DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4860#0074
THE TOMB OF APY
putting beyond doubt the assignment of the tomb to the reign of a religious
•r» o festival
Rameses the Great.1 The exact significance of the incident here is not
clear. The presence of the altar and of the bark of Amon cannot be
made to harmonize with a reception of the funeral bark of Apy by his
mourning children. The following boats, however, may have borne
royal figureheads and held shrines of Amenhotep I and his mother.2
The scene would then form a certain parallel to Plate XVI and to a
scene in the contemporary tomb, No. 19. In the one, the bark of
Thothmes I is being adored by his priest before being launched on the
lake; in the other, two barks are closely associated, one being that of
the deified Amenhotep, the other apparently that of the deceased offi-
cial. Apy held priestly office, probably, in the mortuary temple of
Amenhotep I.3 The recurring celebration by him of the anniversary of
the burial of this numen might well be supposed to lay up favor against
the day when his own corpse would be conveyed to its resting place by
land and water, and need the service of a priest in its turn.4
The row of guests, already noticed (page ^2), which is continued Eastwaii,
north side
from the north wall on to the east wall north of the entrance, contrasts
unpleasantly, both in character and in direction, with the scenes below;
but this dull hospitality was almost obligatory in Ramesside tombs.5
The rest of the space is devoted to pictures of outdoor life, new only in
the novel treatment they receive and the vivacious execution. A water
scene is properly placed in the lowest register, and aquatic labor and
sport, with other fen occupations, are therefore reserved for that posi-
tion (Plates XXX, XXXI).6
1 The third boat is evidenced by a yellow smear on the mud surface, and only the exemplar of the sacred
bark enables us to interpret the daub. The addition of a fragment showing the royal sphinx drawn in the same
style makes the restoration certain. As the first and last boats contain similar shrines, the second also pre-
sumably does so. The inserted pieces do not prove this, as they would belong to the first boat, if the suggested
shift to the left were made (p. kg).
2Cf. PI. XLI, 23.
3 See pp. 3g, ho, &, note i. The fact is almost proved by a fragment of a limestone libation jar in my
possession, showing the left half of a dedication to King Amenhotep (I?) and of the record of the donor ". . .
of Amon (?) in the Place of Justice, Apy."
4 If not, we may regard the episode as a detached record of Apy's official zeal or private piety. The dates
of the wine jars almost preclude the possibility of his having assisted at the burial of Rameses himself.
B It is already apparent in Tomb 55 under Amenhotep III.
6 Cf. Wreszinski, Atlas, Sheets 363-367.
55
putting beyond doubt the assignment of the tomb to the reign of a religious
•r» o festival
Rameses the Great.1 The exact significance of the incident here is not
clear. The presence of the altar and of the bark of Amon cannot be
made to harmonize with a reception of the funeral bark of Apy by his
mourning children. The following boats, however, may have borne
royal figureheads and held shrines of Amenhotep I and his mother.2
The scene would then form a certain parallel to Plate XVI and to a
scene in the contemporary tomb, No. 19. In the one, the bark of
Thothmes I is being adored by his priest before being launched on the
lake; in the other, two barks are closely associated, one being that of
the deified Amenhotep, the other apparently that of the deceased offi-
cial. Apy held priestly office, probably, in the mortuary temple of
Amenhotep I.3 The recurring celebration by him of the anniversary of
the burial of this numen might well be supposed to lay up favor against
the day when his own corpse would be conveyed to its resting place by
land and water, and need the service of a priest in its turn.4
The row of guests, already noticed (page ^2), which is continued Eastwaii,
north side
from the north wall on to the east wall north of the entrance, contrasts
unpleasantly, both in character and in direction, with the scenes below;
but this dull hospitality was almost obligatory in Ramesside tombs.5
The rest of the space is devoted to pictures of outdoor life, new only in
the novel treatment they receive and the vivacious execution. A water
scene is properly placed in the lowest register, and aquatic labor and
sport, with other fen occupations, are therefore reserved for that posi-
tion (Plates XXX, XXXI).6
1 The third boat is evidenced by a yellow smear on the mud surface, and only the exemplar of the sacred
bark enables us to interpret the daub. The addition of a fragment showing the royal sphinx drawn in the same
style makes the restoration certain. As the first and last boats contain similar shrines, the second also pre-
sumably does so. The inserted pieces do not prove this, as they would belong to the first boat, if the suggested
shift to the left were made (p. kg).
2Cf. PI. XLI, 23.
3 See pp. 3g, ho, &, note i. The fact is almost proved by a fragment of a limestone libation jar in my
possession, showing the left half of a dedication to King Amenhotep (I?) and of the record of the donor ". . .
of Amon (?) in the Place of Justice, Apy."
4 If not, we may regard the episode as a detached record of Apy's official zeal or private piety. The dates
of the wine jars almost preclude the possibility of his having assisted at the burial of Rameses himself.
B It is already apparent in Tomb 55 under Amenhotep III.
6 Cf. Wreszinski, Atlas, Sheets 363-367.
55