Egyptian Wallpaper Patterns
From Prep08Wiki
Some of the tombs of the nobles and craftsmen in Thebes had tessellations on their ceilings. Below are some images we were able to find. It's a rather random collection of images. Note: click on the images to see larger versions of the photographs.
From the tomb of Amenemhat we have a fairly rare ceiling decorated with grapes and leaves (grape leaves?. This is one of the earliest tombs mentioned on this page. Amenemhat was from a Worker's Village near Thebes and one of the men responsible for preparing the royal tombs from that time period. For more information about Amenemhat's tomb see Tomb 340 on Osirisnet Tomb of Amenemhat
The tomb of Tuthmosis (sometimes written as Djehutymes) has very different decorations on its ceiling. One of the photographs shows several panels decorated in different patterns. The other photographs show some detail and another pattern from elsewhere in the tomb. Tuthmosis's tomb dates to a time which should be a couple of years before that of Sennedjem (see below). Tuthmosis was a priest and one of his titles refers to the "chest of Anubis". Anubis was a jackal headed god and related to funerary rites. For more information see Theban Tomb 296 on Osirisnet Tomb of Tuthmosis (Djehutymes)
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Different patterns were used in the tomb of Inherkau (Theban Tomb 359). Inherkau lived in 1150 BCE and was a foreman of the tomb workers. He would have been incharge of organizing and leading the workers who dug and decorated the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. He dates to the time of Ramesses III and slightly later. More information about his tomb can be founs on Osirisnet's page Inherkau's tomb
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The courtier Roy was a steward of the house of King Horemheb. His titles indicate that he lived in the period following shortly after the death of Tutankhamen. The tomb (Theban tomb 255) is not very large but has some interesting decorations. More information about Roy's tomb can be found on Osirisnet's page Roy's tomb
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We will finish out the page with the famous ceiling from the tomb of Sennefer. This tomb (Theban Tomb 96) is sometimes called the tomb of the vines. Sennefer was Mayor of the city of Thebes and related to some other high officials. Sennefer predates an official like Roy - who's mentioned above - by some 100 years. For more information see Osirisnet's page Tomb of Sennefer
And a ceiling from a royal palace in Thebes. The supposed grand-father of Pharaoh Tutankhamen had a large palace complex built on the occassion of one of his festivals. This palace in Malqata included rooms for the King , at least two of his queens, housing for his officials, and several artificially created lakes. The ceiling shown here is a reconstruction by the team from the team of Waseda University. It would have decorated the ceiling of the King's bedroom. A better quality image can be found on thier website Waseda University's reconstruction of a ceiling
