Mourning for Userhet
In this Egyptian tomb painting, women mourn for Userhet. A nobleman contemporaneous with Thutmose IV (reigned c. 1397–1388 B.C.), Userhet’s titles included “Overseer of Amun’s Fields.” His prestigious burial place, in the Valley of the Kings across the Nile from Thebes, underscores his high rank. In Bible times, mourners often placed their hands on their head, tore their clothing, wore garments of coarse cloth, wailed, and sat or lay on dust and ashes or applied them to their heads. Female mourners often left their hair uncombed and unbraided.
Gen 37:34, 2 Sam 13:19, Esth 4:1, Job 42:5–6, Jer 6:26, Amos 8:10, Matt 11:21, Rev 18:7
Image by the Yorck Project, from Wikimedia Commons. License: Public Domain
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