Rekhmire was a governor of Thebes during the reigns of Tuthmosis III and his
son Amenophis II. His tomb is one of more than 500 found in the Valley of the
Nobles in ancient Thebes. Like most such tombs, Rekhmire's featured a reverse T
shape, with a shallow front chamber followed by a long inner corridor. His is
one of the finest painted tombs in the Theban necropolis.
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Detail of Rekhmire's funeral procession from his tomb's inner corridor.
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You begin facing east towards the door to the outside and the unseen entrance
chamber (which forms the top of the T). After workmen finished carving this
corridor, which slopes higher as one moves farther into the tomb, they prepared
the wall surface with a mixture of earth and straw overlaid with a layer of
plaster. Artists then painted scenes both from Rekhmire's life and funeral
procession, and of the craftsmen whose efforts he oversaw: carpenters,
goldsmiths, sculptors, masons, and many others.
Close-up of a
woman high on the wall of the inner corridor.
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As you spin around, zoom in closer to examine the fine paintings. See if you
can make out the painted pair of small funerary obelisks, which Egyptians of
the 18th Dynasty often placed before their tombs in honor of the sun god. At
the opposite (western) end of the tomb, notice the empty niche, where statues
of Rekhmire and his wife likely once stood.
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