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 The
tomb of Harwa (TT37) displays important features
of a man holding such religious, spiritual and political
power. Scenes and texts - at least those engraved
in the principal axis of the monument - can be read
as part of a description of the Egyptian man's journey
from his daily life to the Netherworld, passing
through the ultimate experience of death and beyond.
Each part of the monument concurs to document a
different step of the path leading to eternal life.
The tomb (TT37) is large and in the "Osiris
Hall" there is a wall relief describing the
moment of the death where Harwa is shown 'between
worlds', and separated from his physical body, with
Anubis holding one hand. Harwa then exists in two
dimensions - in the Land of Osiris and still in
the land of the living, just. Harwa's tomb shows
the moment of death in its supreme glory and Harwa
continues to be shown 'in the middle', almost in
a 'freeze-frame' relief with both his Ka and physical
self conscious and aware of their 'state' i.e. the
Harwa's Ka is shown as young and healthy whilst
his physical form is as it was before the 'freeze-frame':
overweight, balding and old. This is highly unusual
in ancient Egyptian scenes.
A
text well-engraved on the southern wall of the passage
leading to the First Pillared Hall enumerates his
good deeds having recourse to the most typical phraseology
of the Egyptian "ideal biography". It
is Harwa himself who is speaking.
He tells the visitor to the tomb: "I gave bread
to the hungry man, clothes to the naked man".
This
phrase is pivotal in the connection between Harwa
and Queen Amenirdis I as, on the reverse (and base)
of the famous alabaster statue of Amenirdis I, there
is a well-carved series of hieroglyphs which say:
"I gave food to the hungry, drink to the
thirsty, clothes to the naked man." (the
full translation can be found Here...)
I
have not seen a connection made anywhere regarding
these two series of hieroglyphs - online or offline.
I believe that this connection hasn't yet been made
by the scholars but the importance of the similar
phrases is amazing to me.
Harwa
held the position of "Grand Steward" for
about forty years from the time of Piankhy, serving
under Nubian pharaohs Shabaqo or Shabaka (713-698
BCE) and Shebitqo (698-690 BCE), until the reign
of Taharqo or Taharqa (690 - 664 BCE).
Coincidentally, Amenirdis I is said to have served
as God's Wife of Amun, Divine Adoratrice (or Divine
Votaress) and "God's Hand" for approximately
forty years.
[Taharqo (or Taharqa) was the uncle of Amunirdis.]
It
is my personal belief that Amenirdis I and Harwa
had a close relationship and ruled 'together' (under
various roles) from ancient Thebes at approximately
the same times in ancient Egypt.
During
the 1997 archaeological campaign in Harwa's tomb
(TT37), a limestone ushabty (or shabti) was unearthed
showing features which shed new light on some aspects
of the role played by Harwa inside the Theban administration.
It is a typically mummiform funerary statuette of
the XXV Dynasty but it holds in his hands the crook
and the flail, that is to say, the regalia, the
characteristic emblems of the pharaonic royalty.
As far as it is known, it is the only example
of non-royal ushabty displaying such a characteristic.
Furthermore, in the Chapter VI of the Book of the
Dead engraved on the body, Harwa is mentioned as
"Great of the Greats".
These evidences should point out that Harwa had
more power than the one deriving from his role and
that he can be considered as the co-governor of
the Theban region on the behalf of the Nubian King
alongside the Divine Adoratrice, Amunirdis I.
Also the vastness of his tomb and the high number
of his statues can support the hypothesis that Harwa
was the most politically influential person of the
State; stretching to the First Cataract (a graffito
signed by him has been found at Nag'esh Sheikh,
near Aswan).
If
this assumption is confirmed by further excavations,
then the positions of Montuemhat and Petamenophis
will have to be reconsidered. They chose in fact
to place their tombs east and west of the tomb of
Harwa as if they attributed a high reverence to
him and considered him a sort of ancestor. In this
frame one has to ask: is it possible to speak of
a "dynasty" of functionaries governing
the Theban region with the consent of the Nubian
kings? If this proves to be true, then, as they
did not belong to the one family nor did they share
the same titles and position, what was the mechanism
of succession of these functionaries? No-one yet
knows the answer to that question or the countless
others raised by the life, works and tomb of Harwa,
Grand Steward in the Precinct of Amun.
Many
questions are raised merely because of the surviving
evidence belonging to Amenirdis I and Harwa but
there are some issues which are quite clear:
Upper
Egypt was ruled well under the governance of these
two mighty figures (and others) and for forty years,
approximately, Upper Egypt was relatively peaceful
(as opposed to the XXIII to XXIV Dynasties political
and religious unrest and turmoil) whilst Pharaoh
Shabaka (Amunirdis I's brother) ruled from Memphis.
Even after the death of her brother, Amunirdis I
remained in control and acted, along with others,
as the First Prophet of Amun, answering the State's
needs on many levels. Order was temporarily restored
and both Amunirdis I and Harwa played a major role
in ancient Egypt at that time.
If
you would like to read more about Harwa, please
see these web pages:
Harwa:
The Man:
http://www.harwa.it/vecchisiti/sito99/harwlife.htm
Harwa's
Tomb:
http://www.harwa.it/vecchisiti/sito99/harwtomb.htm
Archaeological
Seasons at TT37, Harwa's Tomb:
http://www.harwa.it/vecchisiti/sito99/campaign.htm
The
Italian Archaeological Mission in Luxor excavating
TT37:
http://www.harwa.it/vecchisiti/sito99/index.htm
Harwa - The Official Egyptological Research Team's
web site:
http://www.harwa.it/eng/index.htm
Accurate information is needed to complete this
web site and I would be very grateful for any information,
sources or corrections. Thank you.
If you have any information or sources, please do
post information to be included as this web site
is built? Thank you.
Research@Amunirdis.net
See
the Queen Amenirdis Research & Information Blog
here:
http://Queen.Amenardis.net/
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