Depictions of Holding Animal Baskets in the Middle Kingdom Private Tombs

The ancient Egyptian artist depicted the animal in a variety of contexts and postures on the walls of the tombs. This paper focuses on depictions showing the animal in an indirect contact with its bearer. The animal was kept in a certain kind of basket which was commonly held by an individual, i,e. the basket was used as an intermediate tool between the animal and the bearer of the basket. Thus the study mainly circled around three elements; the animal, the basket, and the bearer. The suitable methodology that will be used to achieve the aim of the study is the descriptive and analytical one applied to the scenes of the Middle Kingdom private tombs (Beni Hassan, Meir, El Bersha, and Thebes). The study resulted in certain important points including; the main species of animals usually held in the basket; the context, in which the animal was kept in the basket (mainly for offering); the way, in the animal was depicted (young or grown up, with complete body or just apart that appears from the basket, in a profile or frontal representation); the form, the color, and the material of the basket containing the animal; and the individual holding the basket (usually male, or female), and the way he or she holds the basket, by hands, on shoulders, or even on the head.