DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4194#0022
THE SCULPTURED SCENES IN THE CHAPEL.
11
features) of the really great artist who executed
these sculptures, signed in the corner of his
masterpiece.
The second scene on the E. wall is given in
Pis. xxi. (right half), xxiv., xxvii., xxviii. It
shows Ptahhetep with his usual long wig and
false beard " seeino- the gifts and contributions
of the villages of the North and South." In
the top row (PI. xxiv.) there is wrestling by
the trained youths, a body of whom are also
marching up a prisoner they have captured,
perhaps only as a military exercise. In the
next two rows is the return of the huntsmen
with their sjioil. The robed huntsman leads
his slughis, and the small dog follows at his
heels : the captured hyena-dogs (?) also are held
by a leash. A man carries by a yoke two
cages containing; hares and hedgehogs ; another
carries trophies of the chase, including antelope
and ibex skins in a bundle. A lion and a
leopard, each in a strong wooden cage, are
drawn along on sledges; below an oryx, an
ibex, an addax, and a bubale are being led.
These are typical of the larger kind of game ;
hence Ave may conclude that the elegant and
peculiar antelope behind them belongs to some
large species (Soemmering's?). The figure is
unique in our knowledge. (HI. xxii. a.)
The remainder of this scene (Pis. xxvii.,
xxviii.) concerns the farmyard strictly. In the
fifth row cattle are being fed artificially, a cow
is calving; calves are tethered above : cattle
" of the Thoth festival"—which was held at
the beginning of the New Year, i.e. in July—
are brought up. In the sixth row two fat
oxen are being led forward for inspection,
one long-horned with a shell hanging from its
neck, the other short-horned; for the shell see
PI. xvi., " Miscellaneous Details," top left. In
the seventh row is a fine series of domesticated
birds, in groups, with numbers written beside
them: cranes (zat); re-geese 121,200; terp-
geese 121,200; Egyptian geese (hep or smeu)
—not a very good kind—11,110 ; swan (unique
representation in Egyptian art) 1225; pin-tailed
duck 120,000 ; widgeon 121,022 ; pigeons
111,200. The last group of birds has no
numerals attached to it. Previously I had
conjectured them to be quails or partridges,1
but from the photograph and from a beautiful
cast sent me by the authorities of the Berlin
Museum, they seem rather to resemble young
geese. If so, they may be meant to indicate
the innumerable young of Ptahhetep's poultry
yard, the goose being taken as the typical
domestic fowl; it would thus be implied that
in the vast numbers of fowl recorded only
grown birds are counted.
Hum., p. 30.
11
features) of the really great artist who executed
these sculptures, signed in the corner of his
masterpiece.
The second scene on the E. wall is given in
Pis. xxi. (right half), xxiv., xxvii., xxviii. It
shows Ptahhetep with his usual long wig and
false beard " seeino- the gifts and contributions
of the villages of the North and South." In
the top row (PI. xxiv.) there is wrestling by
the trained youths, a body of whom are also
marching up a prisoner they have captured,
perhaps only as a military exercise. In the
next two rows is the return of the huntsmen
with their sjioil. The robed huntsman leads
his slughis, and the small dog follows at his
heels : the captured hyena-dogs (?) also are held
by a leash. A man carries by a yoke two
cages containing; hares and hedgehogs ; another
carries trophies of the chase, including antelope
and ibex skins in a bundle. A lion and a
leopard, each in a strong wooden cage, are
drawn along on sledges; below an oryx, an
ibex, an addax, and a bubale are being led.
These are typical of the larger kind of game ;
hence Ave may conclude that the elegant and
peculiar antelope behind them belongs to some
large species (Soemmering's?). The figure is
unique in our knowledge. (HI. xxii. a.)
The remainder of this scene (Pis. xxvii.,
xxviii.) concerns the farmyard strictly. In the
fifth row cattle are being fed artificially, a cow
is calving; calves are tethered above : cattle
" of the Thoth festival"—which was held at
the beginning of the New Year, i.e. in July—
are brought up. In the sixth row two fat
oxen are being led forward for inspection,
one long-horned with a shell hanging from its
neck, the other short-horned; for the shell see
PI. xvi., " Miscellaneous Details," top left. In
the seventh row is a fine series of domesticated
birds, in groups, with numbers written beside
them: cranes (zat); re-geese 121,200; terp-
geese 121,200; Egyptian geese (hep or smeu)
—not a very good kind—11,110 ; swan (unique
representation in Egyptian art) 1225; pin-tailed
duck 120,000 ; widgeon 121,022 ; pigeons
111,200. The last group of birds has no
numerals attached to it. Previously I had
conjectured them to be quails or partridges,1
but from the photograph and from a beautiful
cast sent me by the authorities of the Berlin
Museum, they seem rather to resemble young
geese. If so, they may be meant to indicate
the innumerable young of Ptahhetep's poultry
yard, the goose being taken as the typical
domestic fowl; it would thus be implied that
in the vast numbers of fowl recorded only
grown birds are counted.
Hum., p. 30.