The Wall Paintings of the Chapel-Tomb of Nebamun ✎

The British Museum has some of the most exquisite collections of Ancient art.

The chapel-tomb of Nebamun is a masterpiece.

Nebamun was an ancient Egyptian official and scribe. Today, he is famous for the incredible discovery of the richly decorated - and now lost - Tomb of Nebamun in Thebes. The tomb’s walls were covered with high-quality fresco paintings considered by scholars to be the chef-d’oeuvre of ancient Egyptian art.

The paintings are incredible, especially when you realise they were painted around 1350 BC - making it over 3,370 years old! 😎

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Nebamun Hunting in the Marshes by Master of the Tomb of Nebamun

So beautiful.

Nebamun is depicted hunting in the marshes, powerful and strong. In his small raft, with his wife Hatshepsut next to him, and their young daughter holding onto him.

What marks this art as remarkable is its move away from rigid formal stylised depictions of the Old Kingdom to more lifelike and sensory art.

The ginger cat catching three birds at once in the papyrus thicket is iconic.

It reminds me of modern art.

 

Cats, ducks, fowl, pigeons, butterflies all around Nebamun.

With hunting device in one hand, and other filled with geese. 

As the British Museum notes:

Fertile marshes were a place of rebirth and eroticism, making this more than a simple image of recreation. The huge striding figure of Nebamun dominates, forever happy and forever young, surrounded by the rich and teening life of the marsh. Hunting not only supplied food but represented Nebamun’s triumph over the forces of chaos.

Me, Room 61.

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Surveying the fields for Nebamun by Master of the Tomb of Nebamun

This scene shows an official inspecting fields.

Nebamun was the accountant in charge of grain at the great Temple of Amun at Thebes (Karnak).

Chariot awaiting.

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Nebamun’s Garden of the West by Master of the Tomb of Nebamun

Nebamun’s garden in the afterlife is like his beautiful earthly gardens of ancient Egypt.

Pool is full of birds and fish, surrounded by of flowers and trees.

Sycamore-figs, date palms. 

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Offering bringers by Master of the Tomb of Nebamun

A procession of servants bringing food offerings for Nebamun: grain and desert animals.

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Offerings for Nebamun by Master of the Tomb of Nebamun

This painting displays a massive lavish pile of food meant to sustain Nebamun in the afterlife.

A roast duck, joints of meat, wine jars, baskets of seeds and fruits, loafs of bread.

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A feast for Nebamun by Master of the Tomb of Nebamun

Entire painting dedicated to a lively gathering in honor of Nebamun. His friends and family being served wine and entertained.

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More Information:

• Paintings from the Tomb-chapel of Nebamun by The British Museum (smarthistory)