A steep staircase of about 30 steps cuts down into the cliff face above Deir el-Medina, leading into a cool chamber whose walls glow with color. At the far end of the burial chamber, a man kneels beneath a dom-palm tree at the edge of a still pool — drinking from it, the hieroglyphs explain, in the peace of the afterlife. The water ripples are painted with the confidence of someone who understood exactly what they were doing.
The man who painted this scene was Pashedu. The man depicted in it is also Pashedu. He was one of the master craftsmen of Deir el-Medina — the walled village on Luxor’s West Bank where the artisans who built and decorated the Valley of the Kings‘ royal tombs lived for nearly 500 years. His own tomb is, in a particular way, his finest work.
Who Was Pashedu?
Pashedu lived during the Ramesside Period, working under Pharaohs Seti I and Ramesses II in the 19th Dynasty. His official title was “Servant in the Place of Truth” — the formal designation for the artisans of Deir el-Medina, the people who knew the locations and secrets of the royal tombs.
He began as a stonemason and eventually rose to foreman — a position that required both technical expertise and the trust of the community. His wife, Nedjem-Behdet, appears throughout the tomb’s paintings wearing the fashions of the period: long wig, large earrings, and a perfume cone — depicted with the same care Pashedu’s colleagues brought to royal portraits. Their children, including Menna and Kaha, appear in the family offering scenes on the northern wall.
Note: one of Pashedu’s children shares the name Menna with his father — a common Egyptian practice of naming children after grandparents or ancestors, not a source of confusion the tomb itself leaves unresolved.
Architecture of TT3
The tomb’s layout is compact but well-designed:
- Entrance staircase: approximately 29–30 steps carved into the rock, descending from the cliffside entrance
- First chamber: modest in size, with symbolic imagery on the walls
- Short vaulted passage: flanked by protective deities on both sides
- Burial chamber: the main painted space, with a vaulted ceiling typical of artisan tombs at Deir el-Medina but particularly well-executed here
The vaulted ceiling is lined with protective deities — they appear to watch over the space from above, a design choice that gives the chamber an unusual sense of enclosure and guardianship.
The Paintings: What to Look For
The Entrance
On either side of the entrance doorway, Anubis appears in his jackal form, seated on a shrine and holding a flail. Above the door, Ptah-Sokar-Osiris — a composite deity in falcon form — spreads painted wings beneath the protective wedjat eye (the Eye of Horus), which symbolizes healing, wholeness, and divine protection. This entrance arrangement is a standard formula of the Ramesside period, but Pashedu’s craftsmen executed it with unusual precision.
The Dom-Palm Scene (Burial Chamber, South Wall)
The painting TT3 is most famous for: Pashedu kneeling under a dom-palm tree beside a calm reflecting pool, drinking from it with his hand. This scene comes directly from Chapter 62 of the Book of the Dead — a spell for having water in the afterlife. The composition is technically accomplished — the palm’s fronds are painted with botanical specificity, the pool’s water shows ripples, and Pashedu’s figure is proportioned with the care of someone who spent his working life painting exactly this kind of figure.
It’s a scene of absolute peace, which is precisely what it’s meant to be.
The Rear Wall
Osiris-Onnophris, ruler of the dead, is enthroned against the backdrop of the Mountain of the West — the limestone cliff that contains the Valley of the Kings, visible from Deir el-Medina when you stand in the village today. A smaller figure of Pashedu kneels in reverence before him. Nearby, a hieroglyphic inscription offers a spell for “lighting a lamp for Osiris” — a ritual act of devotion that Pashedu is literally performing in paint.
The Northern Wall
Pashedu and Nedjem-Behdet sit before an offering table with their children standing close. Nedjem-Behdet’s portrait is one of the more carefully rendered family images in the Deir el-Medina corpus — her posture, clothing, and accessories are painted with affectionate detail.
Boat Scenes
Pashedu’s spiritual journey to Abydos — the sacred city of Osiris, the destination of every pious Egyptian’s pilgrimage — is depicted in boat scenes along the walls. These images connect his tomb to the larger geography of Egyptian religious life.
Practical Information
TT3 is within the Deir el-Medina site and is covered by the Deir el-Medina entry ticket.
| Tickets | EGP 220 (foreign adult) / EGP 110 (foreign student) — Deir el-Medina site entry |
|---|---|
| Hours | 6:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Photography | Flash photography prohibited to protect the pigments; confirm personal photography rules at the entrance |
| Time needed | 30–45 minutes for TT3; allow 90 minutes for Deir el-Medina including the village remains |
| Getting there | West Bank, approximately 6 km from the ferry landing; taxi or bicycle from the ferry dock |
Combining Visits
TT3 sits within the Deir el-Medina complex, which also contains the remains of the workers’ village, other artisan tombs (including TT1, the Tomb of Sennedjem, with its vivid harvest scenes), and a Ptolemaic temple. Deir el-Medina is a natural half-day on its own, or can be combined with nearby Medinet Habu and the Ramesseum for a full West Bank day.
For context on the community Pashedu belonged to, the Artisans of Ancient Egypt article covers Deir el-Medina’s social history, the labor strike of 1155 BCE, and the craft traditions these families maintained across generations.