On the left jamb in the ENTRANCE, Benja strides forth from the tomb. His figure is well carved and painted, with elaborate hair, a fine profile, delicate fingers, and a tight-fitting, transparent gown. Many noblemen at Thebes devoted the decoration in their tombs to scenes of arts and crafts, the work they performed during their lifetime, or their religious deeds. There are a few such scenes in Benja’s tomb; here the emphasis is on food and drink. Offering tables piled high with meat, fruit, and vegetables, mats covered with jugs of beer and wine, and texts listing foodstuffs cover the walls.

On the right side of the doorway as you face the front wall in the first chamber, one figure of Benja faces left toward three offering tables and mats covered with foodstuffs and containers of salves. Another figure of Benja, this time in his official capacity, faces right before three registers of men who deliver and weigh gold rings, pieces of turquoise and lapis lazuli. Two scribes in the lower register inventory the goods. In the upper register, piles of ivory tusks and ebony logs are stacked beside wooden chests. The stark white background of the scenes in this tomb and the absence of lengthy texts make the decoration seem sparse. At right, on the narrow left wall of the chamber, a false door painted to look like red granite is inscribed with a prayer asking that offerings be made to Benja. On either side, three small registers each show a kneeling figure of Benja holding bread, beer, or foodstuffs.

On the left rear wall of the FIRST CHAMBER, Benja’s mother and father sit on chairs before a table of offerings. His mother, Tirukak, places her hand on the shoulder of his father Iretnena. Beyond the table, four musicians stand in an upper register playing a flute or clapping hands. Below them, another plays a harp and a second plays a lute. In the register below these scenes, five male guests sit before a small offering table.

To the right, beside the door into the SECOND CHAMBER, Benja sits before a table piled high with lettuce, onions, grapes, bread, geese, cow heads, and pottery vessels. An anonymous priest stands before him.
The rear right wall of the chamber shows Benja again seated on a chair before an offering table. Officials in white gowns precede three registers of offering bearers. The bearers wear kilts and carry cattle, amphorae, geese, and vegetables. On the right end wall, a round-topped stela gives an elaborate version of an offering text. Like the false door on the left end wall, figures of Benja kneel on either side holding offerings.

Returning to the front wall, on the left side of the entrance, Benja stands before three offering tables holding two alabaster stands piled with ducks. The texts give his titles and a prayer for offerings to Amen. To the left, his seated figure faces an offering table and three registers of bearers holding geese, lotus flowers, incense, and vessels.

On the left wall of the second chamber a large figure of the Goddess of the West faces three registers showing Benja’s funeral. She holds a was-scepter and an ankh-sign in her hands and has her standard atop her head. In the upper register, a shrine containing Benja’s mummy is dragged on a sled by four men toward his tomb (a rectangular building with a cornice.) Women in white dresses stand at each end of the shrine. In the register below, five kilted men walk forward carrying food and jewelry. They are said to be from Pe and Dep, the capital cities of Lower Egypt. The building before them may be a House of Embalming. In the third register, one boat with a shrine, another with a kneeling statue, are traveling to Abydos. Standing atop the shrine is a man with a whip. In the lowest register, the procession returns from Abydos. On the right half, a seated figure of Benja extends his hand toward an offering table and mats piled high with foodstuffs. A table of offerings is written above the destroyed figure of an offering priest.

At the left end of the right wall, Benja sits on a chair holding a piece of cloth, his left hand extended toward a an offering table. To the right is an offering list, and beyond that, three registers of three scenes depicting the Opening of the Mouth ritual. In each of the nine scenes, priests hold various objects such as jars of natron, incense, and jugs of water before the mummy of the deceased. The mummy stands on a small mound of sand representing the site of creation.
In a large niche cut into the rear wall, three seated figures depict (from left to right) Benja’s father, Benja himself, and his mother. Their faces have been vandalized.

From" The Illustrated Guide to Luxor" by kent R.Weeks ,published by the American University in Cairo Press. Copyright © 2005 White Star S.p.a