The Theban Tomb 295 of Djehutymes,
aka Paroy

One enters tomb TT 295 of el Khokha by an opening situated in the left extremity of the west wall of , by descending into a which ascends again very quickly. This is not the original entrance: this opening was cut in order to re-use the tomb and not for the sake of plundering.
The tomb itself is comprised of two rooms, of which only one is decorated. By an opening in the north wall, one reaches a undecorated side chamber into which are dug two shafts both leading eventually to the burial chamber, via a series of corridors and another shaft.

The tomb goes back to the time of Thutmosis IV or his son Amenhotep III.
The monument was discovered by Robert Mond in 1915, then lost and rediscovered in 1976 by El Sayed A. Hegazy.
The owner is Djehutymes , also called Paroy , who bears the titles of "Head of the secrets in the Chest of Anubis", Sem-priest in the Place of Embalmment", "Embalmer", "scribe" and some honorific titles : "great friend", "seal-bearer of the King of Lower Egypt", "royal scribe of […]".
His parents were the "Sem-priest of the Place of Embalmment" Sennetjer and the "lady of the house Senemiahbet". Four wives are mentioned: Neferetiry (the most frequently attested), Thepi, Isis and Renenutet. Two children are named: Huy and Henutwedjheb.

This is a rectangular hall, 4.33m long and 1.86m wide. The height ranges between 1.80 and 2m.
The walls have been covered with a mixture of mud and chopped straw and have been painted with a white distemper. The monument is fairly mutilated but still includes numerous intact scenes. The decoration which still exists has kept its vivid colours, particularly the blue, an expensive colour, which is extensively used here. The exposed areas of flesh on all the figures, as well as their hair and collars, the cushions of the seats, the bouquet-offering, and a few other details, are all covered with varnish.
The whole upper part of the walls is decorated with kheker friezes of three different types, resting on a line of coloured rectangles. The bottom of the registers rests on two thick yellow and red lines.
A large proportion of the faces must have been deliberately destroyed fairly soon after the tomb was abandoned. Then came the zelators of Akhenaten who hacked out some of the priests. Some restaurations were done during the ramesside period when the tomb was reused for the first time, and a funerary shaft was begun in the north-west corner, but didn't go deeper than 0.50m.

This is the one found when turning around after having entered in the tomb. Only the first register (top) is not mutilated by the entrance hole, and it represents half of the height of the wall.

A beautiful representation of "Osiris, the chief of Westerners, ruler of eternity" occupies the left part of the wall. The God is seated in a golden yellow chapel surmounted by a cavetto cornice and a frieze of protective uraei. The roof is supported by palmiform and papyriform columns. Seated on a classic archaic seat, wearing his Atef crown, he holds in his hands the insignias of his regal power: the Heqa sceptre and the Nekhakha flail. In front of him, a tall composite floral bouquet made of lotus flowers and papyri bends itself toward his face.
Standing in front of him, the deceased is in worship while presenting to him offerings represented on a well garnished table: plants, breads, cuts of meat. He is clothed in a white tunic and wears around his neck a great wsr-necklace and bracelets on his wrists and arms ().

The male character behind him also brings a composite bouquet of lotus (flowers and buds) and papyri, and two ducks (). One feminine character is almost completely erased, the other is partially recognisable at the extreme right and the text indicates that it is the mother of Djehutymes who is represented. A small girl with the name of Yuya is represented at the bottom under her mother's (?) protective hand (). She holds in her hand an open lotus flower.

Above the deceased and his follower is a text : "Giving praise ta [Osiris]… kissing the ground for Unnefer, by the follower of the steps of the king in the southern and northern land (s), Paroy, justified; presenting all kinds of good and pure flowers and plants."

They include one of the rare funerary scenes of the tomb, of which only a few fragments still exist. We find a rather intriguing representation of two priests covered in a very tight girdle (shroud, or skin), with red horizontal stripes, except for the head. One is seated, the other stretched out on a kind of low bed, the legs of which bent towards the interior. This is a representation concerning the sem-priest during the Ritual of the Opening of the Mouth in two states, "sleeping" and "awake". According to Budge, the sem-priest is first "asleep", a state during which he sees his "father" (i.e. the deceased) in "all his manifestations". Then he awakens and tells of his visions. It is suggested lately that the sem-priest would act as the first Egyptian magician and that the whole of the scene would correspond - in a shaman-like manner - to a sort of trance during a pseudo sleep. This ritual could have a tie with the mysterious Tekenu. A similar scene is in the ritual for opening the mouth section in .
Errected mummies belong to other scenes of the ritual ().

Only part of an offering list survives in this register. It seems to be a variant of the smaller offering list commonly found in the New Kingdom tombs. Its several columns, written in cursive, are headed by the name of the individual (presumably) in whose name the offering is being made, followed by a short recitation and by the specification of the offering itself.

The wall is divided by the opening which leads to the second chamber and underground complex with the burial chamber.

The couple Djehutymes - Neferetiry are seated in front of an offering table piled with bread, grapes, meat, onions and lotus flowers (, ). The man holds a bouquet in his left hand and extends his right hand towards the offering table (). The lady wears a tight-fitting dress, with a single shoulder strap, which reveals a breast.
Above the couple runs a text () : "The prince, count, the great friend beloved of his lord, who treads the horizon of Horus, whose house is complete with what his feet have brought at every season, the seal-bearer of the king of Lower Egypt, the chief of the book-house, the royal scribe on…"
A "placard" had to list the offerings: the columns have been drawn but the text has not been written.

To the left, one can hardly recognize the shadow of the officiating sem-priest, hacked out by zelators of Akhenaten, probably because he was wearing a leopard skin (more details in ).

Still further to the left are two registers showing banquet scenes: on the upper register, guests are men, of whom only one has partly survived; on the lower register, four women are seated on low chairs with cushions ().
The inscription above this scene reads () : "A royal offering which Re gave, royal offerings which… [gave] great… May they give every good and pure thing to the Ka of the royal scribe and chief lector priest Sennetjer, justified; by the son of the daughter of his daughter, who caused his name to live, the sem-priest of the Place of Embalmment."

At either end two seated couples are shown facing one another. There are two offering tables, but the left one is hardly visible. The centre of the scene is almost completely destroyed. Some traces however show that a man was represented as standing in front of each couple. The couples are almost mirror-like images one of the other. At the bottom of the left couple, a small girl is seated on a small chair with a red cushion befitting her size.

This scene shows two seated couples facing the centre of the scene which is now almost completely lost. Both of these groups are receiving ritual libations (as materialized by a thin wavy line symbolising the water of purification) poured over them by the priests shown in the now destroyed central portion of the scene.

The group on the right is in a better state of preservation. A young girl, the daughter of the couple, is seated beside her mother. The three of them hold a lotus flower. The offering table before this group is piled with bread, grapes, meat and onions.
Two texts are inscribed above the group on the right-hand side of the scene, both in full colour. The first (above the ofTering table and the now vanished figure in the centre) runs as follows: "Royal offerings which Anubis, Geb, Osiris and Thot give (to) the Great Ennead, the Small Ennead, the shrines of Upper Egypt and the shrines of Lower Egypt. That they give bread, beer, oxen and fowl, every good and pure things. By his son, who causes his name to live, the sem-priest in the Place of Embalmment…"
The second text (which is a continuation of the first one) runs as follows: "To the Ka of the follower of his lord according to his movements in the southern and northern foreign land (s), the scribe, the embalmer, the sem-priest [in] the Place of Embalmment, the chief of the chest of Anubis, … ; his wife, the lady of the house, Thepy. justified."

The group on the left is nearly a mirror-like, less well preserved, of the former (). Text: "Sitting in the booth to take enjoyment, receiving gifts which come forth from the presence by the follower of the king according to his movements in the southern and northern foreign land (s), the scribe, the embalmer in the Place of Embalmment, chief in the chest of Anubis… ; his wife, the lady of the [house], whom he loves, his favorite, Neferetiry, justified, in the presence of the great God."

To the left stands a woman facing right, holding a menat in her hand, with a sistrum hanging from her right arm. To her right are some traces of her son Huy, leaning forward, and a text: "… [Funerary offerings of bread, beer, oxen] fowl and every (good and pure thing) for your pure Ka. His daughter the chantress of Amun and singer of Mut, Renenut (et), justified". The rest of the scene is destroyed but, above it, we can read this text: "The overseer (of) the western house, Paroy, justified, his beloved wife, Isis, justified."
On the Ieft is a seated couple, presumably the deceased and his wife Neferetiry, facing the centre, and stacks of offerings.