and was the model, as I believe, of the pyramidal tomb. It
may not have been clear to the designer, any more than to us, whether
this erection stood for that temple, the home of Hathor, or for the ideal
tomb, to which neither that of Userhet, nor, indeed, the vast majority of
the tombs of Thebes had any resemblance. The tip of the pyramid is
here colored black, as if made of basalt, and its slope is wreathed in
garlands by the symbolizing fancy of the artist.1
The priesthood seems to have developed a high gift of hypocrisy.
Userhet's pains to secure his soul's salvation have been treacherously
crossed at the last moment; for the name of the person accepted by the
goddess has been transformed, by the now familiar device of a smear of
plaster and a little ink, into that of one Amenmose, a fellow high-priest
(the fifth of the cult mentioned in the tomb), who thus played the Jacob
and tried by guile to filch Userhet's death-right behind the back of the
avenger of unrighteousness.2
Amenmose's subterfuge was mean rather than vindictive. Userhet's
case is not hopeless, for he has yet to obtain a laisser passer in order to
enter the kingdom of Osiris beyond the tomb. The topmost picture, con-
tinuing that beyond the doorway (Plate XI), shows Anubis leading him
and his wife into the judgment hall of the god. Thot, the scribe of the
gods, and Maret, the goddess of Justice, preside over the balances, in
which, by a curious anomaly, the dead man himself is being weighed
against his heart, instead of his heart being measured against Right.
The pregnant idea of the actual man being judged by his own conscience
seems too advanced for primitive ethics, so that an error may be sus-
1 The identification of this pyramid with the tomb, notwithstanding its dissimilarity, is favored by the
word "tomb" being determined by a similar erection: see PI. XIX, 5.
2 This priest is known: see Daressy, Cones funeraires, No. g3. The cartouche also has been rewritten.
Userhet
welcomed
by the West
His
salvation
endangered
by a
usurper
The last
judgment
27
welcomed by Hathor, goddess of the West. She stands in front of a
curious building which must represent the tomb, though it is in even
more absurd contrast than usual with the sepulcher in which it occurs.
However, it resembles closely enough a side view of the Ramesside
pyramidal tombs of Drarabu'l Naga and presents the salient features of
the temple of Mentuhotep at Deir el Bahri, which contained the shrine
of Hathor and was the model, as I believe, of the pyramidal tomb. It
may not have been clear to the designer, any more than to us, whether
this erection stood for that temple, the home of Hathor, or for the ideal
tomb, to which neither that of Userhet, nor, indeed, the vast majority of
the tombs of Thebes had any resemblance. The tip of the pyramid is
here colored black, as if made of basalt, and its slope is wreathed in
garlands by the symbolizing fancy of the artist.1
The priesthood seems to have developed a high gift of hypocrisy.
Userhet's pains to secure his soul's salvation have been treacherously
crossed at the last moment; for the name of the person accepted by the
goddess has been transformed, by the now familiar device of a smear of
plaster and a little ink, into that of one Amenmose, a fellow high-priest
(the fifth of the cult mentioned in the tomb), who thus played the Jacob
and tried by guile to filch Userhet's death-right behind the back of the
avenger of unrighteousness.2
Amenmose's subterfuge was mean rather than vindictive. Userhet's
case is not hopeless, for he has yet to obtain a laisser passer in order to
enter the kingdom of Osiris beyond the tomb. The topmost picture, con-
tinuing that beyond the doorway (Plate XI), shows Anubis leading him
and his wife into the judgment hall of the god. Thot, the scribe of the
gods, and Maret, the goddess of Justice, preside over the balances, in
which, by a curious anomaly, the dead man himself is being weighed
against his heart, instead of his heart being measured against Right.
The pregnant idea of the actual man being judged by his own conscience
seems too advanced for primitive ethics, so that an error may be sus-
1 The identification of this pyramid with the tomb, notwithstanding its dissimilarity, is favored by the
word "tomb" being determined by a similar erection: see PI. XIX, 5.
2 This priest is known: see Daressy, Cones funeraires, No. g3. The cartouche also has been rewritten.
Userhet
welcomed
by the West
His
salvation
endangered
by a
usurper
The last
judgment
27