Brick-making Scene, Tomb of Rekhmire (TT100)
Foreign laborers making mudbricks under Egyptian overseers, painted on a vizier's tomb wall
Found 1832 — Known to early travelers (Wilkinson, 1830s); fully recorded by Norman de Garis Davies (1943)
Where Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Theban Necropolis (Egypt)
Dates from c. 1450–1400 BCE · Late Bronze Age IIA (18th Dynasty, Thutmose III–Amenhotep II) · Israelite forced labor (early-date view places the Exodus in this reign)
Now at In place (Theban tomb TT100); facsimile paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
How Brick-making Scene, Tomb of Rekhmire (TT100) was found
The tomb of Rekhmire, vizier under Thutmose III and Amenhotep II, is cut into the hill of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna. Its painted walls show the vizier's duties, including supervising brick production for the temple of Amun at Karnak.
What it is
A painted register showing workers, some with the light skin and beards of Asiatics and some Nubians, drawing water, mixing mud, molding bricks in wooden forms, drying them and carrying them to a building site, while Egyptian overseers with sticks watch. A caption reads: 'the rod is in my hand; be not idle'.
Why it matters for the Bible
This is the closest visual match to Exodus 1 and 5: foreign captives making bricks under stick-wielding taskmasters. The workers are described as prisoners of war from Thutmose III's campaigns in Canaan, not Israelites, but the scene shows exactly the process, quotas and supervision the Bible describes, in the same century that early-date chronologies assign to the oppression.
The Hebrew word: le-veh-NAH
לְבֵנָה
לְבֵנָה is pronounced le-veh-NAH and means brick (Strong's H3843).
People this discovery connects to
- Moses — מֹשֶׁה (moh-SHEH) — drawn out
Places
- Egypt — מִצְרַיִם (mits-RAH-yim) — Egypt
Events
Israelite brick-making under taskmasters
Brick-making Scene, Tomb of Rekhmire (TT100) in Scripture
Genesis 11:3 First mention of brick in Scripture.
Exodus 1:14 Israel's lives made bitter with mortar and brick; the tomb painting shows that labor step by step.
Exodus 5:7-8 Bricks without straw and a fixed quota; the scene shows mud, water and molds, and overseers enforcing output.
Questions people ask
What is Brick-making Scene, Tomb of Rekhmire (TT100)?
A painted register showing workers, some with the light skin and beards of Asiatics and some Nubians, drawing water, mixing mud, molding bricks in wooden forms, drying them and carrying them to a building site, while Egyptian overseers with sticks watch. A caption reads: 'the rod is in my hand; be not idle'.
When was Brick-making Scene, Tomb of Rekhmire (TT100) discovered?
It was found in 1832 by Known to early travelers (Wilkinson, 1830s); fully recorded by Norman de Garis Davies (1943), at Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Theban Necropolis.
Where is Brick-making Scene, Tomb of Rekhmire (TT100) today?
In place (Theban tomb TT100); facsimile paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Which Bible verses does Brick-making Scene, Tomb of Rekhmire (TT100) relate to?
Genesis 11:3, Exodus 1:14, Exodus 5:7-8.
Related discoveries
- עַבְדִּיאֵלTomb of the Vizier Aper-ElA Semitic-named vizier of Egypt under Amenhotep III and Akhenaten
- עַיִןMaqna 'Springs of Moses' (Arabian Elim and Marah claims)Palm-oasis springs on the Gulf of Aqaba offered as the twelve wells of Elim
- צוּרThe 'Split Rock of Horeb' near Jabal MaqlaA giant cleft boulder in Saudi Arabia claimed as the rock Moshe struck
- עָרֵי מִסְכְּנוֹתPi-Ramesses (Qantir)The Delta capital of Ramesses II, the 'Rameses' of Exodus 1:11
- פִּסְגָּהMount Nebo: The Memorial of MosesByzantine basilica and mosaics on the peak where Moshe viewed the Land
- כָּתַבProto-Sinaitic Inscriptions, Serabit el-KhadimSemitic workers in Sinai writing the world's first alphabet
Sources
- Davies, The Tomb of Rekh-mi-Re at Thebes (1943)
- Wikipedia: TT100
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