Silver gelatin on
glass 23.5 x 29.5 cm Epigraphic Survey, Oriental Institute,
University of Chicago |
|
Egyptian
Farmers. A group of Egyptian farmers, or fellaheen, stand below a
palm tree at the edge of the cultivation. In the Egyptian Coffin Texts of
the Middle Kingdom (c. 2060-1785 B.C.), the image of the soul of the dead
taking its leisure beneath a tree is inimical, for danger lurks in the
shadows. By the time of the New Kingdom (c. 1560-1085 B.C.), however, this
had changed, and the soul of the dead is often shown drinking water in the
shade of a palm. The goddesses Hathor and Nut, providing food for the
souls in the Hereafter, were at times depicted as trees, and the dead man
could desire a metamorphosis into a dom-palm--a manifestation of the
potent fertility god Min. The fruit of the date palm was one of the chief
sweeteners of the ancients, and, as in antiquity, all parts of the palm
tree are still used by the Egyptians. The donkey appears to be the
photographer's pack animal, the leather pouches being the carrying cases
for the camera and the glass plates.
|