KM 29014: Plaster painted with reclining figure
Terenouthis, Egypt
Found at the Terenouthis site, next to the stele bearing Sarapous' epitaph, was a piece of painted plaster.** This plaster fragment has a figure painted on it using fresco techniques, in which tempera pigments were applied while the plaster was half dried. The figure depicted is an unknown deity reclining on a couch, or kline, holding a cup aloft in a toast. Such a scene is often found in burials at Terenouthis. It isn't entirely clear who or what the reclining figure represented to the people of Terenouthis, but it possibly could be a banqueter or drinker at a funeral feast, very much in the Greco-Roman tradition of representing diners at funerary meals. Another rather similar, and also frequently painted scene in graves at Terenouthis, is that of a figure depicted reclining in a boat. This scene is thought to represent the journey across the river to the afterlife and underworld. Interpretation of these scenes, again, is difficult.
**Please note: this "assemblage" was created solely for educational purposes. While all of the objects discussed here were excavated at the site of Terenouthis, it must be emphasized that they were not found in a single tomb. A full explanation of this class project is found on the introductory page for this website.
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