Menna and his wife venerated (left), heading a festival procession (right) (2009-03) by Katy DoyleAmerican Research Center In Egypt (ARCE)
Look Closely
If you visit Menna's tomb in southern Egypt, you'll notice something very strange...
Tap to explore
Menna's has no face! In every scene throughout the tomb, his face has been destroyed. Explore the tomb and see if you can find more scenes where faces have been destroyed.
Menna and his wife venerated (left), heading a festival procession (right) (2009-03) by Katy DoyleAmerican Research Center In Egypt (ARCE)
Sometimes, Menna's wife, Hennutawy, is also defaced.
False door Stela in the Broad Hall (2009-03) by Katy DoyleAmerican Research Center In Egypt (ARCE)
Living Images
Tombs in ancient Egypt were gateways to the afterlife.
The Egyptians believed the images their tombs were magical, and could feed and sustain them forever in the afterlife.
Damaging the image damages the person represented. So if the image of the tomb owner was destroyed, they would be damned to a second death and deprived of eternal life.
Menna, tomb owner (2009-03) by Katy DoyleAmerican Research Center In Egypt (ARCE)
Was Menna defaced by someone who knew him and wanted to destroy his memory?
Or did someone much later damage the tomb in fear of the magic power of the ancient Egyptians.
Conservation work (2008-09) by Project PhotographerAmerican Research Center In Egypt (ARCE)
For now, it will remain a mystery. But ongoing conservation work is helping to preserve ancient Egyptian tombs, therefore protecting the memory of people like Menna for centuries to come.
Discover More:
Who was Menna?
Take a Virtual Tour of the Tomb
The Resurrection Machine
How did the Ancient Egyptians get to the Afterlife?
The conservation and documentation of the tomb of Menna was sponsored by American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) Egyptian Antiquities Conservation Project with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Georgia State University in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.
Created by Elisabeth Koch and Tessa Litecky, ARCE
Visit ARCE at www.arce.org
