Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Painting of Nebamun Hunting in the Marshes
Nebamun stands in a reed boat, gliding through the marshes. He raises his arm, ready to
bean a bird with a snakelike hunting stick. On the right, his wife looks on, while his daugh-
ter crouches between his legs, a symbol of fatherly protection.
This nobleman walks like Egyptian statues look—stiff and flat, like he was just run
over by a pyramid. We see the torso from the front and everything else—arms, legs,
face—in profile, creating the funny walk that has become an Egyptian cliché. (Like an
early version of Cubism, we see various perspectives at once.)
But the stiffness is softened by a human touch. It's a family snapshot of loved ones
from a happy time. The birds, fish, and plants are painted realistically, like encyclopedia
entries. (The first “paper” came from papyrus plants like the bush on the left.) The only
unrealistic element is the house cat (thigh-high, in front of the man) acting as a retriev-
er—possibly the only cat in history that ever did anything useful.
