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Mural from the Tomb of Ramses I (ca. 1290 BC)
B
alanced compositions, simple shapes, clear
an Anubis costume. Anubis is black because that
outlines, and flat areas of color helped to
was the color of life in ancient Egypt (from the
create a sense of order in the magnificent
color of the fertile Nile mud).
art of ancient Egypt. The Egyptians also liked
According to an article on the Wikipedia Web
symmetry. If hieroglyphics were inscribed in a
site, Ramses I was originally called Paramessu.
column, the same text would often appear in
“He was of nonroyal birth, being born into a
the opposite column, except with the writing
noble military family from the Nile delta region.
reversed.
He was a career soldier, starting out as Chief
Numerous ancient Egyptian paintings have
of the Archers and eventually became General
survived because of the extremely dry climate.
of the Lord of the Two Lands. Ramses I found
Figures were painted in such a way to show the
favor with Horemheb, the last pharaoh of the
shoulders as seen from the front, with the torso
tumultuous 18th Dynasty, who appointed him
and hips turned in a three-quarter view so that
as his vizier [the highest official to serve the
the legs and arms could be shown in profile. The
king]. Horemheb himself had been a nobleman
“I come before you,
head is also depicted in profile, but the eye is
from outside the immediate royal family, who
Lord of the Two Lands.”
drawn as if seen from the front, looking directly
rose through the ranks of the Egyptian army
at the viewer. When decorating a wall, junior
to serve as the royal advisor to Tutankhamun.
draftsmen first drew a layout grid and then sketched an outline of Since Horemheb was childless, he chose Ramses I to be his heir.”
the picture with red ochre. Senior artists subsequently refined the Already an old man when he was crowned, Ramses I had little
drawing using black pigment. Painters finished the work by filling time to commission any major buildings during his brief 2-year
in the outlines with color. Common mural themes included jour- reign. He was buried in a small, hastily finished tomb in The
neys through the afterworld and protective deities introducing Valley of the Kings, west of Thebes (now known as Luxor), where
the deceased to the gods of the underworld. Some tomb paintings many of the kings of the 18th through 20th Dynasties were
portrayed activities that the deceased were involved in when they buried. Ramses’ son, Seti I, and grandson, Ramses II, were among
were alive and wished to carry on for eternity.
ancient Egypt’s most illustrious rulers.
Mural from the Tomb of Ramses I is a marvelous work of art that
In 1860, an Egyptian mummy, which most scholars now
shows the pharaoh Ramses I, founder of the 19th Dynasty, being believe to be that of Ramses I, was brought to North America
greeted in the afterlife by Horus, the falcon-headed sky god, and by a Canadian physician named James Douglas. It was placed
Anubis, the jackal-headed god of mummification. (Note that the in the Niagara Falls Museum in Ontario, Canada. The museum’s
gods’ poses are mirror images of each other.) Horus, the falcon, contents were sold in 1999, and its Egyptian artifacts—including
was thought to soar above the land and its inhabitants and was the mummy—were purchased by the Michael C. Carlos Museum
the natural symbol of the pharaoh who reigned over the “Two at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. University scientists
Lands” (Upper and Lower Egypt). In this colorful painting, Horus performed CT scans, x-rays, radiocarbon dating, and computer
wears a pschent, or double crown—the white crown of Upper imaging to help identify the mysterious mummy. Egyptologists
Egypt and the red crown of Lower Egypt. Ramses I wears a recognized that the mummy’s pose is regal (arms crossed high
ceremonial beard, a symbol of kingship, and a nemes (pleated upon the chest). They also determined that the type of mummi­
cloth) headdress. He is protected by the cobra goddess Wadjet, fication, the position of the embalming scar, and other factors,
seen at the front of his headdress. It was believed that Wadjet place it at the approximate time of Ramses I. His mummy was
could spit flames and kill any potential enemies. A translation of returned to Egypt with full official honors in October 2003, and
the hieroglyphics inscribed on the mural is listed on the Osiris is now on display at the Luxor Museum.
Net Web site: www.osirisnet.net. On the left side of Ramses I,
Sheila Macho
it reads, “I come before you, Lord of the Two Lands,” and to his
Cover Editor
right it reads, “I come before you.” The names of the 3 figures
also appear in the hieroglyphics above them. Names of pharaohs
were written with hieroglyphics within a cartouche, an oval that COVER CREDIT
from the Tomb of Ramses I, fresco on plaster. Luxor, Egypt, ca. 1290 BC.
represented a length of rope folded and tied at one end. It symbol- Mural
Photograph ©ICONOTEC.
ized everything that the sun encircled and was thus an indication
of the king’s rule of the cosmos. Anubis was customarily shown SOURCEs
in funerary contexts where he attended to the mummies of the www.osirisnet.net.
deceased. In fact, during embalming, the “head embalmer” wore http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramses_I.
508 Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy
JMCP
July/August 2008
Vol. 14, No. 6
www.amcp.org