Jonathan Cohen's photos with the keyword: funerary art

I’ve always been a bit of a history wonk. Every now and then I see something about or from an ancient civilization that transforms my view of the past. I had always thought of Egyptian art as being literally and emotionally stylized to death. Within a tomb, statues of the deceased were often placed for protection in a sealed room called a "serdab ." The ancient Egyptians believed that the "ka" or spirit of the deceased could inhabit a statue in the serdab , peering into the tomb chapel through a slit in the wall Food for the ka was placed on an offering table nearby. One such statue is this painted limestone representation of a couple – whose names are Bau and Baru – seated on a cube-like chair. They lived at the time of the 5th dynasty of Egypt's Old Kingdom period – about 4,500 years ago. The husband, Bau, wears a short, curly wig, broad collar, and knee-length kilt. He sits with his hands in his lap, his right hand holding a handkerchief and his left palm open. Baru sits with her left hand flat on her lap and her right arm around her husband’s waist. She wears a full wig, broad collar, and tightly-fitting white sheath dress. The chair is painted pink in imitation of granite. What so impresses me about this statue is how natural and unstylized it seems to be. Bau and Baru seem to me people not essentially different from the people whom I meet every day in amy own life, with their joys and their sorrows and their love for one another.

This procession is led by a priest, followed by a scribe holding his writing board and palette under his arm. The remainder of the figures bear food offerings, including loaves of bread stacked on one man's arms. From the Deir el-Bersha tomb; Egyptian, Middle Kingdom, late Dynasty 11 – early Dynasty 12, 2010–1961 B.C.E.

Egyptian funerary statues and models have always been very popular, and are particularly appealing because they resemble children’s toys. In reality, servant statues acted as substitute servants to provide goods and services to the tomb owner in the afterlife. Likewise, model boats assured a means of travel in the afterlife. This wooden tomb model depicts a transport boat with a crew of six male figures. All are painted reddish-brown and wear short, black wigs and white kilts. White and black detailing has been used for their eyes. The boat is plastered and painted white with red lines on the top surface indicating divisions and beams of the boat's deck. A man stands as lookout at the bow in a striding pose with left leg and right arm advanced. A helmsman kneels at the stern and tends to the vertical stanchion for a steering oar. Four other figures flank a thin mast near the bow. A canopy on eight posts with painted black and white shields and a wooden tray are situated on the boat. A small swath of linen is attached to one of the sailors.

While late Old Kingdom tombs had included limestone statuettes of people engaged in chores such as food preparation, a new development occurred during the First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom. Now, models made of wood, a less costly material, were manufactured in large numbers and placed in the burial chamber to furnish provisions for the deceased in the afterlife. In symbolically providing for the tomb owner's needs, the models functioned in much the same way as painted scenes of these ...activities did on the walls of tomb chapels. The tomb of Djehutynakht contained what may be the largest collection of wooden models ever discovered in Egypt. At least thirty-nine of them, including these four, represent scenes of food production and crafts. Upon opening the tomb, however, archaeologists discovered that robbers had ransacked it in antiquity, possibly on more than one occasion, throwing the models haphazardly around the small burial chamber. Only through years of research and restoration are they being returned to their original configuration. The models vary greatly in quality, and many of them were mounted on pieces of wood recycled by the artists from old boxes or chests. The colorfully painted figures nevertheless convey a liveliness and energy that give us a sense of the bustling activities of Egyptian daily life. They also demonstrate innovative poses and subjects that would never have been attempted in the more formal sculptures that represented the tomb owner and his family. Food production is the dominant theme among the model scenes, and a variety of activities are represented. A number of models feature scenes of cattle rearing. The recently restored model shown here depicts plump steers being driven - reluctantly it seems - to a cattle count or perhaps to slaughter. The artist has taken pains to include lifelike details so that the robust animals contrast dramatically with their slouched, weary, and balding keepers. Toward the end of Dynasty 12 a change occurred in Egyptian burial customs for reasons that remain unclear. Although model boats continued to be placed in tombs, the scenes of crafts and food production disappeared permanently from the repertoire of funerary offerings. At approximately the same time, early versions of shawabtys, mummiform figurines intended to serve on behalf of the deceased in the afterlife, began to become more common in burials.