Abstract to Volume 2 : In the second volume on ancient Egyptian furniture the author treats boxes, chests and footstools. In all chapters some pieces are presented as typical examples, their data are given, with a description, illustrative drawings of the construction techniques and/or photographs. In some cases better preserved pieces from later periods are used for an exact description of the earlier ones from the period under discussion. Wooden and papyrus boxes and chests were used to hold, protect and store valuable things, toilet utensils, instruments, tools, garments, curtains, game pieces and papyri, amongst other things. Those from the Old Kingdom usually had flat lids and solid board sides, tied together at the corners. In the periods after the Old Kingdom carcase construction became so sophisticated with the introduction of frame and panel work that it was possible to construct vaulted, barrel, shrine and pent roof lids. Later chests were elaborately painted, some with funerary scenes, or inlaid with rare timber, coloured glass and gem stones, painted with hieroglyphs or had gilt fretwork decoration applied to the sides and lid. The few earliest examples, described in detail in Chapter 1, come from Saqqara and Naqada. They are two 1st Dynasty boxes. After notes on frame construction and decorative techniques the author deals with the boxes represented in detail in the wall paintings from the 3rd Dynasty tomb of Hesire. Among the remains of Old Kingdom boxes, subject of Chapter 2, are those of queen Hetepheres. Described are: a curtain box, a bracelet box, rectangular boxes (with a section on their frame and panel construction). Furthermore, there are sections on round lid boxes, cavetto cornice boxes, gable lid boxes, boxes with carrying handles and shrine shaped boxes. Chapter 3, concerned with the Middle Kingdom boxes, comprises the description of a jewel box from the tomb of Sit-Hathor-Iunet from el-Lahun, and two toilet boxes. One of the smaller tombs in Beni Hasan yielded a fine collection of boxes, most of them containing toilet equipment. Chapter 4, on those boxes of the New Kingdom not forming part of larger undisturbed finds, includes a reed and papyrus box, rectangular boxes, a toilet box, one with a sliding lid, and also one with a shrine lid. A small collection was that of Ramose and Hatnefert, parents of the famous Senenmut, from their intact tomb at Sheikh Abd el-Qurna. Chapter 5 is devoted to the collections of Perpaut and Kha. Several beautiful pieces of furniture inscribed for Perpaut are kept in museums, which also hold anepigraph objects that must come from the same, still unknown tomb. Three boxes are described. The other collection is that of the architect Kha (TT 8 at Deir el-Medina). Three boxes with gable lids are described. Of the furniture collection of Yuia and Thuiu, parents of queen Tiye - the subject of Chapter 6 - the author describes: two shrine-shaped boxes, a box with a round lid, and rectangular ones. By far the largest and finest collection is that of king Tutankhamun (Chapter 7). Described are: a chest, a large number of boxes with round lid, and rectangular boxes and shrine shaped boxes. Furthermore, a box with gable lid, a cartouche-shaped box, a box with curved sides, a wig box, a cosmetic box, a jewellery box. In Chapter 8 the Ramesside and Late Period boxes are taken together. Three boxes from the tomb of Sennedjem (TT 1 at Deir el-Medina) are presented here. After brief notes on the rare scenes of daily life in Ramesside tombs and material from the royal finds at Tanis, the author pays attention to an exceptional Late Period cabinet. Chapter 9 deals with footstools, used to indicate status. All footstools described come from the Tutankhamun find. A last note is devoted to a Late Period foot- or bath-stool. At the end the catalogue of museum collections, giving the inventory numbers, a label description, material date and size. No indexes. Abstract to Volume 3 : In this volume the author investigates how woodworking in ancient Egypt developed in the 19th and 20th Dynasties. It establishes the range of wooden furniture manufactured during this period by surveying examples depicted in Ramesside Theban and Memphite tombs. Ancient records show how the procurement of furniture occured at Deir el-Medina. The design and manufacturing of these furniture forms can be traced through furniture sketches annotated with a range of marks and signs, seen in surviving examples of furniture and furniture fragments. Procedures were developed that were managed by cooperatives of Egyptian artisans, who established a recognisable Egyptian style employed throughout the Ramesside world. Depictions of furniture used by the ruling Ramesside elite are examined including a remarkable collection used by Rameses III. Illustrations show how royal furniture was used both as a symbolic tool to promote the Ramesside Empire at the edges of its sphere of influence and to serve a religious purpose in the rituals performed by Ramesside priests. This volume contains a catalogue of known Egyptian furniture preserved in world museums that augments those found in the first two volumes of this series. The author also provides a distribution list with illustrations of a number of replica pieces of woodwork made by him that can be found preserved in several museums and collections. The purpose of these replica pieces has been to analyse the design and construction techniques used by Egyptian carpenters using a range of replica woodworking tools. (OEB) |