DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27180#0059
SAKKARA
In tombs where you don’t feel entombed: tombs without
mould, without worms, without ghosts, habitable tombs. At
first Babuschka wasn’t keen on going inside, but finally she
got accustomed to the idea. In ancient Egypt the dead
occupied whole villas with numerous rooms, antechambers,
reception-rooms, halls and closets, whose appearance made
a vivid impression on us. They took years, even decades, to
build such houses and become quite used to them. They
grew up alongside their life out of doors, and the events of
their lives were recorded in pictures which contrived to keep
them very much alive even when they were dead. All the
episodes of life recur on the tinted low-reliefs on the walls:
the pursuit of wealth, sowing, harvesting, garnering of the
grain and fruit, baking, herding the different kinds of cattle,
milking, slaughtering, fishing; journeys on the Nile, hunting,
the receipt of custom, the tribute of the peasants, men and
women, the products of the craftsmen, dancing and games.
And always the master in the middle, tall of stature, noble in
mien, tranquil and affable; such was Ptahotep, a minister in
the fifth dynasty, such was Ti, the master-builder of the royal
pyramids, such was Mereruka.
The people who built the pyramids could do that, too.
Geometry could make its peace with the supple play of line
in these pictures, even though it be but child’s play, able to
express itself only in the one dimension of a profile. They
look for positions which can be realized in a profile, make the
outline as lively as possible; and you get the illusion that the
world has only one face which you can draw or model with
a light touch on the accommodating limestone. It is a world
seen in parallel planes, very simple, easily grasped, and yet
alive. The repetition of detail is intended for the rhythm and
at the same time it enhances the illusion. The emotion always
goes beyond the style somewhat. What restrains it is not
precept, at all events not a precept dictated by theology.
There are no hieratic recipes here. The restraint lies merely
In tombs where you don’t feel entombed: tombs without
mould, without worms, without ghosts, habitable tombs. At
first Babuschka wasn’t keen on going inside, but finally she
got accustomed to the idea. In ancient Egypt the dead
occupied whole villas with numerous rooms, antechambers,
reception-rooms, halls and closets, whose appearance made
a vivid impression on us. They took years, even decades, to
build such houses and become quite used to them. They
grew up alongside their life out of doors, and the events of
their lives were recorded in pictures which contrived to keep
them very much alive even when they were dead. All the
episodes of life recur on the tinted low-reliefs on the walls:
the pursuit of wealth, sowing, harvesting, garnering of the
grain and fruit, baking, herding the different kinds of cattle,
milking, slaughtering, fishing; journeys on the Nile, hunting,
the receipt of custom, the tribute of the peasants, men and
women, the products of the craftsmen, dancing and games.
And always the master in the middle, tall of stature, noble in
mien, tranquil and affable; such was Ptahotep, a minister in
the fifth dynasty, such was Ti, the master-builder of the royal
pyramids, such was Mereruka.
The people who built the pyramids could do that, too.
Geometry could make its peace with the supple play of line
in these pictures, even though it be but child’s play, able to
express itself only in the one dimension of a profile. They
look for positions which can be realized in a profile, make the
outline as lively as possible; and you get the illusion that the
world has only one face which you can draw or model with
a light touch on the accommodating limestone. It is a world
seen in parallel planes, very simple, easily grasped, and yet
alive. The repetition of detail is intended for the rhythm and
at the same time it enhances the illusion. The emotion always
goes beyond the style somewhat. What restrains it is not
precept, at all events not a precept dictated by theology.
There are no hieratic recipes here. The restraint lies merely