ESSAYS ON WOMEN & GENDER IN ANTIQUITY

One of the most iconic tomb paintings from of the 18th Dynasty of Egyptian history, Nebamun Hunting in the Marsh, or simply The Fowling Scene, shows the tomb owner Nebamun in a marsh hunting fowl, accompanied by his daughter (sitting nude between his legs) and his wife Hatshepsut (to his right). Still colorful and mostly whole, the tomb painting has, of course, had its share of analytical conversation- at least, mainly attention garnered by the male figure, or Nebamun himself as the tomb owner. In a good stroke of luck for the ladies represented, this paper will be critiquing their place in the painting; what symbolism they offer, and what they contribute to the revitalizing functionality of the scene.

Firstly, we must recognize the stances of both females as wife and daughter. The wife stands a little behind in a way that denotes her watching her husband, like a spectator at an event. She is standing straight, seemingly stationary, and sophisticated, akin to a goddess- appropriately representing the female principle of the painting. The daughter is small and seated between her father’s legs, holding onto him as she looks the opposite way of her parents’ gazes. I believe this, as well as her crouching/closed position, shows that she is immature and childish to “rebel” even against the gaze of her parents (which represent ma’at, or order).  Both the females are also depicted as smaller than Nebamun, with the wife bigger than her daughter, showing the use of hierarchical scale.

Hatshepsut, the wife, represents the female principle (mentioned previously). Therefore she embodies the goddess, who in this case is Hathor- goddess of love and sexuality. This is made obvious by several symbols within the painting: the bouquet of lotus flowers and sistrum she holds, the marsh, the wig, the scented cone atop the wig, and her clothing. Commonly interpreted as a motif of rebirth, lotuses in tomb paintings often coincide with the scene of a marsh- echoing the primordial marsh from which all life was born. In this way, the artist is “linking the tomb owner’s hopes of rebirth with the original act of creation (Robins, 188)”. Hathor is often shown as a cow emerging from a papyrus thicket in these marsh-like scenes, reiterating that familiar connection to the fertility of the primordial swamp. She is also connected to, and called by, the sistrum Hatshepsut carries in her left hand- being a musical instrument that a servant or female symbol shook to invoke the goddess. Lastly, the wig, cone, and clothing can also be argued to have some significance to Hathor, specifically fertility. Married women frequently wore the kind of hairstyle known as the enveloping wig, and the see-through clothing emphasizes and reveals her womanly curves, calling attention to both her sexual and fertile appeal. The scented cone, while still a theoretical mystery, is estimated to have been made of wax, which would have melted over time to reveal a sensual scent meant to heighten arousal (or allow for a similarly sexual reaction reminiscent of Hathor’s divine presence).

While the daughter does not have quite the depth of symbolism her mother has, she is still quite the important image. What is most obvious first off is that she is nude- save for a bundle of lotuses in her hand, a collar necklace (wesekh), and an amulet. However, the fact that she is a young, naked girl does not give reason to the theory that she may be representing the nude adolescent girl archetype. That particular figure is shown as a servant and/or dancer, with a bobbed, dreadlocked wig and hip girdle, as well as amulets of Bes. The important difference here is that this is the daughter of a court official, not of a peasant or being herself a servant. In this painting, her nudity is specifically representative of her vulnerability and childlike nature. In the same vein, children in fowling scenes are normally a fertility symbol, which is her main purpose for appearing here in the artwork. Some other observations show her wearing a collar and magical amulet, probably used for protection from evil; and a sidelock, while generally used on adolescent boys, may have marked either her immaturity or her journey into womanhood.

So what exactly is the goal of this paper? What is the revitalizing property of this art, and what does that mean? To answer that, we must go back to the beginning- to the Creation myth of Egyptian belief. A sexual shellshock for modern philosophers and Egyptologists, Creation was carried out by way of masturbation- or more specifically a pleasurable sexual act; instead of the usual creation through impregnation or birth. This set the standard for a theme of rebirth through sexual energy for the religion, thus driving tomb owners to make that link to reach the afterlife and become reborn. Therefore, when referring to the “revitalizing” function of this piece of art (or any Egyptian tomb art), this paper points out how the contribution of the female characters within the art are intrinsically linked with the tomb owner’s desire to recreate the act of Creation by way of sexual symbology, which in turn manifests as reality/their own rebirth in the afterlife.

Because not much Egyptian culture or iconography has survived over the thousands of years separating our culture from theirs, artwork such as Nebamun Hunting in the Marsh, or The Fowling Scene is key- and all we have- to understanding how people lived in antiquity. In this essay in particular, the painting served as a medium to further understanding the lives of women in Egypt. Analyzing the positions, symbolism, and ritualistic intention within the mother and daughter figures, I was able to successfully draw from them the importance of their functions in the art, and the revitalizing contribution they give to this largely iconic fowling scene from the tomb of Nebamun in the 18th Dynasty- even though the male figure often gets more press.

 

Bibliography

 

Women in Ancient Egypt (rebirth linked to creation): Robins, G. 1993. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts. P. 188.

The Guardian (“court official”): McKie, R. “Raiders of the Lost Art.” http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/jan/04/british-museum-egyptian-nebamun-tomb. Accessed 9/12/13.