Hunting In The Marshes, Bird Hunting

The layout on the left differs somewhat from the one on the right. Menna is standing in the same position as before, with his back foot raised onto his toes. He dresses in the same clothes and wears the same jewellery. His face has vanished yet again. He has a throwing stick in his elevated right hand, positioned behind him, for striking the birds. He holds the legs of two water birds in his right hand, which he raises in front of him; presumably these are used as bait. His wife stands behind him, her arms lifted in a pose of reverence, her face complete. She’s dressed similarly to before, with the exception that she’s wearing a perfume cone on top of her black wig this time. A bouquet of lotus flowers hangs from her left elbow joint.
Another young man, slightly taller than the previous one, stands at the front of the vessel. His attention is drawn to Menna. He clutches the wings of three water fowl in his left hand and looks to point into the tall reeds with his right, presumably indicating the location of more birds.
Another female is caught between Menna’s knees, but this time she is completely naked, save for a colourful belt around her waist and a slew of bangles on her arms. She bends over the side of the ship towards the lake, pulling a bud of a lotus flower from the water with both hands. On the craft in this picture, there is another passenger, a girl, who is probably certainly a daughter. She stands behind Menna’s wife, her feet pointing in the direction of the wife, but her head turned away. She is dressed in a slim white gown with large round earrings, armlets, and bracelets. Her black wig is braided at the bottom and secured with a white headband. She holds three ducks by their wings in her right hand and lotus blossoms in her left, several of which are hanging over her left arm. Another young woman is depicted above this last young woman, at the top left of the image. Kneeling on a reed mat, this one holds lotus blossoms in each hand. She, too, is dressed similarly to the one below her and has braided hair.

Object Details

Hunting In The Marshes, Bird Hunting

New Kingdom

Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III

1386 to 1349 B.C.

Egypt, Luxor, Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, part of the Theban Necropolis on the west bank of the Nile

Tomb of Menna, TT69

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