Griffith Institute w&d 159 | Force-feeding Cranes
Deir el-Bersha.
Tomb of Djehutihotep. Temp. Sesostris II and Sesostris III.
Hall (Inner Room). North wall, lower part of wall with two registers.
A group of domesticated Cranes with man force-feeding one Crane on the left.
From scene: Second register, netting fish, third register, three rows feeding, cooking and bringing Cranes, Geese and other birds and fish.
Watercolour.
594 mm x 375 mm.
Annotations:
Mount, recto,
'Howard Carter 1893.' [signature and date];
'cf. El Bersheh I. Pl: XXII.'; 'p. 14.'; 'I think these are cranes not avocets'; 'See the squares to keep the drawing right -'; 'A pole holds up the bamboo which forms rod for tent.'.
Mount, verso,
'No 57 El Bersheh'; 'Plate XXII.'; '32 x 22'.
159
See PM iv.180(17)-(18) | TopBib 409-060-010-020; GI w&d Deir el-Bersha Project; Newberry, P. E. El Bersheh i [1894], 31 pls. xx, xxii; De Meyer, M. & Cortebeeck, K. Djehoetihotep. 100 jaar opgravingen in Egypte | Djehoutihotep. 100 ans de fouilles en Égypte (2015), 117 fig. 64 (Griffith Institute w&d 159).
In the tomb of Djehutihotep on the north wall of the Hall (Inner Room), below the scenes of hunting birds and fishing is a register containing three rows of feeding, cooking and bringing birds. This tableau is framed by a the forked uprights and cross-member of a roofed enclosure which houses five large birds with their handler. All the birds have grey-green plumage, black wing-tips, red head-caps and light brown legs, and are probably Common Crane (Grus grus). The handler is grasping the upper neck of one bird with one hand whilst forcing a large pellet of food down into its gullet with the other. Above the group of four cranes on the right is a large red vessel which contains a copious amount of food for the task. This process quickly fattened the bird making it suitably plump for Djehutihotep's table.
Photography Jenni Navratil, assisted by Hana Navratilova
Editing and web pages Elizabeth Fleming, assisted by Francisco Bosch-Puche & Cat Warsi.