DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10363#0014
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beni hasan.
in the tomb of Amenemhat (Tomb 2, not
Tomb 3 as stated on the plate). It has prick
ears and a sharply coiled tail like a pug ; round
its neck is a broad collar. The dog represented
Avith it (Jl.lf. I., xiii.) has short lop ears and a
short upturned tail. Huivard Curler.
Pl. 111. (//.//. II., xiv.). A strongly.built
hound, coloured grey and tan, the tail ending
curiously in a Avhite knob, which, according to
Professor Rav Lankester, must have been arti-
ficially produced, if it ever existed. This is
from the tomb of Chety (Tomb 17), where it
appears with several other dogs. Percy Buclcman.
Pl. IV. (B.II. I., xxx.). A still more remark-
able variety, a dachshund bitch, the type fully
developed. In the original, on the 1ST. wall of
Tomb 3, it is shown along with a male animal
of the same kind and a greyhound accompanying
their master, Chnemhetep. Percy Buclcman.
The fact that these well-marked breeds of
dogs existed as far back as 2000 b.c. may lead
to interesting sjieculations as to the period
and manner of their development. Does their
specialization really date from the time when
human beings began to employ them intelli-
gently for special work ? Or had the breeds
already attained their main distinctive features
by a process of natural selection before man
began to exercise his influence upon the race ?
Pl. V. (//.//. L, xxxiv.). In the tomb of
Chnemhetep, on either side of the doorway over
which the birds in the sont bushes are figured,
is a much larger sporting scene. In the one
Chnemhetep harpoons two fish (B.H. I., xxxiv.),
in the other he is casting the throw-stick at
birds in the papyrus marshes (ib., xxxii.). In
the former scene are sundry small animals, genet-
cats and the like, climbing the papyrus stems
in search of their prey, the young birds in the
nests. On a stem of papyrus, which bends
beneath its weight, sits the cat here figured.
The wild cat of Egypt is Felis chaus, which
lias a broad tail. Felis manicalata, with a long
tapering tail, is found only far south, though it
may have strayed to the Delta, when Egypt was
wilder than it now is. At any rate, the animal
figured in this plate has the long tapering tail
of the maniculata, from which latter our
domestic breeds are supposed to be derived, and
Dr. Andei^son thinks the present example really
figures a domestic cat. In New Kingdom pictures
tame cats are often shown accompanying the
sportsman ; but this animal seems to be indepen-
dent of him. Still, it must be remembered that
the domestic cat is very apt to stray and hunt
for itself; moreover, even if the artist was
attempting to portray a wild cat, he may have
thought the house-cat a sufficiently good model.
Howard Garter. (Note that in the drawing the
papyrus is greener, the dark outlines are black,
and the greys throughout are darker.)
Pls. VI., VII. The sont bush on the opposite
side of the pool to that in the Frontispiece
furnishes the subjects of these two plates.
The hoopoe (Pl. vi.) on one of the lower
branches, is fairly true to nature, though the
Egyptian artist has not made the most of the
crest, nor has the tail any such tendency to fork
as is indicated by his drawing. Hoivard Garter;
slightly reduced in plate.
Far better, and indeed the best figure in the
whole collection, is that of the red-backed shrike
in Pl. vii. ; even an ornithologist could criticise
only details. Howard Garter ; full size.
Pls. VIII. to XI. (/.'.//. L, xxxiv.). The birds
here shown are all either perched on or flying
over the papyrus stems in the harpooning scene
from the tomb of Chnemhetep. In Pl. x iii. is
some kind of heron standing on a flowering head
of papyrus. The latter is as usual convention-
alized to an inverted bell-shape, with a regular
hard outline. Howard Garter; scale in plate,
about 2 : 3.
beni hasan.
in the tomb of Amenemhat (Tomb 2, not
Tomb 3 as stated on the plate). It has prick
ears and a sharply coiled tail like a pug ; round
its neck is a broad collar. The dog represented
Avith it (Jl.lf. I., xiii.) has short lop ears and a
short upturned tail. Huivard Curler.
Pl. 111. (//.//. II., xiv.). A strongly.built
hound, coloured grey and tan, the tail ending
curiously in a Avhite knob, which, according to
Professor Rav Lankester, must have been arti-
ficially produced, if it ever existed. This is
from the tomb of Chety (Tomb 17), where it
appears with several other dogs. Percy Buclcman.
Pl. IV. (B.II. I., xxx.). A still more remark-
able variety, a dachshund bitch, the type fully
developed. In the original, on the 1ST. wall of
Tomb 3, it is shown along with a male animal
of the same kind and a greyhound accompanying
their master, Chnemhetep. Percy Buclcman.
The fact that these well-marked breeds of
dogs existed as far back as 2000 b.c. may lead
to interesting sjieculations as to the period
and manner of their development. Does their
specialization really date from the time when
human beings began to employ them intelli-
gently for special work ? Or had the breeds
already attained their main distinctive features
by a process of natural selection before man
began to exercise his influence upon the race ?
Pl. V. (//.//. L, xxxiv.). In the tomb of
Chnemhetep, on either side of the doorway over
which the birds in the sont bushes are figured,
is a much larger sporting scene. In the one
Chnemhetep harpoons two fish (B.H. I., xxxiv.),
in the other he is casting the throw-stick at
birds in the papyrus marshes (ib., xxxii.). In
the former scene are sundry small animals, genet-
cats and the like, climbing the papyrus stems
in search of their prey, the young birds in the
nests. On a stem of papyrus, which bends
beneath its weight, sits the cat here figured.
The wild cat of Egypt is Felis chaus, which
lias a broad tail. Felis manicalata, with a long
tapering tail, is found only far south, though it
may have strayed to the Delta, when Egypt was
wilder than it now is. At any rate, the animal
figured in this plate has the long tapering tail
of the maniculata, from which latter our
domestic breeds are supposed to be derived, and
Dr. Andei^son thinks the present example really
figures a domestic cat. In New Kingdom pictures
tame cats are often shown accompanying the
sportsman ; but this animal seems to be indepen-
dent of him. Still, it must be remembered that
the domestic cat is very apt to stray and hunt
for itself; moreover, even if the artist was
attempting to portray a wild cat, he may have
thought the house-cat a sufficiently good model.
Howard Garter. (Note that in the drawing the
papyrus is greener, the dark outlines are black,
and the greys throughout are darker.)
Pls. VI., VII. The sont bush on the opposite
side of the pool to that in the Frontispiece
furnishes the subjects of these two plates.
The hoopoe (Pl. vi.) on one of the lower
branches, is fairly true to nature, though the
Egyptian artist has not made the most of the
crest, nor has the tail any such tendency to fork
as is indicated by his drawing. Hoivard Garter;
slightly reduced in plate.
Far better, and indeed the best figure in the
whole collection, is that of the red-backed shrike
in Pl. vii. ; even an ornithologist could criticise
only details. Howard Garter ; full size.
Pls. VIII. to XI. (/.'.//. L, xxxiv.). The birds
here shown are all either perched on or flying
over the papyrus stems in the harpooning scene
from the tomb of Chnemhetep. In Pl. x iii. is
some kind of heron standing on a flowering head
of papyrus. The latter is as usual convention-
alized to an inverted bell-shape, with a regular
hard outline. Howard Garter; scale in plate,
about 2 : 3.