By Jacqueline Engel
The royal couple, portrayed in the informal attitudes introduced during the Amarna period, is relaxing in a lush garden. The floral motif is continued in the other decorative panels, which depict a variety of animals in pursuit of their prey. The lid shows the queen offering flowers to the king, while below them attendants are plucking flowers.
Made of a red wood, almost every part of the outer surface is either inlaid, gilded, covered, or veneered. Ebony, ivory, faience, calcite, and gilt are the materials that richly decorate the surface and adhere to it by means of glue and, in a few cases, copper nails.
In the center, surrounded by borders of stained ivory, is a scene depicting the king and queen in the marshes. Tutankhamun sits on a cushion on a chair while shooting arrows into the thicket before him. Fish are depicted in the pool, while birds flutter around the vegetation. Ankhesanamun, seated on a cushion at his feet, holds his next arrow in her left hand, while an attendant in the lower right retrieves a speared fish and bird.
Egyptian Museum Caïro
LA CIVILTA' EGIZIA 