by Jimmy Dunn writing as Mark Andrews

One may wonder, with more Royal tombs and grand temples on the West Bank at Luxor (ancient Thebes), why bother waste time visiting any non-royal tombs. After all, they are much smaller, for the most part, than the grand royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and in many cases, the artists who decorated the non-royal tombs could not have been as skilled.

Yet these tombs of the high officials and and nobles of Egypt are practically unique within Egypt. While their decorative plan usually includes religious themes, they also often include scenes of ordinary life and in brilliant colors that could only survive in a tomb. They represent one of our most important sources of information on the lives of the more ordinary Egyptians. In fact, royal tombs can be monotonous, because their decorative plans follow fairly set guidelines. Private tombs can be very diverse.

Nakht was a scribe, holding the title, "Astronomer of Amun" at the Karnak temple during the 18th dynasty. His job was to study the location of stars, the sun and moon in order to schedule festivals and cult rituals for the temple. His wife, Tawy, was a musician of Amun. We know nothing about Nakht and Tawy beyond their tomb, and it is even unclear what king they served under, though some evidence points to Tuthmosis IV.

His tomb is TT 52 on the west bank. It is located within the area of the Abd el-Qurna necropolis. It was apparently discovered by villagers at Qurna prior to being cleared by the Antiquities Service in 1889. In 1917, an English Egyptologists named Norman de Garis Davies and his wife, Nina published information on the tomb which received worldwide attention.

The tomb is unique in that, during the 1980's, experimental restoration and protective measures were employed to preserve the tombs decoration. This process, involving sophisticated technology requiring complete insulation with sheets of glass over all of the vestibule walls (the only part of the tomb that is decorated), ended up being to expensive and difficult for large scale use.

This tomb is not large, and consists of a small corridor, a vestibule, another short corridor and the chapel, which includes a niche for a statue and a shaft.

The decorative plan for this tomb does include religious depictions, showing scenes of offerings and funeral rites. However, their are also paintings of rural life, including the cultivation of grain, digging of small canals for irrigation, harvesting, fishing and and hunting in the Nile Delta. Actually, some of the art work in this tomb is well known.

Entering the vestibule and turning left, towards the entrance's adjoining wall, we first encounter various scenes of country life. At first we see peasants sowing seeds from a container. They are then planted in the ground by a second peasant, using wooden utensils. In the second scene, we find two farmers (see also Peasant Farmers) plowing fields with a wooden plow pulled by two oxen. Finally, we find two groups of peasants tossing grain in the air in order to winnow it. Turning the corner, we find a false door, with paintings of the goddess Nut gathering offerings. The ancient Egyptians believed that the dead could pass through the false door and inhabit statues in order to receive funerary offerings. This idea is reinforced on the door by six offering bearers who, while kneeling, offer water, beer, wine, clothing, unguent, fruit and vegetables. On the left back wall we find paintings of the funerary banquet. The first scene shows a servant helping three ladies with their jewelry. The next scene is very famous, and shows three lady musicians.

On the right rear wall of the vestibule are hunting, fishing and grape harvesting scenes. The first painting is of Nakht's wife, Tawi, holding a small bird. Next there is a double scene, with flocks of rising birds. Nakhjt is portrayed with his wife and two small sons in a papyrus boat, grasping a hunting stick. The next scene is also a double register. The top register shows peasants gathering grapes, while others press them to make wine. In the lower register the days catch of birds are being dragged in a net, while others are sown carefully plucking and cleaning the birds.

Turning the corner once again, we find bearers of offerings and priests before Nakht and his wife. Finally, on the right hand wall back adjacent to the entrance are scenes depicting purification of the offerings before the deceased.

文/吉米·邓恩

宽敞大厅南墙上的石碑显示了男人为死者的照像提供祭品。在此之下，坚果展示在一堆产品之前。因此，这一场景表明，死者并不完全依赖他们的家庭供奉，而是可以依靠“神圣的来源”。类似的场景也可以在旧王国墓葬的墙壁上找到，描绘了人们为死者带来祭品的游行。然而，马利克写道，新王国墓葬中的祭祀场景比旧王国更为罕见。

在宽阔的大厅入口旁边的东墙上描绘了两个相应的场景。这些场景表明纳赫特和他的妻子塔维为灵魂提供了礼物，他们从门口出现的阳光表现出来。这个场景被描绘成显示来世的地球仪式的继续- 在新王国中，私人可以获得来世意味着他们可以期望进入芦苇领域。

西墙南侧的一个场景代表了一个宴会场景。这种类型的场景经常出现在新王国的墓葬中。死者的家人，在这种情况下，纳赫特和塔维也被音乐家和舞者一起欣赏。马雷克写道“家庭场景频繁”，因为他们强调家庭的亲密关系以及他们在来世中的共同生存。然而，这些场景也可能具有来世的性或强烈目的。曼尼希写道，通过在坟墓中加入这样的场景，死者可以保证在以后的效力。她写道，宴会场景“充满了这样的参考”，其中包括曼荼罗和莲花，这些都是女性在第二次登记册中所持有的。这些类型的场景在新王国底比斯墓葬中非常普遍。

在东墙的南侧，有一个农业场景。纳赫特在监督正在耕种，播种和收割田地的人时表现出来。农业的场景可能表明纳赫特在芦苇丛中的生命延续。然而，正如诺博勒科特所暗示的那样，这些场景可能通过农业过程，季节来隐喻地表现出永恒的生命。如果诺博勒科特的观点是准确的，那么场景就不同于旧王国的石室坟墓，其中任何农业场景的设计主要是为了神奇地确保死者遗产的农业连续性，从而为他们的灵魂提供食物。 

在西墙的北侧，纳赫特在另一个频繁描绘的场景中展示：捕鱼和捕鱼场景。这种类型的场景也常见于新王国，尽管它们在旧王国的乳房中并不少见，但在后者中，它们的主要目的是为死者提供神奇的食物。在纳赫特的坟墓中，他和他的家人一起展示着捕鱼和飞鱼。戴维斯（1917：66）认为“维持......并不总是通过严厉的劳动从土壤中获取”，这表明这个场景被用来表示一种在死后以不同的方式接受食物的形式，用于娱乐已故和艺术性的变化。然而，他们有不同的解释，如宴会场景，戴维斯写道，所有这些场景可能都有一个更重要的主题，一起展示死者家属。他写道，埃及人享受着家庭生活，“几乎每一面墙上的家庭团体都见证了家人对死亡生存的力量”，这表明坟墓场景的一个目的是保证他们的公司不会死亡。

建筑和装饰为埃及人的来世提供了很多证据。由于坟墓被分成两个房间，可以说他们认为他们的死亡分为两部分，他们的来世和死亡与来世之间的过渡阶段，后者没有在纳赫特墓中描绘。装饰表明，与旧王国的信仰相反，正如孟斐斯的石室坟墓的墙壁所描绘的那样，其最重要的功能是描绘了死后的生活，与家人一起，有创造力和效力的迹象，以及“因此底比斯的画面在第十八王朝的坟墓中生活是一个清晰的存在镜子......周围的家园，热爱大自然的埃及人喜欢住在这里。

Artist:Norman de Garis Davies (1865–1941)

Artist: Lancelot Crane (1880–1918)

Period:New Kingdom

Dynasty:Dynasty 18

Reign:reigns of Thutmose IV–Amenhotep III

Date:ca. 1400–1352 B.C.

Geography:Original from Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Tomb of Nakht, TT 52, chapel, east wall, south side [PM (4)], MMA Graphic Expedition, 1907–1908

Medium:Tempera on paper

Dimensions:Framed: 171.5 cm (67 1/2 in.); w. 226.7 cm (89 1/4 in.); th. 6.4 cm (2 1/2 in.)

Scale: 1:1

Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1915

Accession Number:15.5.19b

^Baikie, James (1932). Egyptian Antiquities in the Nile Valley. Methuen.

^ Porter, Bertha and Moss, Rosalind, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs and Paintings Volume I: The Theban Necropolis, Part I. Private Tombs, Griffith Institute. 1970 ASIN: B002WL4ON4, pg 99-102

^ Norman de Garis Davies, The Tomb of Nakht at Thebes, Robb de Peyster Tytus Memorial Series, Volume 1, Publications of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1917

^ Malek, Jaromir: Egyptian Art, Phaidon Press Limited, New York, 1999, reprinted 2002, pp 240, 243

^ Manniche, Lise: The so-called scenes of daily life in the private tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty from Strudwick, Nigel and Taylor, John, The Theban Necropolis: Past Present and Future, The British Museum Press, London, 2002