Located in the hills opposite to the worker's village of Deir el-Medina to the west of Waset (Thebes, modern Luxor).

The tomb was found in 1886 and was undisturbed. It contained over 20 burials, most of them certainly belonging to family members of Sennedjem. Having escaped being plundered in antiquity, it offers a rare glimpse into the lives and deaths of the town people. The tomb of Sennedjem can be considered as a collective, because at least three generations of the same family were united in the same chamber.

circa 1280 BCE

The tomb was discovered in January 31, 1886 by Egyptian workers from Qurna. On February 1st, Maspéro (accompanied by Bouriant and a Catalan diplomat, Edouardo Toda) set foot on the terrain, and the tomb was entered the day after. At the time of discovery the tomb site presented a miserable aspect.

circa 1280 BCE

The architectural layout of the tomb consisted of a superstructure: a courtyard topped by pyramidions, as well as a subterranean structure. A shaft that descends 6 meters under the ground leads to the underground complex composed of four chambers. All chambers are decorated with scenes from the Book of the Dead.

circa 1280 BCE

Courtyard
The courtyard (see plan) of the tomb is rectangular in shape, measuring 12.35 meters wide and 9.40 meters deep. Because of its location on a slope, its east side rests against an embankment, maintained by a 2 meters high wall of quarried stones

circa 1280 BCE

Burial Chamber
The burial chamber measuring 5.12 by 2.61 meters with its vaulted ceiling of 2.40 meters is completely decorated; a total surface area of about 40 square meters.

The tomb inscriptions describe Sennedjem as "servant in the place of truth", which turned out to be a common title for the workers and the artisans who built and decorated the royal tombs in the nearby Valley of the Kings. The decorations in the tomb of Sennedjem are devoted largely devoted to the religious and mythological themes.

circa 1280 BCE

It contained over 20 burials, most of them certainly belonging to family members of Sennedjem.

There were actually no less than twenty bodies discovered. Nine among them possessed very beautiful anthropoid, simple or double coffins, finely painted and varnished. They belonged to Sennedjem, his wife Iyneferti, his son Khonsu and his wife Tamaket; also of his other children: Parahotep, Taashsen, Ramose, Isis and finally, that of a small girl named Hathor.

Eleven others did not have coffins. It is likely that these were the family's members not having had enough fortune to provide for themselves something other than shrouds and strips of fabric and to whom the head of the family offered to share his burial.

circa 1280 BCE

Painted Jar (A)
This painted pottery jar, attributed to the New Kingdom's 19th Dynasty, specifically the Ramesside Period under the reign of Ramesses II, possibly served as a wine vessel and was discovered within the tomb of the artisan Sennedjem (TT 1) at Deir el-Medina, a worker’s village on the west bank of ancient Thebes (modern-day Luxor). The tomb was unearthed during the Egyptian Antiquities Service excavations led by Gaston Maspero in 1885–86 CE.

Crafted from pottery and finished with painted decoration, the jar reflects the utilitarian yet artistically refined ceramic traditions of elite burials during this period. Its physical dimensions—29.3 cm in height, 17 cm in width including the handles, and 15.5 cm in diameter—suggest a moderately sized container, likely intended for funerary provisioning. The presence of wine jars in such contexts was part of the broader ritual practice of supplying the deceased with necessities for the afterlife.

This jar is now housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it serves as a tangible representation of daily life and funerary customs among the working-class elite of Deir el-Medina, a community known for producing the tombs of Egypt’s New Kingdom pharaohs.

circa 1280 BCE

Painted Jar (B)
This wine jar, dating to the 19th Dynasty of ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom, specifically the Ramesside Period under the reign of Ramesses II, was discovered within the tomb of Sennedjem (TT 1) at Deir el-Medina, a necropolis reserved for the royal tomb artisans of Thebes. The jar was excavated by the Egyptian Antiquities Service under Gaston Maspero during the 1885–86 campaign.

Manufactured from painted red pottery, this vessel exhibits the characteristic craftsmanship of utilitarian ceramic wares included among funerary provisions. Its dimensions—30.5 cm in height and 16 cm in width—indicate its capacity to store wine, a commodity frequently associated with sustenance and ritual offerings for the deceased in the afterlife.

The presence of this jar in Sennedjem’s tomb underscores the importance of wine both as a daily luxury and as a symbolic provision within mortuary ideology. Its red-painted surface may reflect stylistic preferences or functional markings, commonly found among votive or domestic ceramics of the period.

Now housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the jar (local identifier 544702) offers insights into the material culture of Deir el-Medina's skilled artisan class, as well as the ritual economy of New Kingdom burial practices.

circa 1280 BCE

Shabtis of Tamaket and Khonsu
These two painted pottery shabtis, one belonging to Tamaket and the other to Khonsu, were excavated from the tomb of Sennedjem (TT 1) at Deir el-Medina, Thebes, during the 1885–86 Egyptian Antiquities Service excavations led by Gaston Maspero. Both date to the 19th Dynasty of the New Kingdom, under the reign of Ramesses II, and are now housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Shabtis (also spelled ushabtis or shawabtis) were small funerary figurines placed in tombs to perform agricultural or ritual labor on behalf of the deceased in the afterlife, as prescribed in spells from the Book of the Dead. Their inclusion in tombs reflected a broader belief in a productive afterlife and a continued need for service and provision.

The Shabti of Tamaket measures 18.2 cm in height, 5.3 cm in width, and 3.6 cm in depth (7 3/16 × 2 1/16 × 1 7/16 in.). Fashioned from pottery and decorated with paint, this figure likely belonged to a female member of Sennedjem’s family or household, possibly a relative or wife.

The Shabti of Khonsu, slightly smaller at 17.7 cm in height (6 15/16 in.), is similarly constructed from painted pottery. Khonsu is known to have been one of Sennedjem’s sons, and this figurine would have served as his symbolic laborer in the Field of Reeds.

Both figures reflect the standardized style of Ramesside-period shabtis, with arms crossed over the chest and inscriptions (now often faded) designating the name of the owner and sometimes a version of the shabti spell. As artifacts, they offer direct insight into the mortuary customs of Deir el-Medina’s artisan class, a community responsible for crafting the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

Together, these shabtis not only illustrate the spiritual beliefs of ancient Egyptian craftsmen but also embody the personal devotion of a family that prepared carefully for their eternal journey beyond death.

circa 1280 BCE

Sennedjem Collection
The so-called Sennedjem Collection or the "Sennedjem’s burial goods collection" is a collection of funerary items, preserved and displayed at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. It comprises a remarkably well-preserved set of funerary goods from the tomb (TT 1) of Sennedjem, a craftsman who served in the village of Deir el-Medina during the reigns of Seti I and Ramesses II in the New Kingdom (19th Dynasty, circa 1295–1186 BCE). Transferred in 2019 from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, the collection features Sennedjem’s painted anthropoid coffin and mummy board adorned with vivid scenes of protective goddesses and passages from the Book of the Dead, alongside canopic boxes, shabti figures inscribed with Chapter 6 of the Book of the Dead, furniture, cosmetic chests, and ostraca, including a fragment of the Story of Sinuhe. The inscriptions name Sennedjem’s relatives—Paramnekhu, Khonsu, Khabekhnet, Iyneferti, and Mose—highlighting the domestic character of the assemblage. Together, these items offer scholars and visitors a direct, material link to New Kingdom funerary beliefs, artisanal skill, and familial piety, making the Sennedjem Collection a vital component of the NMEC’s broader narrative of Egyptian mortuary practice.