The Late Period tomb of Montuemhat (TT 34) in Western Thebes/Egypt between tradition and legacy

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The tomb of Monthemhet (TT 34), constructed in Thebes in the first half of the 7th century BCE and one of ancient Egypt’s biggest burial sites, contains extensive, varied decoration of an extremely high quality. Additionally, the walls and pillars in the two courtyards and the 60+ rooms, staircases and passageways were provided with decoration that is in part over 1,600 years old, and had in the meantime totally disappeared from grave decoration. Monthemhet’s tomb thus represents one of the most important monuments from the beginning of Late Period archaism. The proposed project firstly seeks to extensively pursue the tradition of the decoration in TT 34, and to clarify whether and how the decoration refers back to specific times, places and monuments, as well as what the dependencies are. The second aim is to show how the decoration in Monthemhet’s tomb – just like that in further burial structures of a similar age in Thebes – was reverted to by later tomb owners, and for its part represented the start of a development that spread out into the north of the country.