The Tomb of Irunefer (TT290) is located in the Deir
el-Medina
Necropolis west of the Ptolemaic Temple of Hathor on the
West
Bank at Luxor (ancient
Thebes). As with most of those buried
in the tombs in this area, Irunefer was probably a worker
in the royal tombs, though the reference we have for him
simply provides that he was a "Servant in the Place of
Truth on the West". Otherwise, we know that his parents
were Siwazyt, a priest and Tausret, his mother, and that he
was married to a woman named Mehytkhati, who probably shared
his tomb. He probably lived during Egypt's 19th
Dynasty, which was a fairly prosperous time in ancient
Egypt,
though under which king we are unsure.
It was discovered by the French archaeologist, Bernard
Bruyere in 1922. However, it had been robbed of most
everything during antiquity. The only remaining funerary
equipment discovered in the tomb were a few stele fragments
and mere fragments of a wooden coffin.
Today the tomb complex of Irunefer consists of a surface
offering chapel made of mud brick and a subterranean rock cut
burial chamber. At one time, the discover believed it to have
the typical small pyramid superstructure found in other Deir
el-Medina tombs, though nothing of it survives today.
The above ground chapel has a barrel vaulted roof, and
features a deep, vaulted stele niche centered in the long wall
opposite of the entrance. There are also two stele receptacles
on the short walls
The underground chambers are reached by way of a rock cut
vertical shaft a few meters in depth. It is located in the
courtyard, which is shared by a nearby tomb (TT291), in front
of the chapel offset away from the chapel's entrance. At the
bottom of this shaft four steps lead to a small, rock cut
chamber. This chamber also gives into another tomb suite
besides that of Irunefer, leading off to the left. To the
right, it leads into a fairly large, irregularly shaped
chamber. This in turn leads to a second mud brick lined
vertical shaft along with a small rock cut stairway. This element
finally communicates with the actual burial chamber belonging
to Irunefer. This is a well finished tomb which is fully decorated.
| The rock cut burial chamber itself is not unlike the chapel
above It has a rectangular shaped floor plan along with
a barrel style vaulted ceiling. The tomb was lined with mud brick which was then plastered over to
make a good surface for the decorative theme. A platform for
Irunefer's, and perhaps his wife, Mehytkhati, sarcophagi was created
by elevating about one third of the floor at the rear section
of the chamber. |
 |
The plaster in the chamber was first coated with a golden
yellow paint, typical of the 19th Dynasty private tombs in
this area. Afterwards, almost every available space was
decorated with paintings of divine, human and animal figures.
Dividing these scenes in vertical columns we find funerary
texts in black glyphs between red registers rules. |
 |
Irunefer must have been a rather dry soul during his life.
Unlike other private tombs, there is none of the life we
expect to find, as it lacks all normal depictions of daily
life. Instead, we find very strict symbolic and funerary
decoration and one must wonder about the influence of his
priestly father. In fact, we find a scene depicting his mother
and father wearing white wigs, and scaled somewhat larger than
the tomb owner, a visual device found usually to convey their
seniority to their son. The decorative theme displays scenes
one might more likely find in a royal tomb, with depictions of
various deities including Osiris,
Ptah and
Anubis,
Ma'at (and
perhaps Thoth as a baboon) as well as symbolism such as the
Benu-bird and Irunefer's ka along with text from the
Book of
Gates. |
References:
Archives
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