Attendants of Hatshepsut

The zigzag pattern on the band at the top of this fragment represents water. The original scene showed a religious procession of boats carrying statues of gods and kings. The two men depicted in this fragment were part of a long line of priests and royal attendants who accompanied the flotilla on the bank of the river or canal, each carrying a long staff and a small bouquet. The regular celebration of processions such as the one depicted here reinforced the Egyptians’ idea of cyclical time and the eternal repetition of events.