Banquet scene: fragment of wall painting from the tomb of Nebamun (no. 3)

Thebes, Egypt
18th Dynasty, around 1350 BC

A sensual celebration of new life

Though a standard subject for a Theban tomb painting, this banquet scene is one of the finest examples. The British Museum has two other fragments and another, in the Musée Calvet in Avignon, is thought to come from the same wall.

Musicians and dancers entertain the guests, who are dressed in typical festive clothing of the period, with characteristic yellow incorporated into their white robes, and the women wearing very heavy wigs. The musicians are perhaps the most striking of all. They are shown frontally rather than in profile, a break in the usual convention of ancient Egyptian art.

The scene hints subtly at rebirth and new life. No one is actually eating, although drinks are being poured (the Egyptian words used for 'pour' and 'sexual act' are the same). Scent also had an important place in the ancient Egyptian erotic imagination. In this scene, the lotus flower and the small round mandrake fruit are being sniffed and the guests wear cones of scented fat. In the heat, the guests' fine clothes and skin would become impregnated with the perfumed oils.

M. Hooper, The Tomb of Nebamun, Cambridge reading (Cambridge University Press, 1997)

R. Tefnin, La peinture Egyptienne ancienn (Bruxelles: Fondation Egyptologique Reine Elisabeth, 1997)

T.G.H. James, Egyptian painting and drawing (London, The British Museum Press, 1985)

L. Manniche, Lost tombs: a study of certain (London, Kegan Paul International, 1988)