Tomb of Rekhmire (TT100)

The Theban Tomb TT100 is located in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, part of the Theban Necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite to Luxor. It is the mortuary chapel of the ancient Egyptian vizier Rekhmire. There is no burial chamber next to this chapel. The vizier's tomb is elsewhere, perhaps even in the Valley of the Kings. Rekhmire's tomb is important both because of its numerous painted reliefs and because it outlines the "Duties of the Vizier" which involved dealing with managing state taxation and the state treasury, remaining impartial and avoiding favouritism as judges and enforcers of the pharaoh's orders in trials, managing the temple's economies, appointing high state and religious officials and managing the proper performance of religious rituals all in accordance with Maat (the ancient Egyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality).

Biography

Rekhmire, who in his TT100 tomb, includes over a hundred official titles, started out his career at the end of the reign of Thutmose III and his position was confirmed by this king's successor, Amenhotep II. But sometime during the reign of Amenhotep II, the historical and archaeological traces of him were erased from history. The figure of vizier Rekhmire, as well as that of his wife Meryt, often appear erased or chiseled away--as if they were deliberately erased from history--as well as those of their children whose names have, however, been reconstructed as Takhat, Mutneferet and Henuttawy for the females; Amenhotep, Mery, and Senusert Kenamun for the males. In tomb TT100, a certain Baki and his wife At also appear but no knowledge of any familial ties with the Vizier can be determined. It appears certain that Rekhmire, somehow, fell from favour in the reign of Amenhotep II and there is no evidence that he was ever buried in the beautiful tomb which he constructed.