Queen & King of the Land of Punt
Originally uploaded by The Handler
Here is a copy of a depiction of the Queen of Punt from Deir el Bahri.
Although her husband is present - i read his name as Pa-r-h-w (Parehu) it is the queen who draws our attention.
Her depiction as an obese lady has caused much debate. In today's world, we have a syndrome named "Queen of Punt Syndrome".
http://www.edoj.org.eg/vol001/00102/07/quine%20punt.htm
Maybe this is how the Egyptians actually saw the Queen. If so then this is the first time i have seen any Egyptian depiction of someone so large. Sometimes Egyptian people were shown to have rolls of fat on their bodies to show they are established/ well off. The queen of Punt would was not Egyptian and therefore tribal tradition (large = beautiful) could be the answer.
Stuart
Hello Stuart !
ReplyDeleteThe husband of the Queen, Parahou, is ahead of her. Behind her, there is her sons and her daughter... and "the ass carrying his wife", dixit the Egyptian caption :). The name of the Queen if Ity (or Aty).
Afternoon Alice. I've amended the article to remove the "behind" comment. Thanks for the confirmation that the 3 figures behind Aty are the children of the Queen. I have very limited knowledge of hieroglyphs, but believed the captions which appear by the elbows of these figures to say "his son(s)" and "his daughter".
ReplyDeleteI was unaware about the "the ass carrying his wife" so thanks for that. Details like these i will always miss, until i am one day able to get a handle on hieroglyphs.
Thanks for your help Alice- corrections are always welcomed.
Stuart