Egyptian sculpture

LATE PERIOD 171

even in the bent arm, unless it is bent back on itself, the point of the elbow is not seen, the arm merely curves round without any attempt at representing the bony or muscular structure.

PAINTING

Small wooden painted stelae are common from the XXIst dynasty onwards. They are merely a cheap form of the magnificent sculptured and painted monuments in stone of the earlier periods. The deceased is represented worshipping a deity, usually by making an offering. Sometimes there is more than one deity, sometimes there is more than one worshipper, but the motif is always the same. Stelae with curved tops belong to all periods, and perhaps originate from decorated end-walls of a barrel-vaulted tombchapel. The colouring is often a redeeming feature, the colours used in the painting are white, black, yellow, red, and blue, and the style is the same as the painted coffins of the period; thus the earlier stelae have yellow grounds while those of the XXVIth dynasty and later have white backgrounds.

The stele of Zed-Amon-auf-ankh (Pl. XLIX. 1) is more elaborate than many of the same period. Above is the sign of the heavens; this is usually horizontal at the top, but in this example it follows the curve of the top of the stele. Immediately below is the winged sun disk, the serpents which issue from the disk are uncrowned, the wings droop, and the feathers are represented in considerable detail. The early examples of the winged disk always show the wings horizontal and with only two layers of feathers. Below the disk is a hieroglyph, with a couchant jackal bearing the flail on each side; below these again is an inscription in vertical columns. Though this is not the