The Polychrome Hieroglyph Research Project

Université Libre de Bruxelles - Faculté de Philosophie et Sciences sociales

This page displays details of the selected Monument. Click on the Monument number to list all individual signs ("occurrences") recorded from that object or structure.

Mon. 39


Monument : Rekhmire TT.100
Period : Dynasty XVIII
Reign(s) : Thutmose III - Amenhotep II
High Date : 1479
Low Date : 1400
Monument type : Private Tomb
Localisation or provenance : Sheikh Abd el-Gurna
References : PM I, 1, 206-214; Photos Nunn.

Rekhmire was “Town governor and Vizier”. His high status enabled him to commission a large and elaborately decorated tomb. The walls of the corridor are covered with polychrome inscriptions, many of them in good condition. The database occurrences, 207 in total, are the most diverse of any of the other monuments studied here. Gardiner’s groups B and H are the only ones not represented. Several occurrences are unique to this monument. One intriguing sign, that of the face D2, shows an unusual feature also found in the near contemporary tomb of Menna (Mon.40). The pupils of the eyes look to the side rather than straight ahead. This gives the impression that the sign is deliberately avoiding the gaze of the reader. This could be in order to avoid the evil eye, either to protect the reader, or to protect the sign itself and thus the dedicatee of the inscription.