Granite Chest Hieroglyphs with a Boat and Scarab, Niebuhr Plate XXXIV, 1776

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, plate XXXIV of volume 1 of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie. The caption reads, in Dutch and then in French, Beeld-Schriften, op eene Kist van Granit. and Hiérogliphes, sur une Caisse de Granit., meaning "Hieroglyphs on a Chest of Granite".

The copied surface opens with the same frieze of recumbent jackals on low bases alternating with tall upright signs, over a horizontal band of hieroglyphs in which birds, a seated figure and enclosures can be picked out. Below the band the panel divides. At the left a standing figure faces right beside a few signs, and next to it a scarab is drawn inside a ring with scalloped lobes. In the middle a single figure stands upright on a long, curved boat whose prow rises at the right, with a bird and a few signs above. To the right are four ruled columns of signs, with large birds among them. Lower down a row of six square compartments holds further signs and a seated figure, and beneath them three kneeling figures face right in a row. A curved outline rises at the right of the lower register, and a meander band runs along the base. The stone is drawn broken at the upper right and along the left edge.

Under the lower right corner of the image is lettered "C. J. de Huyser, direx." The plate number Tab: XXXIV. is engraved upright along the right margin, beside the border.

The sheet comes from the first volume of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, the Tome Premier, translated from the German and issued at Amsterdam by S. J. Baalde and at Utrecht by J. van Schoonhoven and Comp., with the date MDCCLXXVI on its title page. Niebuhr (1733 to 1815) was a German born surveyor in Danish service and the only member of the Danish expedition to Arabia (1761 to 1767), sent by King Frederick V of Denmark, to return alive.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the left and right edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners are present. Several larger brown marks.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.