DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28687#0015
TOMB OF RA-MERY-HA-SHETEF
3
different ages. The youth, not fully developed, was
about sixteen, see pis. vii, i, and viii. The attitude
is deferential, slightly bowing forward. The attention
to the anatomy is more detailed that in any other
Egyptian work. The muscles of the trunk are most
carefully rendered, on the back as well as in front.
The tip of the collar bone is marked in the outline
of the shoulder. The whole work is vigorous and
graceful. The carving of the arms, all in one piece
with the body, is very rare in work of this size.
This figure, with all the servant figures and head-
rest, is in the British Museum.
The second figure is more developed, pi. ix
(now at Ny Carlsberg). He carries the long staff,
and represents the estate owner inspecting his
property. The face has a drawn appearance, owing
to the sculptor’s conventional exaggeration of the
lines. The trunk is finely modelled, though not so
observantly as in the previous statuette.
The third figure shows signs of age, being fuller
and wider, pis. x, and vii, 2. Here the kherjp sceptre
is carried, which is the badge of the head of the
clan (see Ancient Egypt 1921, 86). The work of
modelling is intermediate between that of the first
and second of the group. The height of the figures
increases with the importance of the man, the third
being the tallest. This figure is at Cairo. The group
explains the small copper statuette of a boy found
with the great statue of Pepy I at Hierakonpolis.
The motive of having several statues of the deceased,
as found in Old Kingdom tombs (for instance
Deshasheh, xxx, xxxi) was to ensure that there
should be a dwelling for the ka in case one figure
was injured. The figures are modelled of different
ages, and this gave the choice of enjoying the
freshness of youth, the vigour of maturity, or the
dignity of age.
By the side of these figures (xi, 3) there stood
a formal figure of a woman (xi, 7). It has a black
line down the axis of the body and legs, which
suggests that the front was carved first, and then
the sides were set off equally from the axis line,
like some rock sculpture.
Three groups of servants accompanied these
statuettes. In front of the female figure was the
group no. 5, probably representing the preparation
of beer. The man in the centre was pounding,
crushing the barley; to the right is the woman
pressing out the fermented mash in a sieve over
a jar (a blue glazed figure of a monkey doing
this, dates from the Xllth dynasty, Univ. Coll.);
at the right end is a man probably capping the
jars, of which a row stands in the foreground;
a woman on the left holds a bird. In front of the
youth was the cooking scene, group 6. On the left
is the cook shading his face from the fire; in the
middle is a man grinding corn, to the right a man
making cakes. In front of the largest figure was
the group 4; a servant setting out a table at the
left; in the middle a cook fanning the fire, at which
he roasts a bird on a spit; on the right, a servant
apparently directing. It is noticeable that the
servants are all clothed, while the figures of the
deceased are all nude, which is rarely the case
in Egypt. Is there here the same idea as in
the Sumerian nude figures of worshippers?—the
feeling that clothing was absurd in the presence
of the Maker? (Ur-Enlil, Hilprecht, Explorations,
417; Heuzey, Catalogue, fig. 11).
In the funeral chamber, below these figures,
there was the alabaster head-rest, xi, 1, 2. It is
made in three pieces, the base, columnar support,
and top with two hands carved on the under side.
It is inscribed four times with titles and name.
On the top “ The chiefly companion, reciter,
devoted to the great god, Ra-mery-ha-shetef.”
On the columns “ The chiefly companion, reciter,
Ra...,” “The keeper of the palace garden Ra_”
On the base “ The chiefly companion, reciter, over
the secrets, Ra-mery-ha-shetef.” All of these titles
were usual; this is the ninth instance of a keeper
of the garden in the Old Kingdom. The head-rest
is unique in its style, inscriptions, and beauty of
workmanship and material.
The coffin was cut out of a single block,
g33/4 inches long, 341/,, wide and 3q high, out-
side: the bottom edges rounded below: the sides
3 inches thick at top, and 6I/2 at base. The lid
was of three boards, 1 r/2 inches thick. It was
much rotted, and only portions could be moved
for copying, which fell to pieces with their own
weight. It was inscribed with black ink, but the
wood was so completely rotten that it could not
be lifted without breaking into short lengths.
The outside inscriptions were copied in the
chamber by Mrs. Petrie and Major Hynes. They
have the usual formula to Anubis and Osiris for
the sole companion, the reciter,-and a prayer
for a good burial in Kher-neter. The more inter-
esting inscription is on the inside, in 42 columns,
with two entries in each. This was difficult to see,
owing to the black ink scarcely showing on the
3
different ages. The youth, not fully developed, was
about sixteen, see pis. vii, i, and viii. The attitude
is deferential, slightly bowing forward. The attention
to the anatomy is more detailed that in any other
Egyptian work. The muscles of the trunk are most
carefully rendered, on the back as well as in front.
The tip of the collar bone is marked in the outline
of the shoulder. The whole work is vigorous and
graceful. The carving of the arms, all in one piece
with the body, is very rare in work of this size.
This figure, with all the servant figures and head-
rest, is in the British Museum.
The second figure is more developed, pi. ix
(now at Ny Carlsberg). He carries the long staff,
and represents the estate owner inspecting his
property. The face has a drawn appearance, owing
to the sculptor’s conventional exaggeration of the
lines. The trunk is finely modelled, though not so
observantly as in the previous statuette.
The third figure shows signs of age, being fuller
and wider, pis. x, and vii, 2. Here the kherjp sceptre
is carried, which is the badge of the head of the
clan (see Ancient Egypt 1921, 86). The work of
modelling is intermediate between that of the first
and second of the group. The height of the figures
increases with the importance of the man, the third
being the tallest. This figure is at Cairo. The group
explains the small copper statuette of a boy found
with the great statue of Pepy I at Hierakonpolis.
The motive of having several statues of the deceased,
as found in Old Kingdom tombs (for instance
Deshasheh, xxx, xxxi) was to ensure that there
should be a dwelling for the ka in case one figure
was injured. The figures are modelled of different
ages, and this gave the choice of enjoying the
freshness of youth, the vigour of maturity, or the
dignity of age.
By the side of these figures (xi, 3) there stood
a formal figure of a woman (xi, 7). It has a black
line down the axis of the body and legs, which
suggests that the front was carved first, and then
the sides were set off equally from the axis line,
like some rock sculpture.
Three groups of servants accompanied these
statuettes. In front of the female figure was the
group no. 5, probably representing the preparation
of beer. The man in the centre was pounding,
crushing the barley; to the right is the woman
pressing out the fermented mash in a sieve over
a jar (a blue glazed figure of a monkey doing
this, dates from the Xllth dynasty, Univ. Coll.);
at the right end is a man probably capping the
jars, of which a row stands in the foreground;
a woman on the left holds a bird. In front of the
youth was the cooking scene, group 6. On the left
is the cook shading his face from the fire; in the
middle is a man grinding corn, to the right a man
making cakes. In front of the largest figure was
the group 4; a servant setting out a table at the
left; in the middle a cook fanning the fire, at which
he roasts a bird on a spit; on the right, a servant
apparently directing. It is noticeable that the
servants are all clothed, while the figures of the
deceased are all nude, which is rarely the case
in Egypt. Is there here the same idea as in
the Sumerian nude figures of worshippers?—the
feeling that clothing was absurd in the presence
of the Maker? (Ur-Enlil, Hilprecht, Explorations,
417; Heuzey, Catalogue, fig. 11).
In the funeral chamber, below these figures,
there was the alabaster head-rest, xi, 1, 2. It is
made in three pieces, the base, columnar support,
and top with two hands carved on the under side.
It is inscribed four times with titles and name.
On the top “ The chiefly companion, reciter,
devoted to the great god, Ra-mery-ha-shetef.”
On the columns “ The chiefly companion, reciter,
Ra...,” “The keeper of the palace garden Ra_”
On the base “ The chiefly companion, reciter, over
the secrets, Ra-mery-ha-shetef.” All of these titles
were usual; this is the ninth instance of a keeper
of the garden in the Old Kingdom. The head-rest
is unique in its style, inscriptions, and beauty of
workmanship and material.
The coffin was cut out of a single block,
g33/4 inches long, 341/,, wide and 3q high, out-
side: the bottom edges rounded below: the sides
3 inches thick at top, and 6I/2 at base. The lid
was of three boards, 1 r/2 inches thick. It was
much rotted, and only portions could be moved
for copying, which fell to pieces with their own
weight. It was inscribed with black ink, but the
wood was so completely rotten that it could not
be lifted without breaking into short lengths.
The outside inscriptions were copied in the
chamber by Mrs. Petrie and Major Hynes. They
have the usual formula to Anubis and Osiris for
the sole companion, the reciter,-and a prayer
for a good burial in Kher-neter. The more inter-
esting inscription is on the inside, in 42 columns,
with two entries in each. This was difficult to see,
owing to the black ink scarcely showing on the