Nakht was an Ancient Egyptian official who held the position of a scribe and astronomer of Amun, probably during the reign of Thutmose IV in the Eighteenth Dynasty. He is buried in the Theban Necropolis in tomb TT52.
The tomb architecture and decoration conforms to the standard design of Theban tombs of the New Kingdom by using such scenes that are commonly found in contemporary tombs. Some of these decorations display differences from scenes found in Old Kingdom mastabas of Memphis, where one of the principal functions of the tomb was to ensure magical sustenance for the ka, whereas in the New Kingdom tombs, the primary function was to identify oneself on the tomb walls.
The tomb has the typical T-shaped architectural design that was common for non-royal Theban tombs of the New Kingdom; there was a broad hall, which followed from the entrance and court. This led into an inner chamber, the long hall, and the shrine, which was situated in a niche, containing the statue of the deceased. These chambers were designed to contain scenes for the service of the dead in their afterlife.
Essentially, this architectural design is somewhat similar to that of the bipartite mastabas of the Old Kingdom, which contained two main chambers, the offering chapel and the burial chamber, as these New Kingdom tombs also contain two main chambers. However, in the latter tombs both of the chambers are created for different purposes to that of the chambers within the Old Kingdom mastabas. Within the mastaba, the offering chapel was dedicated to the sustenance of the deceased beyond death by magically providing food and water. Such scenes are generally not depicted as often in the New Kingdom tombs.
Sign pointing to the Tombs of the Nobles.
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Tomb of Nakht.
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Tomb of Nakht Plan.
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Courtyard and Entry (A)
The tomb is now entered via a set of modern steps just wider than the actual entrance. The entrance passageway is narrow, less than 1 m (3.3 ft), but just less than 2 m (6.6 ft) in height. The short length of its side walls are undecorated and the external uprights (also undecorated) are, like the lintel, reasonably modern.
Courtyard and Entry (A).
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Transverse Chamber (B)
Having passed through the Entry (A) passage, the colourfully decorated transverse chamber spreads out on either side, with the entry to the Inner Chamber (C) directly opposite, in the facing wall. This first chamber is approximately 5 x 1.5 m (16.4 x 4.9 ft) in dimension, with a height of just less than 2 m (6.5 ft).
Scene 1: Sacrificial scene
The sacrificial scene of the owner and his wife is a common theme in tomb painting of the period. The sacrificial scene is depicted similarly on both sides of the entrance. The couple is in front of a high sacrificial pile of offerings. A rich sacrifice is made to the gods. The sacrificed goods are usually depicted scattered over a large area. Nakht performs the sacrifice by pouring myrrh and incense from a vessel onto the sacrificial pile. Lady Tawy is at her husband's side and seems uninvolved. She holds a menat in one hand and a sistrum bow-shaped musical instrument in the other. The objects identify her as a singer at the temple of Amun.
The sacrificial scene alludes to the annual valley festival in West Thebes. The gods to whom sacrifices are made here are not represented figuratively, but are named in inscriptions above the couple's heads. They are the imperial god Amun-Ra, the sun god Ra-Horakhty, and the death god Osiris, as well as the lesser gods Hathor and Anubis.
The image of the couple at the sacrifice is probably the most important representation of the tomb, as Nakht and Tawy are very large and represented in festive robes and occupy almost the entire height of the wall. Here, as in all other representations, Nakht wears traditional clothing.
Sacrificial scene (1).
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Scene 2: Offering bearers
Offering bearers are depicted in three registers. There are four bearers in the top two registers and three in the bottom register. They bring papyrus plants, grapes, poultry, desert gazelles and calves intended for Nakht burnt offering. They are also intended for cultic care of the deceased. The lowest, fourth register is missing on this wall.
Scene 2: Gift carriers.
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Scene 3: Agriculture
Since the Old Kingdom, the depiction of agricultural scenes has been a popular motif in tombs, even if the person buried there had no connection to agriculture. Such representations showed the care of the deceased in the afterlife.
On the right side, Nakht is perched on a canopy and watching the work. On the other side of the picture we can see a worker drinking from a water bag. In between, a bump or a creek runs through the picture, which, among other things, surrounds a small lake and thus aims to show a landscape-related spatiality. Farmers can be seen sowing seeds, clearing trees and hoeing a vegetable field. Two teams of cattle are shown plowing. In the register above we can see a group of farmers with sickles, followed by a grain gatherer, and next to them two farmers who are trying to control an overflowing basket. One of the two is painted during a jump, reminiscent of a time lapse or slow motion. At the end of the picture we see two girls in front of a flax field. Above that, on the right edge, there is another depiction of Nakht sitting in a canopy. It takes up the space of two registers. The caption there says:
«Sitting in a booth and looking at his fields; the serving-priest of [Amon, the scribe Nakht, justified], triumphant before the great god»
Accordingly, Nakht supervised the work in his own fields. In the middle register he observes two men measuring the amount of grain, above in the top register grain throwers who free the grain from the remains of the husks and straw by throwing them into the air.
Scene 3: Agriculture.
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Scene 4: Offerings
The right narrow wall, which lies opposite the false door wall and thus the main place of worship, also deals with the material provision of the deceased in the realm of the dead. This figure is also divided into two registers. Both are about the same size and show Nakht and his wife sitting at overloaded offering tables. we can see bread, meat, fruit and baskets full of blue grapes. Beneath it are jugs and bouquets of sticks entwined with lotus blossoms.
In the upper register, two rows of sacrificial bearers approach the deceased, led by a priest dressed in a panther skin. The bearers bring flowers, jars of oil and ointment. In the lower register four individual priests are depicted who also bring offerings. The paintings on this wall have not been completed.
Scene 4: Offerings.
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Scene 5: False door
The left narrow side served as the main place of worship of the tomb. A false door is depicted in the center of the image. It is speckled red and is intended to imitate rose granite. The false door was the most important element in an ancient Egyptian tomb because, according to the Egyptians' ideas, false doors were a connection to the world of the dead and the deceased could pass through them into the world of the dead and return to the tomb. He was also able to accept sacrifices made here. That's why six kneeling offering bearers are depicted strictly symmetrically around the door. Inscriptions explain the offerings they made, including water, beer, wine, clothing and ointments. A figurative high sacrificial pile rises in the middle under the door, which is stocked with bread, fruit, vegetables, meat and poultry. On either side is a woman wearing a robe and wearing a tree as a headdress. The trees and other offerings in their hands identify them as personifications of fertility. At the edge, other gift bearers approach with offering tables in their hands.
Scene 5: False door.
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Scene 6: Hunting, harvesting and bird catching
The image is divided into two main registers. On the left side of both registers, Nakht and Tawy are again depicted in front of a large pile of offerings. Both observe the processes that lead to the provision of the offerings. In the lower small register of the two-part register we can see a large net filled with birds as well as the plucking and gutting of the birds. The small register above shows the harvest, the pressing of the grapes, the collecting of the must in a basin and the bottling in amphoras.
The upper register is dominated by a single representation. Nakht is seen twice in large format while hunting in the papyrus thicket. At one point he holds a throwing stick in his hand with which he hunts for poultry, at the other time his posture suggests that he is catching fish with a spear. However, the spear was not made by the painter. Nakht is accompanied by his wife, three children and his servants. However, it is not just the hunt that is apparent at first glance that is depicted, rather, an image motif that has been known since the Old Kingdom is being passed on and is also firmly rooted in religious ideas. The papyrus thicket is considered a mythical site of fertility and regeneration. That's why the family members who wouldn't actually have been present for the sporty leisure activity of hunting are also shown. The depiction of the family symbolizes a posthumous generation of offspring. The hunting aspects of the image, for their part, are a symbol of victory over the chaotic forces that threaten the divine world order.
In general, some aspects of the mostly conservative representation of Nakht points to the reign of Amenhotep II, but here the relatively wide belt suggests a date to the time of Thutmose IV.
The depictions on this wall are also based on common forms, some of which have been in use since the Old Kingdom. The contrasting depiction of the tomb owner already exists in the tomb of Sabni in Aswan from the Sixth Dynasty and in the tomb of Menena, which was also found in West Thebes and dates to around the same time as the tomb of Nakht. Also from this period and from a Theban tomb comes the depiction of a fish hunt in the tomb of Userhat and in the tomb of Ankhtifi, which was found in Mo'alla and is dated to the First Intermediate Period. However, none of these depictions can today compare to the splendor of the colors in the Tomb of Nakht.
Scene 6: Hunting, harvesting and bird catching.
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Scene 7: The "Beautiful Festival of the Desert Valley"
The most famous details of the tomb's frescoes are within this image. It is now in the worst condition of all the Nakht's tomb paintings. Celebrations on the occasion of the "Beautiful Festival of the Desert Valley" are shown. During the celebrations, cult statues of the gods Amun, Mut and Khonsu were brought in a ceremonial procession from Karnak to West Thebes to symbolically visit the mortuary temples in the Valley of the Kings. The target was the Deir el-Bahari basin. During this festival, the families of the area gathered in front of the tombs of their ancestors to celebrate with them, probably in the forecourt of the tombs. In addition, the other cult spaces were probably also included in the festivities.
In the lower register, which extends into the second register, Amenemope, the sacrificial son of Nakht, is depicted in front of a sacrificial table filled with rich offerings, and his parents seated behind him. Beneath his chair, which resembles a bench, is one of the most recognizable details of the paintings from this tomb, a cat eating a fish. With him we can see the deterioration of the pictures in an exemplary manner. While the depiction on Davies' copy is still completely intact, part of the underside of the animal is now missing.
The best-known and most widespread scene from this tomb follows. we can see a group of three musicians: a harp player, a lute player and a flute player. The individuality of the individual figures and their joint composition is always particularly emphasized when they are included in the tomb paintings. The musicians take up about one and a half registers, and additional offerings are shown above to fill the second register. On the left there are three seated women in the lower register, and three seated men above them in the second register, certainly participants in the festival. While the musicians playing in front of them are shown individually and in motion, the six people are painted very stiffly and schematically.
Above these two lower registers, only the larger part of another register remains. A well-known scene is also depicted here, a blind musician playing the harp. He sits cross-legged in front of six women taking part in the festival. These are seated on a papyrus mat. The person closest to the harpist smells a lotus flower. Behind it we can see two women with fruit in their hands and finally a group of three people lined up, being served by a small, almost completely naked female figure. The women's wigs, which followed a frequently changing fashion during the times of Amenhotep II and Thutmose IV, make dating easier. The traditional three-part wig can only be seen on the tree goddesses on the false door side. The participants in the festival are all depicted with the modern one-piece wig, which in turn is shown in several variations. For example, the lengths and hairstyles differ here. However, the hairstyle fashions did not alternate directly, but sometimes continued to exist side by side. The newer hairstyles shown have the same style as the women's dresses that are worn at the festival - slightly yellowish in color, tight-fitting, the hem pulled over the heel to the floor and combined with a wide, transparent cape that covers one arm or one shoulder covered and appears as if it were knotted in front of the chest - clearly from the time of Thutmose IV.
Scene 7: The "Beautiful Festival of the Desert Valley"
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Scene 7 musicians detail
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Scene 7 female guest detail
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Inner Chamber (C)
The Inner Chamber (C) is entered through the passageway in the center of the rear (west) wall of the Transverse Chamber (B).
The Inner Chamber (C) is somewhat irregular in shape, but it is oriented on the general axis with the main entrance to the complex. This chamber is undecorated, but it was plastered in readiness. The important depictions which would normally have been included here are thus missing. These include: the funerary procession with the transportation of his funerary material, the pilgrimage to Abydos, the essential rituals leading to the deceased's transformation into the blessed one, the various rituals on his mummy (most importantly, the opening of the mouth ceremony) followed by the welcome by the goddess of the west and by Osiris.
Inner Chamber (C)
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Niche (D)
A small niche, about 0.5 m (19.6 in) wide, 0.7 m (27.5 in) tall and 0.5 m (19.6 in) deep, located in the back wall, is slightly set off-center towards the left.
This perhaps once contained a kneeling statue, although, because there is no proof of this, it may have held a small dual seated statue of Nakht and his wife, but no remains of such a statue has been found.
Shaft (E)
The Shaft (E) to the Subterranean Chambers (F) occupies a large area of the floor space in the Inner Chamber (C), in an almost central position.
The examination of the shaft and the underground burial chamber brought to light the single most important find, that of the small painted statue of the kneeling figure of Nakht. The opening at the top of the shaft measures about 1.5 x 0.9 m (4.9 x 2.9 ft), having a depth of about 4.5 m (14.7 ft), narrowing slightly during its vertical descent.
Subterranean Chambers (F)
The actual chambers are found to lie, as usual, on the west side of the shaft, 4.5 m (14.7 ft) down. They consists of two intersecting chambers rough in shape and with an extremely low, approximately 1 m (3.2 ft) in height ceiling.
Little of value was found in the debris, any woodwork which had not been removed being much affected by dry-rot. There was every indication that the furniture had been very limited and of mediocre quality; but, though the evidence for it is scanty, all the remains which were found appear to be those of the original interments.
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