The XIth dynasty temple at Deir el-Bahari .. - NYU | Digital Library ...

alius ~^ brought bvoiie man :
and balm of (?).
THE SARCOPHAGI Ol' TH K PRINCRSSES. 55
bnlm
of acacia
The box in front of the attendants may liave
contained either the clothing or precious stones
and jewels. There are five of them in the ^
of Deir el-Hahari.
The larn^e door on the left side seems to give
access to a chamber where the princess is com-
pleting her toilet. A maid places a pin in
her hair ; the princess has a mirror in one
hand, and with the other she holds up to her
mouth a cup which has just been filled by the
attendant before her, who says, " It is for thee,
princess ; drink wliat I give thee." This must
be milk provided by a cow close by, which an
attendant is milking ; her calf is tied to her
foreleg. We must notice a teai' which drops
from the eye of the cow.
These cows, of Avhicli tliere are two, on this
as well as on the other side, belong to two
difl'erent breeds. One is hornless ; it is a kind
of animal still found in Africa at the present
(lay. Kroni the painted cotiiu of Kemsit we
can see that this breed was white with black
spots (PL xxii.), blue being used here as a con-
ventional colour for black. The cow with lone:
horns has a brown hide.
On the right side we have again a door with
two leaves, leading right and left. The door
lintel is adorned with symbolical ornaments, u,
Osiris, j~j, Isis, and small hawk heads which are
Horus. Again we see the princess at her
toilet; she takes with her hand some of the
scented oil which her maid presents her. The
maid holds a long feather, probably for fanning
the princess. In that chamber we see her
jewels, a pectoral, necklaces, and bracelets, and
the casket which is to contain them. To the
right of the door the princess appears eating
she has taken a cake or a loaf from the hufe
lieap of victuals whicli is in front of lier, and
as she is eating and not drinking, it is not
necessary to milk the cows.
;
I A
On the small side, near the feet, are repre-
sented all the granaries with the bags which
are being emptied. A scribe puts down the
quantities which are brought, and an agent
called Antef supervises what is being done.
staircase leads to a pavilion where the prin-
cess sits, as the King does in his Scd festival,'
when her farmers and vassals bring their taxes
and contributions in kind, to which she is
entitled, and which are fixed periodically.
On the lid the god is Anubis, the " lord of
Sep residing in the Ament, the lord of Abydos."
These two last titles are exactly like those of
Osiris.
Inside there never was any sculpture ; the
inscriptions were only painted. On the long
faces there are repetitions of the outside ; on
the small sides it is said that the funeral meals
and offerings are given to Kauit once by
Nephtliys, and the other time by J|, Isis.
More interesting still than that of Kauit would
have been the coffin of (x ^ rlj , Kemsit, if
it had been found complete (I'l. xxii. and xxiii.).
It was perfect ; it was not only sculptured, but
also painted ; inside there was colour only. It
is now in small fragments, of which a consider-
alile number are wanting. Those that remain
have been put together, and since the colours
have been preserved most vividly, the partial
reconstruction has been reproduced, foi* Ave
derive important information from the colours.
As has been said, these fragments of this impor-
tant monument have been presented to the
British Museum, where they bear the number
43037. The princess herself is seen only on
a fragment of the inside (PI. xxiii.), in the
British ^luseum. She is black ; it seems very
likely that she was a negress. The skull of
one of the mummies found in the tomb with
the fragments of the coHin is of decidedly
negro type. It is pi'obably that of the princess
(see p. 49).
' Leps., Benkm. iii., pll. 76 and 77.