5. AKHNATON IN HIS PALACE.
The reliefs and paintings upon the tombs often show the Pharaoh reclining thus, in a languid manner, as though the duties of his high calling had sapped all the strength from him. Never before had a Pharaoh been represented to his subjects in such human attitudes. The privacy of the palace is penetrated in these scenes, and we see the king, who loved to teach his followers the beauty of family life, in the midst of his own family. One or two of these representations must here be described. In one instance the royal family is shown inside a beautiful pavilion, the roof of which is supported by wooden pillars painted with many colours and having capitals carved in high relief to represent wild geese suspended by their legs, and above them bunches of flowers: just such a grouping as one might see in some sporting house of the present day. The pillars are hung with garlands of flowers, and from the ceiling there droop festoons of flowers and trailing branches of vines. The roof of the pavilion on the outside is edged by an endless line of gleaming cobras, probably wrought in bronze.
Inside this fair arbor stand a group of naked girls playing upon the harp, the lute, and the lyre, and, no doubt, singing to that accompaniment the artless love-songs of the period. Servants are shown attending to the jars of wine which stand at the side of the enclosure. The king is seen leaning back upon the cushions of an arm-chair, as though tired out and sick at heart. In the fingers of his left hand he idly dandles a few flowers, while with his right hand he languidly holds out a delicate bowl in order that the wine in it may be replenished. This is done by the queen, who is standing before him, all solicitous for his comfort. She pours the wine from a vessel, causing it to pass through a strainer before flowing into the bowl. Three little princesses stand near by: one of them laden with bouquets of flowers, another holding out some sweetmeat upon a dish, and a third talking to her father.
In another scene the king and queen are both shown seated upon comfortable chairs, while a servant waits upon them. The king is eating a roasted pigeon, holding it in his fingers; and Nefertiti is represented drinking from a prettily shaped cup. The light, transparent robes which they wear indicate that this is the midday meal; but unfortunately the painting is so much damaged that nothing but the royal figures remains.