page_title: House of Eternity (Ancient Egypt)
section_title: Shaft and rock tombs
hierarchical_section_title: House of Eternity (Ancient Egypt) / Houses of eternity / Shaft and rock tombs
context_page_description: In ancient Egypt, the term house of eternity refers to a tomb that consists of a pit, a tomb shaft, or from mud-bricks, which were later carved into rocks; or built on open land. Burial sites made of stone were a 'sign of immortality', due to the long durability of stone. This was an ideal construction method that could be afforded by only a very few ancient Egyptians, due to its high cost. In ancient Egyptian mythology, the construction of a monument during one's own lifetime represented the most intensive representation with the connection of life; and the concept of living in the afterlife.
  The house of eternity was 'a place to meet oneself' for the tomb owner and contained decorations portraying the owner's likeness, and the stages of their lives. The owner immortalised themselves with their portrait on the walls of the tomb, along with the inscriptions, to resurrect them in 'a new life in later times.' The tomb owner depicted their 'completed life' in anticipation of their death, which according to their beliefs, was to be removed from this form; in the portrayal of oblivion and mortality.
context_section_description: Most ancient Egyptians were buried in simple shafts, or pits, for cost reasons. The Valley of the Kings is where the tombs of the Kings of the New Kingdom (nineteenth and twentieth dynasties), are located in particular. The valley is located in Thebes-West, opposite Karnak, on the edge of the desert and is surrounded by high mountains, namely by the natural rock pyramid, El Qurn ("The Horn"). Almost the entire area of Thebes-West forms a vast necropolis, where, to date, 64 tombs and other mines have been found.
  
  In the Valley of the Queens, three basic types of tombs can be found. The oldest structures are simple, undecorated shaft tombs. These usually had only one chamber, more rarely, one or two auxiliary chambers. The standard tombs generally consist of two large, consecutive rooms. There were up to five auxiliary chambers. The tombs were usually richly decorated. 
  None of the complexes show the remains of a superstructure which were normally reserved for the cult of the dead. These are probably to be found on the fertile edge and have the form of small temples. Around the time of Thutmose III, the following text was written in tomb TT 131 of the vizier Useramen, who in a few words expresses "result-oriented thinking":
  I built myself an excellent grave in my city of abundance of time (neheh). I excellently equipped the site of my tomb from rock in the Eternal Desert ( djet ). May my name last in the mouth of the living, remembering me well in the people after the years to come. This world is a little just for this, but eternity is in the kingdom of the dead.
  — Tomb TT 131 Useramen,
caption: Paintings in tomb KV2 In the Valley of the Kings
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