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

56 THE XIth dynasty TEMPLE AT DElli EL-BAHARl.
On the fragment where she is seen two
female attendants bring her basins which j^ro-
bably contain milk. One of them says to her,
" This is for thee, princess ; drink, and be satis-
fied." Above her head her titles are as usual
she is jiriestess of Hathor, "who loves lier
father, and who is his favourite every day."
As for the scenes depicted on the coffin, they
are very like those on that of Kauit. We find
the two doors with the two eyes. Evidently
the princess was represented attiring herself. A
servant (PI. xxiii.) brings to her a mirror of red
copper or bronze, and a casket, which she carries
on her head, and which contains her jewels. She
also had granaries, and an agent who oversaw
them ; his name is not preserved.
Again we find the two breeds of cows, the
red cow with long horns, and the spotted horn-
less cow. The hornless cow alone is milked,
while the red one sometimes suckles the spotted
hornless calf. This would show that the milk
of the red cow Avas not considered as food for
the princess. Among the offerings on small
tables there are stuffed animals (PI. xxii.), which
I suppose to be hyaenas. We know from the
tombs of the Old Empire that the hyaena was
considered a choice food for the deceased.
But what is most striking in these paintings
is the colours of the attendants. Some of them
are of a reddish brown, the ordinary colour
given to the Egyptians, and others are light
yellow, like the women. As far as we can
judge from the very fragmentary state of the
stone, the chief attendants, those who would
have the highest offices, like the overseer of the
granaries, or the man who brings two purses,
D, probably of precious stones or metal,
are red Egyptians, while the yellow people are
those who bring the ointments, the scented oils
of the ,
, the dressing-house of the dead. It
;
often occurs in the tombs of the Old Empire
that the women are painted light yellow,
like these men. It has been explained by the
fact that the women, being supposed to keep
indoors more than the men, were less sunburnt,
and lighter in colour ; but this explanation
could hardly be accepted in the present case. I
believe we must see here two different races,
the red ones ai'e the Egyptian conquerors,^ the
yellow ones the old African (Libyan) stock.
According to Lepsius this yellow colour was
called I fi tehen, therefore the s=> P ww«
44 V Tehe/iriu, the African nation ;i gainst
which one of the Mentuheteps had to fight was
the nation of the " Yellows," oi', as we should say,
the " Whites." Another African nation, the
Tcimali.ii, very often mentioned with the Teheniu,
is decidedly white in the conventional represen-
tation of the four races. -^ It seems to me that
in this picture on the sarcojihagus of Kemsit we
have a reminiscence of the fact that tlie Egyptian
nation was formed of an African native element
mingled with foreign invaders.
The third coffin of the XIth Dynasty
(PI. xxi.) which we discovered is severely
plain. As has been said above, it bears merely
an inscription half-sculptured, half-painted, be-
sides the two eyes of the deceased. There is no
other ornamentation whatever. The inscrijD-
tions are absolutely the same as those of the
coffin of Kauit. It belongs to " the royal
favourite, the only one, the priestess of Hathor
Henhenit." A curious fact is that the head of
the sign =^.=^ is generally cut oft" and separated
from tlie body ; it is even sometimes on a
different line. As noted before, the long sides
are in two pieces ; box and lid consist of eight
stones.
' See La Beligion des anciens Sgyptiens, lere conference.
Leps., Denkm. iii., pi. 136.