Funeral Boat, Tomb of Haremhab 1295 BC

This is Norman de Garis Davies’s facsimile of a wall painting from the Tomb of Haremhab. It was made with paint on paper, a typical medium for archaeological record-making in the early twentieth century. Davies was tasked with capturing the original tomb decoration as accurately as possible. But even in a reproduction like this, we can appreciate the artist's skill. Note the pigment choices, the linear precision used in the figures and patterned textile, and the way the artist was able to evoke the texture of the original ancient surface. Wall paintings like this were themselves a highly developed craft tradition. The tomb walls would have been carefully prepared with plaster, then painted in stages by skilled artisans. Scenes were carefully chosen to reflect the status and achievements of the deceased. While this is a copy, it prompts us to reflect on the original context, and the skill and labor required to produce such a rich cultural artifact.