Athena Review Image Archive ™
Tomb of Horemheb (KV 57): Burial Chamber, Book of Gates reliefs
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Reliefs from Book of Gates in the Tomb of Horemheb (photo: Davis 1909)
The burial chamber of Horemheb’s tomb contains painted reliefs of scenes from the Book of Gates, a funerary pageant where monumental gates mark every hour of the night on the nocturnal or underworld journey of the sun. This is the earliest apparance of this ritual text in a royal tomb. The origin of the Book of Gates is probably the Book of the Amduat. The Book of Gates is similarly divided into 12 hours of night, representing the journey of the deceased through the underworld.
In Horemheb's Burial Chamber, the portrayal of the Book of Gates was left unfinished, with only the hours from 2 to 6 drawn in (or painted). Above the imagery is descriptive text in hieroglyphic script.
A full English translation of the texts from this tomb is given by Theodore Davis in the excavation report: Davis, Theodore M., Gaston Maspero, Georges Daressy and L. Crane 1912. The Tombs of Harmhabi and Toutânkhamonou. London (Reprinted 2001)
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