Luxour - Tombs of the Nobles

The Tombs of the Nobles is a very interesting site on Luxor's west bank, but often neglected. The reason is of course that no kings or queens had their tomb or temple built here. It is all devoted to persons now only remembered by the most detailed historical works. There are 400 tombs here, of which 7 is of high interest, all presented on the following pages.

But what you can see here is a great change from the almost repetitive images in the temples and the great tombs. The noblemen who had their tombs built here used a different artwork and were concerned with other matters than the royalty. There is quite little of scenes depicting judgment and resurrection, and more imagery of earthly life and its continuation in the afterlife. You will see next to nothing of carved reliefs here. This is not really because of its higher cost, but mainly because of the limestone of the area was too loose and soft.

Moreover, while the royal tombs were closed for good following the funeral, the tombs of the nobles often served as family shrines to which often lavish rituals were performed. On several occasions were they used over again by family members. But the fact that theses tombs were not sealed, many of them have deteriorated over time.

Visitors who have already been to Beni Hassan, with its 300-600 years older tombs, should note the increased complexity in the layout. Several of the tombs at Luxor have a transverse hall before entering the burial shrine. In the case of Rekhmire a narrow hall, in the case of Ramose a large columned hall.
Although the tomb structures can easily be accessed, the graves were put at the bottom of deep shafts. In most cases these are inaccessible.