DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4658#0033
28
THE TOMB OF PTAII-IIETEP.
Third row.—The vineyard. At the left-hand end
the £«-servant, Ahy, is watering the roots of a
trellised vine, from which a boy and two men are
gathering bunches of grapes, the vine being repre-
sented in the usual summary manner. The inscrip-
tion is, " Plucking grapes." In the next place we
have the treading of the grapes by one or two (?)
^-servants and three other persons, named re-
spectively Khnem-na, " the hairdresser Khekha," and
Khert-na. Lastly, the solid pulp having been put
into a bag with a loop at either end, a pole is passed
through each of the loops, and the juice is wrung out
with great force by five persons, one of whom, in the
last resort, uses his whole body to keep the poles
apart at the utmost strain, while the juice drains from
the bag. At the end of the row a chief scribe named
Ptah-nefer-khuu stands in a characteristic attitude
of respectful attention before the great man, probably
receiving his commands.
These three rows seem to be in the nature of an
addition to the four below them, which follow in the
usual perspective order of high land to low land, i.e.,
proceeding from desert scenes at the top to river-
bank, marsh, and river scenes below.
Fourth row (PL. XXXII).-—Hunting in the desert.
The hunting-dogs are all of the " type of the large
and strong greyhound, called slughi in North Africa,
with broad, pointed ears and curled-up tails " (Hart-
mann). They are distinguishable at once from the
wild beasts by their collars. Taking the animals in
the upper division in order from left to right, we have
first, two hyaenas, or, perhaps, as Hartmann suggests,
wild dogs of the desert, kslb es samakh, Canispictus (?),
one of which is caught by a slughi. Next, an oryx
worried by a dog, then a gazelle suckling her little
one, then an ibex caught by a dog, then two leopards
and two jackals. Below, we have a huntsman, "the
£#-servant, chief attendant Ara " (see DtJM.), com-
paratively well wrapped up against the cold night,
and holding two hounds in leash. He is watching
£> fc>
for a lion. A cow, with her calf, has been placed as
a bait, and the lion, a short-maned male of the
Sennaar type, has seized it by the muzzle, to its dire
terror and distress. Next come a gazelle and an
oryx, each captured by a hound. Lastly, we see
the lyre-shaped horns of a bubale (?) behind two
ox-like creatures, one of which is caught by a lasso
or bola.
This last group should be of exceptional interest to
zoologists who are disposed to assert that wild cattle
do not, and probably never did, exist in North Africa.
Hartmann (cf. also A. Z., 1864, p. 22) endeavours
to show that in this picture the Egyptian artist was
trying to represent a kobus\ Our new and better
copy only confirms the impression conveyed by that of
Diimichen, viz., that the animal in question is a wild
ox. The best proof of this is to be found at Beni
Hasan. In B. H. I, pi. xiii, we see a similar animal
figured in a desert hunt, represented in the tomb
of Ameny. In the corresponding scene from the
tomb of Khnemhetep, B. H. I, pi. xxx, we see four
of these beasts shot by arrows, and the list of the
hunting spoils is handed in to Khnemhetep by the
scribe, Nefer-hetep. In this list, I.e., pi. xxxviii, i;
lies our proof. It enumerates hyaenas (Jietht), oryxes
(mahez), wild cattle (sma or sam), common antelope
(gahei), ibex (nau), bubale (shesau), all of which are to
be seen with the other animals in the desert scene,
I.e., pi. xxx. The Egyptians, therefore, wrote the
name of the animal with a determinative of an ox,
and this shows what they thought of its affinities.
The same animals are beautifully and characteristi-
cally figured in El Bersheh I, pi. vii. Again, on a
fine scarab of Amenhetep III, the photograph of
which has been shown to me recently by Mr. Fraser,
we have an account of the king's hunting a great herd
of sma (with the determinative of an ox lowering its
horns for attack) in the country of Sheta (?). Un-
fortunately, we do not know where this place was ;
probably it lay somewhere in the region of Meso-
potamia, though it may have been in Nubia. We
thus see the meaning of the name sma-ur (sam-ur\
" Great Wild Bull," in the pyramid texts as an'
appellation of Osiris. The word sma means " slayer,"
alluding to the animal's fierceness and strength.
Cf. also PRISSE "Art" II. 24, dyn. xviii ; Berl.
Pap. II. 206.
In the upper part of this row are a common gazelle
lying down, an ichneumon or large rat, a jerboa
running into its hole, and two hedgehogs, one of
which has caught a grasshopper.
The plants as usual are quite unrecognisable in the
quaintly simplified rendering of the ancient artist.
Fifth row.—Scenes on the river bank : cutting open
fish to dry in the sun ; " twisting ropes of boat-
building." In the boat-building scenes, where the
men are occupied in binding together the bundles of
papyrus stems of which the boats were formed, one
man, whose young son is taking care that he does not
slip as he tugs, says : " Kindly protect these things for
me," or, perhaps, " Kindly help me in this." Another
says : " O strong lad, bring me ropes !" and the boy
THE TOMB OF PTAII-IIETEP.
Third row.—The vineyard. At the left-hand end
the £«-servant, Ahy, is watering the roots of a
trellised vine, from which a boy and two men are
gathering bunches of grapes, the vine being repre-
sented in the usual summary manner. The inscrip-
tion is, " Plucking grapes." In the next place we
have the treading of the grapes by one or two (?)
^-servants and three other persons, named re-
spectively Khnem-na, " the hairdresser Khekha," and
Khert-na. Lastly, the solid pulp having been put
into a bag with a loop at either end, a pole is passed
through each of the loops, and the juice is wrung out
with great force by five persons, one of whom, in the
last resort, uses his whole body to keep the poles
apart at the utmost strain, while the juice drains from
the bag. At the end of the row a chief scribe named
Ptah-nefer-khuu stands in a characteristic attitude
of respectful attention before the great man, probably
receiving his commands.
These three rows seem to be in the nature of an
addition to the four below them, which follow in the
usual perspective order of high land to low land, i.e.,
proceeding from desert scenes at the top to river-
bank, marsh, and river scenes below.
Fourth row (PL. XXXII).-—Hunting in the desert.
The hunting-dogs are all of the " type of the large
and strong greyhound, called slughi in North Africa,
with broad, pointed ears and curled-up tails " (Hart-
mann). They are distinguishable at once from the
wild beasts by their collars. Taking the animals in
the upper division in order from left to right, we have
first, two hyaenas, or, perhaps, as Hartmann suggests,
wild dogs of the desert, kslb es samakh, Canispictus (?),
one of which is caught by a slughi. Next, an oryx
worried by a dog, then a gazelle suckling her little
one, then an ibex caught by a dog, then two leopards
and two jackals. Below, we have a huntsman, "the
£#-servant, chief attendant Ara " (see DtJM.), com-
paratively well wrapped up against the cold night,
and holding two hounds in leash. He is watching
£> fc>
for a lion. A cow, with her calf, has been placed as
a bait, and the lion, a short-maned male of the
Sennaar type, has seized it by the muzzle, to its dire
terror and distress. Next come a gazelle and an
oryx, each captured by a hound. Lastly, we see
the lyre-shaped horns of a bubale (?) behind two
ox-like creatures, one of which is caught by a lasso
or bola.
This last group should be of exceptional interest to
zoologists who are disposed to assert that wild cattle
do not, and probably never did, exist in North Africa.
Hartmann (cf. also A. Z., 1864, p. 22) endeavours
to show that in this picture the Egyptian artist was
trying to represent a kobus\ Our new and better
copy only confirms the impression conveyed by that of
Diimichen, viz., that the animal in question is a wild
ox. The best proof of this is to be found at Beni
Hasan. In B. H. I, pi. xiii, we see a similar animal
figured in a desert hunt, represented in the tomb
of Ameny. In the corresponding scene from the
tomb of Khnemhetep, B. H. I, pi. xxx, we see four
of these beasts shot by arrows, and the list of the
hunting spoils is handed in to Khnemhetep by the
scribe, Nefer-hetep. In this list, I.e., pi. xxxviii, i;
lies our proof. It enumerates hyaenas (Jietht), oryxes
(mahez), wild cattle (sma or sam), common antelope
(gahei), ibex (nau), bubale (shesau), all of which are to
be seen with the other animals in the desert scene,
I.e., pi. xxx. The Egyptians, therefore, wrote the
name of the animal with a determinative of an ox,
and this shows what they thought of its affinities.
The same animals are beautifully and characteristi-
cally figured in El Bersheh I, pi. vii. Again, on a
fine scarab of Amenhetep III, the photograph of
which has been shown to me recently by Mr. Fraser,
we have an account of the king's hunting a great herd
of sma (with the determinative of an ox lowering its
horns for attack) in the country of Sheta (?). Un-
fortunately, we do not know where this place was ;
probably it lay somewhere in the region of Meso-
potamia, though it may have been in Nubia. We
thus see the meaning of the name sma-ur (sam-ur\
" Great Wild Bull," in the pyramid texts as an'
appellation of Osiris. The word sma means " slayer,"
alluding to the animal's fierceness and strength.
Cf. also PRISSE "Art" II. 24, dyn. xviii ; Berl.
Pap. II. 206.
In the upper part of this row are a common gazelle
lying down, an ichneumon or large rat, a jerboa
running into its hole, and two hedgehogs, one of
which has caught a grasshopper.
The plants as usual are quite unrecognisable in the
quaintly simplified rendering of the ancient artist.
Fifth row.—Scenes on the river bank : cutting open
fish to dry in the sun ; " twisting ropes of boat-
building." In the boat-building scenes, where the
men are occupied in binding together the bundles of
papyrus stems of which the boats were formed, one
man, whose young son is taking care that he does not
slip as he tugs, says : " Kindly protect these things for
me," or, perhaps, " Kindly help me in this." Another
says : " O strong lad, bring me ropes !" and the boy