DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22370#0016
12
THE TOMB OF EEKHMAEA
made the tomb one of the most famous in the
Nile Valley. These copies of Cailliaud were
executed in colour and published by him in his
Becherches1 in the year 1831.
In 1825, during a residence of some months
at Thebes, Sir Gardner Wilkinson spent much
time in copying the mural paintings of the
private tombs of the Kurneh necropolis. In a
letter of this date which is still extant the
tomb of Rekhmara is described by this English
Egyptologist as " the most curious of all " that
he had seen in Egypt, " more light being thrown
by the paintings in it on the ancient civilization
of the Nile Valley than any hitherto dis-
covered." Wilkinson made copies of many of the
scenes which he found here, and some of these
he used for illustrating his great work on The
Marniers and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians.2
Champollion, and his companion Rosellini,
both stopped some weeks at Thebes on their
way up the Nile in the winter of 1828. They
carefully explored the Kurneh necropolis, but
only copied a few of the scenes in the private
tombs, including some of those in the tomb of
Rekhmara.3 In Champollion's Notices,41 the
vestibule of this tomb is described, and it seems
to have been in much the same condition in
1828 as we find it now, except that the scene of
foreigners was in a much better state of pre-
1 The full title of this work is : Becherches sur les
Arts et Metiers, les usages de la Vie Civile et Domcstique
des Anciens Peuples de VEgypt, de la Nubie et de
VEthiope, par E. Cailliaud, recueillies sur les lieux par
VAuteur dans les annCes 1819 d 1822; Paris, 1831-1837.
4to. 89 coloured plates.
2 Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians.
London, 1837. Vol. i., pi. iv., etc. The scene of foreign-
ers in Birch's edition of 1878 is from a drawing by
Bonomi (British Museum, Add. MS. 29817, ff. 32-35) ; cf.
also Wilkinson's Topography of Thebes ; London, 1835,
pp. 151-2.
3 J. E. Champollion, Monuments de VEgypte et de la
Nubie; Paris, 1835-45; pis. clxi., clxiv., etc. I. Eosellini,
I Monumenti dell' Egitto e delta Nubia ; Pisa, 1832-44.
M.C., pis. lii.-lxiv., etc.
4 Notices descriptifs; Paris, 1844-79; vol. i., pp. 505-
510.
servation. He writes that " les parois O.D.F."
(corresponding to the walls A.C.D. and B.L.M.
of my Sketch Plan, p. 22) " n'offrent plus que
des debris, en E. etait une longue stele peinte
en hieroglyphes aujourd'hui presque invisible."
Of wall A.B. he says that it is " extremement
endommagee, on y voit des scenes pastorales ou
agricoles, des hommes conduisant boeufs."
In the summer of 1832, Bonomi, who was
then a member of Robert Hay's staff of artists,
made coloured drawings to a small scale of
about half the mural paintings in the tomb,
and Hay himself executed many outline
tracings of the most interesting scenes and
groups of figures. The leader of the expedi-
tion also made numerous copies of the inscrip-
tions, which permit us to restore much that has
since been destroyed. All these drawings,
together with a plan of the tomb, are now
preserved among the Hay manuscripts in the
British Museum.5
In the winter of the same year, G. A.
Hoskins, an English traveller, made scale
drawings6 of the scene of foreigners in the
vestibule, and " a complete section in sixteen
large drawings of the long inner chamber." A
part of the scene of foreign tribute, which he
describes as " one of the most gorgeous and
magnificent paintings that adorn the walls of
Thebes," was published in colour in 1835; but
the other drawings, which took him " two
months, working several hours a day," were
never reproduced, and I have not been able to
trace in whose possession they now are. The
state of the paintings was, according to
Hoskins, " almost quite fresh," but the hiero-
glyphic inscriptions were " very much defaced."
On his second visit to Egypt in 1863,7 the
5 Bonomi's drawings are bound up in the 'Add. MS.
29817. Hay's tracings may be found in the Add. MSS.
29825 A and 29852 A, and his copies of the inscriptions
in Add. MSS. 29822, ff. 68-80, and 29827, ff. 69-76.
6 Travels in Ethiopia ; London, 1835 ; p. 328.
7 A Winter in Upper and Lower Egypt ; London, 1863.
THE TOMB OF EEKHMAEA
made the tomb one of the most famous in the
Nile Valley. These copies of Cailliaud were
executed in colour and published by him in his
Becherches1 in the year 1831.
In 1825, during a residence of some months
at Thebes, Sir Gardner Wilkinson spent much
time in copying the mural paintings of the
private tombs of the Kurneh necropolis. In a
letter of this date which is still extant the
tomb of Rekhmara is described by this English
Egyptologist as " the most curious of all " that
he had seen in Egypt, " more light being thrown
by the paintings in it on the ancient civilization
of the Nile Valley than any hitherto dis-
covered." Wilkinson made copies of many of the
scenes which he found here, and some of these
he used for illustrating his great work on The
Marniers and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians.2
Champollion, and his companion Rosellini,
both stopped some weeks at Thebes on their
way up the Nile in the winter of 1828. They
carefully explored the Kurneh necropolis, but
only copied a few of the scenes in the private
tombs, including some of those in the tomb of
Rekhmara.3 In Champollion's Notices,41 the
vestibule of this tomb is described, and it seems
to have been in much the same condition in
1828 as we find it now, except that the scene of
foreigners was in a much better state of pre-
1 The full title of this work is : Becherches sur les
Arts et Metiers, les usages de la Vie Civile et Domcstique
des Anciens Peuples de VEgypt, de la Nubie et de
VEthiope, par E. Cailliaud, recueillies sur les lieux par
VAuteur dans les annCes 1819 d 1822; Paris, 1831-1837.
4to. 89 coloured plates.
2 Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians.
London, 1837. Vol. i., pi. iv., etc. The scene of foreign-
ers in Birch's edition of 1878 is from a drawing by
Bonomi (British Museum, Add. MS. 29817, ff. 32-35) ; cf.
also Wilkinson's Topography of Thebes ; London, 1835,
pp. 151-2.
3 J. E. Champollion, Monuments de VEgypte et de la
Nubie; Paris, 1835-45; pis. clxi., clxiv., etc. I. Eosellini,
I Monumenti dell' Egitto e delta Nubia ; Pisa, 1832-44.
M.C., pis. lii.-lxiv., etc.
4 Notices descriptifs; Paris, 1844-79; vol. i., pp. 505-
510.
servation. He writes that " les parois O.D.F."
(corresponding to the walls A.C.D. and B.L.M.
of my Sketch Plan, p. 22) " n'offrent plus que
des debris, en E. etait une longue stele peinte
en hieroglyphes aujourd'hui presque invisible."
Of wall A.B. he says that it is " extremement
endommagee, on y voit des scenes pastorales ou
agricoles, des hommes conduisant boeufs."
In the summer of 1832, Bonomi, who was
then a member of Robert Hay's staff of artists,
made coloured drawings to a small scale of
about half the mural paintings in the tomb,
and Hay himself executed many outline
tracings of the most interesting scenes and
groups of figures. The leader of the expedi-
tion also made numerous copies of the inscrip-
tions, which permit us to restore much that has
since been destroyed. All these drawings,
together with a plan of the tomb, are now
preserved among the Hay manuscripts in the
British Museum.5
In the winter of the same year, G. A.
Hoskins, an English traveller, made scale
drawings6 of the scene of foreigners in the
vestibule, and " a complete section in sixteen
large drawings of the long inner chamber." A
part of the scene of foreign tribute, which he
describes as " one of the most gorgeous and
magnificent paintings that adorn the walls of
Thebes," was published in colour in 1835; but
the other drawings, which took him " two
months, working several hours a day," were
never reproduced, and I have not been able to
trace in whose possession they now are. The
state of the paintings was, according to
Hoskins, " almost quite fresh," but the hiero-
glyphic inscriptions were " very much defaced."
On his second visit to Egypt in 1863,7 the
5 Bonomi's drawings are bound up in the 'Add. MS.
29817. Hay's tracings may be found in the Add. MSS.
29825 A and 29852 A, and his copies of the inscriptions
in Add. MSS. 29822, ff. 68-80, and 29827, ff. 69-76.
6 Travels in Ethiopia ; London, 1835 ; p. 328.
7 A Winter in Upper and Lower Egypt ; London, 1863.