Date
ca. 14th c. B.C.

Origin
The Ancient World : Egypt : New Kingdom : XVIII Dynasty : Before Amarna

Description
b) palm tree, & a) sycamore tree, laden with fruit, its human arms presenting tray of offerings and pouring out water from ewer for benefit of the dead; ba birds (souls) of the deceased beneath tree.

"The goddess as the tree that confers nourishment on souls, as the sycamore or date palm, is one of the central figures of Egyptian art." [--Neumann.] Hathor, the Lady of the Sycamore, as well as Nut, the celestial cow goddess, were believed to be immanent in the sycamore which offered its cool shade and its fruit to the weary. In the tree's branches, hung a water skin, to slake thirst. Thus the tree provided every necessity for the deceased. Here it is the date palm (b) & sycamore (a) which performs these functions. (For a discussion of the sycamore and tree symbolism in general in Egyptian art, see 2Ak.092.) Neumann writes: "...the motherhood of the tree consists not only in nourishing; it also comprises generation and the tree goddess gives birth to the sun." See 2Ak.159 for a representation which epitomizes this belief.

Object
Relief (limestone).

Style or School
Dynasty XVIII.

Material or Technique
Sculpture (detail).

Repository or Site
a)Hanover: Mus., Kestner.

Image Sources
b)from Neumann.* [EN:GM fig.52]
a) from Campbell.**

References
*Neumann, E., Great (1955), p.241; fig.52.
AO, XIII:4 (1912), pp.22-3; fig.19.
**Campbell, J., Mythic Image (1974), pl.241