Plate LXXVII

By the kindness of Dr. Howard Carter we are permitted to include in this work the first coloured reproductions of two scenes on the painted casket discovered by him in the tomb of Tutankhamun. Amid the great wealth of beautiful and unique objects which that discovery brought to light it is difficult to point to any one as excelling all the rest in importance, but certain it is that this casket must be ranked amongst the most attractive and the most surprising. In the picture here shown-the reproduction is little short of actual size-we find miniature painting equal to the best products of Persian art. The lion-hunt is one of two hunting scenes painted on the curved lid of the casket. As a record of fact it must, of course, be viewed as wholly mendacious. Tutankhamun died when he was still a youth after little more than eight years upon the throne. Nor, indeed, is it to be believed that any king, however brave or skillful a hunter, could successfully drive his chariot into an assemblage of hungry lions, and vanquish them all with no better equipment than a bow and arrows. fu this picture we find the fancifulness of Egyptian art and its disregard for sober reality more forcibly demonstrated than anywhere else. But as an imaginative depiction of the might and magnificence of the Pharaoh its equal would be hard to find. The gorgeously caparisoned horses, the Nubian fan-bearers, the protecting vultures overhead, the hastening escort, and the courtiers in their own chariots combine to produce an impression of overwhelming power. The scene appears to be laid in the eastern desert, and the little desert shrubs dotted about everywhere, together with the decorative borders, enhance the richness of the effect. Among details to be specially noted are the three quiversful of arrows to be seen in the chariot, and the archer's bracer that the king wears upon his arm. The inscription reads: 'The good god, powerful of strength, the sovereign in whom one glories ,fighting lions and his victory comes to pass: his power is like that of the son of Nut.'