Nebamun’s pool

Nebamun was a middle-ranking official “scribe and grain accountant” during the period of the New Kingdom in Ancient Egypt. He is thought to have lived ca. 1350 BC and worked at the vast temple complex near Thebes, where the state-god Amun was worshiped.

His name was translated as “My Lord is Amun”, and his association with the temple, coupled with the importance of grain supplies to Egypt, meant that he was a person of considerable practical importance, though not of the highest rank.

This painted plaster polychrome fragmentary relief comes from the Tomb of Nebamun, and illustrates the Ancient Egyptian Official’s pool within his grand estate. Nebamun was clearly a man of wealth to have such grounds. The pool is stocked with various types of fish, blooming lotus blossoms and Egyptian geese. Such a detailed depiction in a tomb indicates that Nebamun intends to keep such a garden scene for himself in the Afterlife.

Despite the fluidity of the late 18th Dynasty tomb art, the artists of the Tomb of Nebamun have stuck to the rigid formula of profile depiction. Even the fish and fowl in the pond are depicted, not 3-Dimensional, but in profile, in order to perhaps animate them in the Afterlife, as to have all the features of one’s being depicted, made it so, that the spirit could latch on to such imagery and breathe eternal life into such scenes.

The foliage and trees surrounding the pool, however, are all on display in their full-frontal form, so every piece of fruit can be seen, every branch and bloom visible. Yet, they are drawn flat out rather than horizontally. Again, this is a purposeful decision, that reminds us that this art was functional and not just an aesthetically pleasing choice.

Interestingly, the Goddess of the Sycamore, usually associated with Nut, Isis or Hathor, stands beside a table of produce, she appears to have been collecting from the trees.

Summary:

Painted plaster polychrome fragmentary relief depicting the pool of Nebamun

New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, c. 1350 B.C.

Discovered by Giovanni (Yanni) d’Athanasi, working for Henry Salt, the British Consul-General at the Theban Necropolis. The tomb’s site was not disclosed at the time of discovery in order to preserve secrecy during a period of competition among excavators, and it has since been lost. Scientific investigation in 2008-09 suggested that the tomb was located near Dra’ Abu el-Naga’.

British Museum. EA37983