Hieroglyphs and Emblems on a Mummy Case, Antique Print, 1776

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, plate XXXIX of the first volume of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie. The caption engraved in the lower margin reads Beeld-Schriften en Zinnebeelden op eene Mumuen-Kist. in Dutch and Hierogliphes et Emblêmes sur une Caisse à Momie. in French. Both lines mean hieroglyphs and emblems on a mummy case.

The plate copies the painted decoration of a mummy case in outline and hatching. Two narrow columns of hieroglyphs run down the center of the sheet, each closed by a small star, with birds, eyes and other signs set one below the other. The lower part of the right hand column is filled with stippling instead of signs. On either side of the columns are six framed panels of figures, drawn flat and in profile. The two top panels mirror each other, each with a bird perched on a throne at the outer edge, a figure with spread wings and two standing figures. Further down are standing figures holding long staffs, a large bird on a pedestal facing a kneeling woman with raised hands, two kneeling figures on blocks, and, on the right, a seated figure on a throne approached by a figure with a long curved beak. In each bottom panel a long-legged animal stands beside a basket of round objects, under a winged disc.

The lower left corner below the image is lettered C. J. de Huyser, direx: (directed the engraving), and the plate number Tab: XXXIX. is engraved at the upper right.

The plate belongs to the first volume of Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, marked TOME PREMIER and Traduit de l'Allemand on its title page, which carries the imprint of S. J. Baalde at Amsterdam and J. van Schoonhoven and Comp. at Utrecht and the date MDCCLXXVI. Carsten 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. The account was first published in German at Copenhagen; this is the French translation printed in Amsterdam and Utrecht.

A large loss at the lower right corner and up the right margin, outside the printed area. A split in the lower left margin. Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Soiling along the left edge. Light foxing and brown marks.

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