Nebamun inspecting the geese: fragment of wall painting from the tomb of Nebamun (no. 1)

Thebes, Egypt
18th Dynasty, around 1350 BC

The figure of Nebamun, the tomb-owner, sits on a stool with a high back. He is inspecting the scene represented in the larger fragment to the right (no. 2). He holds a simple staff in his left hand, while in his right is the sekhem or kherep sceptre, a symbol of his power, and what is perhaps a fan or fly-whisk.

Around Nebamun are the remains of some hieroglyphs which includes his principal title, 'scribe who counts the grain in the granary of the divine offering', but not his name. The end of the text, behind him, mentions the name of his wife, Hatshepsut.

The purpose of such scenes is thought to emphasize the personality of the dead man, and thus to commemorate it through eternity into the Afterlife.