Tomb No. 8 is that of Tutu, who may be the Dudu who
figures somewhat suspiciously in Aziru's correspondence in the Amarna Tablets,
and lies under grave suspicion of having been at least rather less than loyal
in his dealings with his royal master .
The hall of Tutu's tomb originally had its roof
supported by twelve columns, two rows of columns divide it into three transverse
aisles . The columns of the rear row are linked together in two groups by a low
screen wall, of which eight are still standing . The most important scene is
one in which Tutu is receiving the usual rewards of gold from the king and
queen, who are represented, as usual, in the act of leaning from their balcony
in the palace to bestow their gifts on their ( doubtfully ) faithful servant .
The tomb is unfinished, and is on the whole of less
interest than others which we must mention ; but it may be worth while to look
at the memorial of the man who is suspected of having been the traitor in the
camp of Akhenaten .
A. Architectural Features
Exterior ( Plates 11, 13, 15 ):-
This tomb gives notice by its exterior aspect of the
boldness which characterises its interior also . It combines the appearance of
a rock-cut speos with that of a free-standing mastaba ; for the excavators
chose for their purpose an isolated table of rock and hollowed it out almost to
the full extent of its dimensions . The rocky elevation not being sufficiently
high, the floor of the tomb was carried below the outside level, and a long
approach of the same width as the portal was cut to meet it ; but as this alley
was not prolonged to the dip of the hills, it remained a sunken area into which
one descends by a short slope . Therefore only the portal gives the full height
of the tomb ; the rest of the façade is lower, rough in surface, and irregular
in line .
This doorway is of the usual type ; room was left on
the jambs for seven vertical columns, but on the right side only five of these
have been cut, and only the lower half of the sixth and seventh on the left .
Both are now sadly damaged . The device on the lintel differs only in detail
from other examples and is now largely effaced . Three princesses with
sistrums, their nurses, fan-bearers, and scribes, accompany the King and Queen,
and it is possible that the Queen's sister found a place also . Above the scene
a row of hieroglyphs ran both ways from the centre, wishing long life to "
the Father, Ra-Aten " the King, and the Queen .
Interior ( Plates 11, 12, 13, 14, 35, 36 ) :-
In its main features the hall corresponds closely to
the general type of large tomb, the great hall having been divided
longitudinally into three aisles by two rows of columns . The broader
intercolumniation of the central columns leaves an aisle in the axis of the
tomb, which is further marked by the disposition of the architraves . The
columns are twelve in number, each row of six terminating at both ends in
pilasters of the familiar type . Or, rather, this would have been so had they
been completely carried out ; but the eastern corner of the hall is still an
unhewn and irregular mass to half its height . The mode of excavation is here
plainly visible ; the mass being divided into blocks by deep trenches and then
broken away by force .
The shrines for statues, in which the single
cross-corridor tomb generally terminates, and which we will see planned for
each of the three aisles in Tomb 16 ( Plate 7-c ), are in a still more advanced
state of preparation in this tomb, all three having been begun on the south
side .
As in that tomb, the portal of the middle shrine is
simple, while those on either side of it have an entablature of the form familiar
to us in Tombs 14 and 16 ; here, however, the panelling has been fully worked
out in sculpture ( Plate 19-a ) .
The designs which should have filled the panels have
only been applied in paint . They consist of the cartouches of the god ( in the
later form ) and of the King and Queen, adored by the deceased . The most
original feature of the tomb is seen in the arrangement of the third
cross-aisle ; for this part of the hall is screened off from the rest by a low
corniced wall, which links all save the two middle columns of the row to one
another and to the walls . To emphasise the separate character of the space
thus enclosed, it is raised slightly above the floor of the hall : low ramps,
roughly hewn, outline the passage-way into the inner chamber, and, where the
wall is omitted between the central columns, gate-jambs are set to mark the
entrance . The outer face of each of these jambs was adorned with three
sculptured panels, of which the upper two show the King, Queen, and Merytaten
worshipping Aten, and the lowest, Tutu .
The surface of the ceiling and of the soffits is too
much eaten away to retain any traces of pattern or colour, and the three
columns of hieroglyphs which extend along the ceiling of the aisle are almost
illegible ( Plate 12 ) . Those on the ceiling of the entrance, however, are
well preserved ( Plate 14 ) .
The second chamber, invariably planned but rarely
carried out in these tombs, is in no better plight here, being a mere gallery
excavated to its full length but only to about half its height . The work of
blocking out its columns has also been begun at the rear .
Columns and Architraves ( Plate 14 ) :-
Though the ornamentation which can be recovered from
the columns in the tomb is surprisingly rich and new, they themselves are
extremely unprepossessing and bare in their present condition . The only
standing example of the type is unfinished, and so encrusted that all colour
and much of the form is lost . Four columns are entirely removed, two are still
half engaged in the rock, two others are imperfectly shaped, and the remaining
three ( including the fellow of the decorated column ) have been left with a
plain shaft . Fragments of two of the destroyed columns, however, still lie in
the tomb and prove that their ornamentation was more or less complete . Traces
of eight stems on the empty base on the north side of the aisle show that one
of these decorated columns stood there, and the other was doubtless its fellow
on the south side .
The detailed decoration of the column, with bands of
design adopted from the jeweller's art and without any relation at all to its
papyrus form, is in keeping with that love of richness of form and colour which
marks the period . No counterpart or precedent exists in Egypt . The model
seems to have been taken directly from the columns of the palace in the city, which
the new love for faience inlay had covered with ornamentation . Pictures of the
palace show us that the royal bedroom and other of the private apartments of
the King were furnished with columns, from the neck of which birds hung ( ostensibly
sculptured in the round, but in reality only in greater or less relief ) . Consistently
with these representations, the ruins of the palace actually yielded fragments
of columns decorated with designs akin to those employed here .
On the abacus of our column ( Plate 14 ) is a line of
hieroglyphs between two rows of petals, spelling the King's names on the south
side, and on the west that of the Aten ( later form ) . The stems of the
capital have at the top a row of the group of signs spelling the word means
eternity, and below this a row formed by a flower and its bud alternating with
another seen full-face ( convolvuli ? ) . The sheathing leaves of the
papyrus-heads are seen at the foot of each . The eight sections representing
the inserted stems are here devoted to ornamentation ; first and very
incongruously by a row of uraei, then by a line of petals, finally by persea
fruit and by cornflowers . Below the neck of the column the floral design is
again employed between plain bands . There follows a band made up of three or
four bunches of five ducks, each hanging head downwards over a table (?) formed
by two bundles of bound reeds . Each bunch of birds is separated from the next
by a similar bundle set upright .
The tablet shows the King, Queen, and Merytaten
worshipping . In section the column resembles closely those already met with (
Plate 7-c ) . The transverse architraves are inscribed as usual on the inner
face which meets the eye . These inscriptions begin at the entrance, and,
continuing above the east doorway, end in the centre in a sign common to both (
A B E, A B D ) . The architrave above the three removed columns is also
inscribed on the west side, but the beginning of the text is on the part of the
transverse architrave adjacent to it ( A B C ) . The formulary A B is common to
all three .
Burial Vault ( Plate 13 ) :-
This tomb, like
nearly all the others, shows signs of a makeshift place of burial . No thought
was given to appearances ; for a stairway was sunk between the last columns at
the north end of the hall in such a way as to cut into all four . Yet
considerable labour was expended in the effort to provide an inviolable
sepulchre . A flight of twenty steps, passing under the rock floor at the
seventh stair and curving slightly southwards to a landing, turns westwards
there at a right angle and at the thirty-fourth step reaches a small chamber .
From the floor of this the stairway continues almost due north and at the
fifty-fourth step reaches a rough hole in which a fitting interment could
scarcely be made .
B. Scenes and Inscriptions.
South Wall - Thickness ( Plate 15 ) :—
The shocking mutilation which this wall underwent a
few years ago may be judged from the fact that, of the fifteen columns which
covered the inner half from top to bottom, only a few scattered signs survive .
North Wall - Thickness ( Plate 16 ) :-
This scene is too stereotyped to call for much comment
. The heads of the King and Queen and the figures of the princesses have been
lost, through the fall of the slabs inserted with a view to the finer execution
of these important parts . The vase in front of the stands has been chiselled
away for some reason . Although the name of the princess whose figure remains
is destroyed, it is easy to recognise in her the Queen's sister, Benretmut .
Below the scene is the text of the Shorter Hymn to the
Aten . Behind the kneeling figure of Tutu we read : " The Chamberlain ( ami-khent ), Tutu, maakheru, says ' Listen to
the utterances of thy son, Ua-en-ra, O Aten, who fashioned him and set him to
eternity ! ' " . A paw of the priest's leopard-skin shews under Tutu's arm
.
West Wall - North Side ( Plates 17, 18, 19 ) :-
The subject of the reward and promotion of the
faithful official, which found the more favour since it could be employed to
reflect glory upon the King as much as upon the deceased, takes large
dimensions here, occupying both halves of the west wall . Similar in scheme as
are the pictures on either side of the doorway, great variety of detail is introduced
. The speeches, liberally interpersed, give us a clue to the events which are
commemorated, but they are sadly incomplete . The scenes occupy only about
two-thirds of the whole length of the upper part of the wall on each side, but
they extend over the doorway, meeting in the centre there .
The surface of the stone here, as everywhere in the
tomb, is most unsightly and sadly corroded ; indeed in the upper parts the
sculpture is almost effaced . This is due to the countless bats that infest the
tomb and make their presence known to the nose as unpleasantly as to the eye .
A full half of the whole picture on each side is
devoted to the King, his family, and his residence ( palace ).
The King and Queen are shown here, not leaning from
the window, but seated outside it in the courtyard on stools . The border of
uraei round the King's head-dress is unusual . The upper part of the Queen's
figure has been lost with the fitted stone on which it was sculptured .
Apparently she was dandling three of her daughters on her knees, for we see the
feet of two of them and learn from the hieroglyphs that they were the eldest
and youngest . The princess Benretmut again appears with her two dwarfs ( in
front of the attendants below the throne ) .
Tutu stands before the King, the courtyard being
filled behind him with a throng of spectators, two royal chariots, and five fat
oxen . These last, whether as coming from the royal farms or as presents to the
King in accordance with the Eastern custom of gift for gift, are decorated with
ribbons and plumes on their horns and are accompanied by bearers of meats and
drinks ( Plate 18 ) . The audience comprises ( from the top row downwards ) the
foreign representatives, the soldiery with their military standards, courtiers,
scribes, and officials, including the mayor and the bearer of the fan, crook
(?), and axe .
We are fortunate in learning what manner of speech
actually passed between King and subject on such occasions as this, even though
it has come down to us only in broken snatches . Had we heard it all, however,
we should probably not have come much closer to King or people, for all the
expressions are very stilted and formal .
After his reception by the King, Tutu retires outside
the gate of the courtyard, where the sentries sit at their posts with the
standards of the regiment planted by them on a stand ( top register ; cf.
Plates 20, 30 ) . Here too the chariots of the high officials wait to convey
them home . A few retainers and a band of female musicians prepare to accompany
the palace servants, who lead away four fat oxen and carry the vessels and
meats of the King's bounty .
Probably the full design would have included the house
of Tutu or the temple of Aten .
The lower half of the wall contains only a short
prayer ( Plate 19 ), separated by a blank space of some length from a figure of
Tutu, standing in prayer with uplifted hands .
West Wall : South Side ( Plates 19, 20, 21 ) :-
In this, the companion picture to the last scene, the
King and Queen receive their servant at the cushioned balcony, from which they
lean to confer the proposed honours on him . The supposed speech of the King on
the occasion is recorded in two columns .
By this formal announcement Tutu is raised to
sacerdotal rank, second only to that of the high-priest . Golden collars,
sandals, and cap are brought and fitted on him . Meanwhile he makes a lengthy
reply, lavishing encomiums on the King .
This outburst of loyal feeling is shared by the
bystanders, and a short expression of it has been assigned to each group by the
artist ( Plate 20 ) . The foreigners, standing in an attitude of respect, speak
through their Egyptian interpreter .
Near the side door of the courtyard the two royal
chariots are in waiting, and one of the charioteers joins the general laudation
( Plate 19 ) .
The scene which takes place when Tutu leaves the
courtyard and finds a crowd of friends and retainers waiting outside to escort
him home is next depicted . Tutu's dwelling seems to have been in or near the
temple where the functions of his new office were to be discharged, for that
building is presented here as the goal of movement .
The picture tells its story in a very confused way,
but a little study will show that the three registers which end at the temple
contain the main action . The rest is accessory . At the top of the wall we see
the spot outside the palace wall where the military post is set . Two regiments
seem to be on guard and display their standards on altar-like platforms . An
officer is either replacing one or removing it to take part in the ceremony .
Two chariots are stationed close by : the horses have been unharnessed and are
feeding from their mangers in pairs .
The two lowest registers seem to represent scenes
witnessed prior to the ceremony before the palace gates . Servants and soldiers
are dashing to and from the palace in chariots, conveying messages and
officials . The major-domo stands at the gate and demands the business of those
entering . As usual, a good stock of viands and water is piled up here in
charge of soldiers (?), perhaps the rations of the watchmen or the guard . The
object in front of them seems to offer some kind of shield against wind or dust
. A scribe, accompanied by his apprentice, is arriving on foot . On the left
the service of the temple, whether ordinary or exceptional, is being provided
for .
In the centre of the picture Tutu is seen returning in
glory from the palace . As he emerges from the gate, decked out in his new
finery, he is demonstratively welcomed by his subordinates, his charioteer, and
others . They fall down before the King's favourite or dance with excitement .
Tutu mounts his chariot and goes on his way
accompanied by detachments of police and groups of friends and by his wife (?)
and her women, all on foot . The temple servants receive him at the building .
A prayer and praying figure of Tutu is the only
decoration of the lower part of the wall ( Plate 21 ) . Probably it was
introduced in order to fill the vacant space, for Tutu's tomb seems to have
proved too spacious for the stock designs . The only connection with the scene
above is that Tutu is arrayed in his collars and festal cap, as if fresh from
his honours .
Part ( 21 ) .. Coming SoOoOon .....
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