NOVA Online | Mysteries of the Nile | Tomb of Ramose: Inner Hall

Tomb of Ramose: Inner Hall
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Despite the many months, if not years, workers took to carve Ramose's tomb out of solid rock and begin illustrating its walls, the sepulcher was never completed. Mid-way through its construction, Ramose suddenly left Thebes and moved north to Tel el-Amarna, Akhenaten's new capital.

This likeness of the "rebel" pharaoh Akhenaten on the outer wall of the Inner Hall was defaced after he died, when Egypt promptly returned to its traditional polytheism.

Your first view in the rough-hewn Inner Hall looks east, through a door into the Main Hall and the sunny front entrance. On the floor of the Inner Hall, you can see pedestals of the eight columns originally planned for this room; rubble from the columns still litters the floor. Notice, too, the seemingly freshly carved ceiling; in places, it looks as if stone masons might have chipped away the white rock yesterday. In the rear (west) wall is a crudely carved doorway to a small chamber, where inch-long chisel marks from the original carving out of the crypt can still be seen on the roof.

Ancient chisel marks are clearly visible on the ceiling of the Inner Hall's side chamber.