Kha likely began his career in the reign of Amenhotep II. Evidently the two had a close relationship, sometimes suggested to be that of father and son, although there is no evidence they were related. Additionally, he is depicted alongside his wife Taiunes in Kha's funerary chapel. The Egyptologist Barbara Russo suggests that his mentor or tutor was a man named Neferhebef, who has similar titles to Kha and whose name appears on items in Kha's tomb. Given his lack of hereditary titles, Kha is assumed to have attained his position through skill. His only attested parent is his father, Iuy, who bears no titles and about whom nothing is known. Often referred to as an architect in modern publications, he supervised the workmen responsible for cutting and decorating royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings (known as "the Great Place" ) under three successive rulers: Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV, and Amenhotep III. Kha (also rendered KhaꜤ or Khai ) was the overseer of works for the village of Deir el-Medina during the mid- Eighteenth Dynasty. It has been on display in the Museo Egizio in Turin since its arrival and has been redisplayed several times, most recently in 2015, where an entire gallery is dedicated to the exhibition of TT8. Kha was provided with a wooden funerary statuette and two ushabti to do work for him in the afterlife neither were supplied for Merit.Īlmost the entire contents of the tomb was awarded to the excavators and was shipped to Italy soon after the discovery. A second copy, possibly intended for Merit, is also known although its provenance is unclear. It is one of the earliest known copies and shares similarities with those belonging to contemporary nobles. Both wear metal jewelry beneath their bandages, although only Kha has funerary amulets.Ī copy of the Book of the Dead was found folded atop Kha's coffins. Neither mummy has been unwrapped, but X-rays, CT scanning and chemical analysis has revealed neither were embalmed in the typical fashion but are nevertheless well preserved. Kha was buried within two further gilded and inlaid coffins while Merit had a mummy mask and only one coffin which was too large for her and inscribed for Kha. The burial chamber contained over 400 items including carefully arranged stools and beds, neatly stacked storage chests of personal belongings, clothing, and tools, tables piled with foods such as bread, meats and fruit, and the couple's two large wooden sarcophagi covered in linen sheets. This unusual separation contributed to its survival, allowing the entrance to be quickly buried by debris. Their tomb was discovered in February 1906 in excavations conducted by the Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli on behalf of the Italian Archaeological Mission, dug into the base of the cliffs opposite the chapel. The texts of the chapel were defaced during the Amarna Period and later restored, indicating it predated the reign of Akhenaten. The paintings show Kha and Merit receiving offerings from their children and appearing before Osiris, god of the dead. The pyramidion was reused in antiquity, and although in a ruined state, scenes from the chapel were copied in the 19th century by early Egyptologists including John Gardiner Wilkinson and Karl Lepsius. The couple's painted pyramid-chapel was known since at least 1824 when one of their funerary stele entered the collection of the Museo Egizio in Turin, Italy. Kha died in his 50s or 60s, while Merit died before him, seemingly unexpectedly, in her 30s. He and his wife Merit had three known children, one of whom also worked in the royal necropolis. Of unknown background, he rose to his position through skill and was ultimately rewarded for his work by at least one king. Kha was an "overseer of works" at Deir el-Medina in the mid- Eighteenth Dynasty, where he was responsible for royal tombs constructed in the reigns of pharaohs Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III. They are known for their undisturbed tomb discovered in 1906 which is considered the best preserved non-royal burial in Egypt. TT8 is the funerary chapel and tomb of the ancient Egyptian foreman Kha and his wife, Merit.
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