Kha was an ancient Egyptian foreman and official of the Eighteenth Dynasty, active at Deir el-Medina during the reigns of Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III. He is also commonly described as an architect, but his attested titles were "chief in the Great Place" and "overseer of works in the Great Place"; as foreman of the royal-necropolis crew, he directed workers engaged in the construction and decoration of royal tombs.

Kha was married to Merit, with whom he had three children, and died during the reign of Amenhotep III at an estimated age of between 50 and 60.

The burial chamber of Kha and Merit was discovered intact in 1906 by the Italian Archaeological Mission led by Ernesto Schiaparelli. Its funerary assemblage comprises more than 460 objects.Different counts occur in the scholarly literature: La Nasa et al. give more than 440 objects, while Bianucci et al. give more than 500. The grave goods form the most abundant, complete and best-preserved non-royal Egyptian funerary collection yet discovered.

Life and career

Kha's father is named Iuy in Kha's Book of the Dead. It has been suggested that Kha came from a modest background and rose to his position on the basis of personal merit.

Kha was active at Deir el-Medina, the settlement of the workforce employed on the royal tombs, and worked in the Valley of the Kings during the reigns of three pharaohs, Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III. His duties were primarily supervisory: he oversaw the construction of royal tombs and led the crew responsible for their construction and decoration. Surviving lists record crews of 26–30 men during the reign of Amenhotep II and about 44 during the reign of Amenhotep III; in one list Kha's personal mark appears first, probably because he was the foreman.

Kha and Neferhebef were contemporaries and held the same position in the direction of works. It has been suggested that they jointly directed the workforce, but there is no evidence that the crew was then divided into two groups, as occurred in the Ramesside period. Neferhebef and his wife Tayunes are depicted in Kha's funerary chapel, while Neferhebef's name also occurs on objects from the TT8 burial assemblage. A progression from "overseer of works in the Great Place" to "chief in the Great Place" has also been proposed, but there is no explicit evidence for such a hierarchy and the two titles may have been interchangeable. The title "royal scribe" is attested only on two decorated canes from Kha's tomb (Suppl. 8417 and 8418/01); Laboury noted that these objects may instead have been gifts from a namesake colleague who held that title, so its attribution to Kha is uncertain.

Kha and Merit had three children: Amenemopet, Nakhteftaneb and a daughter also named Merit. Amenemopet bore the title "Servant in the Royal Necropolis", while nothing is known about Nakhteftaneb's career; their sister Merit was a chantress of Amun. All three children survived their mother. Merit died before her husband. The dimensions of the anthropoid coffin in which she was buried, together with funerary texts naming Kha, suggest that it may originally have been prepared for Kha and subsequently used for Merit. Empty spaces around her body were filled with linen bearing Kha's name.

Kha died during the reign of Amenhotep III, between the ages of 50 and 60. He was buried wearing a gold-disc shebyu collar, part of the "Gold of Honour" awarded by the king to distinguished officials; other jewellery also remained beneath the wrappings.

Medical condition His skeleton shows spondylosis, a degenerative condition of the spinal column, with osteophytes in the lumbar region; mild degenerative changes are also visible in the knees, and an enthesopathy is present at the insertion of the right triceps brachii. During life he had lost almost all of his upper premolars and molars, as well as several lower teeth, greatly reducing his ability to chew; no injuries attributable to fatal trauma were identified, and the cause of death remains unknown.

Titles and office

Kha is described in inscriptions as "chief in the Great Place" (Egyptian: Hry (m) st aAt) and "overseer of works in the Great Place" (Egyptian: mr kAt st aAt); the "Great Place" referred to the royal necropolis. The first title appears on a wooden statuette, while the second occurs on most objects from his funerary equipment. On a bronze basin (Suppl. 8225), a dedication to his vital essence (Egyptian: ka) calls him "overseer of works". The gilded royal cubit rod bearing the name of Amenhotep II (Suppl. 8647) was a token of the king's appreciation for Kha. Neferhebef and Khaemwaset, who also bore the title "director of works", gave Kha two inscribed canes that served as signs of authority.

Tomb

The burial chamber of Kha and Merit (TT8) was discovered on 15 February 1906 by the Italian Archaeological Mission led by Ernesto Schiaparelli, about 25 m north of the family chapel. A landslide had sealed the entrance in antiquity, protecting the chamber from looting; its funerary assemblage comprises more than 460 objects.Different counts occur in the scholarly literature: La Nasa et al. give more than 440 objects, while Bianucci et al. give more than 500. It forms the most abundant, complete and best-preserved collection of non-royal Egyptian grave goods yet discovered. In terms of wealth, the tomb is considered the richest non-royal burial of the New Kingdom, second only to that of Tutankhamun.

Kha's body lay within three nested coffins. The outer coffin was shrine-shaped and enclosed two anthropoid coffins, modelled on the human form; the middle coffin had elements covered with stucco and gold leaf, while the inner coffin was fully gilded. Almost all of the grave goods were transferred after the excavation to the Museo Egizio in Turin; a small group remained at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Other evidence

A funerary stele from the chapel of Kha and Merit (Cat. 1618) entered the collections of the Museo Egizio in Turin in 1824 through the purchase of the collection of Bernardino Drovetti.

A limestone stele in the British Museum (EA1515) has been associated with Kha, but its attribution is disputed. The upper register depicts Thutmose IV offering flowers and incense to Amun-Ra and the deified Ahmose-Nefertari, while a man named Kha kneels in adoration below. The British Museum currently identifies this Kha as the foreman (Inher)kha, or Inherkhau, associated with TT299. Marianne Eaton-Krauss proposed that the stela had originally been commissioned for the Eighteenth-Dynasty Kha of TT8 and was later restored and adapted for Inherkhau.

Soliman identifies Kha's personal mark on five inscribed sherds (ostraca). Two of them, ONL 6330 and ONL 6369, were found at Deir el-Medina and appear to be "name stones"; Soliman cautions, however, that it is not certain whether these two pieces refer to Kha himself or to a member of his family.

The Louvre holds a sandstone pyramidion bearing Kha's name (E 13988), with Kha shown kneeling in worship on each of its four faces. The object, originally from Kha's funerary chapel (TT8), was discovered on 8 February 1923 in the courtyard of TT326, associated with Pashedu, by the French archaeological mission led by Bernard Bruyère.

The Bibliothèque nationale de France holds the Book of the Dead of Merit (inv. 53.2), a funerary papyrus 197 cm long donated by the Duke of Luynes in 1862; its precise findspot is unknown, though Deir el-Medina has been proposed. The papyrus is attributed to Merit because her name occurs more often and precedes Kha's, although it may originally have been prepared for Kha.

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