. Ancient Egypt. Egyptology. fWW 'W W"^ ft' K ^^^' '-?'?^ -> - ^%\immM''^'^^''^^''^^^ ?''^' ^ ^ ^''^ ^''^ >5) Im m) (fe; te ? (^ i®) t# \io] 3^'§^f^^. WallD The scenes depicted in the two registers shown on this wall had been represented in Eg\-ptian tombs since almost the ver\'beginning. During the earliest historic periods, when tombs ofhigh officials clus- tered around the kings" p\Tamids near Memphis, the Eg^-ptian Delta lax- nearb\'. MostK' unde\'eloped ibr agriculture at tliat time, it was a hunter's paradise, the haunt offish, fowl, hippopotami, and crocodiles. The cliiT
. Ancient Egypt. Egyptology. fWW 'W W"^ ft' K ^^^' '-?'?^ -> - ^%\immM''^'^^''^^''^^^ ?''^' ^ ^ ^''^ ^''^ >5) Im m) (fe; te ? (^ i®) t# \io] 3^'§^f^^. WallD The scenes depicted in the two registers shown on this wall had been represented in Eg\-ptian tombs since almost the ver\'beginning. During the earliest historic periods, when tombs ofhigh officials clus- tered around the kings" p\Tamids near Memphis, the Eg^-ptian Delta lax- nearb\'. MostK' unde\'eloped ibr agriculture at tliat time, it was a hunter's paradise, the haunt offish, fowl, hippopotami, and crocodiles. The cliiTiate of the Delta was also well suited to the cultivation of the \ine, and wine produced by Delta estates was nrtualh- the exclusive preserve of the upper classes. Life be\-ond the tomb was incon- ceivable without these trappings of the good life on earth. At the same time, the EgNptians" admiration tor unbounded nature was checked by a deep respect for orderliness. EgNpt, as a farming nation, owed its prosperity to the social organization that permitted full exploitation of the annual Nile flood. The Delta, with its untamed, wide open spaces, was also a threatening place where the powers of chaos held swav. The subjugation of nature thus represented a \ictor\' over the adverse threes the deceased might meet in the world. Moreover, the channelling of potentially destructive elements into constructive paths was an expression ofM«'a(, the cosmic harmony that was seen as the ideal condi- tion of the universe. Fisliingaudfoivliu^iit the marshes is shown in the upper register. In two representations that are mirror-images of one another, Nakht stands in a reed skiff. Members of his famih' hold him upright by grasping his legs and midsection, as he spears fish Iriglit) and wields, along with his son, a boomerang against the startled birds who rise in a cloud from the dense thickets of reeds and papvrus sta](left>. The artist who painted this scene neglected to dra
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Keywords: ., bookauthorfiel, bookpublisherchicagofieldmuseumofnaturalhistory
