stone relief showing a funerary banquet

 stone relief showing a funerary banquet

From Palmyra, Syria
3rd century AD

Palmyra, an oasis city in the Syrian desert, grew rich from the caravan trade. Its cosmopolitan population included merchants from all parts of the Near East, including Parthians and Nabataeans. It was incorporated into the Roman Empire by the end of the first century AD. The rich tombs of the Roman period that were built outside the city show a fascinating mix of eastern and Roman influences.
This relief comes from such a tomb. It shows a funerary banquet: a popular theme in Roman funerary art that was copied by Palmyrene and Parthian (Iranian) craftsmen. Such scenes were introduced at Palmyra from the early second century, when they joined the funerary busts that were a particular feature of the Palmyrene tombs.
This example is typical of such scenes. The deceased reclines on a couch holding a bowl. He wears Parthian costume of a trouser suit and lacks the high headdress (modius) worn by priests. His wife appears with him, on a slightly smaller scale.
Three or five such reliefs would be placed around the sides of a tomb chamber to form a group echoing the triclinium or Roman dining room. An actual funerary banquet could then take place in the presence of the departed, or in his honour.
In the third century AD Queen Zenobia led her Palmyrene troops against the might of Rome. They took control of Syria, conquered Egypt and attempted to take Asia Minor (now Turkey). In AD 272 the Emperor Aurelian defeated the Palmyrenes, captured Zenobia and took her to Rome. Palmyra was destroyed after a second insurrection in AD 273.
M.A.R. Colledge, The art of Palmyra (London, 1976)

British museum

britishmuseum.org

Amenhotep son of Hapu, as a scribe

Statue of the influential minister of Amenhotep III, Amenhotep son of Hapu, as a scribe. This image signified status second only to the king and gods, and so was a form used to depict the most powerful men in the land. Country of Origin: Egypt. Culture: Ancient Egyptian. Date/Period: New Kingdom,18th Dynasty,1390-1352BC. Credit Line: Werner Forman Archive/ Egyptian Museum, Cairo . Location: 47.

La tombe TT 277 de Ameneminet

Elles sont sept plus une petite fille. Chacune porte une très grande robe gris-bleu, frangée, nouée sous les seins ; cette couleur est inhabituelle dans la nécropole thébaine. Leurs cheveux en désordre sont retenus autour de la tête par un bandeau blanc, signe de deuil. Toutes font les gestes traditionnels de désespoir. À l'arrière, dans une composition très théâtrale, la dernière pleureuse semble vouloir se précipiter sur le catafalque, tandis que la jeune fille tente de la retenir (on notera au passage la longueur démesurée de ses bras). Le texte en hiératique au-dessus d'elle dit : "Pour le Ka de la chanteuse d'Amon Takheret".


La tombe TT 277 de Ameneminet

 Ces deux couples se trouvent devant les pleureuses. Leur attitude ainsi que leurs habits sont uniques dans la nécropole thébaine. Elles avancent à demi courbées, leurs cheveux tombant sur la poitrine ; leurs bras ballants sont ridiculement courts, comme atrophiés, surtout si on les compare à ceux des pleureuses qui les suivent. Elles sont vêtues d'une robe blanche moulante sur laquelle se trouve une sorte de châle jaune ou rouge qui enserre les épaules. Le rôle de ces femmes reste un mystère : peut-être s'agit-il de prêtresses exécutant un rite ou une danse particulière

 Le couple, tourné vers l'extérieur accueille les visiteurs. D'Ameneminet ne persistent qu'une partie de la tunique et le bas du torse. Néfertari est mieux conservée. Elle est vêtue d'une ample robe blanche, recouverte jusqu'à la taille par une tunique rouge. Sa longue perruque est cerclée par un bandeau tandis qu'un cône d'onguent est posé par-dessus. Elle lève la main droite en signe de bienvenue, tandis que sa main gauche enserre un sistre hathorique et une tige florale entourée de feuilles lancéolées correspondant à des liserons (indiquant l'arrivée sur la rive ouest du Nil où se trouvent les tombes, voir l'article spécial). Elle porte des boucles d'oreilles et des bracelets, ainsi qu'un pectoral ousekh. On remarquera l'individualisation des ongles en blanc. Le texte qui surplombait cette scène a disparu.


osirisnet.net

TT6, the tomb of Neferhotep and his son, Nebnefer .

A seated couple receive the homage from four men followed by four women (the seated couple and the most of the image of the four men have disappeared). The women are dressed in a large fringed tunic with bouffant sleeves and wear a wide collar. The one which is furthest to the right is the best preserved, and she holds in one hand a large stem of blue papyrus and in the other a basket or bag. This basket is a little better seen with the woman who precedes her (see tb-1723-01). The basket appears to be divided into four parts, each containing round objects: this is a way of representing different fruits (?) for the dead, sometimes similar partitioning in baskets are found placed on tables.


TT6, the tomb of Neferhotep and his son, Nebnefer .

osirisnet.net

bibliografia

Ceiling fragment from tomb of Djehutyhotep II

Ceiling fragment from tomb of Djehutyhotep II

Egyptian
1844–1818 B.C.

Painted ceiling fragment depicting yellow quatrefoils against a blue background.

Provenance

From Deir el-Bersha, tomb 2 (Djehutyhetep II). 1915: excavated by the Harvard University-Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; 1947: brought from Harvard Camp. (Accession Date: January 1, 1915)

Credit Line

Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
 http://www.mfa.org/collections/o

Fragment from a painted wall in the Tomb of Nebamun

Fragment from a painted wall in the Tomb of Nebamun. It depicts a group of six mourning women standing at the funeral procession. Two women in the front kneel down to sprinkle dirt of their heads. Tears are visble on the cheeks of all the women. There are many chips. Most of the paint remains. Other fragments from this tomb are in Brooklyn, Kansas City, Princeton, and the Norbert Schimmel Collection.

Provenance

From Thebes, Tomb of Nebamun. 1968: Purchased by the MFA. (Accession Date: September 11, 1968)

Credit Line

William Francis Warden Fund

 http://www.mfa.org/co

Yuya

The mummy of Yuya was found along with that of his wife, Tuyu, in their tomb in the Valley of the Kings. (For more data about the contents of KV 46, click on The Treasures of Yuya and Tuyu on the navigation bar at left.) KV 46 was one of the few non-royal burials in the Valley, and indicates the high esteem in which Yuya and Tuyu were held by Amenhotep III, their son-in-law.
    When found, Yuya was still in his coffins, but the lids had been removed and the mummy had been rifled by thieves in search of valuables. In spite of this, Yuya's mummy was not substantially damaged, and a few objects remained on the body or in the torn bandages. Quibell and Davis both mention a gold plate, which had been used to cover the embalming incision. Davis goes on to describe "numerous valuable religious symbols, several scarabs, and various objects of interest and beauty," including "a necklace of large beads made of gold and of lapis lazuli, strung on a strong thread" which were found on the mummy. Quibell further notes that Yuya had gold finger stalls covering his fingers, and X-rays taken by Harris show finger-rings still in place on Yuya's hands. The Cairo Museum also has an amulet (CG51167) and some beads (CG51184, perhaps the ones referred  to by Davis above) deriving from Yuya's mummy.
    G. E. Smith describes the mummy of Yuya as one of the finest examples of the embalming practices of the 18'th Dynasty. The mummy is that of an old man, and Maspero stated that Yuya was probably in his sixties when he died. His thick, wavy hair is a yellowish color, and was probably bleached by the embalming materials rather than being naturally blonde. Smith says the hair was white when Yuya died. (Click here for color photo of Yuya's mummy.) His body cavity was packed with balls of linen soaked in resins, and his perineum is thickly coated with resinous material to such an extent that his genitals are completely covered. Yuya's arms were crossed over his chest, with the fingers of the hands extended. His eye sockets were packed with linen and the eyelids had been pulled closed.
    Yuya's mummy, like that of his wife, was equipped with an openwork cartonnage "cage," coated with a thin layer of plaster, inscribed and covered with gold foil (see photo above.) This device was designed to fit over the shroud of the mummy as a means of holding it in place. (Source Bibliography: DRN, 150, fig. 57, 161, no. 109 and 111; EM, 97; IT, xxi, xxix; TTAA, 39, 68; XRA, 169f.; XRP, 141-142.)


 http://anubis4_2000.tripod.com/mummypages1/18B.htm