Userhet (not to be confused with another Userhet, whose tomb, TT 56, lies nearby) lived during the last years of the reign of Horemheb and Rameses I, and died during the reign ofSety I. He was First Prophet of the Royal ka of Thutmes I, an early 18th Dynasty king greatly admired and honored in the later New Kingdom for his close association with the development of the Theban Necropolis, especially the workmen’s village at Dayr al-Madina.TT 51 was one of four Ramesside tombs cut into the faces of a small courtyard low down on the northeastern slope of Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qurna. Flooding from occasional rainstorms apparently was a problem here, and the ancient quarrymen constructed a raised sill in the tomb entrance and lowered the floor of the courtyard before it. To the left of the tomb entrance, inthe wall of the courtyard, Userhet carved a meter-high limestone stela whose eight lines of text give a standard offering formula and the names of family members.
The plan of Userhet’s tomb was meant to be an elaborate one, with a transverse antechamber followed by a four-pillared hall and a corridor that sloped down to the burial chamber. The walls in these spaces were as carefully cut as the poor bedrock allowed, then covered with a heavy layer of white mud plaster made with large quantities of straw chaff (a binding material called tibn that is still used in Egypt today). But only the antechamber was decorated, perhaps because of a lack of time. The painted scenes exclusively treat religious themes and funerary rites, not the activities of daily life common in earlier New Kingdom tombs.
The antechamber is a narrow room, 7 meters (18 feet) long but only 1.5 meters (less than 4 feet) wide. Enter the room and turn left to face the wall adjacent to the front door. Here, three registers depict various funerary rites.
NORTH (FRONT) WALL, EAST HALF Userhet stands in the bottom register before a building (a royal palace, perhaps) in the center of the wall, receiving great heaps of offerings and pieces of jewelry. To the left, his wife also receives gifts. Far left, near the door in a half-register, Userhet’s chariot awaits his departure from the ceremonies. His charioteer carries on an animated discussion with the palace gatekeeper.
The middle register is devoted to Userhet’s funeral procession. Three cattle pull a sled carrying an elaborate catafalque with his coffin inside, the whole covered with bouquets of flowers. Examples of the funerary furniture destined for the tomb are shown above. At right, seven mourning women pour dirt on their heads, weeping and ululating. Behind them, the mummies of Userhet and his wife stand on a low platform, offered to and prayed over by priests who wear panther skins indicating their rank. Behind the mummies, the deceased is welcomed into the Netherworld by Hathor, who stands before what one Egyptologist called an “absurd” garland-covered pyramid that apparently was meant to represent Userhet’s tomb. In the upper register, Userhet and his wife, Hatshepsut (also called Shepset), are led by Anubis before a beam balance on which their good deeds will be weighed against Ma’at. The goddess Ma’at and the god Thoth flank the scales, and the hippopotamus/ crocodile god Ammet sits nearby, ready to devour those judged to be evil.
Userhet, of course, passes the test with flying colors, and is shown at right kneeling before Osiris, who sits before a mound of food and floral offerings. The Mistress of the West stands behind him. Norman deGaris Davies, who published the tomb in 1927, considered the workmanship here unforgivably “slovenly.” That’s an overstatement, but when compared to other scenes in the tomb, it suggests that two artists of very different talent were responsible for various walls.EAST (LEFT) END WALL The lower register here, although very badly damaged, shows an unusual scene of the tomb-owner and wife seated before a small pond. Userhet hands a fishing pole to his wife, and the couple fish for int-fish, a symbol of resurrection. The scene is an example of how richly imbued with religious symbolism even apparently innocuous and homely scenes can be in a funerary context. In the larger register above, a hawk-headed solar deity, perhaps Montu, receives adoration from three males. These men are identified as “The prince, superintendent of the city, the vizier, Imhotep. His beloved son, the high priest of Amen, Hapuseneb. [Userhet’s] father, the high priest of Amen, Khonsu-emheb. Their heir, Userhet, called Neferhebef, causes their names to endure.”NORTH (REAR) WALL, EAST HALF Three registers deal with the annual cult ceremony of Thutmes I, held in his West Bank temple under the direction of Userhet. It may have been one of Userhet’s most important duties, but the ceremony is shown in a cursory manner.
Three registers show the initial preparation of offerings, the procession of the king’s statue on land and water, and the return to the temple. In the badly damaged lower register, Userhet sits at left watching as bearers bring forward offerings and equipment for the ceremony. In the middle register at right, an ebony statue of Thutmes I is pulled by priests toward a group of administrators and officials. (The king’s name appears in the accompanying cartouches.) The statue is being censed, the pungent smoke fanned toward the king’s face. At left, a bark on which the statue has now been placed sails on a rectangular pond that is surrounded by elaborate gardens. In the upper register, the statue is returned to its temple shrine, and the sacred bark is installed on its alabaster stand.
NORTH (REAR) WALL, WEST HALF The two large registers here depict New Year ceremonies intended to ensure the continuation of royal power. Above, Userhet as First Prophet stands before a seated figure of Osiris; below, he stands before Thutmes I. The two registers are very similar in general outline and both are excellent examples of the Egyptians’ horror vacui. Both at first appear so cluttered and filled with detail that they overwhelm attempts to make sense of their scenes. But it is their rich details and complex iconography that make these registers two of the finest in the tomb. In the top register, Userhet’s costume is elaborately drawn. (The empty cartouches on the legs of the animal skin he wears were intended to contain names of Rameses I.) Userhet censes a remarkable table ofofferings, piled high with fruits and vegetables, flowers and loaves of bread. At left, a seated Osiris is accompanied by three deities, perhaps Hathor, Ma’at, and Anubis.
Behind Userhet stand his wife, his sister, and a son. At right, in two half registers, the deceased couple sit before funerary goods and priests and mourning women who grieve their death and purify the offerings.The lower register is very similarly laid out, but here, Userhet censes offerings before the pharaoh Thutmes I and his wife, Ahmose-Nefertiry. Again, there is a heavily laden offering table, this time with a brace of large, finelydrawn fowl and a loaf of bread. Behind him stand his mother, Henuttawy, his wife, and a daughter. At right, the upper half register again show the deceased couple, but the lower shows an official called Nebmehyt and his wife. Why this couple should appear here is unclear. (Nebmehyt is also shown on the east wall behind us.) NORTH (RIGHT) END WALL The most famous scene in TT 51 is this beautiful painting of Userhet, his wife and mother, seated beside a sycomore fig tree. (Unusually, the women’s names are written on their arms.) The chairs are of blackest ebony, their costumes brilliant white, in perfect contrast to their vividly-colored pectorals and the green, leafy tree behind. The women’s skin–and Userhet’s, too–can be seen through their fine, nearlytransparent, carefullypleated linen.
Their eyes are carefully outlined, their cheeks rouged, their hair perfectly braided. The sycomore fig was a highly important tree in ancient Egypt. It produced a hard, durable wood, six crops of edible fruit annually, and a milky white latex-like sap that was used as a medicament. The tree had close associations with goddesses like Hathor, Nut, and Isis, who were believed to live in its branches. The artist has taken great pains when painting the tree to show that each fig has been notched by hand in order to kill wasps whose eggs prevent the fruit ripening. Note, too, the small birds fluttering among the branches before Userhet’s face.
The souls of Userhet and his wife appear as human-headed hawks standing on the edge of a T-shaped pond. To its right, the goddess Nut stands beside a rectangular pond, holding forth bowls of sycomore figs and grapes and pouring water from a ewer into cups from which the family members drink.EAST (RIGHT) WALL, NORTH HALF In the lower register, ceremonies honor the god Montu, with whose temple at Armant, just south of Thebes, Userhet’s mother was affiliated. The hawkheaded god wears a solar disk on his head and sits before a standing figure of the goddess Meret-Seger. Before him, Userhet pours libations over a table piled high with offerings. He is followed by two priests, one of whom is identified as Nebmehyt, whom we met in the north corner of the west wall behind us. All three are decked out in elaborate panther skin costumes. They in turn are followed by three women, perhaps wives or priestesses. In the register above, Userhet stands at left, before an offering table, observing various ceremonies. In the center of the wall, Userhet himself is kneeling as eight priests pour purifying water over him. At right, Userhet kneels below (i.e., beside) offerings, and vessels before three shrines house eight deities of the afterlife.
Osiris sits at far right in a kiosk attended by Anubis and Thoth.
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