The passage to the long hall
This opens in the middle of the west wall.
1)- The side of the transverse hall (entrance)
The architrave
()
It consists of a dual scene which is mirrored. On the outside Nodjmet and Amenemopet appear and before them is a small display on which is placed a nemset vase and a large lotus flower turned towards Osiris. The god is seated, watched in the right hand scene by the Goddess of the west and in the left hand scene by Anubis. The accompanying text mentions the names of the actors and titles of the deceased.
Both door jambs
These carry formulas of invocation offerings starting with hetep di nesu; on the right they are addressed to Mut-the great, Khonsu of Thebes, Neferhotep and Anubis, and on the left no doubt to Re-Horakhty, Osiris and Hathor. Below the couple kneels in adoration.
2)- The passage itself
In the thickness of the wall, there are on each side the deceased who between them have their hands raised in worship. A text line separates this register from the lower one. There remain traces of color, in particular at the frieze level of the upper part (). They are built of rectangular motifs, representations of Anubis lying above the entrance to a tomb, and Hathor heads.
On the left hand side (south)
()
Before Amenemopet there is a long hymn to Osiris, partially destroyed, which has its counterpart on the north stele on the west wall of the courtyard. In the underlying register we see a man turned to the left, unlike all the other persons; he seems to hold in his hand a broom. He may be participating in the ritual of erasing traces. To one side are two women with arms folded on their chest, like several men. One of them brings a haunch of beef, and on his right is seen water for a libation.
On the right hand side (north)
()
We find a hymn to Osiris, lord of Abydos. On the register below are barely visible funerary scenes: a priest carrying a roll, another with two containers.
3)- On the side of the longitudinal hall
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The architrave shows the adoration of the solar boat that is at the centre by four baboons - who have almost completely disappeared on the right - and the deceased with two Ba-birds. On each of the door jambs stands Amenemopet in adoration.
The longitudinal hall
() The walls are bordered at the top by a frieze composed of coloured Hathor-Anubis-khakerus-rectangles (). A line of text line, now well worn, separates the frieze from the underlying scenes; the deceased expresses his wishes: a beautiful life in the West as well as entry and exit from the realm of the dead.
The ceiling is remarkable for its quality (); it includes many bands of texts mentioning offerings to various gods.
South wall
()
Originally made up of three registers, it is only partially preserved.
a)- The upper register
At the left hand end are two large chapels () in front of which stands a diminutive priest who is wrapped up in an animal skin; he carries a censer in one hand and a container in the other.
The first chapel
t has a Kar roof; it also has a large Djed pillar surmounted by a solar disk and a double plume, flanked on each side by a small figure in a praying position. Behind the left hand person is the emblem of Khonsu, a kind of "cushion"; behind the right hand person, a lotus flower.
The second chapel has an impressive roof: a frieze of uraeus, a frieze of windows, a frieze of uraeus and grapes. The chapel houses two falcons.
To the right there are three steering oars laid diagonally and eight oxen each carrying a solar disk on its head (). In front of each ox stands an offering table with round loaves and greenery. This representation refers to chapter 148 of the BoD, ‘words spoken by the justified to allow eating in the kingdom of the dead, that is to say, the protection from all evils
; in that chapter the vignette has seven cows, a bull, and four oars. The text of the vignette is directed at them.
In the next scene Amenemopet standing wears a large pectoral (); an object that ends with blue dots hangs from the bend of his left elbow. Before him is a table laden with food and flowers ().
Following there is a lengthy text set on the side of a shrine up to the very overloaded roof (); at the right hand end there sit five pairs of deities (, arrow).
The 42 columns of text are addressed to the 42 gods of the court, represented at the bottom of each column (, arrow). Below is the "negative confession" reproducing chapter 125 of the BoD. After Amenemopet has declared himself free from any fault, he is led to Osiris who is seated in a shrine and wearing his usual attributes.
b)- The subjacent Registers
()
There are only traces of doors and deities standing before and in front of the deceased, who extended out to the left. The long text of Chapter 147 of the BoD teaches us more about these representations. This is the ‘formula to find the doors of the domain of Osiris in the West and the gods who are in their caves (so) that one makes their sacrifices on earth’
. The door keepers are named and then the words that must be pronounced by the Osiris, the royal scribe, chief steward of the estate of Amun Ipy
are specified.
The register ends with the prayer to Osiris, poorly preserved, in front of which are the Four Children of Horus (?) and the deceased () while standing behind Osiris are the Goddess of the West and Maat (?)
North face
()
The north wall shows the adoration of the gates of the underworld, as in Chapters 145 and 146 of the BoD. In these texts, twelve gates are described, which have the form of chapels in which there are different spirits and demons; Unfortunately, these doors here are often barely visible or have disappeared.
a)- At the beginning of the register
()
We find Amenemopet and Nodjmet, facing left. The deceased, poorly preserved, faces two superimposed chapels (). In the bottom one, we see a lion and a recumbent jackal (); in the top one, a ram headed god seated behind a falcon wearing the double crown (, ). They are part of the group of protective deities, which are often found in some rooms of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens.
A large chapel contains the text derived from chapter 142 of the BoD, which relates to the deification of bodily members. Body parts are attributed to the gods, for example, the hair is associated with Nun.
b)- Below
Again this is an almost completely deleted scene; which by analogy with other tombs and from Burton’s reliefs has been restored: it is the erection of the Djed pillar in the presence of Anubis and Thoth (). The pillar, which has its arms crossed over the chest, and with a knotted belt, carries the Osirian insignia: Atef crown and whip butt. On the right we see two ropes that leave from the pillar, one descends to the ground, the other is pulled upon by a team of six men to raise the pillar. They are led by a priest Iunmutef with panther skin and youthful side lock. The scene is interpreted as a purification of Djed by Anubis and Thoth. The remaining fragments of text confirm this hypothesis.
Originally, the ceremony of the erection of the Djed pillar concluded the festival of Sokar, probably symbolizing the resurrection of this God of the dead of Memphis.
Soon afterwards this ritual, practiced in the temples and also in the framework of the royal cult, was assimilated to the triumph of Osiris over his enemies and included in the Osirian cult; it was to be celebrated likewise in Busiris.
The niche
The longitudinal hall ends with a niche containing a statue of the couple, flanked to the north and south by the two annexes ()
The niche
a)- The border around the niche entrance
The architrave () shows the worship of the sun disk, which is in the centre of the akhet sign, a materialization of the horizon. Isis and Nephthys, accompanied by a god, are kneeling; a little further on, three other gods appear, then there are two baboons above two Ba-birds and finally Amenemopet.
On the jambs are superimposed raised bouquets whose flowers are very naturalistic. Blue, red, or black fasteners are clearly visible.
b)-Interior of the niche
The three small walls have a frieze of white flowers hanging from a blue band at their tops, followed by bands of different colours interrupted by various kinds of rectangular windows ().
The interior south wall
A priest carries braziers before a shrine which has been reduced to traces only ().
The interior north wall
()
A woman is standing with an ointment cone and lotus flower on her wig; she carries a bouquet of lotus, a sistrum and a menat. Before her a shrine would have appeared.
Statues
The statues are carved into the rock. They show Amenemopet and Nodjmet and dressed in their finery, with a long wigs topped with a festive cones; In addition, Nodjmet has a band around her wig, with a lotus flower. Both have wrinkled necks and Amenemopet has his breast, abdomen and navel highlighted. His hands are resting on his knees, while Nodjmet passes her right arm around the shoulder of her husband and a green cloth (or menat?) in her left hand is raised up to her chest.
South annexe
The south and north annexes have the same type of ceiling of a chequered frieze modelled on that of the niche ().
a)- The back wall (south)
This shows two symmetrical representations of Anubis the jackal lying upon the entrance to a tomb (). Below is a priest with a child’s side lock () who reaches out over a table of offerings, nowadays very faint.
b)- The left hand wall (east)
()
The seated couple are dressed in their best clothes. Nodjmet has a dark skin and wears a festive ointment cone with a flower, a headband and a necklace. Her right hand is close to her chest and holding a lotus flower which she sniffs. He wears an official’s short beard. In his right hand he holds a Sekhem sceptre and in his left, a bouquet of flowers. Before him is a table of offerings.
c)- The right hand wall (west)
()
This has a layered appearance. Nodjmet places her right arm around the shoulder of her husband, while her left hand grips his forearm. Amenemopet again carries a Sekhem sceptre, while his other arm is raised in greeting.
North annexe
()
a)- The back wall (north)
()
Anubis appears lying on a tomb. Underneath him, an undetermined structure of a semicircle combined with coloured bands. A wide red line separates it from the underlying area that includes a display with bread baskets.
b)- The right hand wall (east)
Largely destroyed, shows a sketch of Nodjmet with a bouquet.
c)- The left hand wall (west)
()
It is well preserved. As in the South Annex, the couple are sitting in chairs from which hang large garlands. Amenemopet who Nodjmet holds again in her arms, carries the sekhem sceptre and a raised bouquet. Before him offerings are piled on a table.
The underground complex
() In the southwest corner of the transverse hall begins a staircase of ten steps heading towards the west, followed by a small corridor (, ). The corridor then bends and heads more than 5m to the north and the northwest (); there to the south, the main burial chamber opens, which is roughly in the middle, under the niche statues ().
It was probably an attempt to create a spiral, but the corridor was not deep enough relative to the floor of the room, and it might have risked a collapse.
As indicated above, there were several burials in tomb 41 in other places. Thus in pit # 2 virtually intact wooden coffins have been found, which are still in that place. Neither the coffin nor the mummy of Amenemopet have been found, but we saw in the introduction that his stone sarcophagus is now at Kingston Lacy in England.