DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4195#0018
THE SCENES AND INSUÜIPTIOXÖ.
corridor prove; and we are far from the series
of fully-sculptured Chambers wliicli we find a
little later in the tombs of Mera and Kagemna.
18. A brief analysis of the motive of the
totnb decoration employed here may also be
attempted. A desire would naturally arise
that the spirits of the dead should take pleasure
in their chapels on other occasions beside those
when the piety of the living had placed fresh
viands there. This problem presented no great
difficulty to a people who had such a love for
sign, symbol and Script, and attributed to them
such real potency as did the ancient Egyptians.
At least the designs which they executed on
the walls of the chapel and of the entrance,
and sometimes on the facade near the doorway,
seem to have this for their object. On the
one hand, the volatile spirit of the deceased
might gain a neecled hxity and munclaneness
from his sculptured figure and titles ; on the
other hand, thanks to the liberal depictions of
the labour by which subsistence is gained and
of its fruits, he could experience in this dark
and narrow Chamber much of the real joy of
life and work that was still animating others in
the green plains of the river Valley.
19. The representations of most importance
to the dead, and to which therefore the chapel
walls are in the first instance devoted, are:—
(1) The stela, fashioned to represent a plank
door set in an elaborate framing. The
deceased is generally rej)resented on it
in the act of passing in or out; in a
few cases his statue occupies the niche.
It is ordinarily inscribed with such
prayers to divine powers as would
procure for the dead the conditions of
blessedness.
(2) The figure, name, and titles of the
deceased.
(3) A tabulated list of articles of food, con-
sisting when füllest of about 100 entries.
(4) The deceased sitting before a lavishly
spread table.
(5) The bringirig of variecl provisions and the
slaughter of animals by the " servants of
the ha"
(6) The religious ritual by which the viands
Avere fitted to afford nourishment to a
glorified spirit.
(7) The depiction of wife and family, favourite
servants or domestic pets, in order to
assure the dead man of their renewed
companionship.
20. One can imagine the funeral procession
passing through the corridor on the day of
burial. The wooden shrines containing the
statues of the dead are dragged in by the
celebrants with professional lamentation and
dancing, and much priestly recitation and
ritual, and there follows a long line of servitors
leadina; sacrilicial animals or beariug offerino-s
of smaller sort. Prominent among these is the
file of serfs, each of whom represents one of the
estates of the deceased and carries appropriate
gifts. These scenes, therefore, form the natural
subject for corridor decoration, and the frequent
depiction of shipping will be found perfectly
concordant when it is remembered that then,
as now, the waterways of Egypt formed its only
high roads. Other representations less obviously
connected with the j)rovisioning of the tomb,
such as scenes of agriculture and craftsmanship,
also Und a place in the corridor (notably in the
tomb of Thy).
21, Theoretically the whole of the decora-
tion is designed for the one end of sustaining
the life of the dead in blessedness, whether
by the magic inüuence of the representations
themselves, or by the direction which they
gave to the piety of the living, who by correct
ritual, gifts, and prayers could contribute so
much to the welfare of the dead. It is true
that much often meets our eyes in these chapels
that seems purely biographical or pictorial, or
in which the artist appears to have given rein
to his own often humorous deliffht in livine-
form and action, in total oblivion of the religious
corridor prove; and we are far from the series
of fully-sculptured Chambers wliicli we find a
little later in the tombs of Mera and Kagemna.
18. A brief analysis of the motive of the
totnb decoration employed here may also be
attempted. A desire would naturally arise
that the spirits of the dead should take pleasure
in their chapels on other occasions beside those
when the piety of the living had placed fresh
viands there. This problem presented no great
difficulty to a people who had such a love for
sign, symbol and Script, and attributed to them
such real potency as did the ancient Egyptians.
At least the designs which they executed on
the walls of the chapel and of the entrance,
and sometimes on the facade near the doorway,
seem to have this for their object. On the
one hand, the volatile spirit of the deceased
might gain a neecled hxity and munclaneness
from his sculptured figure and titles ; on the
other hand, thanks to the liberal depictions of
the labour by which subsistence is gained and
of its fruits, he could experience in this dark
and narrow Chamber much of the real joy of
life and work that was still animating others in
the green plains of the river Valley.
19. The representations of most importance
to the dead, and to which therefore the chapel
walls are in the first instance devoted, are:—
(1) The stela, fashioned to represent a plank
door set in an elaborate framing. The
deceased is generally rej)resented on it
in the act of passing in or out; in a
few cases his statue occupies the niche.
It is ordinarily inscribed with such
prayers to divine powers as would
procure for the dead the conditions of
blessedness.
(2) The figure, name, and titles of the
deceased.
(3) A tabulated list of articles of food, con-
sisting when füllest of about 100 entries.
(4) The deceased sitting before a lavishly
spread table.
(5) The bringirig of variecl provisions and the
slaughter of animals by the " servants of
the ha"
(6) The religious ritual by which the viands
Avere fitted to afford nourishment to a
glorified spirit.
(7) The depiction of wife and family, favourite
servants or domestic pets, in order to
assure the dead man of their renewed
companionship.
20. One can imagine the funeral procession
passing through the corridor on the day of
burial. The wooden shrines containing the
statues of the dead are dragged in by the
celebrants with professional lamentation and
dancing, and much priestly recitation and
ritual, and there follows a long line of servitors
leadina; sacrilicial animals or beariug offerino-s
of smaller sort. Prominent among these is the
file of serfs, each of whom represents one of the
estates of the deceased and carries appropriate
gifts. These scenes, therefore, form the natural
subject for corridor decoration, and the frequent
depiction of shipping will be found perfectly
concordant when it is remembered that then,
as now, the waterways of Egypt formed its only
high roads. Other representations less obviously
connected with the j)rovisioning of the tomb,
such as scenes of agriculture and craftsmanship,
also Und a place in the corridor (notably in the
tomb of Thy).
21, Theoretically the whole of the decora-
tion is designed for the one end of sustaining
the life of the dead in blessedness, whether
by the magic inüuence of the representations
themselves, or by the direction which they
gave to the piety of the living, who by correct
ritual, gifts, and prayers could contribute so
much to the welfare of the dead. It is true
that much often meets our eyes in these chapels
that seems purely biographical or pictorial, or
in which the artist appears to have given rein
to his own often humorous deliffht in livine-
form and action, in total oblivion of the religious