DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4859#0079
THE TOMB OF TWO SCULPTORS AT THEBES
An unfinished rr;he inner chamber of the tomb has had its mud-lined walls slopped
shrine
over with a thin wash of white, and two thirds of the east wall has been
decorated against a ground color of that glistening yellow which is gen-
erally reserved for shrines and kiosks (cf. Plate X).1 One can gather
from the condition of this scene the probable history of its execution.
It was at first intended to paint it in proper style, and at the far end fig-
ures of one of the owners and his wife (?) sitting before a small table of
offerings were carefully put in (Plates XXVII-XXIX). Perhaps the con-
secrating priest facing them was drawn with equal care; but this figure
has been erased, as always. At this stage it became evident that the
decoration could not be finished. Nevertheless, an attempt was made to
carry it further in the short interval remaining. If the original design
was adhered to, it is likely to have been meant to depict the celebration
of a feast-day by the family of the deceased, and not the ordinary meal
of the dead. For the addition consists of two musicians enlivening the
banquet, and a married pair, of almost the same size as the chief per-
sonages, sitting in front of them; the first, presumably, of a row of
guests, to judge by the direction in which they face. They are receiving
flowers from the hand of a young woman, but, as there was no time to
insert the projected texts, we are unaware whether the man represents
the other owner of the tomb, or, as is more probable, the privileged
Amenhotpe and his wife (p. 55).2 This part of the scene seems to have
been entrusted to another painter who worked simultaneously with the
first. While the chief artist was carefully finishing the main figures on
the left, his coadjutor worked on the female figure on the same side of
1 Perhaps because of the name "house of gold" (see p. 46).
2 The picture has a strong resemblance to the banquet scene (PI. V) particularly if, as is well possible,
the girl was offering a menat again as well as flowers, Henetnofret being replaced by the sem-priest and musi-
cians. Was it in that case a repetition of the reception by Nebamun and Thepu; a replica, showing Apuki
and his wife in the place of honor, and her parents as chief guests; or, as a third alternative, the two owners,
with mother and wife respectively, and a son and daughter ministering to them? The part of the scene on
the upper half of PL XXVIII was not found in even this degree of completeness. The extant part reached
only to the knees of the figures; the rest has been made up of nine or ten fragments found on the site. The
bindweed wound round the stems is again a forecast of a feature of the new art which the later era endorsed.
The hanging head of papyrus could possibly belong to the stems in the man's hand, instead of to the more
stiffly drawn bouquet.
64
An unfinished rr;he inner chamber of the tomb has had its mud-lined walls slopped
shrine
over with a thin wash of white, and two thirds of the east wall has been
decorated against a ground color of that glistening yellow which is gen-
erally reserved for shrines and kiosks (cf. Plate X).1 One can gather
from the condition of this scene the probable history of its execution.
It was at first intended to paint it in proper style, and at the far end fig-
ures of one of the owners and his wife (?) sitting before a small table of
offerings were carefully put in (Plates XXVII-XXIX). Perhaps the con-
secrating priest facing them was drawn with equal care; but this figure
has been erased, as always. At this stage it became evident that the
decoration could not be finished. Nevertheless, an attempt was made to
carry it further in the short interval remaining. If the original design
was adhered to, it is likely to have been meant to depict the celebration
of a feast-day by the family of the deceased, and not the ordinary meal
of the dead. For the addition consists of two musicians enlivening the
banquet, and a married pair, of almost the same size as the chief per-
sonages, sitting in front of them; the first, presumably, of a row of
guests, to judge by the direction in which they face. They are receiving
flowers from the hand of a young woman, but, as there was no time to
insert the projected texts, we are unaware whether the man represents
the other owner of the tomb, or, as is more probable, the privileged
Amenhotpe and his wife (p. 55).2 This part of the scene seems to have
been entrusted to another painter who worked simultaneously with the
first. While the chief artist was carefully finishing the main figures on
the left, his coadjutor worked on the female figure on the same side of
1 Perhaps because of the name "house of gold" (see p. 46).
2 The picture has a strong resemblance to the banquet scene (PI. V) particularly if, as is well possible,
the girl was offering a menat again as well as flowers, Henetnofret being replaced by the sem-priest and musi-
cians. Was it in that case a repetition of the reception by Nebamun and Thepu; a replica, showing Apuki
and his wife in the place of honor, and her parents as chief guests; or, as a third alternative, the two owners,
with mother and wife respectively, and a son and daughter ministering to them? The part of the scene on
the upper half of PL XXVIII was not found in even this degree of completeness. The extant part reached
only to the knees of the figures; the rest has been made up of nine or ten fragments found on the site. The
bindweed wound round the stems is again a forecast of a feature of the new art which the later era endorsed.
The hanging head of papyrus could possibly belong to the stems in the man's hand, instead of to the more
stiffly drawn bouquet.
64