Tomb of Si-Amon

Said to be the most beautiful of any in the oases of the Western Desert, the Tomb of Si-Amon lies only a short distance west of the tomb of Mesu-Isis and dates to about the 3rd century B.C.E.  Recesses carved during the Roman Period damaged a quarter of the original painted scenes, but the tomb’s walls and ceiling remain covered with the work of highly skilled artists, probably brought from the Nile Valley. 

A courtyard and flight of steps leads to the entrance of a richly decorated long chamber and equally impressive burial chamber. The paintings feature religious icons and rituals in honor of Si-Amon, or "the man of Amon," who appears to have been a great landowner or a rich merchant, possibly Greek.  One image depicts the Judgment Hall of the afterlife where Osiris weighs the heart of the deceased against Ma’at, truth, before the forty-two deities of the forty-two Egyptian regions.  Another, towards the bottom of the wall, represents Si-Amon sitting on a chair with his younger son before him, as Nut, the goddess of the sky, stands beside a sycamore tree holding bread and incense and pouring water, representing life, into a pond. 

The ceiling of this tomb is even better preserved than the walls, and is adorned with a beautiful representation of Nut, and inscriptions and symbols in yellow and blue on five different backgrounds, including an imitation of wood.  A line of hieroglyphics extends down the ceiling’s center, flanked by alternating rows of falcons and vultures with outstretched wings representing Lower (Northern) and Upper (Southern) Egypt, respectively.