TT255

Theban tomb TT255
Burial site of Roy
Floor plan of TT255
TT255
Coordinates	25°44′15″N 32°37′28″E / 25.7375°N 32.6245°E / 25.7375; 32.6245
Location	Dra' Abu el-Naga', Theban Necropolis
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Roy and Nebtawy in hieroglyphs
Era: New Kingdom (1550–1069 BC)

The Theban Tomb TT255 is located in Dra' Abu el-Naga', part of the Theban Necropolis, situated on the west bank of the Nile opposite Luxor. The sepulchre is the burial place of Roy, a royal scribe, and his wife Nebtawy (nicknamed Tawy), who lived at the end of the 18th Dynasty, during the reign of Horemheb. In addition to being a scribe, Roy was an overseer of the estates of both Horemheb and the god Amun.¹

The tomb is small, consisting of only one chamber with a stele niche and burial shaft, but it is well decorated.¹ It is one of two tombs in Dra' Abu el-Naga' that is open to the public.² The tomb is reached via a single ornamented chamber measuring only 4 by 1.85 metres that is carved out of the rock and has a funerary stela in a niche at the far end.³ The real burial chamber is reached via a funeral tomb-shaft that extends into the deep (to the right of the entryway). The tomb faces south-east and its corners are rounded and none of the walls are flat.⁴ The wall immediately to the left-hand side of the entrance is divided into four registers. Roy and his wife are seen before a man who is bringing a calf, and there are scenes of ploughing and pulling flax.² Around the tops of the walls a frieze of Hathor heads, Anubis jackals and the titles of Roy and his wife can be seen.² The ceiling of Roy's T255 tomb is painted in bright bold colours which remain vivid despite the passage of 3,200 years.

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  A vivid relief of TT255 depicting Roy and his wife in the afterlife.
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  A relief scene of cattle being brought before Roy in TT255
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  The painted ceiling of Tomb TT255
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  A vivid relief of Roy and his wife before Horus and Hathor