Nebamun viewing his herds, a scene from the tomb-chapel
of Nebamun
Thebes, Egypt
Late 18th Dynasty, around 1350 BC
This is a fragment of a scene showing Nebamun
inspecting flocks of geese and herds of cattle. Nebamun is shown as
a well-dressed man of wealth and authority, supervising lively
crowds. He is drawn at a larger scale than other people and sits in
a formal pose. Even his skin is painted differently.
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.
M. Hooper, The Tomb of Nebamun (London, British Museum
press, 2007)
R. Parkinson, The painted Tomb-chapel of
Nebamun. (London, British Museum Press, 2008)
A. Middleton and K.
Uprichard, (eds.), The Nebamun Wall Paintings:
Conservation, Scientific Analysis and Display at the British
Museum (London, Archetype, 2008)