DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4031#0080
THE TOMB OF PAHERI AT EL KAB.
Inside, the main chamber is of very simple
form, tunnel-like, with straight sides and
arched ceiling; its dimensions are nearly
26 feet in length, 12 in breadth, and 10^ in
height down the middle; the side walls are
adorned with scenes in coloured sculpture,
representing on the East wall1 banquets and
worship of the gods, indoors, and on the West
wall2—first, the out-of-door occupations of
Paheri and his serfs, such as harvesting,
fishing, loading ships and the like, and at the
inner end the funerary rites of the time. The
roof being arched, the front and back walls
are rounded at the top; the former3 shows on
the right of the doorway a large figure of
Paheri with staff in hand, as if about to walk
out of the chamber, and in the arched portion
above the level of the door a ship, the whole
being surmounted by remains of an emblematic
representation ; but the central part over the
door and the whole of the left side is destroyed.
The back wall,4 in which the niche is cut, may
be compared to an enormous round-topped
tablet or stela, and is almost entirely covered
"by a very long incised inscription in small
hieroglyphs; the upper part of the curved
portion is injured, but showed, perhaps, a
repetition of the design at the other end, con-
sisting of the two jackals of the North and
South facing each other, and other emblems
such as are commonly represented on stelas of
this age.
All of these scenes and inscriptions are
raised about 18 inches above the ancient floor
(which is now much quarried away), and are
bordered below by bands of colour. On each
of the side walls above the scenes is a line of
large hieroglyphs running the whole length of
the chamber,5 and over this, at the rounded
spring of the arched ceiling, there is a con-
tinuous cornice ornament of hhehers A, followed
1 PI. vi.-viii.
4 PI. ix.
2 PI. iii.-v. 3 PI. ii.
5 Shown in pi. iii.-viii.
by another line of large hieroglyphs. Down
the middle of the ceiling runs a similar line of
inscription, and the whole of the roof-spaces
between the central line and each of the side
lines is painted in a somewhat intricate fashion,
with rows of diamonds <><><><> formed by
zigzag lines of different colours running from
end to end of the tomb.6
The niche or shrine is raised above the floor
to the same level as the scenes ; it is rectan-
gular, 5^ feet deep by 4^ broad at the ceiling,
and 5^ feet high, and is without any archi-
tectural features. It contains three life-size
statues7 of Paheri with his wife and mother,
seated together upon a bench against the inner
wall, and looking down the tomb to the en-
trance : they are cut out of the solid rock in
very high relief, with their names above them
on the wall: as a deceased person Paheri, in
the centre, with his arms on his breast, is
represented as if mummified, but, like the god
Osiris, retaining the flexibility of his joints
and a partial use of his limbs; on the left his
wife Henut-er-neheh, and on the right his
mother Kem or Kam, place respectively their
left and right arms at his back, as though
supporting him : the features of all these are
defaced. On each of the side walls 8 is sculp-
tured a scene of offering, and above is the
khelcer ornament. The ceiling is patterned
differently from that of the main chamber, but
is similarly divided down the middle by an
inscribed band, perhaps representing a beam
which supports a mat-work roof.9
The added chambers need not detain us,
being of later date than the tomb of Paheri.
The execution of the tomb is probably to
be dated to the beginning of the reign of
Thothmes III., within a few decades of
1500 B.C. The work of it is very neat and
regular, but the sandstone did not offer by
G Visible in the photograph of the tomb, but not copied.
7 PI. ix. 8 PI. x. 9 Not copied.
Inside, the main chamber is of very simple
form, tunnel-like, with straight sides and
arched ceiling; its dimensions are nearly
26 feet in length, 12 in breadth, and 10^ in
height down the middle; the side walls are
adorned with scenes in coloured sculpture,
representing on the East wall1 banquets and
worship of the gods, indoors, and on the West
wall2—first, the out-of-door occupations of
Paheri and his serfs, such as harvesting,
fishing, loading ships and the like, and at the
inner end the funerary rites of the time. The
roof being arched, the front and back walls
are rounded at the top; the former3 shows on
the right of the doorway a large figure of
Paheri with staff in hand, as if about to walk
out of the chamber, and in the arched portion
above the level of the door a ship, the whole
being surmounted by remains of an emblematic
representation ; but the central part over the
door and the whole of the left side is destroyed.
The back wall,4 in which the niche is cut, may
be compared to an enormous round-topped
tablet or stela, and is almost entirely covered
"by a very long incised inscription in small
hieroglyphs; the upper part of the curved
portion is injured, but showed, perhaps, a
repetition of the design at the other end, con-
sisting of the two jackals of the North and
South facing each other, and other emblems
such as are commonly represented on stelas of
this age.
All of these scenes and inscriptions are
raised about 18 inches above the ancient floor
(which is now much quarried away), and are
bordered below by bands of colour. On each
of the side walls above the scenes is a line of
large hieroglyphs running the whole length of
the chamber,5 and over this, at the rounded
spring of the arched ceiling, there is a con-
tinuous cornice ornament of hhehers A, followed
1 PI. vi.-viii.
4 PI. ix.
2 PI. iii.-v. 3 PI. ii.
5 Shown in pi. iii.-viii.
by another line of large hieroglyphs. Down
the middle of the ceiling runs a similar line of
inscription, and the whole of the roof-spaces
between the central line and each of the side
lines is painted in a somewhat intricate fashion,
with rows of diamonds <><><><> formed by
zigzag lines of different colours running from
end to end of the tomb.6
The niche or shrine is raised above the floor
to the same level as the scenes ; it is rectan-
gular, 5^ feet deep by 4^ broad at the ceiling,
and 5^ feet high, and is without any archi-
tectural features. It contains three life-size
statues7 of Paheri with his wife and mother,
seated together upon a bench against the inner
wall, and looking down the tomb to the en-
trance : they are cut out of the solid rock in
very high relief, with their names above them
on the wall: as a deceased person Paheri, in
the centre, with his arms on his breast, is
represented as if mummified, but, like the god
Osiris, retaining the flexibility of his joints
and a partial use of his limbs; on the left his
wife Henut-er-neheh, and on the right his
mother Kem or Kam, place respectively their
left and right arms at his back, as though
supporting him : the features of all these are
defaced. On each of the side walls 8 is sculp-
tured a scene of offering, and above is the
khelcer ornament. The ceiling is patterned
differently from that of the main chamber, but
is similarly divided down the middle by an
inscribed band, perhaps representing a beam
which supports a mat-work roof.9
The added chambers need not detain us,
being of later date than the tomb of Paheri.
The execution of the tomb is probably to
be dated to the beginning of the reign of
Thothmes III., within a few decades of
1500 B.C. The work of it is very neat and
regular, but the sandstone did not offer by
G Visible in the photograph of the tomb, but not copied.
7 PI. ix. 8 PI. x. 9 Not copied.