DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10363#0013
BENI HASAN.
PART IV.
The tomb of Chnemhetep, from which so
many of the facsimiles here published are
derived, is very inadequately represented in
the plates of Beni Hasan I. It would be an
enormous labour to trace or otherwise copy
these scenes accurately. Oil was used by some
of the early copyists to bring out the colours,
and this process has not only injured them but
eventually caused them to be hidden under a
coat of tenacious dirt and dust. Thus, while
the work in the other tombs at Beni Hasan was
carefully traced, and the outlines from them as
published in B.H. I. and II. are trustworthy, for
this splendid tomb we were obliged to fall back
upon the very imperfect small-scale copies of I lay
and Lepsius, and construct from them rough out-
lines for publication. Messrs. Carter, Blackden
and others have, however, made some careful
coloured drawings of details, and it is to be
hoped that their example will be followed by
future Avorkers, for the paintings are of quite
exceptional importance, and though so much
obscured are still in fair preservation. The
plates in the present volume are all from
coloured drawings of the size of the original,
the last six plates having been produced with
the kind help of Miss A. A. Pirie from traced
copies of the coloured drawings.
Pl. I. Frontispiece. In the main chamber of
the tomb of Chnemhetep (Tomb 3), over the
door into the shrine, is a painted scene in which
Chnemhetep seated behind a screen is depicted
at the moment when he closes a clap-net over a
number of wild fowl. On either side of the
pool in which the net is laid is an acacia bush
in full flower, with birds perched on the
branches. A o-eneral idea of this scene is given
by the coloured drawing in L. D., ii. 130, but
the outline in B.H. I., xxxiii., shows little even
of the general features. In the present plate
we have the bush on the right hand side com-
plete : upon it are a redstart, two Nubian
shrikes (Latiius Nubicus) — one of them with
wings outstretched—and a turtle dove, perhaps
furfur Sharpii. On the water are ducks, and
the brown wing of another duck is visible as it
rises. Water is indicated behind the tree, and
on the top left is the rope of the net. Below is
the coloured band which frames the door.
.1/. W. Blackden, 18!) 1.
Pls. II. to IV. illustrate three extreme varieties
of domesticated dogs. In PI. ii. is a greyhound,
which may be compared with the Nubian grey-
hound, or slughi, still used in the chase of the
antelope. It is one of two greyhounds pictured
PART IV.
The tomb of Chnemhetep, from which so
many of the facsimiles here published are
derived, is very inadequately represented in
the plates of Beni Hasan I. It would be an
enormous labour to trace or otherwise copy
these scenes accurately. Oil was used by some
of the early copyists to bring out the colours,
and this process has not only injured them but
eventually caused them to be hidden under a
coat of tenacious dirt and dust. Thus, while
the work in the other tombs at Beni Hasan was
carefully traced, and the outlines from them as
published in B.H. I. and II. are trustworthy, for
this splendid tomb we were obliged to fall back
upon the very imperfect small-scale copies of I lay
and Lepsius, and construct from them rough out-
lines for publication. Messrs. Carter, Blackden
and others have, however, made some careful
coloured drawings of details, and it is to be
hoped that their example will be followed by
future Avorkers, for the paintings are of quite
exceptional importance, and though so much
obscured are still in fair preservation. The
plates in the present volume are all from
coloured drawings of the size of the original,
the last six plates having been produced with
the kind help of Miss A. A. Pirie from traced
copies of the coloured drawings.
Pl. I. Frontispiece. In the main chamber of
the tomb of Chnemhetep (Tomb 3), over the
door into the shrine, is a painted scene in which
Chnemhetep seated behind a screen is depicted
at the moment when he closes a clap-net over a
number of wild fowl. On either side of the
pool in which the net is laid is an acacia bush
in full flower, with birds perched on the
branches. A o-eneral idea of this scene is given
by the coloured drawing in L. D., ii. 130, but
the outline in B.H. I., xxxiii., shows little even
of the general features. In the present plate
we have the bush on the right hand side com-
plete : upon it are a redstart, two Nubian
shrikes (Latiius Nubicus) — one of them with
wings outstretched—and a turtle dove, perhaps
furfur Sharpii. On the water are ducks, and
the brown wing of another duck is visible as it
rises. Water is indicated behind the tree, and
on the top left is the rope of the net. Below is
the coloured band which frames the door.
.1/. W. Blackden, 18!) 1.
Pls. II. to IV. illustrate three extreme varieties
of domesticated dogs. In PI. ii. is a greyhound,
which may be compared with the Nubian grey-
hound, or slughi, still used in the chase of the
antelope. It is one of two greyhounds pictured