The tomb of Userhat is
one of the better known funerary monuments in the Theban necropolis,
as it has for many years been open to the public. It is situated
at Gourna .
Userhat lived and worked in the 15th century BC during the
reign of King Amenhotep II of the 18th dynasty. His titles
as conveyed on his funerary monument are 'royal scribe', 'overseer
and scribe of the cattle ofAmun', 'bread counting scribe in
Upper and Lower Egypt', and 'deputy herald'. Userhat had close
connections with the court and was no doubt brought up with
prince Amenhotep (later Amenhotep II).His wife was a certain
lady called Mutneferet, who bore the title of 'royal ornament',
probably corresponding to 'lady-in-waiting'.
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PRIVATE TOMBS DURING THE XVIII
th DYNASTY
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In the 18th dynasty the plan of
the upper rooms often, though not always, adopted the shape
of an inverted letter T, providing a broad entrance hall
and a corridor leading to an inner chapel. The tomb of Userhat
is a perfect example of such a typical shape .
The scheme of decoration was to a certain extent predetermined.
A number of motifs was obligatory . Occasionally new ones
appeared, but even within the strict framework of tradition
the artist would be able to add his personal touch to the
extent that in the various tombs virtually no scenes are
identical.
The decoration served a dual purpose. On the one hand it
was a memorial to the deceased, through pictures and inscriptions
establishing his identity to posterity; on the other hand
the programme of decoration provided him with the means
of reaching the Hereafter and participate in eternal life.
 South
wall- West side: Userhat's military career.
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..."The remaining part of the wall
behind Userhat gives an unusually detailed pictorial
account of life amongst the army personnel."
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The king whom Userhat served, and
who was no doubt his personal friend from childhood, is
depicted on the right rear wall of the hall (view
6). He sits on his throne under a canopy facing
Userhat, who presents him with an elaborate gift consisting
of a table loaded with fruit and decorated with tall bouquets
and a swag of grapes. Userhat himself stands inside a building
for a column is depicted behind him.
The remaining part of the wall behind Userhat gives an unusually
detailed pictorial account of life amongst the army personnel
of whom Userhat must have been in charge as 'bread counting
scribe'. Although Userhat was not called 'scribe of recruits'
it is obvious from the motifs depicted that this was where
his duties lay.
Supplies were of paramount importance to sustain the recruits
(view
7). The doors suggest the setting of a storehouse:
on their left we are outside where recruits are employed
in carrying bags towards the entrance, being received by
a man with a flail; to the right we are inside, in the courtyard
where officers of various ranks are eating and more supplies
are being taken out.
The columns for inscriptions remain blank, and we do not
know if any of the figures are meant to be Userhat himself.
It is possible that we are witnessing pay day and the bags
were to be filled with provisions and other items for the
personnel.
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The scene below is unique in Egyptian
art as it depicts recruits at leisure and having their heads
shaven (view
10). Some crouch on the floor, others on three-legged
stools. Folding stools are usually reserved for persons
of superior rank, but even such people need the services
of barbers. Below, right, two people even seem to compete
for the privilege of sitting on a folding stool. The entire
scene gives an unusually detailed picture of organising
groups of people (view
11) .
North wall- East side: Userhat's agricultural duties.
Userhat appears to allude to another
side of his duties: inspecting cattle and recording deliveries
of grain.
Recording of heaps of grain is undertaken before him while
above two persons prostrate themselves before some merchandise.
Further behind we see a row of men carrying boxes on their
shoulders(view
13).
The cattle scene above takes up the three upper registers.The
hieroglyphic caption to this picture reads: 'Bringing all
good things by these herdsmen to the royal scribe, deputy
herald, Userhat.' The representations of the cattle (view
15) are painted in the full range of available
colours, though once more on this wall the black pigment
has faded or has vanished.
These agricultural scenes have a dual purpose. In Egypt,
death was interwoven with life, and eternity was seen as
a repetition of events. Nothing illustrated this better
than the ever continuing cycle of inundation, germination
and harvest which, when represented on the walls of the
tomb, involved the tomb owner and gave him a share in cosmic
eternity.
The wall combines representations
of Userhat's life in this world and the next (view
17). In the two lower registers on either side
Userhat is the recipient of the ministrations of the lector
priest, who purifies him with water (left) and opens his
mouth (right). These are episodes of the funerary rites
as they would ideally have taken place. Strictly speaking
they belong with the funerary scenes in the inner room,
but their presence here is justified by the false door,
the gate between the dead and the living, where the vital
communication took place.
He is accompanied by his wife Henutneferet. The couple is
being presented with a large bouquet, the 'bouquet of Amun',
an episode in a series which took place at the Feast of
the Valley (see below) when offerings were traditionally
made to deceased relatives.
At the opposite right end wall of the hall there is a painted
round-topped stela with a symmetrical representation in the
lunette showing the tomb owner in front of Osiris . Below
fan bearers and people carrying bow-cases and a staff with
a pendant belong to the scene on the adjoining wall, facing
it and thus destroying the symmetrical layout of the stela
and surroundings. Their presence provides an indication of
the military nature of Userhat's working environment (view
19).
The
Feast of the Valley
Once a year the divine image of Amun-Re left his abode in
the temple of Karnak across the river to travel in his model
bark carried by priests to the necropolis on the west bank.
As the divine procession passed by, the dead buried in the
tombs theoretically would come out and offer to the god.
Userhat, too, was depicted on
either side of the entrance to his tomb libating and presenting
a burnt offering to the god, who was not represented, for
his own image was present, hidden in a shrine on board the
bark. Borderlines were crossed on this occasion, between
the dead and the living.
The
banquet
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The feast was an occasion for relatives to remember their
dead ancestors, for revering the gods, and for considering
their own future life on earth and eventually beyond the
grave. They gathered in the tombs and feasted on provisions
given to them by the staff of the temples. Whatever is being
consumed here comes from the offering table of the gods.
No tomb of the 18th dynasty was without a banquet scene.
In the tomb of Userhat the scene is situated on the left
rear wall of the hall, that is opposite the entrance with
the figure of Userhat offering and libating, and it takes
up the entire space.
Userhat and Mutnofret (view
21) are shown in the conventional pose for married
couples. The black pigment of wigs and eyes has once more
disappeared. The text above makes reference to Userhat 'sitting
in his booth', one of the episodes of the Valley Feast,
and to 'spending a happy day', the key word to an understanding
of this scene.
Offering scenes, familiar scenes
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..." Here this very motif has a unique
twist, for the couple is not Userhat and his
wife, but the two daughters, the girl facing
them being perhaps the daughter of one of them."
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To the left on the wall is a rather
unusual, if not unique detail (view
23). In most tombs we would find a large-scale
representation of the deceased couple being presented with
a drinking cup or a lotus collar by an adolescent girl usually
referred to as 'their daughter'. Here this very motif has
a unique twist, for the couple is not Userhat and his wife,
but the two daughters, the girl facing them being perhaps
the daughter of one of them. Again the black pigment, including
that used for writing the hieroglyphs, has faded .
Behind the son offering the bouquet to his parents we find
a group of musicians and more female guests The wall is
very worn, but we can make out in the upper register a male
harpist on the right, joined by a female oboe player (whose
instrument is barely visible) and two girls clapping their
hands.
The attendants are heading towards the female guests (view
24) one of whom is being handed a cup from a
servant, who carries a small jar in the other hand. In front
of the lady stands a vessel that may well be a spittoon.
The Egyptians were skilled in the use of herbs of a hypnotic
and sedative nature. One such was the omnipresent lotus
flower, another the fruit of the mandrake. What else would
be contained in the tiny jars brought by servants at banquets
but a herbal extract of such powerful nature? The special
occasion of the religious feast allowed extreme means to
achieve the end: a 'happy' day, laden with promise of sexual,
procreative nature.
Hunting in the desert
On leaving the transverse hall, we enter the corridor that
leads to the innermost focal point of the tomb, the statues
of the deceased couple. On the narrow wall on the left we
find in the top three registers men who are in fact engaged
in the activies depicted on the adjoining wall, and below,
three women who may belong with the entourage of the deceased
couple being offered to on the right.
The first of three scenes depicting sporting activities on
this wall is hunting in the desert, a conventional motif included
in a number of tombs of the 18th dynasty as well as in tombs
of earlier date. Whether it reflects an actual event in Userhat's
life is another matter.
He performs the task mounted in a chariot drawn by a chestnut
and a grey horse (view
29), bow and arrow ready to conquer the chaos of
fleeing animals in front of the horses' hooves.
Could it be that the desert game represents the inimical forces
of chaos, being overcome by Userhat in his chariot for ever?
Or should we adopt the interpretation based on a play of words,
suggesting the word 'shoot' as a metaphor for 'engender'?
Fishing and fowling
We are shown Userhat lifting his boomerang , aiming at the
birds in the thicket, while he grasps in his othei hand three
birds already caught. Above the stylized papyrus thicket .
A boomerang has felled one bird, while the others fly away.
In the following scene, Userhat spears fish by means of a
forked harpoon (view
33). The key to an understanding of the scene lies
in the fish being speared.
These are usually of the genus tilapia. This particular breed
had become a symbol of rebirth, for the Egyptians had observed
that in moments of danger the tilapia would swallow its young,
only to let them out unharmed once the danger had passed.
Thus, spearing the fish was equivalent to mastering eternal
life.
Netting fowl and offering
The sub-scene, briefly encountered on entering the corridor,
depicts offerings before the tomb owner and his wife, preceded
by a scene showing the netting fowl. In such aquatic sub-scenes
we often find the vintage, which in real life would not share
its physical neighbourhood . The vintners tread the grapes
with their feet, holding on to ropes (which have here become
grapevines) while they perform their task at the press (view
38).
The entire right wall of the corridor deals with rites performed
at an ideal funeral (view
39). All activity is directed towards the left,
towards the interior of the tomb .
The lower register shows the traditional
conveyance by boat to the other side of the Nile, the west
bank of the river. The middle register is filled with people
bringing the items necessary for a proper burial with, above,
food displayed in booths. In the upper register a short
procession of men is preceded by mourning women and priests
represented on a large scale.
The coffin of Userhat (view
40), covered in a red and white striped cloth(?)
is placed on a boat which is in turn being pulled along
the desert on a sledge. Below, a dark shrine, containing
perhaps the statues of the deceased couple, is being moved
in a similar manner.
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For a picture of the crucial rites taking place at the burial
we shall have to revert to one of the scenes in the entrance
hall, namely that flanking the false door.
Here took place the vital rites of purification and the
Opening of the Mouth (view
17). When these had been concluded and the mummy
and its equipment placed in the underground burial chamber,
Userhat would then be equipped and ready for his judgement
before Osiris and eternal life in the presence of the deity.
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