DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22370#0026
22 THE LIFE OE
The ceilings of the vestibule and passage
were both richly painted, but unfortunately
they have suffered much from the effects of
smoke, bats and other causes. Longitudinally
down the centre of both ceilings is depicted a
yellow band (representing a wooden beam)
upon which in blue hieroglyphs were various
prayers for the benefit of Rekhmara's Ka. On
either side of this yellow band the ceilings
were decorated with a rosette pattern. The
frieze in both vestibule and passage consisted
of the Kheher ornament painted red, blue and
green. Beneath this, and at the sides of
the walls, is the common border of coloured
rectangles (red, green, blue and yellow), sepa-
rated by black lines enclosing a white line.
Next the angles is the peculiar diamond
pattern found in most Egyptian tombs. The
dado, which runs round both chambers, was
black (now in places faded to yellow) and
is bordered above by bands of red and
yellow.
The jambs and lintel of the doorway to the
long narrow passage, and the false-door at the
inner end of the tomb, are painted pink and
red, in order to resemble rose granite; the
hieroglyphs upon them are picked out in
green. The style of painting is uniform
throughout the tomb, and the closest examina-
tion of the paintings leads one to believe that
but one master-artist was employed in their
execution. The human figure is always care-
fully drawn, and the paintings of Rekhmara,
Meryt, Betau, and others, are undoubtedly
portrait studies. The distinctive types of the
foreigners depicted on the left-hand wall of
the vestibule are admirably drawn, especially
the negroes and the people of Semitic origin
from Asia Minor. The quadrupeds, includ-
ing the giraffe, bear, and hunting hounds,
are also delineated with much skill. The
hieroglyphs are in most cases given with
considerable minuteness ; even such small
details as the feathering of the birds, the hair
REKHMARA
of the animals, and the eyelashes of men's
faces being rendered with great care.
Sketch Plan of the Tomb.
B. THE SCENES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
1. The Vezir's Office, and the Inscription
Detailing his Duties.
(Plates II.-IV.)
This important scene and the inscription
accompanying it are painted upon the outer wall
of the vestibule on the left-hand side of the
entrance doorway (see Sketch Plan C, p. 22).
Both have been traced with great care, and my
final copy of the long inscription was checked
in the tomb by Dr. Spiegelberg. The hiero-
glyphs in the original are beautifully painted,
and show a considerable amount of detail, but
in the plates they are reproduced in outline
only. Unhappily both scene and inscription
have been much mutilated ; the figure of
The ceilings of the vestibule and passage
were both richly painted, but unfortunately
they have suffered much from the effects of
smoke, bats and other causes. Longitudinally
down the centre of both ceilings is depicted a
yellow band (representing a wooden beam)
upon which in blue hieroglyphs were various
prayers for the benefit of Rekhmara's Ka. On
either side of this yellow band the ceilings
were decorated with a rosette pattern. The
frieze in both vestibule and passage consisted
of the Kheher ornament painted red, blue and
green. Beneath this, and at the sides of
the walls, is the common border of coloured
rectangles (red, green, blue and yellow), sepa-
rated by black lines enclosing a white line.
Next the angles is the peculiar diamond
pattern found in most Egyptian tombs. The
dado, which runs round both chambers, was
black (now in places faded to yellow) and
is bordered above by bands of red and
yellow.
The jambs and lintel of the doorway to the
long narrow passage, and the false-door at the
inner end of the tomb, are painted pink and
red, in order to resemble rose granite; the
hieroglyphs upon them are picked out in
green. The style of painting is uniform
throughout the tomb, and the closest examina-
tion of the paintings leads one to believe that
but one master-artist was employed in their
execution. The human figure is always care-
fully drawn, and the paintings of Rekhmara,
Meryt, Betau, and others, are undoubtedly
portrait studies. The distinctive types of the
foreigners depicted on the left-hand wall of
the vestibule are admirably drawn, especially
the negroes and the people of Semitic origin
from Asia Minor. The quadrupeds, includ-
ing the giraffe, bear, and hunting hounds,
are also delineated with much skill. The
hieroglyphs are in most cases given with
considerable minuteness ; even such small
details as the feathering of the birds, the hair
REKHMARA
of the animals, and the eyelashes of men's
faces being rendered with great care.
Sketch Plan of the Tomb.
B. THE SCENES AND INSCRIPTIONS.
1. The Vezir's Office, and the Inscription
Detailing his Duties.
(Plates II.-IV.)
This important scene and the inscription
accompanying it are painted upon the outer wall
of the vestibule on the left-hand side of the
entrance doorway (see Sketch Plan C, p. 22).
Both have been traced with great care, and my
final copy of the long inscription was checked
in the tomb by Dr. Spiegelberg. The hiero-
glyphs in the original are beautifully painted,
and show a considerable amount of detail, but
in the plates they are reproduced in outline
only. Unhappily both scene and inscription
have been much mutilated ; the figure of