|
The Leather Canopy of the funeral Tent of Peinuzem II
|
The Tomb Paintings in the Tomb of Si-Amon
|
|
Leather canopy of the funeral tent of Peinuzem II. The leather canopy used by Si-Amon to put to grave Peinuzem II, one of the last priest-princes of the 21st Dynasty supposedly of the first half of the 10th century BC. [H.W. Villiers-Stuart (1827-1895), `The Funeral Tent of an Egyptian Queen', 1882; The canopy is reproduced as a large spread in colors.] Found as a thick package of rolled hide at the Siwa Oasis in the side of a hill called Gabal el-Mota in a tomb built for Niper-pa Thoth in 1940 by Emil Brugsch. [E. Brugsch `La Tente funéraire de la Princesse Ismikheb'; Maspero in `L'Archéologie égyptienne' (1887), fig. 264; idem. (1907), fig. 287] "In 1897, A. Silva White visited Siwa, entered the tombs of Jabal al-Mawta and published in his book photographs of the entrances of some of them and the mummies inside. He also visited the tomb of Niperpathot, described some of its scenes and published a photograph of part of it." [Fakhri, `Siwa Oasis', p. 177; A.S. White, `From Sphinx to Oracle', p. 232-237] "In 1900, Siwa was visited by Steindorff who entered the tombs of Jabal al-Mawta, including that of Niperpathot, and gave a brief description of some of its scenes. He published a photograph of the walls, noting that the tomb betrayed no foreign influence. He read the name of the tomb owner as `Pa-Thoth'. In his brief description of the other tombs, he mentioned seeing Egyptian and Greek art side by side in some of their paintings. In others he saw paintings of pure Greek style which he compared with those in Cyrene and Alexandria. He also refered to the mummies lying about, together with fragments of wall paintings." [Fakhri, p. 177-178] We compare the tomb of Peinuzem II with that of Si-Amon and find they are nearly identical. This Si-Amon at the Oasis was the same Si-Amon who buried Peinizem II in either 295 or 275 BC. |
The leather canopy used by Si-Amon to put to rest Peinuzem II has the same basic style and motifs in its design as the tomb ceiling of Si-Amon (see right image) showing that this Si-Amon was the same person and belongs into the early 3rd, not the 11th century BC. This tomb was discovered in 1940 in the Siwa Oasis. Ahmad Fakhri thought at the time that there were two Si-Amons, one in the 11th and the other in the 3rd century BC. Similarities of vultures consists of rectangular spaces with heads crowned with royal headgear, vultures are painted, spreading their wings alternating with falcons in the same postures: in their talons, as on the leather canopy, are rounded grips with flat plates holding ostrich feathers widely spread; the feathers, as on the canopy, are designed with 3 alternating dark and 3 bright portions. The headgear, the grips, the feathers, the confines of the wings, semi-oval from below, straight at the upper edge - all present very similar peculiar designs that are found also in the canopy used by Si-Amon in the funeral of Peinuzem II. As on the canopy, the royal birds are designed in colors one under another in long rectangular spaces likewise surrounded by rosettes; a frieze of lance heads set on circles and carpet motifs of checkered squares complete the unusual similarity to the cache of Si-Amon where he left his signature on many royal mummies and the tomb that he built for his own occupancy. |
Previous
Return to Submenu
Crawl out of this Tomb
Next