The Tomb of Menna

The Tomb of Menna
This fine tomb belongs to the Scribe of the Fields under Thutmose IV. It is in a good state of preservation, apart from the face of Menna which has been deliberately destroyed.

Tomb of Menna

On the left-hand entrance wall (a) Menna can be seen before a table of offerings. Further along at (b) are agricultural scenes: grain being measured, recorded, winnowed and trodden. The ploughing and sowing is followed by reaping. A young girl removes a thorn from a friend’s foot (bottom row), and two girls quarrel (immediately above). At (c) Menna watches a ship docking with a cargo of stores.

Tomb of Menna

On the left-hand wall of the rear corridor (d) are funerary scenes of the pilgrimage to Abydos in fine detail and brilliant colour. Menna’s heart is weighed before Osiris (the tongue of the balance has been destroyed). On the right-hand wall (e) is the famous fishing and fowling scene among the papyrus thickets. The deceased nobleman is enjoying his favourite pastime. Coloured fowl rise from the rushes. Crocodile, duck and assorted fish are in the water. Menna’s daughter kneels to pluck a lotus flower from the rushes but his throwing stick has been deliberately cut through.

Tomb of Menna

To the right of the fishing scene (f) is a ship (top row) from which one of the sailors leans over the side to fill a vessel with water from the river. The right-hand entrance wall (g) shows that Menna usurped this tomb, covering the original reliefs with stucco and redecorating it, hence the deliberate damage to his face, presumably done by relatives of the original owner.

Posted in: The Tomb of Menna