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| The journey
of the deceased king on the left walls |
A - The wall on the left
of the entry :
On the wall of entry, to the left of the door, the
king is received as on the right by the goddess Ma'at, then he worships
before the God Ptah.
In front of and above Ma'at : "Words spoken by Ma'at, daughter of Ra, when she receives
her son, the Osiris-king Men-Pehty-Ra so that he can be in front of the
Great Ennead."
Behind the Goddess : "All
protection, all life is around her."
The king pauses in worship before Ptah standing on a
pedestal (view unidia_35651). The God holds a composite sceptre with
the signs of stability and power.
Ptah is evoked as a reminder of Chapter 82 of the Book
of the Dead "Spells to take the form of the God Ptah; to eat bread, to drink
beer, to finally be unfettered, to be a living being in Heliopolis".
One easily sees the Heliopolitan Solar influence,
which Ramesses tried to restore, expressing itself here : Ptah is clearly
the designation of Atum in Heliopolis (Barguet).
Above of the king : "The
Osiris-king Men-Pehty-Ra, son of the sun, Ra-Mes-Su, justified before
Osiris, Great God, Lord of the West, living in Busiris."
Before the king : "Worship the
God, four times, so that he becomes like Ra."
Behind the king : "Like
Ra.".
Above Ptah : "Ptah, Lord of the
Truth, King of the Two Lands, Beautiful Face on his great seat, Great God,
Lord of the Sky, Creator of the Two Lands."
Behind Ptah is a large Djed sign with an inscription
infront and behind : "All protection, life,
stability, power is around it like Ra, for infinite time and eternal
time.".
Reference is made here to Chapter 155 of the Book of
the Dead "Spells for the Djed or gold pillar". Considered as the backbone of
Osiris, a mark of rectification and consolidation, the origin (vegetable ?)
of the sign remains obscure. The Djed pillar was erected in honour of Ptah
of Memphis, then of Osiris. The erection of a magnificant Djed is
represented in one of the chapels of the temple of Sethy I (son of Ramesses
I) at Abydos (view ha_15 and view ha_16.)
B - The left side
wall.
On this wall, there are two groups of representations:
the king between Horus and Anubis and one of the scenes borrowed from the
Book of Gates (3rd division, register of the barque.
1) The king between Horus and
Anubis :
This scene seems have been added to fill an empty
space.
The two gods hold the king by the arm. Anubis is
represented as is the custom. Horus-Son-of-Isis, wears the Double-crown (view
pb_19706). He thus acts here at this time as terrestrial heir to his
father's throne, even becoming an Osiris.
Above the king and the figure of Horus is an
inscription which continues behind the God :
"Osiris-King Men-Pehty-Ra, Son of the Sun, Ra-Mes-Su, justified before
Osiris"
"Words spoken by Horus, Son of Isis, Great God, living
in the Land of Silence : "He established his son, Lord of the Two Lands, on
the throne of (his) father Osiris."
Above Anubis : "Words spoken by Anubis Jmy-wt (=
who-is-in-his-bandages)."
The speech of the gods is placed before them :
Before Horus : "I come before
you, Lord of the Two Lands."
Before Anubis : "I come before
you."
2) The rest of the left
wall is
decorated by representations taken from the Book of
Gates,
which form two registers (which is the 3rd division,
or
4th hour, the register of the barque); minus a door
(except
for the leaf), the upper register, the lower register
with
the exception of the figure of Osiris who is in a
niche
on the back wall (see below).
At the top, above of the representations of the
register, is an Egyptian cornice surmounted by a kheker frieze.
On the leaf which represents the door, a snake, Djedby,
standing on his tail.
The text on the door is in retrograde writing : ",
he opens to Ra. Sia (says) to Djedby: "You can open
your door to Ra. Open for the One of the Horizon (… he who gives light to
the Hidden Chamber). This door is sealed when this Great God has entered
there and those who are in their pylon moan when they hear the door close
itself again on them."
 First register
The barque (view
pb_19702) as well as the characters, are identical to
those of the 2nd division (or 3rd hour) on the
right-hand side wall.
The hauliers of the divine barque move towards nine
coffins which contain black reclining mummies. These are: "The gods following Osiris who are in their
chapels". They are the inhabitants of Douat, the blissful deceased
who, even though inert and in lethargy will be able to resurrect themselves,
to take advantage of the light of the sun and to get rid of their bandages,
to acquire a new body as soon as the barque has arrived at their level. When
the barque has passed, they will fall again in their initial torpor and will
return to their mummified state while waiting for the next return of the
sun.
Above is a text in retrograde writing : "This Great God is hauled by those of the Duat.
The journey of the mysterious region, (it is for)
taking care of those who are in it. Ra says : "Haul me, you of the Duat,
look(?) at me, it is I who follow your creator, use your arms! Haul me among
them, move back toward the eastern sky, toward the place where Osiris rises,
toward this mysterious mountain, (toward) this light which surrounds the
gods. Receive me, when I come out of there, from the Mysterious region! Haul
me, I take care of you by the hidden pylon of those of the Duat!"
"Ra says to them : "Look at me, Oh Gods, be powerful in your chapels! Arise,
Gods! I have determined that you are inside your chapels! You are the
guardians of souls, you who live on their decomposition, who breathes their
light! Your exaltation comes from my disk, your good direction from my
light! What is due to you is for you in the Duat, among what I ordered for
you."
"Their offerings consist of meat, their beer is the Djsrt, their refreshment
is water. They moan when they hear the doors close themselves on
them!"
The second part of the division forms
a second register.
Twelve goddesses are located on two slopes, "the Hours which are in the
Duat", forming two groups of six (view rs_19603_01 and view rs_199603_02). Between the two groups, an enormous
snake "the one who must be removed". Above of the snake, is an inscription :
"Twelve to be extinguished are born in front of her,
here it is that the hours swallow them."
The text which comes with these representations, is in retrograde
writing, which reads :
"They are held on (edges) of
their lake, they direct Ra."
Ra : "Listen, Oh hours, the requests are addressed
to you, act on your account, among you! The place of your rest is your
pylons, your breasts are in the darkness, your posteriors in the light. Stop
(?) the Hereret snake, you who live on what comes out of him. Your portions
are in the Duat! Swallow the children of Hereret so that you can lead me. It
is I who formed you, I acted so that you pay homage to me! You are
satisfied, Oh my inhabitants of the Duat!"
"Their offerings consist of breads, their beer is Djeseret, their
refreshment is water. The offerings which are presented to them consist of
that which comes from before the blissful mind."
From where do these mysterious hours come and where do
they go? (Hornung, Barberio).
Every hour has a clear side and a dark side,
representing the part of the hour that moves toward light and the one
already gone. These goddesses are represented upright on two triangles
surrounding the body of the time-snake. These triangles include a dark part
and a clear rippled part representing darkness and the primordial waters
(Nun).
The snake represents a sort of mass of time from where
are extracted the hours which are then swallowed there again.
C - The back
wall.
1) The niche
In the lower register of the 3rd division (4th hour)
of the Book of Gates, We find Ramesses I in the form of Osiris, in his
particular form of "The one who is the Head of the West", standing on a wavy
snake. In front of him is stands another snake, Meseret, "the Flame",
represented as an uraeus.
A ram-headed god "The one who is in the divine
pavillion" stands behind Osiris, raised arms and hands placed on the
shoulders of the latter, his feet on two vases. The divine pavilion
designating the place of embalming, presided over by Anubis, the ram-headed
god is thought to be an unusual variant of Anubis.
The other walls of the niche are not decorated.
2) The back wall, on the
left
The king is knelt making the ritual Henu gesture
between a god with the head of a dog and another with the head of a falcon,
who personify the Powers (nb: once improperly named souls) of the cities of
Pe and Nekhen. These primordial powers represent the Lower Egypt (Pe = Buto,
in the Delta) and the Upper Egypt (Nekhen = Hierakonpolis), and therefore
the country from one extremity to the other (view
sb_21).
The text above the scene :
"Words spoken by the Powers of
Pe when they cheer the Horus of the horizon, their son, the Osiris-king
Men-Pehty-Ra, son of the sun, Ra-Mes-Su, justified like one them.
Words spoken by the Powers of Nekhen when they cheer
the Lords of the Eternity and the Osiris-king, Lord of the Two Lands,
Men-Pehty-Ra, justified like one of them."
The king is then standing in front of the God Khepri
(view
cm_2004887).
We have here an important
religious
innovation, because
it is the first time that one finds represented, in a
tomb,
a solar divinity. The new concept of the nightly
merger
of the Ba of Ra with the corpse of Osiris is found
here
for the the first time.
The king presents to the God in one hand an vase of
ointment and makes the gesture to dedicate four caskets with the other.
These Meret caskets are intended to contain fabrics or clothes (view
unidia_35658).
The God is seated on a low cuboid throne placed on a
mat and a pedestal; he holds a sceptre and the Ankh sign of life.
Above of the God, one reads : "Atum-Ra-Khepri who illuminates the Two Lands and the Duat,
Great God, Lord of the Ma'at."
The three forms of the sun (early, at the zenith and
at setting) are invoked thus. While choosing to represent Khepri with the
head of a scarab, one implies regeneration, rejuvenation, of the star at its
early rising.
Above of the king : "Osiris-King Men-Pehty-Ra, son of the sun, Ra-Mes-Su,
justified before the council in which is the tiller of the land, Lord for
(of?) Eternity (and) Forever."
Before the characters : "Present the Medjat ointment. To carry the four Meret
caskets, which one does for him eternally."
Thus the king advances
since the entrance toward Osiris, the perpetuation of life, by the right
wall and toward Khepri to become eternal and towards the continuation of
social function by the left.
Sitting in the funeral chamber of which it occupies a
great place (vue rs_199602) is the red granite sarcophagus whose lid has
been broken by the pillagers when they raised it.
The sarcophagus has been finished hastily The
sarcophagus was hastily finished as its decoration testifies. Indeed, it is
simply painted in yellow, the texts and figures not having had the time to
be incised.
Moreover, the representations of the two goddesses,
sisters and protectors of their dead brother Osiris, are rather clumsily
carried out. As was custom, Isis is at the foot (view sb_01) and
Nephtys at the head of the sarcophagus. The two goddesses hold the
hieroglyphic sign "nub" which represents gold. With the employment of the
yellow colour, one sees here the allusion to the Chamber of the Gold, which
is the name of the funeral chamber. Gold, material of the flesh of the gods,
will also be the one of the king.
When Belzoni discovered the tomb, it didn't contain
much.
Two life-size wooden statues of guards however did
survive in the tomb, once covered and inlaid with fine gold leaf. Added to
this are statues with animal heads, some of near-eastern inspiration, of
which a curious statue in wood with the head of turtle, are of obscure
significance. They are currently, for the most part, in the British
Museum.
|
|
The presumed
mummy of the king
|
Following plunderings of the necropolis, the priests
of Amon, in XXIst Dynasty, moved the mummy (as with others) to the tomb of
Amenophis (Amenhotep) II.
All trace of the mummy was then lost until it was
found
in America. Initially in the Niagara Falls Museum, it
went
then to the Museum of Atlanta in Georgia. There, some
experts
identified it as being very certainly the one of the
first
of the Ramesses'. It was repatriated then in Egypt in
2003.
Welcomed like a head of state, the mummy has been
exposed
for a few monthes in the Cairo Museum. Since march 9th
2004, it is in
the museum of Luxor, in a new special room called
"warrior
pharaohs".
This "saga" is
found in the "News" section
of this site for this time and in National
geographic.
A reconstitution in 3D images was carried out, see HERE .
Queen
Sat-Ra, wife of Ramesses, also broke with tradition
when
choosing not to buried with her spouse, but in a
parallel
valley to the Valley of the Kings, and which would
become
the Valley of the Queens, of which she would be the
first
occupant.
Original page
created by Thierry Benderitter
Text par Thierry Benderitter
English
translation by Jon Hirst
Photographs by Unidia-Bruno Sandkühler (unidia),
Richard Sellicks (rs),
Paul Biesta (pb), Christian Mariais (cm),
Christiane Dispot (cd)
3D images de synthèse by Jon Hirst
©
Copyright OsirisNet 2012 |
| Bibliography |
This article is largely inspired from the princeps work of Alexandre
Piankoff (thanks to Raymond Monfort for the article)
- ALDRED Cyril : Two monuments of the reign of Horemheb, JEA, 54,
p. 100-106, 1968
- CLAYTON Peter A. : Chronique des pharaons, Casterman, 1995
- CRUZ-URIBE Eugene : The father of Ramses I : OI 11456, JNES,
37, 3, p. 237-244, 1978
- EMORY UNIVERSITY : Ramses I, the search for the lost pharaoh
- DELVAUX Luc : Amenhotep, Horemheb et Paramessou : les grandes
statues de scribes à la fin de la 18e dynastie, in : L'atelier de l'orfèvre.
Mélanges offerts à Philippe Derchain, p. 47-53, Peeters-Leuven, 1992
- FRANCO Isabelle : Les textes de la vallée des rois, in Les
Pharaons, Flammarion, 2002
- FRANCO Isabelle : Les grands pharaons et
leur oeuvre, Pygmalion, 2001
- GIBSON Gayle: The unfinished history of the Niagara Falls
Museum, KMT,11,4,2000
- HORNUNG Erik : The ancient Egyptian books of the afterlife,
Cornell University Press, 1999
- HORNUNG Erik : The valley of the kings,
Timken,1990
- HORNUNG Erik : Les tombes de la vallée des
rois, in Les Pharaons, Flammarion, 2002
- JOHNSON George B. : KV16, the tomb of Rameses I in the Valley
of the kings, KMT,11,4,2000
- LALOUETTE Claire: L'empire des Ramsès, Fayard, 1985
- LALOUETTE Claire: Thèbes, Fayard, 1986
- LEGRAIN Georges : Remarques sur les statues de Paramessou Fils
de Sethi, ASAE 14, p. 32-38, 1914 (downloadable
on the university of Toronto website)
- PIANKOFF Alexandre : La tombe de Ramsès
Ier. BIFAO 56, 1957 (p. 189-200)
- PORTER Bertha, MOSS Rosalind :
Topographical bibliography of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic texts, reliefs
and paintings, Second Edition, Tome II, p. 534-535, Griffith Institute,
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1994
- REEVES Nicholas, WILKINSON Richard H. : The complete valley of
the kings, Thames and Hudson, 1997
- The Theban mapping project
- TROPE Betsy T, LACOVERA Peter : A pharaoh in Atlanta?
KMT,14,2,2003
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