The tomb of Maya and Meryt

Tomb of Maya and Meryt
Eleven years after the EES-Leiden Mission first begun their search for the tomb of Maya, it was discovered at last in 1986 through a robbers tunnel in the burial shaft in the tomb of Ramose. Upon reaching the subterranean parts of the adjacent tomb, Geoffrey Martin was confronted by a room full of carved reliefs painted in a rich golden yellow. The team was then able to locate and clear the courtyard and chapels of Lepsius’s long-lost tomb of Maya during 1987 and subsequent seasons, revealing remains of magnificent painted reliefs. Maya, the treasurer of Tutankhamun, ruled as a boy only for a short time. He is most famous because his tomb was discovered almost intact and full of treasures in 1922 Tutankhamun , died during the reign of Horemheb, and Meryt was his wife. Although many of the reliefs were plundered, there are beautiful depictions of Maya and his wife adoring Osiris on the limestone pylon, and in the burial chambers Maya is seen worshipping the gods whose figures are painted in golden yellow. A beautiful statue pair of Maya and Meryt whose description by Lepsius first inspired Dr Martin’s search for the tomb, was found face-down in the courtyard and is now in Leiden Museum. Blocks from the inner courtyard had been removed for later re-use, especially in the Monastery of Apa Jeremias, many eventually finding their way into museums around the world. It is hoped that they (or at least replicas) will one day be returned to their place of origin. The subterranean chambers of the tomb of Maya were also lavishly decorated, though in a very damaged condition. Work is in progress on the re-erection and restoration of reliefs of the tomb’s burial chambers below the second courtyard in a more stable strata. Maya’s pylon has recently been consolidated with modern mudbrick.

Maya was Overseer of the Treasury and Overseer of Works during the reign of the boy-king Tutankhamun, ruled as a boy only for a short time. He is most famous because his tomb was discovered almost intact and full of treasures in 1922 Tutankhamun (1333-1323 B.C.). This made him responsible for Egypt’s home affairs at the unsettled time following the heresy of King Akhenaten, who had closed all the temples and only adored the sun god Aten. It was Maya who helped to re-establish the traditional cults and who fashioned new statues for the numerous sanctuaries throughout Egypt, while his colleague, the General Horemheb, pacified the revolting foreign countries. At Tutankhamun, ruled as a boy only for a short time. He is most famous because his tomb was discovered almost intact and full of treasures in 1922 Tutankhamun ’s death, Maya was responsible for the royal burial, which contained objects inscribed with his name. Then we lose track of Maya, but he was certainly back in office when Horemheb became the new pharaoh four years later. Maya seems to have died around year 9 of Horemheb’s reign (c. 1310 B.C.). His wife Merit had predeceased him and since the couple had two daughters only, the funeral was led by Maya’s half-brother Nahuher.

Maya’s tomb was found in 1986 and excavated between 1987 and 1991. It lies parallel to Horemheb’s and Tia ‘s monuments and is almost 44 m long and 16.5 m wide. The plan is also similar to Horemheb’s and comprises a pylon , outer courtyard, statue chamber flanked by two storerooms, inner courtyard, and three offering chapels in the west. The tomb was obviously unfinished: the outer courtyard had columns along the west side only, a mud floor instead of proper pavement, and no reliefs. The pylon was built in mudbrick only, not revetted in limestone like Horemheb’s. Beautiful relief fragments in the pylon gateway, the entrance to the inner courtyard, and that courtyard itself depict offering bearers and portraits of the tomb owner and his relatives.Substructure of Maya & Merit’s tomb: Maya’s tomb-shaft opens in the inner courtyard and is about 10 m deep. From one of the six chambers at that level a second shaft and stairway give access to a lower complex, situated at a depth of almost 22 m. This comprises three chambers with beautiful wall-reliefs on limestone panelling, each with an undecorated annex. So far, such underground reliefs are unique in the Saqqara New Kingdom necropolis. They depict Maya and Merit adoring the gods of the hereafter. Both figures and texts are painted yellow, with some details in blue and black. The revetment had been smashed by robbers but could be fully reconstructed by the expedition in a new concrete basement under the outer courtyard. The robbers had taken most of the valuables, but numerous remaining fragments of coffins, furniture, jewellery etc. gave an impression of the riches of Maya’s burial. Both the substructure and the superstructure held the remains of hundreds of pottery vessels, often of highly unusual form and decoration. During the Late Period, the tomb and its surroundings were re-used for the accommodation of a number of poor multiple burials.

Most interesting finds from Maya’s tomb
Stela of Yamen
Two small chapels were discovered, built against the exterior face of the south wall of Maya’s tomb. One of these still held an offering table and a limestone stela. The latter is inscribed for a lector-priest called Yamen. Above, he is represented as offering to Osiris, while below he performs the same ritual for a seated couple: the overseer of the treasury of the lord of the Two Lands Maya and his wife Meryt. Clearly, Yamen functioned as funerary priest after the death of the tomb-owners. Maya and Meryt only had two daughters, no son who would usually have taken care of the funerary cult of his parents. Maya’s burial rites were led by his half-brother Nahuher, who is depicted several times in the reliefs. After the interment, he must have left the tomb in the care of a profesional priest, i.c. Yamen. The latter used the opportunity to erect a small shrine for himself.

Glass bottle
This elegant glass bottle was discovered in the debris filling the outer courtyard of the tomb. It is shaped like a miniature pilgrim bottle, with a lentoid body, short and narrow neck with rolled rim, and two small loop handles. The dark blue body is decorated with brown-and-white spiral rods and yellow, pale blue, and white roundels.The body was moulded around a sand core dipped in molten glass, the decorations were applied while the body mass was still soft. Probably this bottle was produced in the glass factories at Medinet Ghurab, near the oasis of the Fayum, where similar items have been found. We may surmise that the bottle once held a costly perfume. Whether it belonged to Maya’s burial gifts is unfortunately not certain.