DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4393#0074
56 A THOUSAND MILES DP THE NILE.
home the produce of Ti's more distant lands. Here the
geese are being driven home; the cows are crossing a ford;
the oxen are plowing; the sower is scattering his seed; the
reaper plies his sickle; the oxen tread the grain; the corn
.is stored in the granary. There are evidently no independ-
ent tradesfolk in these early days of the world. Ti has his
own artificers on his own estate, and all his goods and chat-
tels are home-made. Here the carpenters are fashioning
new furniture for the house; the shipwrights are busy on
new boats; the potters mold pots; the metal-workers smelt
ingots of red gold. It is plain to see that Ti lived like a
king within his own boundaries. He makes an imposing
figure, too, in all these scenes, and, being represented
about eight times as large as bis servants, sits and stands a
giant among pigmies. Ilis wife (we must not forget that
she was of the blood royal) is as big as himself; and the
children are depicted about half the size of their parents.
Curiously enough, Egyptian art never outgrew this early
naivete. The great man remained a big man to the last
days of the Ptolemies, and the fellah was always a
dwarf.*
Apart from these and one or two other mannerisms,
nothing can be more natural than the drawing, or more
spirited than the action, of all these men and animals.
The most difficult and transitory movements are expressed
with masterly certitude. The donkey kicks up his heels
and brays—the crocodile plunges—the wild duck rises on
the wing; and the fleeting action is caught in each in-
stance with a truthfulness that no landseer could distance.
The forms, which have none of the conventional stiffness
of later Egyptian work, are modeled roundly and boldly
yet finished with exquisite precision and delicacy. The
* A more exhaustive study of the funerary texts has of late revolu-
tionized our interpretation of these and similar sepulchral tableaux.
The scenes they represent are not. as was supposed when this book
was first written, mere episodes in the daily life of the deceased; but
are links in the elaborate story of his burial and his ghostly existence
after death. The corn is sown, reaped, and gathered in order that it
may be ground and made into funerary cakes; the oxen, goats,
gazelles, geese and other live stock are destined for sacrificial offer-
ings; the pots, and furniture, and household goods are for burying
with the mummy in his tomb; and it is his " Ka," or ghostly double,
that takes part in these various scenes, and not the living man. [Note
to second edition.]
home the produce of Ti's more distant lands. Here the
geese are being driven home; the cows are crossing a ford;
the oxen are plowing; the sower is scattering his seed; the
reaper plies his sickle; the oxen tread the grain; the corn
.is stored in the granary. There are evidently no independ-
ent tradesfolk in these early days of the world. Ti has his
own artificers on his own estate, and all his goods and chat-
tels are home-made. Here the carpenters are fashioning
new furniture for the house; the shipwrights are busy on
new boats; the potters mold pots; the metal-workers smelt
ingots of red gold. It is plain to see that Ti lived like a
king within his own boundaries. He makes an imposing
figure, too, in all these scenes, and, being represented
about eight times as large as bis servants, sits and stands a
giant among pigmies. Ilis wife (we must not forget that
she was of the blood royal) is as big as himself; and the
children are depicted about half the size of their parents.
Curiously enough, Egyptian art never outgrew this early
naivete. The great man remained a big man to the last
days of the Ptolemies, and the fellah was always a
dwarf.*
Apart from these and one or two other mannerisms,
nothing can be more natural than the drawing, or more
spirited than the action, of all these men and animals.
The most difficult and transitory movements are expressed
with masterly certitude. The donkey kicks up his heels
and brays—the crocodile plunges—the wild duck rises on
the wing; and the fleeting action is caught in each in-
stance with a truthfulness that no landseer could distance.
The forms, which have none of the conventional stiffness
of later Egyptian work, are modeled roundly and boldly
yet finished with exquisite precision and delicacy. The
* A more exhaustive study of the funerary texts has of late revolu-
tionized our interpretation of these and similar sepulchral tableaux.
The scenes they represent are not. as was supposed when this book
was first written, mere episodes in the daily life of the deceased; but
are links in the elaborate story of his burial and his ghostly existence
after death. The corn is sown, reaped, and gathered in order that it
may be ground and made into funerary cakes; the oxen, goats,
gazelles, geese and other live stock are destined for sacrificial offer-
ings; the pots, and furniture, and household goods are for burying
with the mummy in his tomb; and it is his " Ka," or ghostly double,
that takes part in these various scenes, and not the living man. [Note
to second edition.]