DOI article:
Newberry, Percy E.: The tombs of Beni Hasan
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12667#0035
Ahnas and Beni Hasan.
17
name carved up so that he who runs may read the simple
inscription :
" The hereditary prince, Khnumhotep, born of the Lady of
the house, Djat."
The wall-paintings of these tombs furnish us with the
fullest, and by far the most curious, representations we possess
of the daily life of the ancient Egyptians of the middle King-
dom. There is hardly an incident in ordinary life that is not
here delineated. We see represented the princes in their
robes with their wives and children ; their household officers,
from the herald to the sandal-bearer; their agriculturists,
and their artisans. Even their barbers, their chiropodists,
their pet dogs and their monkeys are figured. In the tomb of
Ameni are represented the personal attendants on the Lady
Hotept. These are her fan-bearer and mirror-bearer, a woman
carrying ointments, another with linen, and another with
jewelry. Goldsmiths, potters, weavers, glass-blowers, bakers,
ropemakers, laundresses, carpenters, artists and sculptors are
represented at work. There are several battle scenes, in one
of which Ave see a party of Egyptians attacking a fortress with
the testudo. There are also hunting and fowling scenes ; and
in the tomb of Baqta (III.), No. 15, are figured a large number
of wild animals and birds, each with its ancient name written
above it in hieroglyphic characters. In the same tomb are
also represented many (if not all) the games, from draughts to
playing with the ball, that were indulged in on the banks of
the Nile more than 4500 years ago. And what makes all
these pictures doubly interesting is the fact that they nearly
all have explanatory notes in hieroglyphs written just above
them. Over the head of the chiropodist, for instance, is the
inscription art ant, " doing the toe nails."
It should be added that in the tomb of Khnumhotep I. (No.
14 of our survey) I have discovered a group of foreigners
d
17
name carved up so that he who runs may read the simple
inscription :
" The hereditary prince, Khnumhotep, born of the Lady of
the house, Djat."
The wall-paintings of these tombs furnish us with the
fullest, and by far the most curious, representations we possess
of the daily life of the ancient Egyptians of the middle King-
dom. There is hardly an incident in ordinary life that is not
here delineated. We see represented the princes in their
robes with their wives and children ; their household officers,
from the herald to the sandal-bearer; their agriculturists,
and their artisans. Even their barbers, their chiropodists,
their pet dogs and their monkeys are figured. In the tomb of
Ameni are represented the personal attendants on the Lady
Hotept. These are her fan-bearer and mirror-bearer, a woman
carrying ointments, another with linen, and another with
jewelry. Goldsmiths, potters, weavers, glass-blowers, bakers,
ropemakers, laundresses, carpenters, artists and sculptors are
represented at work. There are several battle scenes, in one
of which Ave see a party of Egyptians attacking a fortress with
the testudo. There are also hunting and fowling scenes ; and
in the tomb of Baqta (III.), No. 15, are figured a large number
of wild animals and birds, each with its ancient name written
above it in hieroglyphic characters. In the same tomb are
also represented many (if not all) the games, from draughts to
playing with the ball, that were indulged in on the banks of
the Nile more than 4500 years ago. And what makes all
these pictures doubly interesting is the fact that they nearly
all have explanatory notes in hieroglyphs written just above
them. Over the head of the chiropodist, for instance, is the
inscription art ant, " doing the toe nails."
It should be added that in the tomb of Khnumhotep I. (No.
14 of our survey) I have discovered a group of foreigners
d