TOMB OF KHETY I (Beni Hasan) The Tomb of Khety I is the BH17 of the Necropolis of Beni Hasan. Khety lived during the XI Dynasty, under the reign of Sesostris I, and succeeded his father Bakt III with the title of Governor of the Nome of the Oryx. He was married with Khnumhotep and had a son named Khety. The tomb has a width of about 39 feet and a depth of about 52 feet. It survive only two of the six original columns with closed lotiforme capitals that supported the roof. On the east wall we can see typical scenes of the period: scenes of wrestlers on five registers and scenes of battles on two registers. The decorations on the north wall show us Khety in two different scenes: - in the first scene we see him sitting on a low-backed chair and legs worked in the shape of lions paw. Before him a table lavishly laid with the offerings and above a herd of cattle from different colors. - Khety, in the second scene, takes with his left hand the scepter Sekhem and is accompanied by his wife Khnumhotep. Above Khnumhotep we see two singers and two harpists. More over a hunting scene in the desert. On the west wall, on which is depicted the false door, we can see, in the upper registers, some men that lead to pasture oxen, donkeys and goats. Below two registers with depictions of boats. In the upper register the boats are pushed rowing, so we have to presume that the boats are going against the current, to the south. Instead we dont see, in the lower register, the rowers and thus the boats are going to the north following the current. The south wall shows us two scenes where the protagonist is Khety. We can see him dressed in a panther skin symbol of priesthood. With his left hand he holds the scepter Sekhem and in his right hand the stick, both symbols of his authority. In front of his face we see an imaginary animal. Behind him is his wife Khnumhotep above which we see a harpist, a singer and a woman feeding a baby. In the first two of the four registers above Khety and Khnumhotep we see scenes that illustrate the grape harvest, the pressing, the squeezing and the final pouring of the wine. In the register below we see a scene on the capture of birds. To the right of the scene described above, we see some men engaged in gymnastic exercises and games. Also on the south wall we see a scene in which Khety, that holds the scepter Sekhem and the stick symbols of his power, is followed by some of his servants, including the fan-bearer, the sandals-bearer and two dwarves. In front of his legs we see one of his dogs and a baboon. For further informations visit my website: my-egypt.it/middle-egypt/beni-hasan-2/
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 15:10:15 +0000
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