DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4862#0075
PLEASANT HOURS AT HOME AND ABROAD
Some details poon the hippopotamus, to divert himself with fen occupations, to present
offerings to [the goddess of the] chase, [following] his inclination (P)."1
The fen occupations are the three forms of sport represented here, but
Sekhet, mistress of the chase, has so little personality that the hunter's
tribute to her is never definitely depicted.2 The fragment of the head
of the hippopotamus which has been recovered, small as it is, is valua-
ble in view of the defacement of almost all the similar scenes. The
artist has succeeded admirably in suggesting the heavy ferocity of the
brute; his color is cleverly idealized, and his clumsy lines and curious
teeth are so rendered that the impression made by the creature is tell-
ingly conveyed (Plate XI). The curious heap of water, in which he sits
as in a shelter, is a device of the draughtsman by which he keeps the
general depth of the pool within convenient limits, and yet is able to
give the monster below its surface a sufficiently imposing size.
Scenes of fish- The scenes of spearing fish and bringing down the water-fowl are
ing and of
fowling in accordance with the conventional models, in which the figure of the
sportsman is repeated on either side of a papyrus thicket.3 That of the
fowler has entirely disappeared here; but we can supply the context to
the sparse relics of the inscription over the fishing scene. "Count
. . . Puyemre, [traversing] the lagoon, penetrating the pools, and en-
joying himself with spearing fish in the back-waters."4
The papyrus thicket forms, as usual, a stiff decorative design,
$ ] t J ^%* [! ^° ^T \ ] 2 *!L' Cf' Gardiner> Tomb °f Amenemhet, PL I; Sethe, Urkunden, IV, p. 453;
Wilkinson, M. and C, II, p. 128. The orthography of the word hlbu, is unusual, but was already found in
the homophonous word for "sickle," the determinative of which is taken over with its spelling. The long
column has been re-composed; the shorter ones may be relied on.
2 There seems to have been a god of the fens in the North, to judge by the fish and fowl of the well-
known "Nile-gods" from Tanis (Maspero, Art in Egypt, p. 193).
3 For very similar grouping see Wilkinson, M. and C, II, p. 107; Caillaud, Arts et Metiers, PL XXXV.
In the fish-spearing scene in Tomb 81 Anena's wife squats by his side, as here, but no other companion.
The fish there are speared below the water level. The papyrus clump is very similar. A tame goose (used
as a decoy?) stands in the prow of the boat, and with so much success that one of its kind joins it from the
pool. The fowling scene breaks off where ours does, but the small figure is wholly turned towards the
right. There is room for a hippopotamus hunt on the right, as in Tomb 82.
•Reading ^Mraj^j?jP«k«?X^ff'^TA^X^ b front ofthe
name I I (that of a chief servant elsewhere, but written here in imposing characters) is a fragment
which suggests a black and yellow boomerang; as that would be out of place here, it may be a hieroglyph.
52
Some details poon the hippopotamus, to divert himself with fen occupations, to present
offerings to [the goddess of the] chase, [following] his inclination (P)."1
The fen occupations are the three forms of sport represented here, but
Sekhet, mistress of the chase, has so little personality that the hunter's
tribute to her is never definitely depicted.2 The fragment of the head
of the hippopotamus which has been recovered, small as it is, is valua-
ble in view of the defacement of almost all the similar scenes. The
artist has succeeded admirably in suggesting the heavy ferocity of the
brute; his color is cleverly idealized, and his clumsy lines and curious
teeth are so rendered that the impression made by the creature is tell-
ingly conveyed (Plate XI). The curious heap of water, in which he sits
as in a shelter, is a device of the draughtsman by which he keeps the
general depth of the pool within convenient limits, and yet is able to
give the monster below its surface a sufficiently imposing size.
Scenes of fish- The scenes of spearing fish and bringing down the water-fowl are
ing and of
fowling in accordance with the conventional models, in which the figure of the
sportsman is repeated on either side of a papyrus thicket.3 That of the
fowler has entirely disappeared here; but we can supply the context to
the sparse relics of the inscription over the fishing scene. "Count
. . . Puyemre, [traversing] the lagoon, penetrating the pools, and en-
joying himself with spearing fish in the back-waters."4
The papyrus thicket forms, as usual, a stiff decorative design,
$ ] t J ^%* [! ^° ^T \ ] 2 *!L' Cf' Gardiner> Tomb °f Amenemhet, PL I; Sethe, Urkunden, IV, p. 453;
Wilkinson, M. and C, II, p. 128. The orthography of the word hlbu, is unusual, but was already found in
the homophonous word for "sickle," the determinative of which is taken over with its spelling. The long
column has been re-composed; the shorter ones may be relied on.
2 There seems to have been a god of the fens in the North, to judge by the fish and fowl of the well-
known "Nile-gods" from Tanis (Maspero, Art in Egypt, p. 193).
3 For very similar grouping see Wilkinson, M. and C, II, p. 107; Caillaud, Arts et Metiers, PL XXXV.
In the fish-spearing scene in Tomb 81 Anena's wife squats by his side, as here, but no other companion.
The fish there are speared below the water level. The papyrus clump is very similar. A tame goose (used
as a decoy?) stands in the prow of the boat, and with so much success that one of its kind joins it from the
pool. The fowling scene breaks off where ours does, but the small figure is wholly turned towards the
right. There is room for a hippopotamus hunt on the right, as in Tomb 82.
•Reading ^Mraj^j?jP«k«?X^ff'^TA^X^ b front ofthe
name I I (that of a chief servant elsewhere, but written here in imposing characters) is a fragment
which suggests a black and yellow boomerang; as that would be out of place here, it may be a hieroglyph.
52