Daily Life in Ancient Egypt (Mehenkwetre
Tomb continued - Page 4)
500
Years Before Tutankhamen - Models Made in this World to Work
in the Next
by Donald A. Mackenzie
The living
devoted much wealth to ensuring
the happiness of those who
had departed to another world. No sacrifice was too great; nothing
was grudged to the dead. The ourners would rather suffer loss
of all they had than deny anything
to a dead relative. In that sense,
therefore, the custom of constructing expensive tombs and embalming
the dead and purchasing offerings
for them was a very beautiful one.
To us the custom makes another
appeal. It has a very decided
historical value. The groups of
statuettes found in the tombs
reveal, in a most graphic way, the
manners and customs of a great and
wonderful people who lived over
4,000 years ago. We are afforded
glimpses of daily scenes of life.
HOW CATTLE WERE SLAUGHTERED ON A NOBLEMAN'S ESTATE
IN ANCIENT EGYPT
The Egyptians supposed their Paradise to be just a glorified Egypt,
an Egypt with richer cornfields, fatter cattle, a more beautiful
river, finer houses, and a better climate, and that there they
would live as they had lived in the country of the Nile. That is
why they filled their tombs with food, clothing, and so forth.
Everything placed in a tomb was believed to be doubled in the happier
Otherworld which lay beyond the sky.
Among the Ushabtis are those of
house servants and outdoor workers
of every class. They are depicted
in the actual costumes that were fashionable in the far-off days.
They reveal by expression and
pose their charming manners, their
alertness in performing their duties,
and their heartfelt sense of duty.
Some are solitary personal servants, waiting to attend to a lady,
to bind up her hair and furnish flowers and perfumes. They seem
so nimble and light-footed that one
is assured their movements were not only rapid but almost noiseless.
THAT
HE MIGHT STILL HAVE THE SATISFACTION OF COUNTING HIS CATTLE IN
THE OTHERWORLD
In this model, herds of cattle are being driven past Mehenkwetre
by muscular and active herdsmen, carrying staves. The lord, attended
by his son and heir, sits in a sort of grand-stand, surveying his
live stock critically while scribes take note of the number and
condition of the beasts. The figures of the men are each about
eight inches high.
Other figures are arranged in
groups. Here we see herds of
cattle driven past a great lord by
muscular and active herdsmen who carry staves.
The lord sits in a sort of "grand stand," surveying
his live stock critically, while his scribes take note
of their numbers and condition.
ENSURING HIS SUPPLY OF SPIRIT BEEF IN THE SPIRIT
WORLD
Mehenkwetre gave even more thought to the question of food and
drink than to the matter of clothing. IN life, no doubt, he prided
himself, as behoved a great lord of Egypt, on his success as a
breeder of fat stock, and he was anxious to maintain this reputation
in the Otherworld. Here cattle are seen in their stable, attended
by the slaves whose function it was to fatten them.
Another little model shows us the cows in their byres and the
farm servants feeding or milking them, while a third depicts a
slaughterhouse, and ,shows how the Egyptians killed and cut up
the animals used for food. Note, too, how the granary scene is
depicted. The various workers are lifting the grain and filling
it in measures so as to estimate the exact quantity, while records
are made by a scribe. Evidently the scribes' "books " are
kept in a very exact way. The lord who owns the land can be informed
at any moment what
quantity of grain has been reaped and how much is contained in
the granary. He can be told, too, how much must be reserved for
daily use and
how much can be sold.
IN THE BUSY GRANARY OF MEHENKWETRE'S WELL-ORDERED
ESTATE
In some respects this model (photographed from above) with its
wealth of detail, is the gem of the collection, and it throws a
flood of light upon the efficiency of the methods which controlled
the well-ordered lives of the people of Old Egypt. In the chamber
on the left scribes, or clerks, may be seen recording transactions
and keeping account on tablets and papyrus rolls. In the centre
and on the right in the granary proper, the men on the top of
the flight of stairs are pouring into large bins, grain brought
up to them in sacks from the lower chamber.
continued...
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