DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0044
12 EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE.
the scrddb. The two figures in the chapel of Ti are another proof that statues
of the tomb were occasionally allowed outside of the closed scrddb. Some-
times, however, figures within this enclosure had direct communication with
the chapel through a crack in the wall, only wide enough to admit a hand, and
intended as a channel of intercourse between the convivial gathering in the
chapel and the silent, walled-up statues. On a relief in the tomb of Ti at Mem-
phis, friends appear at this opening, wafting grateful incense to reach the stony
nostrils within.33 Frequently, twenty or more statues of the Ka are found in
these closed recesses; all representing the deceased, as is evident from their
similarity one to the other, and their dedicatory inscriptions. In the scrddb
of Ra-hotep's famous tomb at Memphis, eighteen portraits of the worthy
dignitary were found, some of them in red granite, others in limestone, and
one in Oriental alabaster. The largest of these measured eighty-three, and
the smallest thirty-five, centimeters in height; the deceased appearing in
different poses, either seated, standing, or kneeling.34
In keeping with the desire to alleviate the solitude of the tomb, were
depicted on its walls the forms of the favorites and attendants of the deceased.
As far back as we can trace the Egyptian, he was too advanced to secure
society for his dead by the bloody immolations practised by many primitive
peoples, as, for instance, African races of to-day. The speaking forms of art
had been called to his aid, depicting in small statues, but far more in brilliant
relief, servants and craftsmen in the routine and ardor of work. The busy
cook kneads bread, the butcher slays the ox ; and thus the services of the Ka,
or double, of the servant, were secured for his master's shade. Episodes of the
shambles are made still more real by accompanying inscriptions, as where one
shouts, "Hold him fast!" and another replies, "Ready, make haste." Even
jokes from his busy attendants are sometimes written on the walls, to delight
the ear of the dead. A noisy sailor on the water, in one case, shouts to an
old man, "Go you, too, on the water!" to which the reply is, "Don't make so
many words." 35 In the tomb of Ti, some of the servants are clearly portraits,
as the cripple, leading "pick-eared" hounds. Brilliant color throws its charm
over many scenes, and what the low relief could not otherwise have brought
out appears as clear as life. Surrounded by rural scenes, among his servants,
or in the midst of his family, sometimes engaged in pleasant games, or diverted
by the graceful dance, continually re-appears the all-important inhabitant of
this "eternal dwelling," towering in colossal proportions above his pygmy
attendants or kin.36 That all this concerns the dead, appears most clearly from
inscriptions, such as are found repeatedly in the tomb of Ti at Memphis.
Here occur the explanatory words, " He sees the plucking of grapes, and all
the labors of the field." "Ti sees the stables of the oxen and small beasts, the
trenches and canals of the tomb: he sees the gathering of the flax, the har-
vesting of the wheat, its transport on the back of the ass," and the like.
the scrddb. The two figures in the chapel of Ti are another proof that statues
of the tomb were occasionally allowed outside of the closed scrddb. Some-
times, however, figures within this enclosure had direct communication with
the chapel through a crack in the wall, only wide enough to admit a hand, and
intended as a channel of intercourse between the convivial gathering in the
chapel and the silent, walled-up statues. On a relief in the tomb of Ti at Mem-
phis, friends appear at this opening, wafting grateful incense to reach the stony
nostrils within.33 Frequently, twenty or more statues of the Ka are found in
these closed recesses; all representing the deceased, as is evident from their
similarity one to the other, and their dedicatory inscriptions. In the scrddb
of Ra-hotep's famous tomb at Memphis, eighteen portraits of the worthy
dignitary were found, some of them in red granite, others in limestone, and
one in Oriental alabaster. The largest of these measured eighty-three, and
the smallest thirty-five, centimeters in height; the deceased appearing in
different poses, either seated, standing, or kneeling.34
In keeping with the desire to alleviate the solitude of the tomb, were
depicted on its walls the forms of the favorites and attendants of the deceased.
As far back as we can trace the Egyptian, he was too advanced to secure
society for his dead by the bloody immolations practised by many primitive
peoples, as, for instance, African races of to-day. The speaking forms of art
had been called to his aid, depicting in small statues, but far more in brilliant
relief, servants and craftsmen in the routine and ardor of work. The busy
cook kneads bread, the butcher slays the ox ; and thus the services of the Ka,
or double, of the servant, were secured for his master's shade. Episodes of the
shambles are made still more real by accompanying inscriptions, as where one
shouts, "Hold him fast!" and another replies, "Ready, make haste." Even
jokes from his busy attendants are sometimes written on the walls, to delight
the ear of the dead. A noisy sailor on the water, in one case, shouts to an
old man, "Go you, too, on the water!" to which the reply is, "Don't make so
many words." 35 In the tomb of Ti, some of the servants are clearly portraits,
as the cripple, leading "pick-eared" hounds. Brilliant color throws its charm
over many scenes, and what the low relief could not otherwise have brought
out appears as clear as life. Surrounded by rural scenes, among his servants,
or in the midst of his family, sometimes engaged in pleasant games, or diverted
by the graceful dance, continually re-appears the all-important inhabitant of
this "eternal dwelling," towering in colossal proportions above his pygmy
attendants or kin.36 That all this concerns the dead, appears most clearly from
inscriptions, such as are found repeatedly in the tomb of Ti at Memphis.
Here occur the explanatory words, " He sees the plucking of grapes, and all
the labors of the field." "Ti sees the stables of the oxen and small beasts, the
trenches and canals of the tomb: he sees the gathering of the flax, the har-
vesting of the wheat, its transport on the back of the ass," and the like.