Representational evidence, Old Kingdom private tombs
Private (i.e. non-royal) tombs of the Old Kingdom originally bore a very simple wall decoration scheme that evolved into an elaborate and highly accomplished repertoire of painting and relief sculpture. Most of our evidence comes from such sites as Saqqara, Helwan, Meydum, Dahshur, Giza and Abusir. The earliest decorated tombs contained little more than simple niches, or a slab stela set into the exterior of a solid mastaba (from the Arabic word for "bench") superstructure. The niches evolved into the so-called "false door," or cult center of the tomb. The slab stela usually held a scene of the deceased seated before a table of offering loaves, along with accompanying inscriptions bearing his name and titles and listing additional invocation offerings.
From these simple beginnings, the mastaba decoration scheme expanded along with the architectural development of the private tomb itself. Solid mastaba superstructures were eventually given interior chambers, and decoration was moved from the exterior to the interior of the tomb, possibly to protect it from the elements. The artists drew and then carved the decoration directly on the walls themselves, either in raised or sunk relief, or carved them after an initial coat of plaster had been applied to the stone. Paint was usually applied to the figures, inscriptions and often even the background, resulting in a highly polychromed surface. The repertoire of wall scenes and inscriptions grew to include pictures of daily life, of religious events such as the funeral and presentation of offerings, and a host of inscriptions, from simple captions explaining events depicted to full biographical statements of the career and accomplishments of the tomb-owner. All of these elements were added, not as the artistic self-expression of individual painters and sculptors, but rather to fulfill the functional need for such events in the next world. The activities, provisions and offering spells shown on the tomb walls served the deceased in the afterlife, just as their actual counterparts had done during his or her lifetime.
These wall paintings and carvings provide one of the key elements for the study of all aspects of ancient Egyptian society. The dry climate on the desert’s edge, away from the arable lands of the Nile Valley, helped preserve thousands of decorated Egyptian tombs intact, often including even the ancient color scheme. Since so many facets of Egyptian life were recorded on the tomb walls, archaeologists today have a glimpse into ancient Egyptian society, a primary source unavailable for most other dead civilizations.
Daily life
Perhaps the greatest amount of wall space is covered by scenes of daily life. These included representations of fishing and fowling, boating and boat-jousting matches, fieldwork and food production (sowing, harvesting, storage and presentation of crops, brewing, baking), craftsmanship (wood and metal working, ceramic production), and tax collection. The members of the deceased’s estate are usually the ones engaged in the labor, but in some ritual scenes, such as fowling in the marshes or the supervision of fieldwork, the deceased himself is portrayed in the scene, usually at a much larger scale to denote his importance.
Language
Private tombs of the Old Kingdom are pivotal for the study of the earliest phase of the language, known as Old Egyptian. For the first time, long narrative texts and biographical accounts appear, facilitating the study of textual composition and grammatical forms. The tomb reliefs and paintings are indispensable to the study of early palaeography, as well as the evolution of the language from Old Egyptian into its classical phase (Middle Egyptian) during the Middle Kingdom.
Literature
Literary genres occurring in Old Kingdom private tombs are fairly limited compared to later phases of the language, but nevertheless contain as many as three loosely defined types. Stock religious invocations beginning with the familiar hetep di nisut formula ("A gift that the king gives…") abound, followed by wishes for a good burial in the necropolis and offerings provided on the days of certain festivals. Menu lists, arranged in compartments somewhat resembling a modern crossword puzzle, list offering provisions of bread, beer, milk, wine, cuts of meat and fowl, fruits and vegetables and linen, and their respective amounts.
A second literary genre gives the deceased’s names and titles repeatedly throughout the tomb, listing all his promotions and duties. These passages are part of the biogaphy genre, often including praiseworthy statements of the deceased’s conduct and awards granted by the king. Lengthier narratives describing actual historical events, such as trading expeditions to the south, or military campaigns, are rare but do occur on occasion. These give us some of the more informative impressions of Old Kingdom political and social history.
A third literary category is that of the captions accompanying representational scenes. Along with simple captions explaining the process of winnowing, or assisting in the birth of a calf, there are often quotations by the workers involved, calling for assistance or criticizing each other’s laziness. These inscriptions afford a glimpse into the "local color" of fieldwork, and the slang of the craftsmen, as they go about their tasks.
Music
Certain festivals and holidays are listed in inscriptions and/or portrayed in representations. Musical instruments, such as harps and flutes, are depicted in such scenes, but no system of musical notation seems to have existed; or at least it is absent from the tomb wall decoration.
Figure 92 Subterranean chambers showing wall paintings and engaged statuary, tomb of Queen Meresankh III at Giza (G 7530-7540)
Religion
All of the tomb’s decoration served the mortuary function of providing for the deceased in the next world. For this reason, all of the categories listed here could be cited as part of the religious culture of the Egyptians. Nevertheless, the scrutiny of specific scenes and inscriptions reveals much about the ancient systems or festivals and their calendrical cycles, and about offering ceremonies and which family members perform them. Offering spells list specific deities with specific protective functions. Even certain articles of clothing, such as the leopard skin worn by the sem-priest during offering rituals, are accurately reproduced in tomb wall scenes.
State/social organization
The lists of functional titles held by the deceased are a primary source for the study of the highly structured and hierarchical nature of the Egyptian administration. Often, particular institutions, such as a temple complex, are mentioned, lending insights into the operation of large administrative centers. However, deciphering the precise meaning of the titles, many of which must have been honorary, is often a difficult task. In addition to listing the role of the deceased, tomb wall inscriptions and representations also contain several social strata of the ancient population. Among the individuals represented in the tomb are priests and other religious functionaries, tax gatherers, scribes and other administrators, craftsmen and artisans, fowlers and fishermen. Some of these groups do not mix with others, and are never represented together.
Legal decrees inscribed on tomb walls also provide assistance in understanding the administration of goods and services. Usually, these "wills" or decrees designate certain individuals or institutions with the task of maintaining the cult of the tomb-owner, and append various provisions for protection from external interference.
Architecture
Numerous structures are portrayed in scenes from Old Kingdom tombs. Buildings, canopies, boats, workshops, granaries and other structures are often represented with attention to detail.
History
The Egyptians were more concerned with providing the correct funerary formulae and stock phrases and scenes in the tomb than they were with depicting historical events in the modern sense. Thus history must be largely reconstructed indirectly from a variety of sources, some of which come from private tomb decoration. The listings of various kings and construction projects help to answer chronological questions, and occasionally a biographical text will go into some detail about a specific expedition or royal decree.
Art
A wide range of styles is evident from even the most cursory of comparative studies of Old Kingdom private tombs. As more tomb decoration is published, scholars are able to study chronological developments, regional art styles, the work of specific workshops, and varying painting and carving techniques. The proportional canon of Egyptian art, the system of laying out a grid on the wall for the placement of figures, is also a feature that evolved over time and may be studied on tomb walls.
Other aspects of Egyptian culture revealed by the wall scenes are costume, including dress, jewelry, hair and wig styles, and footwear. In addition, diet and nutrition are represented by the types of food offerings preferred by the Egyptians.
Representational evidence, papyri and ostraca
The ancient Egyptians employed two basic types of material as a surface for writing and drawing. The easily available and relatively economical papyrus was used for official documents, dockets, letters, memoranda, religious texts and literary compositions, but it could also be employed for plans, maps, construction drawings and other illustrative material. An alternative surface for writing and drawing of various kinds was early recognized in the abundance and easy availability of broken pottery and limestone chips from quarries and tomb excavation (both termed "ostraca" in Egyptological literature, although the term more properly describes only the pottery fragments). Slightly curved potsherds and neatly fractured limestone flakes provided nearly flat surfaces that required no preparation and had the advantage of being virtually permanent as well as without cost. Other materials used for drawing and writing included leather, parchment and prepared boards.
By far the most common illustrations found on papyrus are the so-called "vignettes" in the New Kingdom Book of the Dead, with a rich imagery describing the activities of the spirit after death. These include standardized subjects such as the "weighing of the heart," the personal judgment of the individual before the gods, the "plowing of the fields in the land of the blessed," the participation of the deceased in activities pleasing to the gods and for the sustenance of the spirit in the next world, and a wide variety of encounters and rituals carried out by the spirit. All of these contribute to our knowledge of what the Egyptians believed or expected in the life after death.
In addition to those that contain illustrations from the Book of the Dead there exists a class of papyrus rolls which have been called "Mythological Papyri." They contain very little text but are principally representations related to other religious works such as the Book of Gates and The Book of What is in the Underworld. They were made to aid and accompany the spirit of the deceased and they provide a wealth of religious and mythic images, some of which are difficult or impossible to interpret without accompanying texts.
Architectural drawings on papyrus, and occasionally on ostraca, have been preserved in a limited but sufficient quantity to suggest that these were common vehicles for the presentation of plans and elevations of construction projects and designs. Notable among them are a plan for the royal tomb of Ramesses IV in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes, and the front and side elevation designs for an elaborate shrine from Gurob. These show that careful and detailed drawings were committed to papyrus to be used much as modern construction drawings and blueprints in the process of the actual work.
A very rare papyrus in the Brooklyn Museum actually depicts a historic event which can be precisely dated to year 14 of King Psamtik I in 651 BC, recording the granting of a petition by the god Amen. The rarity of this single example emphasizes the fact that almost all representations on papyrus are of a religious, ritual or simple practical (architecture and design) nature and that the ancient Egyptian concept of history did not include committing representations of an ephemeral nature to ink on papyrus.
The types of evidence to be found on ostraca are considerably different, however. This may be ascribed to the fact that the waste material of stone and broken pottery may have been used for less important work or records or the same material was less perishable than papyrus. Ostraca were used for literary texts, letters and accounts, but they were also used as the practice pads for scribes or artists in training and the sketch book pages and pattern drawings for accomplished craftsmen. From the quantity of such sketches, trials and finished drawings preserved, we can deduce information concerning the training of the artist and some of the technical steps in the execution of large-scale works on the walls of temples and tombs. It is evident that some designs were more difficult to execute than others because many more examples of them exist, either as models or copies. Some drawings clearly show the work of two artistic hands, one skillful and practiced while the second is less so, probably illustrating the work of a student or apprentice copying the master. Other drawings incorporate elements such as hands or clenched fists, which seem to have been used as standards of measure or proportion.
One distinct class of drawings, occurring both on papyri and ostraca, represents a series of animals engaged in human activities. A cat standing on its hind legs might herd geese as a man would herd cattle. A baby mouse is attended to by a cat nurse-maid. These and other examples like them have been interpreted as illustration for animal fables which were probably only conveyed through the spoken word and not through writing. They seem to suggest a body of fable in which animals deport themselves with human attitudes, a type of folk tale common in many cultures.
More typical of the type of drawings preserved on ostraca are the many studies of figures and heads, particularly the heads of kings, which were intended as practice or model pieces to be reproduced on tomb walls. Such drawings are often overlaid with a network of proportioned squares as an aid in the transfer of the small design to a larger format. Working drawings also exist of complicated subjects such as the king in a chariot or combatants in various games. Animal forms, both as used in hieroglyphic writing and as used in scenes of domestication or of hunting and fishing, are abundantly illustrated, probably because the types were difficult to render and required working out or practice. It is to these randomly preserved trials and sketches that we must turn in an effort to understand the education of the Egyptian draughtsman-artist, for from them we gain an impression of the stages of training and practice necessary to the production of the strict canonical art of ancient Egypt.
Representational evidence, Predynastic
This entry deals only with painted or incised designs and not with three-dimensional artifacts. Painted and incised representations played a considerable role in Predynastic culture, both in a purely decorative way and as an important part of ritual practices. All the material discussed relates to the Predynastic Nagada culture of Upper Egypt. This kind of art is represented by four categories: (1) decorated pottery, (2) incised rock drawings known as petroglyphs, (3) tomb paintings (only known from one example), and (4) slate palettes.
Predynastic painted pottery is divided into two classes. The early material, dating to the Nagada I phase (circa 4,000-3,500 BC) is known as White Cross-lined class. It consists of a plum to reddish-brown body with a burnished surface and designs in white, pale yellow or pale pink paint.
The decorated pottery of the Nagada II and III phases (circa 3,500-3,100 BC) is quite different, in a pale buff colored clay with designs painted in red-brown. It is known as Decorated class. Both types of pottery have been known since the late nineteenth century when Flinders Petrie first worked at the important Predynastic site of Nagada on the west bank of the Nile north of Luxor.
The painted designs of White Cross-lined class most commonly consist of geometrical patterns, especially with triangles and rhombuses. Shapes are filled in with cross-hatching, diagonal lines, chevrons, wavy lines and plain bands of paint. Some rare examples depict animals, such as scorpions, antelopes or gazelles, giraffes, hippopotami, and horned sheep or goats. Plants are also occasionally shown, but very few vessels have depictions of humans. Many of these latter scenes are interpreted as having some kind of ritual significance.
Decorated class may be divided into three groups. The first group consists of abstract designs which are purely decorative. The motifs used include wavy lines, geometric figures, irregular splashes, and lines and "comma" shapes. The second group uses motifs which imitate stone. The variegated surface of stones, such as diorite and breccia, are represented by spiral patterns and irregular shapes. These pots may have been intended as substitutes for real stone vessels, which must have been more costly.
The third group of Decorated class has more complex designs showing many-oared boats, often with cabins, steering oars, sails and so-called "nome standards," referring to the later emblems of the Dynastic districts (nomes) of Egypt. Each Dynastic nome had an emblem or standard by which the nome was recognized. It is impossible to ascertain whether these Predynastic standards represented particular regions or had other significance, but during this period it seems that the standards probably had a social and politico-religious meaning. Some of the signs also appear to be early forms which later became hieroglyphs.
The boats are often accompanied by several varieties of plants, wading birds and geometric figures, such as bands of triangles and lines of "Z" shapes, which have been interpreted as flying birds. Less commonly, some boats have human and/or animal passengers.
The purpose and meaning of these scenes is obscure. Attempts have been made to interpret the boats as temple buildings, but this is not generally accepted. The identity of the frondy plant, known as the "Nagada plant," has also been debated: it has been identified as an aloe and as a type of tree known as the "false banana" (ensete). Neither of these interpretations is wholly acceptable, however. What is significant is its importance as a sacred tree. The importance of boat scenes is also borne out by petroglyphs. These rock drawings are found in the caves and wadis of the Eastern Desert, and to a lesser extent in the Western Desert, in Upper Egypt. They were hammered out of the rock, and were sometimes neatened or elaborated with incisions. They often depict boats, men and animals in scenes which are strikingly similar to those on Predynastic pottery. The animals depicted include all those mentioned above in connection with pottery, along with elephants, wild cattle, wild felines, crocodiles and dogs. The people depicted in association with boats often have upraised arms. This pose is commonly shown on Decorated class pottery and was probably associated with ritual activity. The pose is also found in association with hunting scenes. A number of petroglyphs show hunting activities, including the use of throw-sticks and the pursuit with harpoons of hippopotami.
Both boat and hunting scenes seem to have been accompanied by people performing ritual activities, and this suggests that both painted pottery and petroglyphs had some greater symbolic significance. One site (Site 18, north-east of Luxor between Wadi el-Qash and Wadi Zeidun) notable for its petroglyphs was so thickly covered with boat drawings that no single outline remained clear and unobscured. This cannot have been done with artistic intent, but suggests that the site and the drawings had special meaning for the Predynastic Egyptians; especially since the drawings were sited at such a distance from the Nile Valley.
The theme of boats is continued in the only known painted tomb from Predynastic Egypt, Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis. This mudbrick-lined tomb was decorated with painted designs on walls with a background of either white or buff-yellow. The designs seem to have been sketched out in red ocher before being completed, and then they were filled in with red, green, blue-black and white paint.
The Tomb 100 drawings, which are very similar to both petroglyphs and Decorated pottery motifs, show quite complex boat scenes. The ships are without banks of oars, but they do have steering oars and cabins. Some also have human occupants and show standards. Interspersed with the boats are hunting scenes and the trapping of animals. The tomb was in very bad repair when it was discovered and presents great difficulties of interpretation.
The wide range of representational art known from Predynastic Egypt is often the only key to understanding Predynastic society. There are no texts to read, therefore attempts must be made to "read" the scenes which were painted and carved by the Predynastic Egyptians. This is difficult, and often dangerous, since it is likely that scenes will be misinter-preted or endowed with more significance than they merit.
The ownership of painted pottery or a painted tomb certainly demonstrates that the owner was of a high rank in society. Some of the scenes may have indicated a specific status of the owner, and it is possible that the so-called nome standards were particularly important in this respect.
It is clear that boat scenes were of great importance in Nagada II times. This might well imply the importance of some kind of nautical festival as early as the Predynastic period. The ritual importance of ships is well attested in Dynastic Egyptian religion, and it seems clear that such importance developed early in Egyptian history. The "cabins" on the boats may have been some kind of shrine, and it is possible that figures depicted above the cabins were intended to be understood as being inside the cabins. The human figures may, therefore, have had a priest-like role, with the animals intended for sacrifice.
The Nagada plant was also of considerable importance in association with boat scenes, and may have been regarded as a kind of sacred tree. This seems especially likely since the design which is often displayed at the prow of boats is the same as that shown sprouting from the Nagada plant. The importance of animals and birds, both on White Cross-lined class and Decorated class pottery, implies that there may also have been an early origin for some of the animal cults favored by the Dynastic Egyptians. Animals also had considerable significance within the context of hunting scenes. These occurred not only in Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, but also as petroglyphs and on White Cross-lined class pottery.
Boats were probably also considered important because they were a means by which goods could be traded up and down the Nile Valley, both regionally and over long distances. This economic interaction was of great importance in Predynastic Egypt because it encouraged the growth of an extended trade in luxury items, such as stone vases and elaborate pottery. Such trade had a major role to play in the emergence of complex society. Exotic craft goods were in demand in Nagada II times by elite groups wishing to express their social status. Boats were vital to trade, and this almost certainly bolstered their religious significance.
Figure 93 Decorated class pot with scenes of boats, ostriches and the "Nagada plant"
Representational art was of great importance to the Predynastic Egyptians, not only for decorative purposes, but also because it played an important role in enhancing the ritual of their beliefs. A variety of techniques was used to create several artistic styles in different media. It seems possible that some of the conventions which became important in Dynastic times were already present during the Predynastic era, including the importance of animal and boat scenes, the use of painted substitutes in graves, the emphasis on tomb painting and the importance of representing religious ritual.
