TT56

The Theban Tomb TT56 is located in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna. It forms part of the Theban Necropolis, situated on the west bank of the Nile opposite Luxor. The tomb is the burial place of the ancient Egyptian official Userhat, who was the "Royal Scribe", "Overseer and Scribe of the Cattle of Amun", "Bread counting scribe in Upper and Lower Egypt", and "deputy Herald", during the 18th Dynasty king Amenhotep II and his wife Mutnefret. TT56 is one of the best preserved Theban nobility tombs from Western Thebes and its paintings boast many vivid and brightly painted scenes depicting the deceased Userhat and Mutnefret receiving gifts and presents in the afterlife.

==Tomb TT56== thumb|left|Userhat before Osiris in Tomb TT56 At the beginning of the 19th century, the tomb of Userhat was never mentioned by explorers of the Theban area; however, it must have already been known and visited in 1827, when John Gardner Wilkinson copied some inscriptions finding it blocked at the height of the musicians' scene. In 1843, Karl Richard Lepsius visited TT56 entering it from a breach which had opened in the nearby Tomb TT57, but for the tomb to be almost completely open it was necessary to wait until 1904 and Robert Mond. In 1932, consolidation and restoration works were carried out (but there are no publications of the works carried out) and, in 1956, further restoration works were necessary, carried out by Labib Habachi; the complete publication of the wall decorations of TT56 dates back to 1987, edited by Seeber and Ghaffar.