Shop Japan Tomb of the Workman Sennedjem (TT 1)

Tomb of the Workman Sennedjem (TT 1)

Sennedjem served as a “Servant in the Place of Truth” – a workman on the gang who built and decorated the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. He is known to have lived in the village of Deir el-Medina during the reign of Seti I and into the early part of that of Ramesses II. This was a time of economic prosperity, both for the country at large and for the community of Deir el-Medina. The village cemetery contains some of the best examples of private tomb decoration in the entire Theban necropolis. Hardly surprising given that their owners were responsible for the magnificent royal tombs of the age.

Judging from both his house and his richly decorated and equipped tomb, Sennedjem came from a relatively affluent family. The exquisitely painted scenes from his tomb are some of the best preserved from this period. And it has even been possible to trace the hand of the same draftsmen in the work of his own tomb to that of his patron, Seti I, in the Valley of the Kings. In addition to the interment of Sennedjem and his wife, the subterranean suite of rooms within TT 1 would have served as a burial place for other members of his family as well as for future generations. The tomb lay undisturbed for over 3,000 years until its discovery in 1886, when the mummies of Sennedjem and several of his immediate family were recovered still lying at peace in their colourful anthropoid coffins, surrounded by an assortment of burial paraphernalia.

Date of Construction: Reign of Seti I / early Ramesses II (c. 1296 – 1275 B.C.)

Highlights:
Scenes of Sennedjem & wife in the “Field of Iaru (Reeds)”
Sennedjem before the ten “Guardians of the Gates”
Vignette of the “Tree Goddess”