Which is to say, Denny and I have resumed regular programming today, albeit at a reduced scale, part of which is due to the sudden turn to summer-like temperatures after a rather mild spring. Now it oscillates between HOT, TOO HOT, and WAY TOO HOT.
The ancient village now known as Deir El Medina was tucked in a separate valley away from the cultivated floodplain, a few hills and ridges over from the Valley of the Kings. There lived the stone workers, carvers, artists and painters that dug out and decorated the magnificent tombs of the Kings, Queens and high nobles privileged with burials near their Kings. The workers lived separately from the general population, given the sensitivity of their work. We'd call it high-security clearance stuff nowadays. They were well-paid and taken care of (though they are known to have staged the first recorded workers' strike in history), with wages being distributed in foodstuffs, clothing and other necessities of life. Here they lived, worked, taught and trained their progeny, prepared their own tombs, and died.
And what incredibly beautiful places of eternity they prepared for themselves!
When the cream of the crop of funerary art architects and artists get together on their free time and collaborate on their own private sepulchers, the results are bound to be outstanding.
We first visit the burial chambers of Inherkhau. The place is tiny -- by pharaonic standards -- but the paintings are so lively and fresh, devoid of the formality found in the royal hypogeums. The painted ceiling of the antechamber is a delight, reproducing what I believe would have been woven textiles in a rainbow of colors. One can almost do a thread count...
The burial chamber itself is a pure joy. Yes, there are funerary themes explored on the walls, but the general atmosphere is that of a family celebration, and we are invited to join the party. A fleshy harpist plucks the strings of his instrument and one can almost hear the guests clapping their hands in approval while the children run around the room.
Wow.
And this was just an appetizer.
When we start into Sennedjem's tomb next door, a guard at the entrance tells me that there are 'officials' in the tomb, but that it's OK to go in. Climbing down, I do indeed find four men in suits and one woman in the already small chamber. They are engaged in rather animated discussion. With my non-existent knowledge of Arabic, I cannot tell whether they're congratulating themselves into a frenzy or chewing each other to pieces and spitting out the bloody bits. I suspect the latter. Eventually they stop and leave. The last one to exit turns to tell me: "Sorry about that."
Sennedjem was probably Inherkhau's boss, or father-in-law, or both. They may have worked on each other tombs. Sennedjem's burial chamber is the most beautiful painted space I have ever seen. It was found intact and piled to the rafters with high quality funerary equipment -- which I will be looking at very closely at the Cairo Museum in a day or two.
On the walls of the simple vaulted room, the colors, composition and draftsmanship all speak of the highest care and dedication. One is transported into the vision Sennedjem had for his afterlife and that of his loved ones. It is a serene, peaceful yet responsible life he is preparing for, as we see him and his beautiful wife harvesting wheat and flax, tending a garden or sailing the cooling waters of the canals that encircle the Elysian Fields. Even Sennedjem's judgement and encounter with Osiris is treated in joyful colors, the great God of the afterlife surrounded by festoons of flowers and placated with heaps of offerings. The ceiling is mostly reserved for scenes of Sennedjem encountering various deities of the afterlife, and apparently satisfying their curiosity, as he and his wife are last seen meeting the Lady of the Sycamore, who greets them and offers them libations of refreshing water.
This is the stuff many dreams will be made of.
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