THE
TOMB
OF
MERYRA
IT.
35
the
sprays
show
the
transition
from
nature
to
art.
The
columns
of
the
kiosk
show
one
of
those
elaborate
patterns
which
are
known
to
us
only
in
picture,
no
examples
having
survived.
This
is
natural;
for
the
open-work
design
of
the
capitals,
often
representing,
as
here,
the
open
flower,
could
not
be
executed
in
stone,
and
was
not,
so
far
as
we
know,
in
metal.
It
must
then
have
been
of
wood,
and
very
fragile
at
the
best.
That
shown
here
is
a
papyrus
column
of
very
peculiar
shape.
The
shaft
is
solid,
and
has
the
peculiar
contraction
at
the
foot,
where
the
sheaths
of
the
papyrus
are
seen.
But
similarity
to
the
ordinary
type
ends
at
the
neck,
where
the
shaft
is
abruptly
cut
off
and
furnished
with
a
kind
of
abacus.
On
this
rests
an
open-work
design
representing
three
open
papyrus-heads
on
slender
stems,
which
gain
the
needed
support
by
being
attached
to
the
interior-
rim
of
a
ring.
(This
we
must
suppose
to
lie
in
a
horizontal
plane,
not
as
in
the
picture,
where
the
two
very
different
forms
given
to
it
show
how
subjective
the
representation
is.)
To
the
outer
rim
(?)
of
this
ring
or
disc
are
fastened
three
pendant
ducks
and
as
many
bunches
of
lotus,
which,
while
appearing
to
hang
from
it,
form
a
clever
means
of
support.1
The
motive
seems
to
be
taken
from
the
sports¬
man's
shelters,
hastily
constructed
in
the
marshes
from
the
abundant
material
found
there,
and
to
the
pillars
of
which
(made
also
of
papyrus),
the
birds
which
had
been
secured
were
naturally
hung;
hence
the
strange
combination.
The
attempts
of
Akhenaten's
artists
to
escape
from
current
conventions,
or
their
imperfect
training
1
The
rough
execution
of
the
scene
has
led
Weiden-
bach
and
L'Hote
to
a
curious
misrepresentation
of
the
capital.
Prisse
gives
it
correctly,
but
elaborates
it
in
plate
xviii.
of
his
first
volume,
as
is
his
wont.
I
may
add
here
that
I
found
Max
Weidenbach's
signature
on
the
east
wall
of
this
tomb
under
the
scene
which
he
copied
there,
dated
"
d.
14
Juni
1845."
in
them,
often
resulted
in
forms
still
more
false
to
nature
and
devoid
of
grace.
This
is
one
of
their
least
happy
innovations.
Equally
regret-
able
are
the
substitution
of
three
loose
sashes
in
place
of
the
tight
bands
under
the
capital,
and
the
attachment
of
ribbons
to
the
ring
of
the
capital.
This
feminine
impulse
to
beribbon
everything
without
regard
to
fitness
is
very
noticeable
under
Akhenaten,
and
may
easily
be
paralleled
in
our
own
times
as
the
distorted
echo
of
a
real
movement
towards
naturalistic
art.
Akhenaten
sits
under
the
shelter
of
this
light
pavilion,
or
rather
he
lolls
in
that
attitude
of
slack
repose
which
his
artists
seem
to
have
judged
to
be
characteristic
of
him,
in
a
cushioned
chair
(again
with
irritating
drapery
round
the
carved
legs),
his
feet
resting
on
a
soft
footstool.
The
Queen,
"
living
and
healthy
for
ever
and
ever,"
and
her
little
daughter,
no
less
than
the
officials
of
the
household,
are
assiduous
in
minis¬
tering
to
all
his
pleasures.
He
has
already
in
one
hand
a
few
flowers
from
the
plentiful
supply
which
little
Ankhes-en-pa-aten
has
brought.
The
other
hand
holds
out
a
shallow
patera,
which
the
Queen
fills
with
some
choice
bever¬
age
from
a
little
jar,
filtering
the
liquid
through
a
strainer
as
she
pours.
His
eldest
daughter,
Merytaten,
stands
at
his
knee,
offering
some
additional
gratification,2
and
Meketaten
(?)
brings
the
cap
of
ointment
(?)
for
the
head
(frilled,
like
everything
else).
It
may
easily
have
been
that
at
such
enter¬
tainments
Meryra
performed
the
office
of
chamberlain,
receiving
the
viands
from
the
servants
and
tasting
them
before
presenting
them
to
the
monarch.
At
any
rate,
in
the
un¬
finished
scene
which
is
appended
predella-wise
to
the
main
group,
an
officer
appeal's
to
be
dis¬
charging
this
function.
Two
vessels
are
before
him
on
pedestals
near
a
high
lamp-stand
(?),
and
he
is
taking
a
large
goblet
from
the
hands
of
2
Not
from
a
bag
:
this
is
the
end
of
her
father's
sash.
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