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TT31, the tomb of Khonsu , also called To (or Ta) .in the valley of the nobles-luxor -thebe





Nothing much has survived. On the left is the remains of an area of water surrounding a square-shaped island on which would have taken place the rituals on the mummy. To the right, the area is divided into two sub-registers. Here more detail has survived.

This sketch is a reminder of the image found in tomb TT222, a very damaged and burned tomb dating from the 18th Dynasty but usurped by Heqamaatrenakht - nicknamed Turo - in the 20th Dynasty (probably under Ramesses IV). This character, as well as his sons, were also priests of Montu.

At the top, a funeral barque floats on a pond where lotuses, whose flowers are open or closed, are represented. It is known that this is a way of representing both states of the deceased, life and lethargy. The internal part of the rectangular water area is paler to indicate the slope of the bank of the island, where numerous plants are growing. A small flight of steps, located bottom left, allows visitors to gain a foothold onto the island and to enter inside the building represented by the white walls. There, a sarcophagus has been raised on a small platform. Assisted by Isis, a priest with the shaven skull ("His son, the first prophet of Montu, Lord of Thebes, Panebmontu"), with a white strap across his chest, makes a libation, symbolised by a series of ankh crosses, pours from a vase and flows around the sarcophagus. In front of the priest is a pile of offerings, dominated by a large bouquet. The scene was duplicated to the righT this time with Nephthys, located extreme right, helping the officiant. Between them is a smaller offering scene of an animal.


Already, by the time of Khonsu, the classic representation of the journey to Abydos had passed from fashion. It is possible that the journey in the barque on the pond is a substitute for the navigation of Osiris in his Nechemet (funerary) barque at the time of nocturnal festivals in Abydos. Whilst the rituals accomplished on the central island assimilate the deceased to the great god of death, under the supervision of the two goddesses Isis and Nephthys. In TT222 is also a prayer to Osiris, shows close solidarity with the themes of the receipt of the offerings, of the return to the living, of the walk in the garden and the involvement in the festivals".

To the right of this pond are two scenes (one above the other) with seated characters, to whom a priest dedicates some offerings. Nearly nothing remains in the bottom scene, whilst in the top, the character who receives the offering is identified as "The high-priest of Sobek, Usermontu" and behind him is "His mother, Ruia" and "His sister, Tjesy, the daughter of Ruia".

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