The Tomb of Ta-Ḏḥwty sȝt Ḥr-tȝ (Tathoutis daughter of Herta): Tomb 1 in the Necropolis of Bir el-Shaghala: The Architecture and the Paintings in the Antechamberمقبرة تا-چحوتي ابنة حر-?

Abstract

Tomb 1 at Bir el-Shaghala (Dakhla Oasis) is a mausoleum-like structure belonging to Ta-Ḏḥwty sȝt Ḥr-tȝ (Tathoutis daughter of Herta). The ground floor has an open-air court and an antechamber and two burial chambers with painted wall decoration. The upper floor has a chapel and a pyramid, which is the largest from a private tomb. The upper part witnessed two phases of use: two vaults were added inside the pyramid and two banqueting rooms to its north. The tomb’s layout is modeled on late dynastic pyramidal tombs, but the vaulted rooms isolate it as a distinctive type. The antechamber decoration shows many anomalies: the ba of Re, Tutu, and Horus Great of Strength all have human bodies. An apotheosis scene is unique in a tomb from Roman Egypt, as is the ceiling frieze of ba-birds and an Abydene fetish. The paintings in the rooms show stylistic affinities to the Kharga Coffin Group and attest to common motifs used in tombs and funerary objects in the oases. The tomb is datable to late 1st century CE on the basis of its architecture and paintings.