The
tomb of Bay, originally a
royal scribe of Seti II and later
chancellor under Siptah.
Excavation by Hartwig Altenmuller, 1988-94
for the University of Hamburg. This tomb
consists of three corridors followed by two
chambers, two further corridors, two side chambers off the second and a
burial chamber. The tomb has suffered structural damage from floods, and
all the ceilings of the tomb have collapsed. The walls were probably
decorated originally with painted plaster and relief. Severe floods have
caused the loss of the plaster and now only traces of decoration remain
in places where the artist was working on thin plaster and the chiseling
cut into the bedrock. The
decoration
of the outer areas likewise almost
exactly mirrors that of the tomb of Tawosret.
It
consists of scenes of Bay before various deities in
the first corridor, scenes and texts from the Book of the Dead in the
second and third corridors, and divine scenes in the well room. Although
Bay is depicted before the king (Siptah) in the first corridor, it is
Bay and not the king who stands before the falcon-headed sun god and
other deities, illustrating the adoption of royal prerogatives in the
tomb's decoration as well as its design.
In the later use of the tomb for Amenherkhepshef
and Mentuherkhepshef the decoration of Bay was usurped, in some cases
depictions of the chancellor being replaced by images of a queen who was
probably the mother of one or other of the princes.
Two
sarcophagi were found in the tomb: the first was that of Amenherkhepshef
- taken over from its intended owner, and a second, in the corridor
before the burial chamber, belonging to Mentuherkhopshef.
Funerary material of both individuals was
recovered - canopic jar fragments, faience and calcite shabtis, inlays
and stone and pottery vessels.
The tomb was partly accessible since antiquity, but no
late graffiti are recorded. |