this room covered from floor to ceiling with carved scenes, beautifully
painted, picturing the daily life on a great estate (Figs.
40, 43-48, and so). The place
is now silent and deserted, or if we hear the voices of the donkey boys
talking outside, they are speaking Arabic, for the ancient Egyptian language
of the men who built these tombs so many thousand years ago is no longer
spoken. But everywhere, in bright and charming colors, we see pictures
of the life — the days of toil and pleasure — which these men of nearly
five thousand years ago actually lived.
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FIG. 44. PLOWING
AND SOWING IN THE PYRAMID AGE
There are two plowmen, one driving the oxen and one holding
the plow. This wooden plow was derived from such a wooden hoe as we see
in use in front of the oxen. The handle of the hoe, here grasped by the
user, was lengthened so that oxen might be yoked to it. The hoe handle
thus became the beam of a plow. Two short handles were then attached by
which the plowman behind could guide it (§
33). The man with the hoe breaks up the clods left by the plow,
and in front of him is the sower, scattering the seed from the curious
sack he carries before him. At the left is a scribe of the estate. The
hieroglyphs at the top in all such scenes explain what is going on. Scene
from the chapel of a noble’s tomb (Fig.
42)
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Dominating all these scenes on the walls is the tall form of the noble
(Fig. 43), the lord of the estate,
who was buried in this tomb. He stands looking out over his fields and
inspecting the work going on there. These fields (Fig.
44) are the oldest scene of agriculture known to us. Here, too,
are the herds, long lines of sleek, fat cattle grazing in the pasture,
while the milch cows are led up and tied to be milked (Figs.43
and 45). These cattle are also beasts
of burden; we notice the oxen drawing the plow. But we find no horses in
these tombs of the [NEXT] |
80. Agriculture
and cattle raising; beasts of burden |