DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49512#0398
362 REVIEW OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EGYPTIAN TOMB AND ITS
mastery over stone reached by the Egyptian craftsmen immediately before the accession of Cheops.
Its size is indicative of a corresponding increase in the resources of the monarchy, as may be seen from
the following list of stone superstructures:
(1) Zoser ....... area, 14,857 sq. m.
(2) Medum Pyramid ..... area, 20,880 sq. m.
(3) Bent Pyramid at Dahshur .... area, 35,400 sq. m.
(4) Sneferuw: North Stone Pyramid at Dahshur . area, 48,400 sq. m.
The time covered by these four pyramids appears only a little over a century, and this in itself is one
of the greatest proofs of the power and wealth of the Egyptian monarchy during that period. During
this time the private mastabas were nevertheless built only of c.b., and more than a century went by
after Imhotep’s great work at the Step Pyramid before stone architecture became available for the
construction of private tombs.
10. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DECORATION OF NICHES AND CHAPELS
a. Origin and Development of the Painted Decorations
The decoration of the c.b. mastabas of Dyn. I and II consisted of patterns, coloured line drawings
on white plaster, and were used as far as we know on palace-facade panelling and the offering niches of
great door type. Egyptian drawing takes its origin in the white-line drawings on the red polished pottery
of the Early Predynastic period, depicting figures of animals and patterns, apparently taken from those
woven in baskets or mats. A marked advance is shown by the red-line drawings on pottery of the Middle
Predynastic period, which include scenes not easily to be interpreted and some new patterns. The
first pictures painted in colours were found by Mr. F. W. Green in a c.b. lined substructure at
Hierakonpolis, which I would date to Dyn. O or early Dyn. I. The drawing of the scenes in this
provincial tomb is crude, but in consonance with the line drawings on pottery, and presents in general
the same excellences and deficiencies as the drawings of the Archaic reliefs. The hieroglyphic names
written on the walls of the substructures of subsidiary graves at Abydos prove that the use of paint
was familiar to the craftsmen of Dyn. I and improving pari passu with the improvement in sculptural
drawing. According to my reconstruction of the palace-facade mastaba, its panelled faces were
decorated with painted patterns generally imitating the appearance presented by the sh pavilion built
of poles and coloured mats. The decoration of the palace-fapade panelling or the single palace-facade
element dominated the decoration of all mastabas presenting this element down to the introduction of
stone-lined chapels, and was perpetuated in the painted stone examples of the palace-facade element
in Dyn. V-VI. In the chapel of Hesy-ra of the reign of Zoser the panelled west wall shows the painted
decoration probably in its full brilliance, and the east wall shows coloured line drawings applied to
pictures of funerary equipment, part of them lying in a sh pavilion, and a figure of Hesy-ra viewing
these objects. The paintings prove the craftsmen of Dyn. HI to have been masters of drawing and
colouring not much less in excellence than those of the later Egyptian painters. The exterior chapel
of Hesy-ra, later than the panelled chapel, but probably still of Dyn. HI, bore on its walls painted
scenes from life of which only fragments were recovered. It is therefore probable that previous to the
development of the chapel with scenes in stone relief, chapel walls were decorated with painted scenes
of similar character. It is to be noted that the reliefs of the Hesy-ra panels and all stone reliefs were
painted in colours, as if they had been only a more realistic modification of paintings. Colour was
absolutely essential to the realism of statues and reliefs.
mastery over stone reached by the Egyptian craftsmen immediately before the accession of Cheops.
Its size is indicative of a corresponding increase in the resources of the monarchy, as may be seen from
the following list of stone superstructures:
(1) Zoser ....... area, 14,857 sq. m.
(2) Medum Pyramid ..... area, 20,880 sq. m.
(3) Bent Pyramid at Dahshur .... area, 35,400 sq. m.
(4) Sneferuw: North Stone Pyramid at Dahshur . area, 48,400 sq. m.
The time covered by these four pyramids appears only a little over a century, and this in itself is one
of the greatest proofs of the power and wealth of the Egyptian monarchy during that period. During
this time the private mastabas were nevertheless built only of c.b., and more than a century went by
after Imhotep’s great work at the Step Pyramid before stone architecture became available for the
construction of private tombs.
10. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DECORATION OF NICHES AND CHAPELS
a. Origin and Development of the Painted Decorations
The decoration of the c.b. mastabas of Dyn. I and II consisted of patterns, coloured line drawings
on white plaster, and were used as far as we know on palace-facade panelling and the offering niches of
great door type. Egyptian drawing takes its origin in the white-line drawings on the red polished pottery
of the Early Predynastic period, depicting figures of animals and patterns, apparently taken from those
woven in baskets or mats. A marked advance is shown by the red-line drawings on pottery of the Middle
Predynastic period, which include scenes not easily to be interpreted and some new patterns. The
first pictures painted in colours were found by Mr. F. W. Green in a c.b. lined substructure at
Hierakonpolis, which I would date to Dyn. O or early Dyn. I. The drawing of the scenes in this
provincial tomb is crude, but in consonance with the line drawings on pottery, and presents in general
the same excellences and deficiencies as the drawings of the Archaic reliefs. The hieroglyphic names
written on the walls of the substructures of subsidiary graves at Abydos prove that the use of paint
was familiar to the craftsmen of Dyn. I and improving pari passu with the improvement in sculptural
drawing. According to my reconstruction of the palace-facade mastaba, its panelled faces were
decorated with painted patterns generally imitating the appearance presented by the sh pavilion built
of poles and coloured mats. The decoration of the palace-fapade panelling or the single palace-facade
element dominated the decoration of all mastabas presenting this element down to the introduction of
stone-lined chapels, and was perpetuated in the painted stone examples of the palace-facade element
in Dyn. V-VI. In the chapel of Hesy-ra of the reign of Zoser the panelled west wall shows the painted
decoration probably in its full brilliance, and the east wall shows coloured line drawings applied to
pictures of funerary equipment, part of them lying in a sh pavilion, and a figure of Hesy-ra viewing
these objects. The paintings prove the craftsmen of Dyn. HI to have been masters of drawing and
colouring not much less in excellence than those of the later Egyptian painters. The exterior chapel
of Hesy-ra, later than the panelled chapel, but probably still of Dyn. HI, bore on its walls painted
scenes from life of which only fragments were recovered. It is therefore probable that previous to the
development of the chapel with scenes in stone relief, chapel walls were decorated with painted scenes
of similar character. It is to be noted that the reliefs of the Hesy-ra panels and all stone reliefs were
painted in colours, as if they had been only a more realistic modification of paintings. Colour was
absolutely essential to the realism of statues and reliefs.