The tomb-chapel of Nebamun. 대영박물관 (The British Museum). 런던 (London)

The tomb-chapel of Nebamun. 대영박물관 (The British Museum).

런던 (London). 영국(England)

britishmuseum.org

 

The Michael Cohen Gallery

The tomb-chapel of Nebamun

Ancient Egyptian life and death

 

Nebamun was a rich accountant in the Temple of Amun at Thebes (modern Karnak) in about 1350 BC. The chapel in his tomb was decorated with extraordinarily beautiful paintings showing how the wealthy wanted their lives to be seen for eternity. But not everyone was so lucky in life or death

 

The tomb-chapel paintings show an idealised vision of life. Other objects in this gallery hint at the actual experience of living in Egypt for both rich and poor.

 

This gallery has been generously funded by the R. and S. Cohen Foundation.

 

The British Museum is also grateful for the support given by Thomas and Linda Heagy and the Patrons of the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan.

- 안내문에서 -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the musicians look out of the paintings, showing their faces full-on. This is very unusual in Egyptian art, and gives a sense of liveliness to these lower-class women, who are less formally drawn than the wealthy guests. The young dancers are fluidly drawn and are naked apart from their jewellery.

 

15:

A feast for Nebamun

An entire wall of the tomb-chapel showed a feast in honour of Nebamun. Naked serving-girls and servants wait on his friends and relatives. Married guests sit in pairs on fine chairs, while the young women turn and talk to each other. This erotic scene of relaxation and wealth is something for Nebamun to enjoy for all eternity. The richly dressed guests are entertained by dancers and musicians, who sit on the ground playing and clapping. The words of their song in honour of Nebamun are written above them:

 

The earth-god has caused

his beauty to grow in every body...

the channels are filled with water anew,

and the land is flooded with love of him.

- 안내문에서 -

 

This scribe holds a palette (pen-box) under his arm and presents a roll of papyrus to Nebamun. He is well dressed and has small rolls of fat on his stomach, indicating his superior position in life. Beside him are chests for his records and a bag containing his writing equipment.

 

Farmers bow down and make gestures of respect towards Nebamun. The man behind them holds a stick and tells them; 'Sit down and don't speak !' The farmers' geese are painted as a huge and lively gaggle, some pecking the ground and some flapping their wings.

 

 

 

 

The food offerings include sycomore-figs, grapes, differently shaped loaves of breads, and also a roast duck and joints of meat, which only the wealthy could afford.

 

Large jars of wine are garlanded with grapes and vines. In many places the green and blue has been lost, since these colours were applied as roughly ground pigments which have fallen away.

 

Traces of red grid-lines are visible in places under the background colour. These lines helped the artists to lay out the figures, but they used them only in this scene because it was the largest and most formal in the tomb-chapel.  

 

 

 

Visiting the tomb-chapel

Tomb-chapels were meeting places between the worlds of the living and the dead. People visited this tomb-chapel to commemorate Nebumun.

 

In the innermost room there would have been a statue of Nebumun and his wife. Family members would come on festival days to say prayers and offer food, wine, water and flowers to this statue.

Passers-by could also visit the tomb-chapel to say prayers for Nebumun and look at the paintings. Graffiti left by admiring visitors show that tomb-chapels sometimes remained open for many generations.

 

1. Painted limestone statue of an unnamed man and his wife from a tomb-chapel at Thebes

2. Pottery amphora for wine. A note on the amphora records the vintage. From el-Amarna

3. Bread, bouquet of flowers wrapped in papyrus, pottery dish of figs, basket of figs and dates

     and dom-palm fruit.

 

 

The paintings and the tomb-chapel

Nebumun's tomb-chapel was cut into the desert hills opposite the city of Thebes (modern Luxor and Karnak). The tomb-chapel was discovered in 1820 by Giovanni d'Athanasi, working for the British consul, Henry Salt. D'Athanasi removed eleven fragments from the wonderfully painted walls and sent them to the British Museum. The fragments are very fragile; they were extensively conserved during 2001-2007 but need to be displayed at an angle to preserve them. Although d'Athanasi did not record the tomb-chapel's exact location, it was probably in an area now known as Dra Abu el-Naga.

 

The hillside at Dra-Abu el-Naga, riddled with the doorways of ruined tomb-chapels cut into the rock. In the nineteenth century a village was built over parts of the cemetery.
Photograph: Coypright Proyecto Djehuty, Spanish Mission at Dra Abu el-Naga, 2005

 

 

 

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