INNER PILLARED HALL 

The entrance from the longitudinal corridor is approx. 1.5m wide by less than 1.0m in length and again, like the two preceding doorways, it has retained no decoration.
This main chamber is approximately square, being about 10.0m along its main east-west axis but slightly less from north to south. This time its height of about 4m seems in proportion.
Its four pillars are equally spaced and are of just over 1.0m in cross section.

The pillared hall is vaster and still darker than the preceding corridor; it is the final stage of this metaphysical journey. This is at the heart of the mountain, in the domain of Osiris, but also in the hollow of the stomach of the goddess Hathor, in which the deceased will regenerate.

The view from the south-east corner towards the far south-west corner, seen opposite, makes it is easy to see that the walls and pillars of this chamber have suffered greatly. It can also be seen that there is much work to be done be the Belgium team, not just in cleaning and restoring the artistry to a much refined state, but also to make the chamber safe. It is difficult to imagine what it must have looked like with its original, undamaged and colourful scenes.

Unfortunately, for now at least, there is a shortage of detailed information about the scenes of the walls, pillars and ceiling. However, it is possible to expand to some degree on the information found in Porter and Moss, including the addition of some photographic evidence of the scenes.

Once again, as in the previous chambers, the wall decoration is topped with a khekher frieze and bordered at the bottom with the two coloured bands and a metre high blank dado area. The Egyptian frieze is also present at the extremes of the walls and at the lower edge of the khekher frieze.
The colour palette used by the artist painters is here very different from the one of the two other locations. Most noticeably in the fact that the skin tone used for the female figures is now a reddish ochre colour, like that of the men, instead of the conventional yellow-ochre found in the previous chambers. The black used for outlining the figures and for the colour of the wigs has either now disappeared or was never used (see ).

The general content of the imagery of this chamber is that of either the journey to the beyond, of actually being there or of a more general ritual character. Some, in fact, are similar to those which will be found on the burial chamber, many metres below. These include: those associated with the ritual of "opening of the mouth" ceremony, scenes of fumigation, libation, various offerings and also the traditional pilgrimage to Abydos. Strangely there are also some more banquet scenes with orchestral accompaniment. The boundaries between some scene are not specifically defined and so merge into one another in places.

East wall (south side) and the south wall

No photos as yet are available for these sections of wall. From what is known, the east wall has two registers: the upper one displaying two men making offerings to the deceased and his wife (her name appears as Senetneferet), and the lower one shows the rites before the mummy of Sennefer. The south wall has funerary ceremonies including the remains of two registers of priests and statue-groups being dragged. This takes place in front of the seated deceased and his wife.

East wall (north side)

As can be seen from the photo opposite, this part of the east wall depicts Sennefer and Senetneferet standing (facing left) in front of the very damaged figures of Osiris and Hathor. The names of the god and goddess can still be read above them. The pillared chamber represents the mountain, in the domain of Osiris, the heart of which represents the stomach of Hathor, from which the deceased will regenerate.
Behind Sennefer and his wife are the remains of several registers, the top one of which is still visible. These contained a solemn funeral cortege carrying divine, royal and personal statuary; also fabrics, mirrors, necklaces and loincloths.
The text above the couple states: "An offering which the kings gives to Osiris, lord of eternity, prince and Mayor of the Southern City, superintendent of the granaries [of Amun], " etc.

North wall

Once again, with no photos available, reliance must be made on what little information is available.

In the middle of the wall is a false door with painted entablature.

To the east (right) of this, the wall is subdivided into three registers. The top register contains the "Pilgrimage to Abydos", which is found again on the far wall of the burial chamber, again located on the right-hand side. The middle register contains a building with jars, and men with offerings. The bottom one has the deceased and Senetneferet.

Finally, to the west (left), Sennefer and his wife, looking east, together with a lutist, face two registers of seated couples.
One of these couples is identified to be: "The second prophet of Horus, the Elder, Nu, justified." and "His wife, the mistress of the house, Ta-tiry, justified."; they are thus Sennefer's parents.

West wall

This wall contain three niches, the middle one is the smaller of the three. In fact the central area, containing this niche, is slightly recessed from the wall surface on either side. The recess extends from the floor to the bottom of the khekher frieze, being about 3.5m in height by 2.0m wide. The central niche is therefore in this recessed area. The bottom of each of the niches lies approximately a metre above floor level. The two side niches are now devoid of imagery, but the central one still retains traces of vine leaf design on the inner walls. The two outer niches are approximately 0.8m in width by 1.5m in height, the central one being only 0.6m width by 1.0m in height.

As can be seen from the photo, only the upper part of the wall has retained its painting, with the addition of a small area to the right of the central niche and some very small pieces elsewhere.

The lower part of the wall, from floor level to just above the height of the niches, was decorated with an artificial architecture of panels painted to imitate wood.

The recessed area, designed as a false door, had the addition of painted entablature at the top. The central niche was the border zone between the living and the beyond and was the magical connection to the burial chamber (= beyond), from which the Ba (the Egyptian soul) of the deceased could ascend to reside in the statue which would have occupied this niche, in order to accept the offerings from these whose came to celebrate his life.
All three niches were discovered empty, but it is more than likely that they originally contained the statues of Sennefer, probably accompanied by some members of his family. Examination of the remains heaped in these upper chambers when the chapel acted as store, revealed fragments of several statuaries of Sennefer and family, in both limestone and sandstone. It is necessary to reconstitute these and to verify if their measurements correspond to those of the niches.

The upper parts of the outer sections of the wall each contain two scenes.

The left sub-scene, above the left niche, contains a image of Sennefer (only his head is visible in the image opposite) consecrating offerings before his uncle and aunt. The text reads: "Making a doubly pure offering, which the king gives to his father, the steward of the domain of the divine wife, Humay, justified, by the Mayor of the Southern City, Sennefer.".

The right sub-scene, contains a image of Sennefer's grandson, with a male lutist, a harpist and girl with shoulder-harp. The grandson, standing, offers a bouquet of Amun to the seated deceased and Senetnay. The text above the grandson reads: "Coming carrying a bouquet of Amun after having done that which he praises in the temple in the presence of Amun near [………] by the son of his daughter.".
The text above Sennefer states: "Prince and count, well beloved courtier, beloved of the god, praised one of the good god, Mayor of the Southern City, Sennefer, justified.", and above his wife: "His wife, the mistress of the house and royal nurse, [……]".

On the right side of the wall, and just visible in : on the left, a priest (?), with a female musician and a male harpist, makes an offering to the deceased and his wife; on the right, a priest with an offering list consecrates offerings before Sennefer's parents.

The Ceiling

As can be see from the , this has much work to be done in order to show clearly its hidden texts and geometric patterns. What is certain is that the texts will once again reveal some of the titles of Sennefer. The ceiling is divided into three areas, which run east to west, divided by the beam-like structures discussed in more detail below.
Two titles texts are, however, known: "The Mayor of the Southern City, overseer of the prophets of Horus the Elder, lord of Apollinopolis, Sennefer, justified." and "The overseer of the granaries of Amun, Mayor of the Southern City, justified. Steward of the house of Zeserkare (Amenhotep I) , justified. Master of the festival of Aakheperkare (Thutmosis I) , justified. overseer of the garden of Amun, Mayor Sennefer.".

The pillars

These do not extend all the way to the ceiling, but each east-west pair appear to support a beam which extends the length of the chamber. The depth of these two beams, from ceiling to pillar, is the same as the height of the khekher freeze which tops to walls. In fact the east and west sides of the beams use this as the decoration. The under surface has a geometric pattern which (see ) on the southern beam appears to run parallel with the east-west direction, but diagonally on the northern beam.

As can be seen from the image to the left, the pillars have suffered much damage, not only from soot and grime deposits but actual physical damage, with large portions now totally missing.
The decorated surface of each of the four faces is topped and edged with the Egyptian frieze and the lower section having the usual blank dado area. The main display area is divided into two sub-scenes. In reality, the two participants would have been seated side by side. The upper part contains Sennefer with the lower part having Senetnay. In both instances they are (or were originally) receiving gifts. Not surprisingly, the upper portions have survived better the the lower parts.
In most cases, the offering bearer is female. On one pillar, where the text has survived, she is identified as being the deceased's daughter, Nefertiry. It is possible that at least one of the others may contain his other daughter Mutneferet. On some faces the offering bearer is male and he could be the "son of his beloved daughter", his grandson; however, his name has been hammered out. This would be the same grandson, whose image appears in the hunting and fishing scene on the corridor wall, but who also appears elsewhere in the hypostyle hall.

The south-west pillar is especially interesting, because its four faces depict the offering of New Year gifts. These are not the luxurious gifts which Sennefer offers to the king, in the transverse hall, but simpler and more traditional ones, such as pieces of cloth, oil and burning torches. The torches symbolise the eyes of Horus, and were intended to drive away the darkness and return the light to the land, so that a new year could be born. These would be what would be offered by the more common people in order to avert any dangers of the passage from one year to the next.
The only detailed pillar photo available at the moment, is of the west face of this actual south-west pillar. It shows the grandson (name hammer out) offering the gift of pieces of cloth to the deceased. Sennefer is described as: "The prince and count, well-beloved courtier, having the two ears of Horus, who daily acts rightfully for his lord as his counsellor, the Mayor of the Southern City, Sennefer".

Other texts from these pillars are known, but add very little (without the accompanying photos) to the content of the artistic detail. Until the work has been completed by the ULB team, what is currently known is best obtained from the annotated diagram at the top of the page.

 

PILLARED HALL ANNEXE

The entrance doorway from the main chamber, at the north end of the east wall, is approx. 1.0m wide by 1.5m in length. Neither this doorway nor the chamber itself contain any decoration.
This annexe remains roughly cut and is approximately square, being about 4.0m on its east-west axis and about 4.6m from north to south. At this time the height is unknown and no photographs are available.
It contains one roughly cut 1.0m square pillar.

Restitution of the luminous atmosphere of Sennefer's chapel, TT96A

Thanks to Philippe Sadzot, whom I thank very much, we can show you the inside of the chapel. The particularity of this work lies in the study of light through the Hypethra (large opening above the door), now blocked by a thick brick wall, which once let natural light in, creating a unique atmosphere. The 3D reconstruction was made possible thanks to the Blender software and the orthophotos made on site by Prof. Pierre Hallot, in partnership with Prof. Dimitri Laboury and his team, under the auspices of the University of Liège.