The Theban Tomb TT95 is located in

Sheikh Abd el-Qurna The necropolis of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna () is located on the West Bank at Thebes, Egypt, Thebes in Upper Egypt. It is part of the archaeological area of Deir el-Bahari, and named after the domed tomb of the local saint. This is the most frequently v ...

, part of the

Theban Necropolis The Theban Necropolis () is a necropolis on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes, Egypt, Thebes (Luxor) in Upper Egypt. It was used for ritual burials for much of the Ancient Egypt, Pharaonic period, especially during the New Kingdom of Egyp ...

, on the west bank of the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

, opposite to

Luxor Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...

. The tomb belongs to an

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian named Mery, who was a

High Priest of Amun The High Priest of Amun or First Prophet of Amun ('' ḥm nṯr tpj n jmn'') was the highest-ranking priest in the priesthood of the ancient Egyptian god Amun. The first high priests of Amun appear in the New Kingdom of Egypt, at the beginnin ...

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...

, during the reign of pharaoh

Amenhotep II Amenhotep II (sometimes called Amenophis II and meaning "Amun is Satisfied") was the seventh pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. He inherited a vast kingdom from his father Thutmose III, and held it by means of a few military campaigns i ...

of the

18th Dynasty The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVIII, alternatively 18th Dynasty or Dynasty 18) is classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty ...

. Mery was the son of the First Prophet of Min of

Koptos Qift ( ; ''Keft'' or ''Kebto''; Egyptian Gebtu; ''Coptos'' / ''Koptos''; Roman Justinianopolis) is a city in the Qena Governorate of Egypt about north of Luxor, situated a little south of latitude 26° north, on the east bank of the Nile. In a ...

(Qift) named Nebpehtire and the Lady Hunayt. Mery's wife was named Dey. Mery also partially usurped the tomb of the royal herald Iamunedjeh TT84 for himself and his mother.O’Connor and Cline (eds), ''Thutmose III: A New Biography'', p. 89

Tomb

The tomb consists of a pillared hall and a subterranean complex including five burial chambers.Andreas Nerlich, Albert Zink, Hjalmar G. Hagedorn, Ulrike Szeimies and Christine Weyss, "Anthropological and palaeopathological analysis of the human remains from three 'Tombs of the Nobles' of the necropolis of Thebes-West, Upper Egypt", ''Anthropologischer Anzeiger'', Dezember 2000, Jahrg. 58, H. 4 (Dezember 2000), pp. 321–343 The scenes in the hall show offerings made to Mery and his mother. Guests, musicians and dancers are depicted as well. Mery is shown inspecting cattle, the weighing of gold, chariot making and metal working in another scenes. The pillars are decorated with scenes showing Mery and his wife Dey "going forth to see

Amun Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, r ...

", the text of a New Year Festival, Mery and his mother consecrating offerings for Amun- Re Harakhti and

. One burial chamber is located at the end of a long passage (chamber 1) and the burials in chamber 1 date to the 18th Dynasty. The other four chambers form a complex and are entered from a location outside the burial chapel. The burials in the four chambers date between the 18th and 22nd Dynasties. An additional shaft with a burial chamber was added to the tomb during a later period (21st and 22nd Dynasties).

Human remains

Grave robberies have damaged the burials to an extent that it is not clear exactly how many individuals were laid to rest in the tomb. Chamber 1 contained the burial of four individuals: two males and two females. The four connected chambers and associated passageway contained 29 individuals. Of these burials eight were male, nine were female and for the rest the gender could not be determined. Further burials were found in the hall and the total number of individuals is said to be 73.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:TT97 Theban tombs

Tomb

Human remains

See also

References