Plate XXXIV

The tomb whence this picture is taken belonged to a priest whose name has everywhere been intentionally erased ; his identity has, however, been recovered with great probability from the cones which Mr. Davies found upon the floor. Some distance farther to the right he was depicted performing his customary function before his royal master, and behind him is a row of five men, col­ leagues or mere attendants, who bring food-offerings and the like for some festal occasion. The man here shown was the last of the row. His dress consists of a kilt perhaps worn under a short­ sleeved diaphanous garment extending half-way down the legs and allowing the dark flesh-colour to appear through it in a lighter shade. A bunch of lotuses is slung around his neck, and more such are held in his hand and decorate the diaper-patterned basket of grapes which he carries. A half-open white bag suspended from the other hand also contains grapes, and with it he holds a shallow dish of what must be conjectured to represent honeycombs. Something sweet the contents of the dish must certainly be, for upon them feed two insects which are probably meant for bees, though more like the mason-wasps to this day frequenting the tombs and building their nests in holes bored into the plaster. The animal led by the man in front better deserves to be called a prize bull than any other of the several depicted in these Plates. The head appears quite small when compared with the mountainous shoulders and massive thighs. Garlands on horns and neck mark him out as the pick of his herd. Note the purity and freshness of the colours used. The drawing is clean and sure