DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4859#0028
artist
THE TOMB AND ITS OWNERS
borne out by the data at our disposal, be admitted as the basis of inter-
pretation henceforth.1
These two men were both engravers in stone (literally "bearers of Careerand
rank of the
the mdl.t graving-chisel"),2 as their fathers had been before them, and Egyptian
had reached the head of their profession, or something like it, in becom-.
ing directors of the local school of craftsmen. This does not mean that
they were specialists in their art; for they had no doubt practised all its
branches in turn. Their attainments probably won them a very respect-
able rank in society, without the prideful place and lucrative opportuni-
ties which a post in the administration would have given them, though
as directors they perhaps touched this ambition also. Artists ranked
above mere artisans, as their family connections and the designation of
one of them as "esquire" (rpcti) show.3 But neither were they lionized
or over-rewarded, though the stela of Irtisen proves that they were not
unmindful of the spiritual dignity of their profession.4 Probably, there-
1 It may be said generally, however, that the objections to admitting that Henetnofret was no more than
sister to Nebamun, apart from the violence done to the term senet in this connection, are that the succession
of the two men to their office would not be easily accounted for, that the appearance of Amenhotpe and his
wife is left without justification, that Henetnofret's relation to Thepu would have been indicated at the ban-
quet, and that any explanation of the burial scene must, then, be very strained.
2 For this term, ignorantly misconstrued by me in Bulletin of M. M. A., Dec. 1920, Part II, see Griffith,
P. S. B. A., 1899, p. 270. It comes in just at this time, and I can prove no earlier instance than this of Neferhet.
The similar title, "bearer of the fan (military standard, weapons, etc.)," does not indicate one of a class, but a
special functionary of the king. But, apart from this attractive exclusiveness of the title, the ambition of the
courtiers of Amenhotep III to secure sculptured tombs, and the consequent demand for skilled hands, would
tend to call it into being. Up to tliis time the ss kd, who appears to have been specially trained to design in
line, and was thus differentiated from the ss, who might be a mere colorist, seems to have done such work both
with the brush and the graver. A ms"nti (?) was a mason and stone-carver who might also be a s"cnh, a worker
in the round, whether in wood, stone, or metal. These distinctions, besides marking the special provinces of
the artist's craft, seem also to a certain extent to have indicated rank within the profession, according to the
technical skill demanded. The colorist (ss) might rise to be a draughtsman (ss kd), and he to be an engraver
(t$y mdt.t), a statuary (scnh), or even a chief of sculptors like Apuki or Nebamun, and, finally, as the goal
of ambition, a superintendent of craftsmen in an atelier (imi r hmw.t). Thus the draughtsmen Huy and Paren-
nufer might well have eventually risen to be sculptors (see pp. M, 61). Among the Ramesside workers in the
necropolis recorded in Spiegelberg's Graffiti, there are about twenty-eight draughtsmen to seven sculptors,
and only two superintendents in each branch. The work of the t$y md$.t would, I take it, mainly be the
execution of tomb reliefs and texts.
'Schaefer, Aeg. Zeichnungen auf Scherben, p. 25. Cf. Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, p. 4i6; A. Z., ^2,
p. 128.
1 Maspcro, P. S. B. A., 1877, p. 555. Tombs of artists are rare at Thebes, despite the ability and impulse
to adorn them, and those few not large or richly decorated. On over five hundred funeral cones known to me,
only two chief stone-masons, and perhaps one chief engraver, are commemorated. Artists are not often seen
even as members of a great man's retinue.
i3
THE TOMB AND ITS OWNERS
borne out by the data at our disposal, be admitted as the basis of inter-
pretation henceforth.1
These two men were both engravers in stone (literally "bearers of Careerand
rank of the
the mdl.t graving-chisel"),2 as their fathers had been before them, and Egyptian
had reached the head of their profession, or something like it, in becom-.
ing directors of the local school of craftsmen. This does not mean that
they were specialists in their art; for they had no doubt practised all its
branches in turn. Their attainments probably won them a very respect-
able rank in society, without the prideful place and lucrative opportuni-
ties which a post in the administration would have given them, though
as directors they perhaps touched this ambition also. Artists ranked
above mere artisans, as their family connections and the designation of
one of them as "esquire" (rpcti) show.3 But neither were they lionized
or over-rewarded, though the stela of Irtisen proves that they were not
unmindful of the spiritual dignity of their profession.4 Probably, there-
1 It may be said generally, however, that the objections to admitting that Henetnofret was no more than
sister to Nebamun, apart from the violence done to the term senet in this connection, are that the succession
of the two men to their office would not be easily accounted for, that the appearance of Amenhotpe and his
wife is left without justification, that Henetnofret's relation to Thepu would have been indicated at the ban-
quet, and that any explanation of the burial scene must, then, be very strained.
2 For this term, ignorantly misconstrued by me in Bulletin of M. M. A., Dec. 1920, Part II, see Griffith,
P. S. B. A., 1899, p. 270. It comes in just at this time, and I can prove no earlier instance than this of Neferhet.
The similar title, "bearer of the fan (military standard, weapons, etc.)," does not indicate one of a class, but a
special functionary of the king. But, apart from this attractive exclusiveness of the title, the ambition of the
courtiers of Amenhotep III to secure sculptured tombs, and the consequent demand for skilled hands, would
tend to call it into being. Up to tliis time the ss kd, who appears to have been specially trained to design in
line, and was thus differentiated from the ss, who might be a mere colorist, seems to have done such work both
with the brush and the graver. A ms"nti (?) was a mason and stone-carver who might also be a s"cnh, a worker
in the round, whether in wood, stone, or metal. These distinctions, besides marking the special provinces of
the artist's craft, seem also to a certain extent to have indicated rank within the profession, according to the
technical skill demanded. The colorist (ss) might rise to be a draughtsman (ss kd), and he to be an engraver
(t$y mdt.t), a statuary (scnh), or even a chief of sculptors like Apuki or Nebamun, and, finally, as the goal
of ambition, a superintendent of craftsmen in an atelier (imi r hmw.t). Thus the draughtsmen Huy and Paren-
nufer might well have eventually risen to be sculptors (see pp. M, 61). Among the Ramesside workers in the
necropolis recorded in Spiegelberg's Graffiti, there are about twenty-eight draughtsmen to seven sculptors,
and only two superintendents in each branch. The work of the t$y md$.t would, I take it, mainly be the
execution of tomb reliefs and texts.
'Schaefer, Aeg. Zeichnungen auf Scherben, p. 25. Cf. Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, p. 4i6; A. Z., ^2,
p. 128.
1 Maspcro, P. S. B. A., 1877, p. 555. Tombs of artists are rare at Thebes, despite the ability and impulse
to adorn them, and those few not large or richly decorated. On over five hundred funeral cones known to me,
only two chief stone-masons, and perhaps one chief engraver, are commemorated. Artists are not often seen
even as members of a great man's retinue.
i3