Granite Chest Hieroglyphs with Four Standing Figures, Plate XXXII, 1776

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, plate XXXII 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".

Across the top runs a frieze of recumbent jackals on low bases, alternating with groups of tall upright signs. Below it is a horizontal band of hieroglyphs, kneeling figures, birds and other signs, and below that a row of narrow ruled columns of signs, read from top to bottom, with birds, seated figures, enclosures and water lines among them. In the lower register four figures stand in a row on a ground line, drawn in solid tone. The two at the left raise both arms above their heads. The third, with an animal's head, bends forward with its arms lowered, and the fourth, wearing a tall plumed crown, also bends forward toward a short line of signs. Beneath the ground line runs a broad band of meander pattern. The lower right part of the stone is drawn broken away along a ragged diagonal line, which cuts across the columns and the meander and passes just beside the fourth figure.

The plate number Tab: XXXII. is engraved upright along the right margin, beside the border. No artist's or engraver's name is lettered on this sheet.

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 bottom and left edges, with a brown stain in the left margin. Light foxing in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left corner. Shallow nicks along the bottom.

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