Ritva,

I agree with every post you've put on this thread.

It is important to remember the simple concept that the tomb was supposed to be where you went when your life on this "level" was over and you were called to go to the next.

What would you think of the idea that if a person put the finishing touches on his tomb, both the gods and the ancient Egyptians themselves might have seen that as an act of arrogance, confronting the gods who disagreed with him about his being "ready", or it being "his time" to move on?

Not to mention, a tomb always had to have room for additional "great feats" done by the tomb owner, even as s/he approached his or her last days on this "level". These great feats would have to be recorded, I would think. There would need to be room left for later greatness of acts... such as magnanimous gifts, or the arrival of another child, or simply the running of a last Heb Sed. Just because we know Ramesses II lived to be about 90 years old doesn't mean Ramesses knew he was going to live that long (or that short...lol).

I think the tomb was in a constant state of archival updates. The intended inhabitant, wanting to be reminded of the great events that made his Ba an individual, would want to add every major event into his record, and would probably never declare his tomb "finished". I think this mindset clearly explains the on again/off again nature of Horemheb's tomb, as well as the unfinished nature of nearly every tomb ever constructed in Egyptian history.

Are you aware of any tombs that actually are known to have been "finished" completely? I know I haven't seen any in person (although some have been so badly damaged one probably couldn't tell even if they were finished), but you would think that if finishing a tomb was acceptable, there would be some that have survived.

Anthony

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him think.