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The ancient Egyptians believed that after death, people would go to the underworld, where they would be judged by the god Osiris, the lord of the underworld, and those who passed the judgment could be reborn and live forever in a rich and peaceful afterlife.
Based on this concept, ancient Egyptian burial art not only depicts funeral ritual scenes, but also pays attention to conveying the owner's expectations for the life in the afterlife.
As early as the Old Kingdom period (about 2686-2160 BC), colorful artistic themes began to appear in the mausoleum altars of officials and nobles, and scenes such as labor, fishing and hunting, transportation, banquets, music and dance rendered a pleasant and peaceful atmosphere, and the character portrayal followed a fixed paradigm and presented a dignified posture.
However, the depiction of mourning scenes was an exception in ancient Egyptian art. When portraying mourners, craftsmen no longer adhere to orthodox artistic rules, but focus on expressing the mourner's grief-stricken posture and expression, reflecting a vividness rarely seen in ancient Egyptian art.
The mourners in the reliefs are men and women, usually with their hands raised to touch the top of their heads. This is a characteristic gesture of mourning for the ancient Egyptians. In addition, mourners may also appear in standing, sitting, squatting or bowing positions, and some even in prostrate positions.
These vivid depictions express the emotions of the characters and the unconventional body movements, and are the most attractive part of ancient Egyptian burial art.
The freely stretched limbs of the mourners bring fluidity to the whole picture, in stark contrast to the solemn atmosphere of the static image of the tomb owner, showing a unique artistic tension, adding an intriguing rhythm to the tomb reliefs and murals.
In a religious sense, the decorative themes in tombs serve the afterlife of the tomb owner, and the portrayal of mourners is no exception. Early scholars tended to study funeral processions as a whole, believing that mourning was only one part of it. In recent years, the image of mourners has begun to attract academic attention.
The German scholar Andrea Kucharek studied the image of mourners on the coffin, but did not include reliefs and murals. She divided the theme of mourning into two categories, one of which was "holy mourning", in which Isis, wife of Osiris, Lord of the Underworld, and Nephthys, sister, mourned the death of Osiris; The second is the mourning of ordinary people to their deceased relatives, and the mourning scene in the mausoleum of officials and nobles is usually that the tomb owner receives the condolences of his family, relatives and friends or priests. "Divine mourning" does not appear directly in the fresco reliefs.
From the perspective of gender, the British scholar Riggs believes that female mourners are associated with the chaotic state brought about by death, and the image of female mourners with their chests and hair represents chaos, which is in stark contrast to the usual restrained female image, especially for aristocratic women, if they are to be portrayed as mourners, it is necessary to break the original artistic laws and completely present the disorderly side, thus becoming a display of women's power.
At the same time, from an anthropological point of view, the role of women in death is consistent with their role in reproduction, and the "uncleanness" caused by death is also linked to the "uncleanness" of women's fertility and menstruation. However, whether from the point of view of social customs and taboos, or from the perspective of the social status of women, we cannot ignore the essential meaning of the image of the mourner, that is, the problem of death in ancient Egyptian religion.
The ancient Egyptians did not directly depict death, and to understand their view of life and death, they could only start with artistic images related to funeral rites. As early as the Old Kingdom, the image of mourners appeared in the relief decoration of the altar of the official mausoleum. These mourners can be men or women, and they play an important role in the funeral.
Theoretically, the ancient Egyptians sent the bodies of the dead to mummification workshops for embalming, and funerals were held after the mummies were made. In general, the funeral process is divided into three stages: starting from the deceased's residence, crossing the Nile by boat, landing on the west bank of the Nile, and advancing to the mausoleum. In the relief frescoes, mourners accompany the funeral procession from the house of the deceased to the mausoleum.
An official of the Sixth Dynasty (c. 2345–2181 BC) depicted the funeral procession on the walls of the altar. In the picture, a group of mourners occupies two rows: the upper row has eleven male mourners lined up, and above it is inscribed: "Out of the funeral estate to the beautiful West."
In the next row are fifteen female mourners who emerge from a square courtyard that may represent the house of the deceased. Male and female mourners did not show gender differences in posture. In the queue of male mourners, the second mourner fainted, supported by two people next to him.
One of the female mourners also fainted and was supported by someone nearby. Some mourners supported each other, some squatted on the ground, a female mourner was tearing her dress, and some mourners were holding their hands up. All twenty-six mourners were portrayed in different gestures, and even the mourners with their hands raised varied in the details of their arm gestures. They are dressed in much the same way as the others in the relief. Male mourners wear short white dresses and short wigs, while female mourners wear long white dresses with long straps around their shoulders and long wigs on their heads.
Among the male mourners, the two in the middle bear titles and names: "Funeral priest Zebosh and deputy palm seal officer Puta Shepses. This is relatively rare.
In most cases, mourners do not have names and titles. Thus, these male mourners are not professional mourners or priests employed by the deceased's family, but are more likely to be their relatives, colleagues, subordinates or friends. Near the female mourners, there is an inscription that reads: "Oh, our father, generous master. ”
As can be seen from the inscription, these women may have been daughters or female relatives of the deceased. In addition, among the female mourners were two pregnant women with protruding abdomen. In some cultures, pregnant women, maternal, or menstruating women are excluded from religious ceremonies, however, reliefs show that similar taboos did not exist in Egypt during the Old Kingdom, and pregnant women could also attend funerals and mourn the dead.
Ptahoutep, the prime minister of the Fifth Dynasty (circa 2494–2345 BC), depicts four male mourners in relief in the mausoleum altar of Sakala, dressed in special grid-like clothing and holding their hands high to touch the top of their heads.
The inscription shows that their title was "Entourage of the House of Fig Trees". In the previously mentioned tomb of Ankmahor, a male mourner adopted the same gesture. Judging by gestures and special costumes, these mourners were likely dancers, and as the funeral procession escorted the coffin across the river to the west bank and marched to the entrance of the mausoleum altar, the dancers and singers began to perform the corresponding ceremony.
The depiction of mourners during the Middle Kingdom (circa 2055–1650 BC) continued the traditions of the Old Kingdom, but from the New Kingdom (1550–1069 BC) onwards, the image of the mourners began to change. In burial chambers in the early New Kingdom, female mourners still wore tight long skirts, long shoulder straps at the shoulders, and long wigs on their heads; However, by the Nineteenth Dynasty (circa 1295-1186 BC), they began to wear loose, wrinkled robes with their chests exposed.
In fact, this trend began to emerge during the reign of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Amenhotep III (reigned circa 1390-1352 BC), when mourners began to appear independently in the form of crowds.
The tomb of Amenhotep III's courtiers Naib Amun and Ipuki (Tomb of Thebes TT181) shows male and female mourners crossing the Nile in boats. Male mourners squat in boats, arms crossed around their knees and chins resting on their arms, seemingly mourning in silence.
This gesture was also common among mourners during the Old Kingdom. Female mourners portray them markedly differently. A group of women of varying heights and heights huddled together, their faces facing in different directions. They wore long pleated skirts that exposed their chests, long wigs on their heads, white cloth strips tied around their foreheads, tear stains on their cheeks, arms raised exaggeratedly, and fingertips touched the top of their heads.
Not only that, but these women also have different skin tones, some bronze, others light yellow, and people with different skin colors overlap each other, making the picture more layered and deep. The flowing folds on the dress reflect the curves of the female body, while also emphasizing the texture of the fabric, showing a three-dimensional effect.
In the upper line of these mourners, two weeping women holding up the coffin occupy prominent places. They wore long pleated skirts that exposed their chests and raised their hands above their heads. In the tomb of Ramos (circa 1390-1336 BC), a group of female mourners appear in a weeping gesture in the middle of the funeral procession.
Amazingly, they face in the opposite direction of the funeral procession, breaking the convention of ancient Egyptian murals in which the procession of figures faces in the same direction. This arrangement may be to show the mourners standing on both sides of the road to greet the funeral procession, and the different orientations express a more complex position relationship, adding a three-dimensional sense to the picture.
The uneven height of these women was also a salient feature of the image of female mourners during this period. During the Old Kingdom, mourners were all the same height, and there was no significant difference in the way they were portrayed from the rest of the funeral procession. Among Ramos' mourners was a child who was naked and appeared as a typical image of a child in ancient Egyptian art.
Male mourners also appear in tomb murals after the New Kingdom. In the tomb of Nacht Amon (Tomb of the Theban nobles TT341), a male mourner appears next to the coffin with his hands touching the top of his head. With a white strip of cloth tied to his head, four coffin bearers were precoffin bearers and behind him were four other coffin bearers, which were placed on a ship-shaped coffin rack, with the goddess Isis appearing at the stern and the goddess Nevsis appearing at the bow.
In the tomb of Horemhaib in Sakaqara, a group of soldiers appear in the fresco, mourning as they march. In the tomb of Nasi Pakashuti, an official of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (664–525 BC), now in the Brooklyn Museum of Art, a group of male mourners raised their arms above their heads while striking them on the chest.
Compared to male mourners, the portrayal of female mourners in this period is more nuanced. In some cases, the pleated dresses of female mourners are painted gray-blue. This may have been to mimic the color of white linen stained with dust, representing the mourning women who carried the dust on themselves with their hands. In some mausoleum murals, female mourners also bow forward with their hands touching the ground. From the current evidence, we do not know whether male mourners also follow this practice.
In the royal tomb of the Amarna period (circa 1352-1327 BC), Pharaoh Ehenathon himself appears in the fresco, raising his arm and touching his forehead with his hand, mourning his dead daughter.
It is not clear from the picture whether Pharaoh sprinkled dust on his body. In the portrayal of facial expressions, the drooping lower lip or open lips may represent the action of crying, conveying sad emotions. In addition, tear stains on the cheeks are also characteristic of female mourners.
Some scholars believe that female mourners scratched their cheeks with their nails, and the black lines on the characters' cheeks in the mural that extend from the eyes down were blood flowing from the wounds mixed with tears and dust. However, it is more likely that the black lines of the face represent the tears that flow out melt the eyeshadow, and the black pigment of the eyeshadow leaves marks on the cheek as the tears run down the cheek. Images of female mourners also appear on the coffin.
On a wooden coffin from the Twenty-second Dynasty (circa 945-715 BC) found in Thebes, mourning women wear long dark dresses with tassels on the edges and special wigs on their heads—sunken at the top of their hair, a braid around their necks, and a long band tied around their backs.
Two of the mourners had frontal bodies, but their faces were still drawn sideways. From the above examples, it can be seen that the image of mourners depicted in the tombs of officials of the ancient kingdom is more restrained, and the expression of sadness is limited to gestures; The mourners are of the same height, all arranged in the same row, combined with the picture of the funeral procession.
From the eighteenth dynasty, the depiction of mourners in tomb decoration broke with traditions since the Old Kingdom. First of all, the expression of sad emotions is no longer limited to gestures, and the depiction of details such as crying expressions and tears, black marks on the cheeks of female mourners, gray dresses and exposed breasts is not available in other characters, and is an innovation in artistic expression.
Secondly, mourners appear independently in groups, different heights and ages, and mutual occlusion between the bodies, which visually creates a sense of space, which is completely different from the shaping of the tomb owner and other characters; In addition, their orientation can also be different from that of the funeral procession, which is also a break from the laws of traditional art.
The independence of artistic expression may mean that mourning has begun to become an independent artistic theme, that is, the grief of death has been valued and has a place in socio-cultural expression, and the implicit behind this is a profound change in people's perception of death or the restrictions on the expression of death.