A Study of the Sacred District Scene in Private Tomb Decoration

The Sacred District scene in Thenan tombs of the New Kingdom.

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A Study of the Sacred District Scene in Private Tomb Decoration compiles images from almost forty tombs, dating to the New Kingdom or later, and breaks down the different micro-scenes that can make up a Sacred District scene.

These scenes are comprised of combinations of the seventeen different episodes, or micro-scenes, and are generally embedded within the funerary scenes in any given tomb.

They typically appear in the passage of a T-shaped tomb and are the last scene before the deceased has reached the hereafter, thus suggesting that the Sacred District represents a liminal area the dead must traverse before the afterlife.

The Sacred District reaches its peak in popularity during the reigns of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III of the eighteenth dynasty but can still be found in some late period tombs that exhibit archaizing trends. Examples are found on the west bank of Thebes and at Elkab and Hierakonpolis.