TT100, the tomb of REKHMIRE at Thebes - Luxor - Egypt

Rekhmire was seated at the end of the wall, facing left. This has been completely effaced and the area where he was covered with red paint; we recognize the faint trace at his feet as a goose of Amun . Above him is a short text informs us that Rekhmire is "in session to  judge
between the poor and the rich in the same way,
 

Rekhmire stood in a large room whose columns are inscribed halfway up with the name of Thutmose - Menkheperre "beloved of Maat".

The artist has separated the people admitted in the courtroom from those outside 

 
 Before the vizier are four mats each supporting ten elongated objects. One thinks, of course, of the 40 leather rolls bearing the text of the laws or these are the  batons of authority which serve the assessors.

 
The Grandees of the Southern Ten are placed before him on the right and left, with as many scribes, 40 people in total. If the petitioners are treated with respect by the ushers in and out of the room, it is not the same for those respondents if their accounts have not been found satisfactory.
 Outside the building, at the top and bottom of the scene, two messengers rush to the courtroom. They carry in one hand a plant and the other a stick, while the official who greets them has only a stick.

TT100, the tomb of REKHMIRE at Thebes -Luxor - Egypt

 

a large inscription of 45 lines, damaged by numerous pieces falling off: which gives the autobiography of the Vizier
It was written in hieroglyphics from a hieratic original.

His Duties




Order of Precedence
When a person speaks to another, it must be done according to their social level (literally: when one (person) that addresses another (person) it must be (done) with every man according to his rank.

Reports about warehouses
He will report the sealing of warehouses and their opening at the right time. He will report on everything that enters into or leaves the territory of the Residence, when they come in and they go out,

Protocol for interviews with the King


Judgment of a dishonest magistrate

Do not allow any magistrate to have power over a decision (made) in his office. If a complaint happens against one of the judges who is in his office, he (the Vizier) will ensure that this leads the judge into the courtroom. It is the Vizier who must punish (him) according to his crime. Do not allow that any magistrate has power over punishment in his office. One will make a report on every judgment relating to the office he formerly occupied.

Assistants to the Vizier


The register of criminals

Consultation of documents

Arable land and cadastral land
As for any witness that the Vizier sends to him concerning any complainant, he must ensure that that person returns to him. But as for anyone who complains about the fields, it is that person who will take care of it (literally: it is up to him to entrust it)

Districts Advisors
Moreover, it is he who leads the district councilors, it is them who send to him. They will submit a report on the state of their districts. It is to him that one must bring every deed of gift, and it is he who seals them.

Arable lands and demarcation
It is he who makes the award of any terrain.

Sending assistants
It is he who sends each assistant of the royal domain who is sent to Governors and district Governors. It is he who sends out any messenger, any expedition from the royal domain.

Appointment of, and role of Officials
It is he who dictates who is a member of the (literally is in) the magistrate colleges of Upper Egypt, Lower Egypt,

Management of the army
It is he who organizes the gathering of troops, .

Interviews of officials
And he make sure that every official (literally any function) from the highest to the lowest in the Vizier's office greets his counterpart.

Management of those responsible for major works
It is he who sends (men) to cut trees according to what was announced in the royal domain. It is he who sends the members of the district council to create channels in the entire country. It is to him the Governors and district Governors send to arrange labour for plowing and harvesting. It is he who appoints the director of the police in the office of the royal domain. It is he who decides who judges Governors and district governors that come in his name from Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt.

Operating reports
One will make a report about all (judicial) cases. One will do a report about the state of the fortresses of Upper Egypt and any imprisonment of someone who will flee [.] It is he who raises taxes in each district, he shall judge for them.

State owned land
It is he who sends out teams of cadastral scribes to deal with the Lord's affairs. That is what is judged about all the fields of the Nome documents must be found in his office. It is he who establishes the boundaries for each prefecture (decides) of all pastures, all divine offerings and everything of value.

Investigation and jugdment
It is for him that each public proclamation is made, it is he who listens to every complaint. [...] When a man goes to court with his fellow man.
 It is he who appoints one to be appointed to the audience hall.
 It is in the royal domain that anyone who should be questioned should come to him.
 It is he who listens to every decree. It is he who hears about the lack of any divine offering.
 It is he who collects all taxes as returned from whoever gives him.

TT100, the tomb of REKHMIRE at Thebes -Luxor - Egypt

 

monkeys, a basket of skins (top right), two bundles of reed arrows, a bag with? Ten peculiar pieces of wood, products of the nebes tree: ten arches made of its wood, three skins filled with a fruit paste and two baskets containing cakes made with those same fruits.
 

Register 2 ( more nebes tree fruit, a basket of "skins", pigeons in cages


Register 3  : this time there are boxes full of textiles, gold and silver rings
 
 (these are white,  et des colliers comportant des perles d'or.

and collars having gold beads 

Register 4  : the stack of objects is replaced by a balance with which precious metals are being weighed. A scribe carefully notes the results. The scene is very damaged.

Register 5 : is in very poor condition. Davies describes bags, reed mats, cordage and ten millstone wheels made of hard red stone.
 

 Note that there are no fish, goats or pigs shown (not food of the elite) and that the only birds represented are pigeons

TT100, the tomb of REKHMIRE at Thebes-Luxor -Egypt

The tax collectors are placed to the right of the registers, separated from the payers by stacks of contributions

TT100, the tomb of REKHMIRE at Thebes-Luxor -Egypt

 processions that are bringing to the Vizier produce of the cities south and and north of Thebes (regions called "The head of Upper Egypt", which reach from Elephantine to Assiut)


 These regions, north and south, comprise of 40 tax districts each (a total of 80). Each of the 80 district officials brings its contribution, livestock, agricultural and other products, but also frequently in rings or necklaces of gold and silver

  its contribution in precious metals expressed in deben (1 deben = 91g)

TT100, the tomb of REKHMIRE at Thebes-Luxor -Egypt

The transverse hall is divided into two wings, north (right as you enter, by the entrance door . The south wing contains the most interesting elements:
the text upon the Duties of the Vizier, a ‘Vizier Investiture’ text by Thutmose III, as well as scenes of tribute arriving from foreign nations. In the north wing there are more traditional scenes of hunting and fishing, as well as the genealogy of the Vizier.

 

 The tops of the walls are occupied by the classical frieze pattern khakerou, while at their base runs a band consisting of two yellow and red bands bordered by black lines, below comes an empty space that goes down to the ground. 
 

TT100, the tomb of REKHMIRE at Thebes-Luxor -Egypt

 

Door frames and ceilings
 1)- The inside of the front door


  Lintel and jambs carry traditional prayers to Re-Horakhty, Amon-Ra, Thoth and Osiris.

 2)- The door between the transverse and longitudinal rooms

 
The lintel bears an invocatory offering to twelve deities, those on the left representing the forms of Osiris
 
These are "Amon-Ra, Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands in Karnak", "Anubis, who is upon his hill, Lord of To-djeser", "Re-Horakhty in heaven", "Osiris in Orion of the southern sky", "Hathor, Regent of Thebes in Karnak",
  
"Thoth, at the head of Igeret", "Osiris Lord of Life", "Osiris Onnuris", "Osiris, who is Gold of Millions", "Osiris, Lord of Eternity", "Osiris of the places of life", 


 
"Osiris, Lord of Eternity", "Osiris of the places of life", "Osiris at the head of Tenenet in Tenenet". The six prayers on the jambs are made to Mut, Re-Atum-Horakhty, Amon, Amonet, and Osiris.
 

b)- Internal face
 
On the lintel, we read: "The hereditary prince, the companion who can approach the god (= the king), who is in the heart of Horus, Master of the Two Lands, the dignitary whose heart is open, the Sem-priest, the supervisor of all the ceremonial loincloths, the sab, the chief judge, the voice of Nekhen, the priest of Maat, the daily giver of Ma'at for the Lord of the Two Lands, the mayor of the City (= Thebes) the Vizier, Rekhmire He said: 'It is Hepet who relaxes the restraints that are on my mouth. It is the god of my city that comes forth as Thoth, fully equipped with my magic; he has released the Seth restraints that were on my mouth to oppose Atum. 
 
After he (Thoth) has released the (magical restraints), my mouth is not closed, my mouth is opened by Ptah by this, his copper chisel, with which he opens his mouth the gods. I am Sekhem-outet who sits at the side of the great West of the sky. I am the goddess Sahyet, amid the great Baou of Heliopolis. As for the magic and all the words that I have spoken, the Gods stand before them the whole Ennead of Gods and the whole Ennead of Goddesses".


 3)- The ceilings

These are very damaged, so that the decorative motifs are barely visible. As usual, longitudinal and transverse colour bands imitate wooden beams and bear texts:
 The texts of the other bands are very fragmentary.

TT100, the tomb of REKHMIRE at Thebes-Luxor -Egypt

Rekhmire ("wise, like Ra")
 Neferuben (His Father)
Bet (His Mother)
 Meryt (His Wife)

TT100, the tomb of REKHMIRE at Thebes -Luxor-Egypt

A second entrance can be seen in the facade :
it is the work of an intruder who installed  his burial in the chapel, badly damaging in this way the text on the Duties of the Vizier


in 1940 a so-called restoration brushed large wall areas that did not need it with white plaster; a scandal roundly denounced by Norman de Garis Davies.

Mummy of boy king Tutankhamun to remain in Valley of the Kings

After much debate, the decision has been reached not to move the mummy of the boy king Tutankhamun to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The mummy will remain in the Valley of the Kings on the Nile's west bank near Luxor.

Antiquities minister Mamdouh Eldamaty told Ahram Online that after technical discussions and a prolonged study the ministry has decided to keep the mummy inside the tomb, not in its current location at the tomb's entrance hall, but in a side chamber.

This chamber, Eldamaty explained, will be restored by the Getty Foundation, and a new lighting set-up will lend a mysterious atmosphere to the mummy's new home.

The mummy, he continued, will have a sophisticated showcase equipped with state of the art preservation devices.

"Putting the mummy back inside its original sarcophagus is off the cards," said Eldamaty. He said that the atmosphere inside the sarcophagus is no longer suitable, and that it would make the mummy's periodic examination too complicated.

"The lid is too heavy," he said, before adding that closing the mummy inside its original sarcophagus would prevent the tomb's visitors from being able to see the famous relic.

Book your private Tour to the Valley of the kings and Tutankhamun Tomb Here !

sand bath is a natural therapy with powers to cure many medical conditions

In the searing heat of summer in western Egypt, at the hottest time of the day, sufferers of rheumatism, joint pain, infertility or impotence lie buried neck-deep in the sand of Siwa near Dakrour Mountain.

Locals say taking a sand bath is a natural therapy with powers to cure many medical conditions.

Patients relax in the shade before treatment, which includes massages by the feet of health workers after they submerge their patients up to their neck in the desert.

Patients drink mint tea in tents following the treatment.

The Hidden Cachet of Deir Elbahari Temple and Abd Rassul Family

At the time of its excavation, the cache contained 40 mummies, belonging to New Kingdom royalty, members of the priestly families of the Third Intermediate Period, and unidentified private individuals. Several of the mummies and coffins bore inscriptions recording their movement between various burial sites. Dockets on the coffins of Ramesses I, Seti I, and Ramesses II indicate that during the reign of Pinedjem I (ca. 1070-1032 BC) these coffins had been hidden in the tomb of Queen Ahmose-Inhapi. According to these texts, the mummies found packed into the entryway of DB 320 had been reburied there during the early 22nd Dynasty (ca. 930 BC). The tomb actually belonged to the family of Pinedjem II, the High Priest of Amun, whose intact burial equipment filled the inner chamber.

When the royal cache was opened in 1881, a coffin with the name of Ramesses I was found, though it contained nothing but loose bandages. The coffin was clearly a replacement for the original which was probably damaged when the king's tomb was pillaged, yet there was no mummy in the cache that could be attributed to Ramesses I. What happened to Ramesses between the time of his burial and the official discovery of the Deir el-Bahri cache?

Based on the evidence of the Tomb Robbery Papyri and the archaeological record, looting was rampant in the Valley of the Kings in the 20th Dynasty. Obviously, the tomb of Ramesses I fell victim to this crime wave, evidenced by the missing grave goods and the damage to the sarcophagus, which had been violently pried open. The High Priests of Amun of the 21st Dynasty re-consecrated many of the royal mummies whose tombs had been violated, securing groups of them within two royal caches, in DB 320 and in the tomb of Amenhotep II (KV 35). According to the dockets found in the Deir el-Bahri cache, the mummy of Ramesses I was interred there when Pinedjem II was High Priest, along with the mummies of Ramesses II and Seti I.

If the mummy of Ramesses I was placed in the royal cache during the Third Intermediate Period, when was it removed? The answer almost certainly lies in the murky history of the cache preceding its "official" discovery in 1881, when the Abd el-Rassul family was selling bits and pieces to local dealers. During the Third Intermediate Period reburials, there was much shifting of mummies and coffins, mixing the private and royal individuals. If his wrappings had been removed by the original robbers, it would have been difficult to identify the mummy as that of Ramesses I. An unnamed mummy removed from the entrance of the cache would have been easily sold to a tourist seeking the most exotic Egyptian souvenir.

In 1827, a man named Thomas Barnett opened what would be known as the Niagara Falls Museum and Daredevil Hall of Fame, displaying curiosities and leading tourists behind the Falls. Even in the 19th century, tourism was big business in Niagara, with stiff competition between the various attractions. Barnett was always looking for new gimmicks, and decided to take advantage of public interest in Egypt fueled by the expeditions of Napoleon. So Barnett sent his son, Sidney, to Egypt three times between 1857 and 1861 to purchase mummies, coffins, and artifacts for his museum.

Based on the evidence of the Tomb Robbery Papyri and the archaeological record, looting was rampant in the Valley of the Kings in the 20th Dynasty. Obviously, the tomb of Ramesses I fell victim to this crime wave, evidenced by the missing grave goods and the damage to the sarcophagus, which had been violently pried open. The High Priests of Amun of the 21st Dynasty re-consecrated many of the royal mummies whose tombs had been violated, securing groups of them within two royal caches, in DB 320 and in the tomb of Amenhotep II (KV 35). According to the dockets found in the Deir el-Bahri cache, the mummy of Ramesses I was interred there when Pinedjem II was High Priest, along with the mummies of Ramesses II and Seti I.

In 1827, a man named Thomas Barnett opened what would be known as the Niagara Falls Museum and Daredevil Hall of Fame, displaying curiosities and leading tourists behind the Falls. Even in the 19th century, tourism was big business in Niagara, with stiff competition between the various attractions. Barnett was always looking for new gimmicks, and decided to take advantage of public interest in Egypt fueled by the expeditions of Napoleon. So Barnett sent his son, Sidney, to Egypt three times between 1857 and 1861 to purchase mummies, coffins, and artifacts for his museum.

Sidney Barnett's traveling companion, James Douglas, Jr., recounted that around 1860, he acquired an excellent mummy "in double cases, for Mr. Barnett, of Niagara Museum, for seven pounds." Douglas and Barnett both purchased artifacts, including mummies, from Mustapha Aga Ayat, a well-known middleman in the antiquities trade, and associate of the Abd el-Rassuls. It is highly likely that the mummy of Ramesses I was among these purchases, despite the uncertainty that shrouds the discovery of the Deir el-Bahri cache.

English author Amelia Edwards, traveling in Luxor in 1874, recounted "whispers about this time of a tomb that had been discovered on the western side, a wonderful tomb rich in all kinds of treasures." Upon the discovery of the cache in 1881, Edwards claimed that it had been located twenty years earlier, a time that would coincide with the Niagara purchases. Additional evidence is provided by the papyrus of Nodjmet, presented to the British Museum by King Edward VII in 1869. Nodjmet, a royal lady of the 21st Dynasty, was buried in the Deir el-Bahri cache, which is the most likely source for the papyrus. It is unknown when Edward acquired the papyrus, though it is certain that he had made a previous journey to Egypt-in 1863. Had he received the papyrus at that time, it would clearly support an earlier find date for the cache tomb.

In 1999, the Niagra Museum and Daredevil Hall of Fame closed its doors to the public, beginning a new chapter in the journey of this mummy. Seeking a home for their Egyptian antiquities, the Niagara Falls Museum contacted Dr. Peter Lacovara, an Egyptologist and Curator of Ancient Art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum. After examining the objects in Niagara, the Carlos Museum was definitely interested, though faced with a daunting fund-raising challenge. With less than two weeks to acquire the necessary funds, the local media and the citizens of Atlanta came to the rescue. The local papers provided front-page coverage of the unique situation and the people of the city offered donations ranging from handfuls of change to million-dollar pledges.

In July 1999, the mummy now identified as Ramesses I, and the rest of the collection reached their new home in Atlanta with great fanfare. Now known as the Charlotte Lichirie Collection of Ancient Egyptian Art, the beautiful painted coffins purchased by Douglas in the 19th century are now on permanent display in the Carlos Museum. Following a four-month exhibition, "Ramesses I: The Search for the Lost Pharaoh" in 2003, the Carlos Museum returned the mummy to the country of Egypt as a gesture of goodwill and international cultural cooperation.

If you intend to tour Luxor west bank and Eldeir ElBahari Temple with an egyptologist tour guide contact : info@egyptraveluxe.com