Subjects of paint scenes

The Agricultural scenes
The agricultural scenes played an important role in the decoration of private tombs since the Old Kingdom and maintained their popularity until the first half of XVIIIth Dynasty, up to the reign of Tuthmosis IV. This subject is found rarely in the tombs dating to the end of XVIIIth Dynasty and later. However it reappears once more in the tombs of XXVth and XXVIth Dynasties.
The agricultural scenes contain scenes of digging the earth, plowing and sowing, harvesting, threshing and winnowing corn and carrying the products of the earth by persons or animals such as donkeys to the granaries.
The owner of tomb appears in these scenes superintending the activities of agriculture. The scribes also appear in these scenes and record quantities of agricultural products.
There are some differences between the agricultural scenes in every period. For example, in earlier Egyptian reliefs and paintings of fields of grain, the stalks are represented as slender straight lines, solidly massed as if to represent a reed fence. There is no attempt to represent the plants as separate entities, the individual representation is merged with the mass. But there are occasional exceptions to this rule in the scenes of the Middle and New Kingdoms where the stalks are spaciously and separately drawn. This method of representation became standard in late Egyptian scenes.
In the New Kingdom, new details, which were unknown in the Old and Middle Kingdoms, were added to the agricultural scenes, such as plows with high handles. The special ox-herd for driving plow teams is omitted and the representation of the cows was replaced by a representation of people. The chariots with its horses, which were known in the Second Intermediate Period, appear in the agricultural scenes in the New Kingdom.
In tomb-paintings, vegetables (including onions, garlic, lentils, beans, radishes, cabbage, cucumbers and a type of lettuce) were usually grown in small square plots.
The parts of life of ancient Egyptian peasants in the field (like the sleeping of tired peasants in the shade of a tree), their dresses, their works in the field and their speeches during their work were depicted in the agricultural scenes.

The Scenes of the fields of Elysium (Fields of Iaru)
These scenes appeared in the New Kingdom. The theme of these scenes represent the agricultural in the Netherworld. The ancient Egyptian concept of paradise included farming a plot on the estate of the god of the afterworld (Osiris), so the fields of Elysium, where the plowing and reaping are done not by the peasants for their lord and master but by the master himself and his wife.
The composition of these scenes was the same composition of agricultural scenes in the New Kingdom.

The Viticultural Scenes
In Ancient Egypt, grabs were grown for wine and both red and white wine were regularly drunk. The juice was collected in vats for fermentation, and when part-fermented was decanted into amphorae and left to mature, sometimes for several years. It then might be filtered again and have spices or honey added before finally being transported in amphorae. These vessels are frequently inscribed on the shoulder or have stamps impressed on the mud sealings. The locations of certain vineyards are known. The Delta, the western part of the coast, the Oases of Kharga and Dakhla and the Kynopolis area of Middle Egypt seem to have been especially favoured.
There are many tomb-painting showing the viticultural scenes. the viticultural of scenes consist of three motifs: the harvesting and treading of grapes and the sackpress.
These scenes are known since the Old Kingdom. Also, many examples are found in the Middle Kingdom tombs at Beni-Hassan. These motifs achieve their highest popularity in the fist half of the XIXth Dynasty, they were abandoned by the Amarna artists and only one example is found in the Ramesside Period. This subject come back in the saite tombs.
In these scenes, the men gather grapes from a trellis. The berries are then seen in what looks like a stone trough (the press) surmounted by a light superstructure from which hang boughs for shade and ropes to help the men to keep their balance while they are treading out the juice. The liquid runs out of a spout into a smaller trough, is transferred by a man into the jars, and stoppered by mud sealings.
There are same differences in the viticultural scenes in all periods of ancient Egypt because the implements were changed in the course of time. For example, in the Old Kingdom, the sackpress was wrung with the help of two poles, tied to its ends. Severals workers took part in this process. In the Middle Kingdom, the sack was fitted into a wooden frame to which one of its end was affixed. This allowed only one pole to be used for twisting. The same construction was employed in the New Kingdom.
Also, in scenes that represent treading of grapes, the construction, which this operation is done into it, is known from the Old Kingdom. In the New Kingdom, the vat is usually represented with a wooden shed build over it and with loops of rope hanging from the shed.

The Apicultural Scenes
In ancient Egypt, honey was obtained both from wild and domesticated bees. Honey from wild bees was gathered by professional collectors working along the desert fringes.
In the absence of sugar, it was used to transform bread into cakes and to sweeten beer. It was used both the principal sweetener in the Egyptian diet and as a base for medicinal unguents thus employing its natural anti-bacterial properties. The ancient Egyptians also collected bees wax for use in metallurgy (i.e. in the moulding of wax images for metal casting by the lost wax method) as well as in the varnishing of pigments.
The apiculture, attested as early as the Neolithic period, was well organised by the middle of the Old Kingdom. The bees were kept in pottery hives, although hives made of mud and other material were probably also used.
Although apiculture was one of the most important industries ancient Egypt, representations of such scenes are surprisingly rare. This may be due to the fact that in the Old and Middle Kingdoms, the representations of honey was a royal prerogative, since the image of the bee was part of the royal title. Thus, in the Old Kingdom, scenes of bee-keeping were represented only in royal complexes. In the Middle Kingdom, honey was included among the offerings to the gods. In the XVIIIth Dynasty, the depiction of honeycombs and honey jars among the offerings to the tomb owner appears for the first time in private tomb decoration. Honey was often offered in temples and played an important part in temple rituals.
The earliest representation of an apicultural scene is the relief from the so-called "Room of Three Seasons" in the sun temple of king Niuserre at Abu Gurab in Vth Dynasty. A small fragment of similar scene was discovered among the reliefs which decorated the causeway that lead up to the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara. Here, both the personifications of the seasons and the labors associated with each of them were represented. Among them is a scene of bee-keeping: a kneeling figure takes the honeycombs from the hives, while others are pouring the honey into jars and sealing them.
From then on scenes of bee-keeping are not found until the New Kingdom. The only New Kingdom example is found in the tomb of Rekhmire (TT 100) in XVIIIth Dynasty. Here, the composition is very detailed. The right of the scene is occupied by the hives made of pottery tubes, which are not such different from the hives of modern Egypt. One of the figures is extracting honey from an ovalshaped honeycomb while another is smoking out of the bees with a lamp. Only one bee is represented near the hives. In the adjacent scene the honey is drained away into distinctive jars sealed by clay. These jars are the distinguished by the fact that the body and the lid are of the same shape and size.
Also, the apicultural scenes are found in the two saite tombs (the tomb of Pabasa (TT 279) and the tomb of Ankh-hor (TT414). The tomb of Ankh-hor followed the examples in the tomb of Pabasa, making only a few minor changed in the composition. In the saite scenes, the depiction of the hives is left out and the combs are represented as if floating in mid-air.
The scenes of the Breeding of Animals
The keeping and breeding of animals is attested as early as the Predynastic Period. Even in the Old Kingdom, there was still an element of experimentation in the process of domestication of more unusual breeds, judging from such evidence as scenes of the force-feeding of cranes and hyenas in the tombs at Saqqara. For most of the dynastic period the most common domesticated animals were cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and asses. Ducks, geese and pigeons were the principal domesticated foul.
Cattle were important for their meat and milk but were also kept as drought animals. It was the meat of oxen which was the most prized for offerings at temples and tombs. Sheep and goats were kept for meat, hide and milk. Goats were more common than sheep.
Many examples of the scenes of the keeping and breeding of animals are found in the tombs of the Old and Middle Kingdoms. In the New Kingdom tombs, these scenes are rare.
The birds were depicted into the folds or outside them. The men feed the birds by throwing the grains in its folds. Sometimes they feed them by the force-feeding in order to grow quickly.
The ancient Egyptians were fond of pets and a variety of animals are depicted in their tombs. For example, cats and monkeys appear in many scenes, especially under the chair of the owner's tomb or his wife. They sometimes depicted without doing anything or sometimes the cats eat a fish, a goose or other food and monkey eat fruits. The dogs also depicted in the scenes, especially in the hunting scenes. They are generally shown wearing collars in the paintings.
The scenes show that the breed cattle was in the marshes of Delta. The herdsmen appear, in the scenes, leading cattle through the papyrus thicket. Sometimes in the scenes, the herdsman has turned back to see if the herd is following.
The scenes of the delivery of a calf, in the Marshes, were frequent in the tombs of the Old and Middle Kingdoms. In these scenes, a kneeling or standing herdsman assists at the delivery of a calf from a standing cow. He is behind the mother cow to grasp the calf. Sometimes a watchful overseer observer the delivery.
The herdsmen did not take care of their appearance because of their difficult life in the marches of Delta. In the scenes, they appear naked or wear a girdle round the waist with some kind of flap hanging in front, or kilt which was made from plant fibres, and usually have moustaches and beards.
In some scenes, the scribes appear. They record the numbers of birds, sheep, goats, bulls and cows.

Scenes of Butchering (of cutting of foreleg of bull)
In ancient Egypt, the foreleg of the bull was one of the most important offerings. The ancient Egyptians did not use the bull only for sacrificing but also use another animals, such as gazelle and ibex. The foreleg of these animals represented the meat in the offerings lists.
Before cutting of foreleg of bull, the bull was thrown down and was tied three of its legs with themselves, then the butcher cut its fourth leg which is its foreleg. After that, the heart of bull was extracted, then the butcher cut the rest of legs of the bull.
The scenes of butchering concentrate the cutting of foreleg of the bull. In these scenes, the butcher appears with one or two assistants. The assistant holds the foreleg with his two hands and, the butcher holds the foreleg with one hand and cuts the foreleg by a knife in his other hand. Then the offering-bearers who carry the legs of the bull appear in the scenes. In some scenes, the physicians appear in order to be confirmed that the bull is safe and some persons, who carry a pot in the shape of heart, also appear. The heart of the bull put into this pot.
In the Old Kingdom, the scenes of butchering were found in many tombs. In the Middle Kingdom tombs, these scenes were less. they was found in the tombs of Middle Egypt: at Beni Hassan, Meir and one example at Deir El-Bersha. Perhaps, the reason of the lack of these scenes was the nature of Middle Egypt region which did not allow the spreading of breeding of cattle in it.
In the New Kingdom tombs, these scenes were rare because the animals were belonged to the temples and the king. The owners of tombs, which these scenes were depicted in it, were overseers of cattle. Or their offices have a connection with the cattle.
The scenes of butchering were found in some late period tombs.
The composition of the scenes of butchering were almost the same composition in all periods.
The scenes of the Hunting
Two types of hunting were regularly represented on the walls of tombs and temples throughout the pharaonic period: "fowling and fishing" and "big-game", the former consisting primarily of small-scale fishing and bird-snaring on the banks of the Nile, and the latter consisting of the hunting of wild deer and lions in desert terrain, and bulls, crocodiles and hippopotami in the marshes.
The scenes of the hunting no doubt reflected the actual activities of the ancient Egyptians.
The hunting had a religious significance in ancient Egypt, so the scenes of the hunting had the same religious significance. This significance was killing of the evil, which represented in the birds and some animals.

The Scenes of the fishing
Fish enjoyed a somewhat ambiguous position in ancient Egypt: sometimes sacred, sometimes scorned; eaten by some, denied to others.
The Nile, the marshy Delta, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean coast are all rich in edible fish, and for the poor people of ancient Egypt these would have served as a substitute for the more costly meat. Wealthier people frequently kept fish in ponds both for ornament and as a source of food.
However, the king and priests were not allowed to eat fish, since it was identified particularly with the evil god Seth.
Fish were usually caught in traps or nets, some of which might be dragged along the river channel either by teams of men or between two boats. Fishing using hooks on a line is also recorded, as is harpooning from papyrus skiffs, although this was presumably regarded more as a sport than as a means of subsistence.
The scenes of the fishing by using of the harpoon were found in the tombs of the Middle and the New Kingdoms. In these scenes, the owner of the tomb stands on a raft in the marshes of Delta and jabbed the fish into the water. The composition of these scenes, in the Middle Kingdom tombs had the same composition of the scenes of the hunting hippopotamus. Perhaps the artist intended to depict the hunting of hippopotamus but he changed his opinion and depicted the hunting of fish harpoon.
these scenes also were found in the Old Kingdom tombs, but these scenes were rare in this period and were done in the marshes.
The scenes of the fishing by hook and line are not uncommon in tombs of the Old Kingdom, although such scenes are always subsidiary to the main scene. Most often, the main scene portrays the tomb owner on a papyrus boat engaged in spear fishing or fowling. In an angling scene, a fisherman is shown hauling in a fish. His hand is grasping the line and the others holds a club, poised and ready to dispatch the fish once it has been landed.
In the Old Kingdom scenes, fishing with hand lines have been an activity carried out from water craft. The anglers themselves are generally represented. Often they are shown with a receding hair line and wear a vest for warmth.
Angling with a hand-line was not restricted to the fishermen but was enjoyed by nobles during times of leisure.
In the Middle Kingdom, hand-line scenes become less frequent, but examples show men fishing from the bank with a hand line, as well as from canoe. It is also in the Middle Kingdom that the rod is first depicted at Beni Hassan (Tomb of Khnumhotep). This scene is the earliest known fishing scene depicting the use of a road in ancient Egypt.
Examples of rod fishing continue into the New Kingdom. Scenes from the New Kingdom Theban tombs, however, show the tomb owner himself engaged in rod fishing, rather than a commoner or servant. Additionally, in these scenes of New Kingdom, fishing no longer occurs along the banks of the Nile or a canal, but within the confines of a garden; the line is placed into a well defined fish pond. In all New Kingdom scenes, the tomb owner is seated on a chair, often with his wife behind him helping with the rods or receiving the catch. Usually two rods with at least two lines were employed. Although all classes, most likely, engaged in fishing during their spare time, the New kingdom scenes do not simply represent a pleasant outing or a means to gain sustenance for the deceased. Rather, they portray a message of rebirth made evident by the catch, which is always a Tilapia fish (the symbol of rebirth).
The wicker fish trap or weir has been employed the Egyptian history. Tomb paintings of the Old Kingdom picture the use of two types of fish traps. The first type was small, of very simple construction. The second type, which is less commonly represented than the first, was a trap of great size needing several men to work it. The weir is not a common subject in Egyptian art and is restricted primarily to the Old Kingdom. The first known representation of a weir is in the Sun Temple of King Niussere (Vth Dynasty)
The scenes of the Old Kingdom tombs illustrate, the shape and the construction, and the using of the small ancient Egyptian weirs.
On the basis of artistic representations, the basket trap was one of the simpler means of obtaining fish. The basket trap was merely a basket of wicker design that in shallow water could be placed over a fish, entrapping it. The fish could then be grasped by the hand and removed from the trap.
Only three examples of the basket trap in use are known from the Old Kingdom tombs. These scenes show men standing knee deep in water, engaged in basket-trap fishing. To assist in comprehending the action taking place, the baskets are transparent, revealing an entrapped fish.
Netting was undoubtedly a more cost-effective means of obtaining fish than either angling or spearing.
Hand nets were most likely used for taking small to medium-sized fish in shallow water or near the surface of deep water areas. Several varieties of open-mouthed nets are depicted, but the basic form was essentially the same during the Old and Middle Kingdom, In almost every case, the frame of the hand net consists of a pair of sticks crossed and lashed near the handle, forming a "V". Between these sticks, which formed two sides of the frame, a third stick was employed as a brace. The projection ends of the "V" were connected by a cord forming the third side of the triangular frame. A net was attached to this performed triangle, the net could be opened or closed by manipulating a longitudinal card fastened to the terminal cord at the end of the "V".
The representation of the hand net were common in the Old Kingdom tombs and were found on the walls of some tombs of the Middle Kingdom. Hand nets are often depicted in association with angling. In the majority of Old Kingdom examples, the hand netter is shown working from a boat often accompanied by an angler. On rare occasions, a hand netter is shown standing on the shore or in the water.
Fishing with large seine nets is a common theme depicted by the ancient Egyptians artists. From the scenes, the ancient Egyptian seine was a net of considerable length, requiring many man to work it. It consists of a long strip of netting with parallel top and bottom support lines and rounded (tapered) ends. To each end of the net was attached a harness rope for hauling in the seine.
The ancient Egyptian scenes show that the fishermen not only used their hands to haul the net, but frequently employed shoulder slings as well. These slings were not made of twisted fibers like the round ropes of the nets, but were flat bands. The slings were apparently attached to the harness ropes by wrapping a round knot around the rope. The knot and rope would then catch along the bight of the harness rope and jam when a strain was put on it.
The bottom line of the seine was weighted to make it along vertically when in use. The weights were originally made of stone and possibly ceramic; in later times lead was also employed.
The upper line of the seine was dressed with floats. In the scenes, the float appears to be triangular pieces of wood lashed at the end to the net or the rope.
As shown in the scenes, large nets were most often worked from the river or channel bank but large rafts or boats were also employed.
In the ancient Egyptian scenes, the artist choose to represent the hauling of the seine by fishermen. Group of the fishermen haul from the end of the net and another group haul from other end. The two groups were in the boat or on the shore.
Other techniques were also represent in the scenes of ancient Egyptian tombs. Some representations show the fishermen hauling one end of the seine on the shore; the other end is being manipulated by men in a boat. Other representations show the net being pulled through the water or otherwise manipulated by two boats.
The scenes show that after the fishing, the fish was carried in the hands of fishermen or on yokes over their shoulders. The very largest fish is suspended on a stick or carried between two men.
Then, the scenes show the cleaning and drying the fish. The fishermen gut the fish and cut its head. Then, they leave the fish to dry by the heat of the sun.
The scenes of carrying and cleaning of the fish were found in the tombs of Old and Middle Kingdoms, and Late Period.
The scenes of fishing by large net (seine) were found in the tombs of all ancient Egyptian periods.
This scenes also depicted the life in the marshes of Delta.

The scenes of Fowling
The scenes of fowling by the nets or by the throw-sticks were common in the tombs of all ancient Egyptian periods. The fowling was usually done in the marshes of Delta.
The fowling by the net was followed by the professional hunters in ancient Egypt. A large clap-net is spread in the mere, while its manipulators conceal themselves behind the tall papyrus stems which fringe it. As shown in the scenes, those, who habitually dwell or work in these marshes go quite naked. Their leader, too, has divested himself of his sandals and scanty clothing, and has deposited them in his fisherman's shelter. As shown in the scenes, he watches the pool, hidden by the reeds, and when the unsuspecting birds are swimming in numbers over the spot, gives the signal for the sudden clapping - to of the net. He does this by a cloth so spread along his back and outstretched arms as to be visible only from behind and not to alarm the birds. The men are leaning forward and gripping the rope well in advance with the right hand, ready to fling themselves back at the crucial moment. This is the moment which the Egyptian artists has chosen to represent in the scenes of the fowling.
The pool is represented in these scenes: its banks are shown and beneath its surface, covered with water-plants, and fowl, is the spread net.
Then, some men secure the booty in cages, as shown in some scenes.
Some scenes, which represent the cleaning of the birds, appear in some tombs after the scenes of fowling. As shown in these scenes, a man cleans the bird on a stand while another plucks them preparatory to potting them in the jars close by.
The composition of these scenes was almost the same composition in all ancient Egyptian period.
The fowling by the throw-stick was one of the most popular sports in ancient Egypt. The nobles practised this sport in the marshes of Delta.
The scenes of the fowling by throw-stick were found on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs from all periods, but these scenes were very common in the New Kingdom tombs.
As shown in the scenes, the owner of the tomb and his family are pursuing the favourites sport afforded by the marshes. He carries a throw-stick in one hand and a decay-heron in the other. He and his family were amongst the reeds in his light papyrus skiff. The women cling to his legs lest he should overbalance himself. In some scenes, a young son holds a spare stick and has already retrieved a bird.
Around this family, the animals and birds of the marshes appear.
At the end, the scenes of fowling and fishing in the marshes were a common component of private tomb decoration but only in one case appearing in a royal tomb (that of king Ay in the Valley of the Kings).

Scenes of Hippopotamus Hunt
In ancient Egypt, the male hippopotamus, like the crocodile, was regarded as a nuisance and a doer of evil, because it often trampled and devoured crops. It was probably for this reason that hippopotamus hunts were organized in ancient Egypt.
Such hunts might have given rise to a royal ceremony in which the king's ritual killing of a hippopotamus was symbolic of the overthrow of evil, as in the myth of Horus and Seth. In this myth, Horus was often portrayed in the act of harpooning Seth as a hippopotamus. This scene was frequently repeated on the walls of temples, most notably that of Horus at Edfu, as well as in tomb scenes and in the form of royal funerary statuettes.
Such representation, in which the king by himself harpoons a hippopotamus, are found as early as in the Ist Dynasty and later in the Old Kingdom, and derivativer of it occur on some scarabs of the Second Intermediate Period. Thus this royal tradition can be traced from the earliest times to the New Kingdom scenes.
In the Vth Dynasty, some fragment of it are preserved from the pyramid temple of Sahure, and in the pyramid temple of Pepi II of the VIth Dynasty enough is left to make a reconstruction of the whole scene possible. Here we find practically all the elements of the New Kingdom scenes. The harpooner (the king) is alone, dressed in the shendit loin-cloth, standing on a raft with the stern cut off squarely and the prow bent upwards and backwards. The harpoon was in all probability also of the type as that found in the New Kingdom scenes. The fragment shows that the rope was carried up the shaft to its upper end, and the end of the shaft should be reconstructed as a fork and not as being cut off square. In any case, the harpoon is not of the type seen in the contemporary private scenes. The attendants, placed on conventional lines on the right and left of the main scene and here representing the courtiers, correspond to the servants or son similarly placed in the scenes of the XVIIIth Dynasty. There is a little man with the stick in front of the harpooner, but here he does reverence to the king instead of taking an active part in the hunt. Quite unique is the detail in the left corner, where the captured animal is dragged on a sledge.
In the scenes of the private tombs of the Old Kingdom, the owner of the tomb don't share in the hippopotamus hunt. He is on a canoe and spearing fish or fowling in the marshes of Delta. His followers, who are on other canoe, attack the hippopotami.
The harpoons and the boats, which use in the Old Kingdom scenes, are very different from the harpoons and the boats, which use in the New Kingdom scenes.
The rape from the harpoon blade does not follow the wooden shaft up to its upper end (which cut off squarely), but is tied to the shaft for a short distance along its length with thin cords. From the last tie, the main rope continues to the coil of ropes in the hand of the hunter.
In the New Kingdom, these scenes are found in the some tombs (only in ten or eleven tombs) of Thebes. This theme was uncommon in the New Kingdom tombs.
In these scenes, the deceased stands on the raft made of papyrus-bundles. The prow is bent upwards and backwards ending in a thicker part, which is sometimes shaped like a flower. It is only the ends of the papyrus left unbound. The stern rests flat on the water, the bundles being cut off on the straight and not bent upwards. This very primitive type of boat occurs practically only in connection with the hippopotamus hunt, and it differs from that used by the deceased, when spearing fish or fowling. In such scenes, the boat as a rule has prow and stern bent upwards in a curve, and the end of the prow is not bent backwards.
The harpooner wears the shendit loin-cloth. This is a garment as a rule reserved for the king. It occurs regularly, however, not only in the New Kingdom scenes of hippopotamus hunt in the New Kingdom tombs.
With his right hand, the deceased is hurling the harpoon. Its single-barbed head is loosely fixed to the shaft, and a strong rope attached to this head passes along the shaft, over a fork its upper end, and then back again along the shaft to the point where the right hand of the harpooner grasps the shaft. At this moment, the rope is tightly stretched, so that the loose harpoon head is pressed against the end of the shaft, but will fall off when the hunter has struck the animal and released the shaft. From the right hand the rope continues, hanging rather loosely, to a coil of ropes held in the left hand. The coil of ropes contains other ropes connected to harpoon-heads already fixed in the hippopotamus. The loose ends of these ropes as a rule have a kind of floats hanging from them.
The composition of these scenes in the New Kingdom was taken from the royal scenes of hippopotamus hunt in the Old Kingdom.
This theme was not found in the Middle Kingdom tombs.

The Scenes of the hunting in the desert
The hunting in the desert was one of the most important sport in ancient Egypt like the fowling by throw-stick and the hippopotamus hunt in the marshes of Delta. In some scenes of the hunting in the desert of the private tombs, the owner of the tomb accompanies with his wife during his hunt.
The implements of the hunting in the desert were "the bow and the arrow" and the rope with running knot. The ancient Egyptians also used the hounds to catch the animals.
The animals, which lived in the desert of ancient Egypt, represented the evil. The killing of these animals means destroying the evil.
In the private Memphite tombs of the Old Kingdom, these scenes by using of the bow and the arrow were not found because they were a royal monopoly. the scene of hunting in desert was already depicted in the pyramid temple of Sahure (Vth Dynasty). In this scene, the king, who wears the crown of Lower Egypt, discharges his arrows at the animals in the desert.
However, this subject was depicted in the private tombs of Middle and Upper Egypt because regions were far from the capital (Memphis).
The scenes of hunting in desert were depicted in the Memphite necropolis. The implements, which were used in these scenes, were the throw-stick, the rope with running knot and the hounds.
The scenes of hunting in desert were very common in the tombs of the Old and Middle Kingdoms and were known since the IIIrd Dynasty.
In the New Kingdom and the Late Period, there are also a few private tombs that show the deceased hunting in the desert. The decoration of the first pylon of the mortuary temple of Ramses III (XXth Dynasty) at Medinet Habu includes a detailed depiction of the king and his soldiers hunting bulls.
These scenes exhibit the fauna of the desert. The animals are sometimes represented in their natural state, breeding, grazing, and falling a prey to the king of the desert. The animals, which appear in these scenes were gazelles, lions, lionesses, cheetahs, jackals, foxes, antelopes, ibexes, hedgehogs and ichneumons. The hunters were seen loosing his hounds, discharging their arrow at the animals, throwing the rope with running knot at the animals or grasping the throw-stick.
The desert was represented as a band coloured red (to represent the sand), wavy line or simple straight line.
Some plants and trees, which were grown in the desert, were represented in these scenes.

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