This tomb was begun for Ramses V, whose full titulary may be given here,
together with that of Ramses VI, who usurped his tomb, as an example of the
ridiculous titularies of these Ramesside Pharaoh, the length of whose names was
in inverse proportion to the strength of their reigns .
Ramses V was User-maet-Rê,
Sekheper-en-Rê, Rameses-Amûn-khopshef-mery-Amûn ; Ramses VI was
Neb-maet-Rê-mery-Amûn-Ramesses-Amûn-hir-khopshef-neterheq-ôn ! . The first
section of both of these centipede titularies was a copy of famous Pharaonic
titulary of earlier days : that of Ramses V, User-maet-Rê, of Ramses II ; that
of Ramses VI, Neb-maet-Rê, of a still more famous Pharaoh of still earlier
times Amenhotep III . Amenhotep II, Neb-maet-Rê, was the Pharaoh whom the
Greeks recognized as Memnon, as we have seen in connexion with the colossi . It
was natural, therefore, for Greek tradition to associate this tomb also with
Amenhotep III, and to call it the Tomb of Memnon . A Greek graffito tells us
that " Hermogenes of Amasa had seen and admired the tombs, but this tomb
of Memnon, after he had examined it, he more than admired " .
It is not likely that modern opinion will subscribe to the enthusiasm of
Hermogenes, for the reliefs, which are in hollow, well preserved and coloured
though they may be, are poor compared with such work as we have just seen in
the tomb of Merneptah, and what we shall shortly see in that of Seti I .
Nevertheless the tomb, which is lighted, is well worth a visit .
It lies immediately above the tomb of Tutankhamun, which must obviously
have been forgotten and lost to sight before the later tomb was excavated, as
it was covered up entirely with debris thrown out from the work above, and with
the huts of the labourers of Ramses VI .
Illustration of the tomb of Ramses V .
It has the usual three entrance corridors, of which the first has on the
left wall a figure of the Pharaoh before Harakhte and Osiris (1), and on the
right a similar scene (2) .
While the barque of the sun among the twelve hours of the night, a
little farther on to the left (3), is quaintly turned upside down to show that
the scene is in the underworld . In all these corridors are representations of
the adventures of the sun in his journey through the underworld, and special
notice may be given to the one in corridor two, where, above a figure of Osiris
(4), is the boat of the sun, with a pig, always a detested animal, and here
representing a wicked soul, being driven away from it by the sacred dog-headed
apes .
After the third corridor comes a chamber, from which we pass into a hall
with four pillars . On the ceiling is the goddess Nût .
And to right and left the two-winged serpents of the underworld stretch
downwards .
On three of the pillars the king sacrifices to various gods of the dead
; and above the farther door he burns incense (5) .
The next two corridors have representations of the underworld journey of
the sun as recorded in The Book of that
which is in the Underworld . These lead into an antechamber, which is
adorned with inscriptions and scenes from The
Book of the Dead . Chapter 125, the Negative Confession, is on the left wall .
The burial-hall, which opens out of this ante-room, has in its midst the
broken granite sarcophagus . The walls have texts relating to the underworld .
On the right wall is a scene of the boat of the sun, with Khepri, the beetle,
and the ram-headed Atûm, representing the rising and the setting sun (6) . The
sky across which the boat is being towed is upheld by two lions, while two
human-headed birds, the souls of the gods of the sunrise and the sunset,
worship the sun as he passes . On the ceiling are astronomical scenes, in which
Nût, the sky-goddess, figure twice, as presiding over the day and the night .
She is accompanied by the hours .
Part ( 9 ) .. Coming
SoOoOon .....
Uploading ..... ↻
Leave your comment
& Tell your friends about our Blog .. Thank you ☺☺
ღღღ
ReplyDelete