From Paris for Kha and Merit. Two masterpieces for the 120th anniversary.
On the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the discovery of the intact tomb of Kha and Merit, two extraordinary objects arrive in Turin to tell their story: the pyramidion of Kha, now housed at the Musée du Louvre, and the Book of the Dead of Merit, preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Starting from February 14 until August 10, 2026, these exceptional loans will be integrated into the Museum gallery dedicated to the famous funerary assemblage. Merit’s papyrus will remain in Turin until August 2026, while the pyramidion will be on display until February 2027.
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Who were Kha and Merit?
Kha and Merit were a couple belonging to the Egyptian scribal class, who lived about 3,500 years ago in Deir el-Medina. This village lies on the western bank of the Nile, opposite present-day Luxor (ancient Thebes), between the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, in a desert area. Here lived the craftsmen and workers responsible for building and decorating the tombs of the pharaohs during the New Kingdom (ca. 1539–1077 BCE).
While we know very little about Merit—she is simply described in the available texts as “lady of the house”—we know that Kha held the title of “director of works,” meaning he was responsible for the design and construction of royal tombs. Among his employers were the pharaohs Thutmose III and Amenhotep II.
Their tomb was discovered intact in 1906 by the then director of the Museo Egizio, Ernesto Schiaparelli, and most of the funerary goods were transferred to the Museum, where they are still preserved in Gallery 7 of the exhibition route.
Who were Kha and Merit?
Kha and Merit were a couple belonging to the Egyptian scribal class, who lived about 3,500 years ago in Deir el-Medina. This village lies on the western bank of the Nile, opposite present-day Luxor (ancient Thebes), between the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, in a desert area. Here lived the craftsmen and workers responsible for building and decorating the tombs of the pharaohs during the New Kingdom (ca. 1539–1077 BCE).
While we know very little about Merit—she is simply described in the available texts as “lady of the house”—we know that Kha held the title of “director of works,” meaning he was responsible for the design and construction of royal tombs. Among his employers were the pharaohs Thutmose III and Amenhotep II.
Their tomb was discovered intact in 1906 by the then director of the Egyptian Museum, Ernesto Schiaparelli, and most of the funerary goods were transferred to the Museum, where they are still preserved in Gallery 7 of the exhibition route.
The pyramidion of Kha
Following a very ancient tradition, the Egyptian tombs of Deir el-Medina combine two distinct spaces: on one side, the underground chambers where the deceased were buried with their grave goods; on the other, the funerary chapel, intended for the living and conceived as a true point of contact between the earthly world and the afterlife.
The chapel consisted of a small mudbrick structure located within an enclosed courtyard. Inside there was a vaulted chamber, usually decorated on the walls and ceiling with scenes and religious texts. In some cases, the chapel appeared externally in a pyramidal shape, topped with a sandstone apex called a pyramidion.
Kha’s funerary chapel (TT8) was built in mudbrick and was originally completed with a limestone pyramidion inscribed with his name and titles. On each of its faces, Kha is depicted kneeling in an act of worship. The object was found in 1923 in the courtyard of a nearby tomb, TT326, by the French archaeological mission led by archaeologist Bernard Bruyère. Today the pyramidion is preserved at the Musée du Louvre (E 13988).
The symbolic meaning of the pyramidion
For the ancient Egyptians, the pyramid was the ultimate solar symbol. By completing funerary chapels with a sandstone pyramidion, they intentionally evoked the regenerative power of the sun: a gesture through which the deceased could reconnect with the solar cycle and be reborn every day, like the rising sun.
The orientation of the pyramidion was also not random. Its four sides were linked to the four cardinal points, but among them the east played a fundamental role. It was the first side illuminated by the rising sun and represented the point through which the deceased could renew daily their connection with the solar star, ensuring rebirth in the afterlife.
The Book of the Dead of Merit
Alongside Kha’s pyramidion, a second object allows us to delve even deeper into the world of funerary beliefs: the Book of the Dead of Merit.
The term “Book of the Dead” is a modern definition. The ancient Egyptians instead used an expression that was perhaps more descriptive, yet equally clear: “Beginning of the spells for going out by day,” that is, to leave the darkness of the tomb and return to the luminous world of the living.
In 1824, the Egyptologist Richard Lepsius was the first to translate and identify these “Spells for Going Out by Day” in Turin, preserved on a very long papyrus: that of Iuefankh, now displayed in the Museum’s historic galleries. The publication appeared under the title Das Totenbuch (“Book of the Dead”), a name that would become established in modern tradition.
The Book of the Dead, however, is not a single fixed text, but a variable selection of spells, differing from papyrus to papyrus, chosen from a repertoire of over 190 compositions. These texts include hymns, magical formulas, mythological narratives, and prayers, considered essential to equip the deceased with the knowledge and power needed to face the complex and dangerous journey in the afterlife, culminating in transformation into an immortal spirit.
A papyrus with a complex history
We know of two Books of the Dead linked to the names of Kha and Merit, one for each spouse. The one belonging to Kha was found inside their tomb in 1906, specifically folded over his intermediate coffin.
Merit’s Book of the Dead, however, has an unexpected and still partly unknown history. The papyrus was rediscovered in France in the mid-19th century, in the residence of the Duke of Luynes at Dampierre, about fifty years before Ernesto Schiaparelli uncovered the couple’s tomb. At that time, the burial was hidden beneath more than fifteen meters of rocky debris and, thanks to this condition, had remained completely untouched for over 3,500 years. It was later donated to the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Inv. 53.2 / Luynes.826 [Inv.116]), where it is still kept today.
Although the two Books of the Dead were intended for the same funerary context, their histories are very different, suggesting an event—still unknown—that must have separated them in ancient times.
Features and content of Merit’s papyrus
If carefully observed, Merit’s Book of the Dead appears incomplete or, more precisely, cut. The scroll has a total length of 197 cm and shows clean breaks at both ends. The position and regularity of these cuts—apparently designed to preserve the integrity of the scenes at the edges—suggest they were made in modern times, perhaps in the 19th century, with the aim of making the papyrus more marketable on the antiquities market.
As for its decoration, the Book of the Dead of Merit appears highly colorful: the vignettes were created using a wide chromatic palette, and the papyrus features two yellow bands at the top and bottom.
The scroll contains 13 spells, compared to the 33 found in Kha’s book. The texts of both papyri are written in cursive hieroglyphs, a standard script for Books of the Dead from the reign of Thutmose III and used throughout the New Kingdom. A peculiarity of the period, limited to Books of the Dead, is the “retrograde” direction of writing: hieroglyphs are read from right to left, while the columns progress from left to right across the overall text. Black ink is used for the main writing, while red ink marks the beginning and end of spells, and more rarely certain particularly meaningful words or passages. Some blank spaces, where the name of the deceased would normally appear, indicate that both papyri were pre-produced: prepared in advance, with only the owner’s name inserted at the time of purchase.
Given the value of Books of the Dead, in couples’ tombs there is usually only one copy representing both spouses, even if the scroll physically accompanies the husband, as in the case of Kha. However, during the 18th Dynasty, when Kha and Merit lived, Books of the Dead belonging to high-ranking women are also documented, as in Merit’s case.
Since the exact origin of the scroll is unknown, its attribution to Merit rather than Kha is based on the frequency and prominence of her name compared to her husband’s within the text. It cannot be ruled out that the papyrus was originally intended for Kha and that the particular circumstances of Merit’s burial—shaped by her unexpected death—led Kha to make his own funerary papyrus available to his wife, just as he did with his inner coffin.
Visit the temporary exhibition at the Egyptian Museum with loans from Paris
The exhibition “From Paris for Kha and Merit. Two masterpieces on loan for the 120th anniversary of the discovery of the tomb” represents a truly rare opportunity: for the first time in Turin, Kha’s pyramidion and Merit’s Book of the Dead—coming respectively from the Musée du Louvre and the Bibliothèque nationale de France—return to “dialogue” in the same space after more than 3,500 years.
An exceptional encounter that allows visitors to explore ancient Egyptian funerary beliefs through masterpieces of extraordinary historical and symbolic value, normally housed in two of Europe’s most important cultural institutions. A unique opportunity to closely observe objects that tell a story of life, death, rebirth, and memory.
To visit the exhibition, book your ticket HERE.
