DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4147#0010
THE LOWER TERRACE.
Thebes on the eastern side of the city. On the prows
of the boats we see the pilots commanding the oarsmen
to cease rowing. The inscription on the lower row
says: "The landing in peace at Thebes the mighty
(Eastern Thebes); there is a festival in the sky, Egypt
is rejoicing ... is in joy, when they see this monument
everlasting (which the queen) erected to her father
(Amon)."
We must presume that the season chosen for such
an undertaking is that of the inundation. At high
Nile the navigation was easier and safer, the monu-
ments could be brought much nearer to the temples
where they were to be erected, and, there being no
high banks as in winter, there was less difficulty in
hauling the obelisks on shore.
According to the rules of Egyptian perspective, it
appears that the barge on which the obelisks were
lying was towed down by three parallel groups of ten
tugs, each group being connected with the barge by a
thick cable. The greater part of these cables is lost,
but enough has been left to indicate the direction they
followed.
a cabin. As these boats were the last in the line of
ten, and nearest to the barge, the strain on the steering
gear must have been particularly heavy, and that is
why they had two rudders, while all the other boats
had only one.
At the other end of the line is the leading boat;
its rei's or pilot sounds the water with a pole. His
commands are probably repeated by the other re'ises
along the line. This boat is longer than the middle
ones, and has a huge rudder. It probably contained
the military escort. On each of the three leaders we
see three soldiers ready to land. The escort does not
seem to have been numerous. The leader of the line
alone is free; all the other boats are joined together
in a peculiar way. Each of them has a mast, from
which start two ropes; one going to the stern is tied
to the rudder or to its support, the other one is tied to
the bow of the next, which is represented as slightly
in advance of the mast. When they are moving we
see this curious contrivance of all the boats being joined
together with a rope going from the top of the mast to
the bow of the next (fig. 1). Thus the barge of the
Fig. 1.
The three groups are exactly alike, each of them
consisting of boats of the same kind, and joined
together in the same way. The lowest group, which
is best preserved, may be taken as an example to show
how each group was formed. Next to the barge there
is a boat of a more luxurious style. It has a cabin
with an upper deck, the doors of the cabin being seen
in full front, though they were really in the axis of the
boat. Fore and aft are two pavilions for officers of
high rank. These pavilions are adorned with royal
emblems—a lion, a sphinx, a bull trampling upon the
enemies of the king, who are represented here as an
African population. These emblems probably were
paintings on the panels of the pavilions. Originally
the cartouches on these panels had been left blank ; but
when Rameses II. restored the name of Amon, which
had been erased by Khuenaten, he caused the name of
Thothmes II. to be engraved in these cartouches, as
we saw he had done in the inscriptions of the Hathor
shrine.
This boat, which is close to the barge, has two
rudders, as also has the next, with a small jiavilion and
obelisks was towed by three parallel lines of tugs, each
having nine tugs and a leader, and there was a front
of three boats on the river. If we figure them on a
horizontal plane as they are moving on the water,
they are arranged as on fig. 2.
In the sculpture of these boats we find a curious
mixture of accuracy and convention. We must
remember that what an Egyptian artist wished was
merely to be understood. He wanted to represent the
exact number of the boats; there were ten in each
row. If he had put them in a straight line, as they
were on the river, it would have made a very long
scene, which would have covered a much larger space
than he had at his disposal. Therefore he broke the
line; he folded it as we should fold a jointed foot-rule
(fig. 3). He drew all the boats together, allowing only
the bows to project beyond each other, so that the
boats might be counted.
At the same time it is difficult to suppose that he
was correct in the way he expressed how the boats
were tied to each other (fig. 1). One hardly can
imagine that the towing-rope was fastened to the top
Thebes on the eastern side of the city. On the prows
of the boats we see the pilots commanding the oarsmen
to cease rowing. The inscription on the lower row
says: "The landing in peace at Thebes the mighty
(Eastern Thebes); there is a festival in the sky, Egypt
is rejoicing ... is in joy, when they see this monument
everlasting (which the queen) erected to her father
(Amon)."
We must presume that the season chosen for such
an undertaking is that of the inundation. At high
Nile the navigation was easier and safer, the monu-
ments could be brought much nearer to the temples
where they were to be erected, and, there being no
high banks as in winter, there was less difficulty in
hauling the obelisks on shore.
According to the rules of Egyptian perspective, it
appears that the barge on which the obelisks were
lying was towed down by three parallel groups of ten
tugs, each group being connected with the barge by a
thick cable. The greater part of these cables is lost,
but enough has been left to indicate the direction they
followed.
a cabin. As these boats were the last in the line of
ten, and nearest to the barge, the strain on the steering
gear must have been particularly heavy, and that is
why they had two rudders, while all the other boats
had only one.
At the other end of the line is the leading boat;
its rei's or pilot sounds the water with a pole. His
commands are probably repeated by the other re'ises
along the line. This boat is longer than the middle
ones, and has a huge rudder. It probably contained
the military escort. On each of the three leaders we
see three soldiers ready to land. The escort does not
seem to have been numerous. The leader of the line
alone is free; all the other boats are joined together
in a peculiar way. Each of them has a mast, from
which start two ropes; one going to the stern is tied
to the rudder or to its support, the other one is tied to
the bow of the next, which is represented as slightly
in advance of the mast. When they are moving we
see this curious contrivance of all the boats being joined
together with a rope going from the top of the mast to
the bow of the next (fig. 1). Thus the barge of the
Fig. 1.
The three groups are exactly alike, each of them
consisting of boats of the same kind, and joined
together in the same way. The lowest group, which
is best preserved, may be taken as an example to show
how each group was formed. Next to the barge there
is a boat of a more luxurious style. It has a cabin
with an upper deck, the doors of the cabin being seen
in full front, though they were really in the axis of the
boat. Fore and aft are two pavilions for officers of
high rank. These pavilions are adorned with royal
emblems—a lion, a sphinx, a bull trampling upon the
enemies of the king, who are represented here as an
African population. These emblems probably were
paintings on the panels of the pavilions. Originally
the cartouches on these panels had been left blank ; but
when Rameses II. restored the name of Amon, which
had been erased by Khuenaten, he caused the name of
Thothmes II. to be engraved in these cartouches, as
we saw he had done in the inscriptions of the Hathor
shrine.
This boat, which is close to the barge, has two
rudders, as also has the next, with a small jiavilion and
obelisks was towed by three parallel lines of tugs, each
having nine tugs and a leader, and there was a front
of three boats on the river. If we figure them on a
horizontal plane as they are moving on the water,
they are arranged as on fig. 2.
In the sculpture of these boats we find a curious
mixture of accuracy and convention. We must
remember that what an Egyptian artist wished was
merely to be understood. He wanted to represent the
exact number of the boats; there were ten in each
row. If he had put them in a straight line, as they
were on the river, it would have made a very long
scene, which would have covered a much larger space
than he had at his disposal. Therefore he broke the
line; he folded it as we should fold a jointed foot-rule
(fig. 3). He drew all the boats together, allowing only
the bows to project beyond each other, so that the
boats might be counted.
At the same time it is difficult to suppose that he
was correct in the way he expressed how the boats
were tied to each other (fig. 1). One hardly can
imagine that the towing-rope was fastened to the top