Khaemwaset was a sem priest and for a time, High Priest of Ptah at Memphis, but little in the decoration of his tomb emphasizes this prestigious role. Instead, like the tomb of Amenherkhepshef, and indeed, like most burials of important royal princes, the decoration showed the king introducing his deceased son to the gods.

Glass panels have been installed in QV 44 that make it difficult to see the walls, but their painted decoration is very good. The scenes do, however, follow some odd Dynasty 20 stylistic conventions: human figures tend to be ill-proportioned and the sons particularly are drawn with impossibly large heads and high foreheads. Figures are drawn against a white or light gray background, and texts are painted over a yellow one. Eyes are painted on the face, not carved, and slope downwards. Ears, on the other hand, are carved and usually pierced. The costumes of deities and the king are drawn with detail that sometimes borders on fussiness. When men are dressed in transparent linen gowns, their skin shows through in an unappealing light pink color, an artistic feature not found in the otherwise similar tomb of Amenherkhepshef.

CORRIDOR B The first corridor is entered through a doorway at the base of a gently sloping ramp. Inside, on the front wall, Khaemwaset stands in adoration before the god Ptah, whose figure is housed in a shrine drawn on the left (east) wall. Next on the left wall, Khaemwaset and his father, Rameses III, offer wine to Thoth. The bottom half of the scene has been destroyed. Rameses III holds the hand of Anubis as his son walks behind him in the next scene, and this is followed by the king standing before RaHarakhty.

On the opposite side of the corridor, Rameses III stands on the front wall, offering incense to PtahSokar, who is shown around the corner on theright (west) wall. Khaemwaset stands beyond the doorway with his father, offering incense to Geb. Next, the king holds the hand of the god Shu-Ra as Khaemwaset walks behind and finally, father and son offer incense to Atum. The young prince is shown in each scene wearing a different costume, but he always holds the same feathered khu-fan and wears the sidelock of a youth.

SIDE-CHAMBER B A

A doorway through the left wall of corridor B leads into a square, low-ceilinged chamber. On the front wall, Neith and Serqet stand on the left side of the door, Isis and Nephthys on the right. On the side walls, Khaemwaset stands before Anubis and, in a second scene, before the Four Sons  of Horus and a figure of Serqet (on the left wall) and Neith (on the right). A double scene on the rear wall shows Neith (on the left) and Isis (on the right) before the god Osiris. Note that in the side chamber Khaemwaset stands alone before deities, whereas in the corridor he is invariably accompanied by his father.

It has been suggested that this is because scenes in the corridor are scenes of the son arriving in the Afterlife, still needful of his father’s intervention with the deities. Scenes in the side chamber, on the other hand, show the prince after he has been delivered into the Afterlife. He has now joined the deities in the world of the dead and his father has returned to the world of the living. SIDE-CHAMBER B B On the right side of the corridor, the front wall of another side chamber shows Isis and Nephthys (on the left of the door) and Neith and Serqet (on the right).

This is the same scene as in chamber B A. On the left wall, Khaemwaset, again without his father, stands with hands raised in adoration before Hapy, Qebehsenuef, P’at, and Horus-the-Child. On the right wall, he stands before Imsety, Duamutef, Baka, and again, Horus-the-Child. On the rear wall, Isis (at left) and Nephthys (at right) stand before seated figures of Osiris.CHAMBER C: BURIAL CHAMBER In spite of its corridor-like appearance, this chamber was intended from the outset as Khaemwaset’s burial chamber. That is shown by its vaulted ceiling, which is rarely found in tomb chambers that served another purpose. The decoration is taken from chapters 145 and 146 of the Book of the Dead that describe the twenty-one gates through which the deceased must pass on his journey into the afterlife. The scenes in Khaemwaset’s burial chamber refer to gates 10, 12, 14, and 16 on the left wall and 9, 11, 13, and 15 on the right. In the tomb of Amenherkhepshef, the references are to gates 5, 6, 7, and 8. Each gate is guarded by a genie.

 On the left wall, they are Sekhenur, whose name means The Great Tightener; Miu, The Cat; Saupen, The Protector; and one called He Who Imposes Abasement, Provokes Weakness, and Comes Forth as Death. On the right wall, they are Dendeni, The Furious; Pesef-akhu-ef, He Who Inflames His Brazier; Hedkiauna; and Vigilant Face Emerging from the Netherworld. Each guardian carries two knives, but all appear curiously gentle creatures in spite of their sometimes fearsome names. All are similarly dressed.At the right end of the right wall, Rameses III wears a long, transparent dress, elaborate apron, and blue khepresh-crown and stands in a pose of adoration. Behind him stands Khaemwaset, whose name is written in the seven hieroglyphs immediately below the king’s cartouche in an intervening column of text. The prince wears an elaborately braided sidelock, a long gown, and a sash with five tassels. He carries an elaborate behet-fan, made of ostrich feathers set in gilded wood, a symbol borne by those who were given the prestigious title of Royal Fanbearer.On the rear wall of the burial chamber, two genii stand on either side of the  central doorway.

On the left stands the guardian of the sixteenth gate. On the right, stands the guardian of the fifteenth gate, Nehes-her-perem-duat, One Whose Face is Hidden, Descended from the Netherworld. In chapter 146 of the Book of the Dead, the latter genie is described as: “the Terrible One, Lady of Pestilence, who casts away thousands of human souls, who hacks up human dead, who decapitates him who would go out, who creates terror.” A pair of side chambers may have been intended off this room but neither was completed. CHAMBER D Djed pillars appear on the thicknesses of the gate leading into this chamber. On the left side of the front wall, the lion-headed Lord of Fear, called Nebneryu, stands holding a knife to protect Khaemwaset, who sits on a cushion behind him in the form of Heryma’at, He Who Rules over Harmony.

On the right side, Anubis sits atop a building symbolizing Khaemwaset’s tomb. Below, a lion guards another building. His lazily crossed paws and calm expression give an impression of docility.This amusingly relaxed pose is peculiar to Dynasty 20, and can also to be seen in Amenherkhepshef’s tomb, although there, the figure is less well preserved. That here is among the best drawings in either tomb.On the left wall, Rameses III offers vases to Thoth and Harsiesi. On the right, he stands with incense and a libation before Horus and Shepsi. Figures of the king stand near the corner of each wall. On the rear wall, the king (whose figure is on the side walls) is preceded by Isis and Neith (left) and Nephthysand Serqet (right) standing in adoration before seated figures of Osiris. At the feet of Osiris, flowers grow and Four Sons of Horus emerge from a lotus blossom.

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