PLATE LXVI
BOGHAZ-KEUI: GROUP OF TWO MONSTROUS FIGURES STANDING POSSIBLY ON A WINE-PRESS
In the large recess at Iasily Kaya.
The three figures following this pair have been described, and with them the second straight length of wall comes to an end. The next bend is inwards, and the wall becomes nearly parallel to the axis of the chamber, containing in this length nine further figures. The leaders[515] are similar in general appearance to those which precede them, though the object carried on the shoulder may be thought to resemble rather the mace carried by the head of the whole procession. The same may be said of two others[516] of this series, but the condition of the stone is too bad to enable much detail to be gathered. In regard to the pair between these,[517] no objects are now visible in their hands, while their costumes also show some difference of detail. The one seems to have a long cloak, or possibly a staff, hanging from the arm, while the robe of the other is striped horizontally over the left leg. The third figure of the group[518] is peculiar; the arms seem to be thrown forward, with a cloak or long staff hanging down from below the shoulder, while the hat also is inclined slightly forward. A horn or peak to the hat is also traceable. The two last of this series[519] resemble rather the type of the figures supporting the leader of the procession, both as regards costume, position of the hands, and the curving forward of the hat, even though the heads are not inclined as in the earlier instance quoted. There next follow, on a short return of the wall, three figures[520] which we found too weathered to describe, though two of them have been represented by earlier visitors as bearded and wearing embroidered robes. The next and last turn of the wall, which now resumes its main parallel direction, is occupied by thirteen figures, of which the first[521] seems to be a robed and bearded figure of the kind indicated by those two which precede it. It stands apart from those which follow; so too do the next two, though not so far, while the remaining ten figures[522] are close together. These twelve figures are all alike, clad in tunics, conical hats, and tip-tilted shoes. They carry no weapons, and their right feet are partly raised, touching the ground only with the toes, as in the act of running, which is suggested also by the position of the arms, drawn up at the double, and to some extent by the poise of the bodies. These figures also, unlike the rest, are not in procession but in line, for the right elbows and right feet of the more advanced are hidden by those which are shown behind them, and the left hands of the latter partly hide the former—a convention of perspective adopted freely by Egyptian artists also, and repeated in an inner gallery which has yet to be described. This completes the series of sculptures on the left.[523]
BOGHAZ-KEUI: PLAN OF THE ROCK SANCTUARY CALLED IASILY KAYA, WITH THE POSITIONS OF THE SCULPTURES NUMBERED.
This series of sculptures finds its counterpart in those upon the opposite side of the recess, which being less numerous, and for the most part like one another, are more readily described. The figures are twenty-two in number, of which only two are male; they are represented likewise in procession, but approaching in the opposite direction with their faces turned consequently to the observer’s left. The leading figure, which is opposed to the godlike figure just described, is likewise of majestic stature. She stands upon the back of a panther, which in turn is poised upon four low flat-topped pedestals (or ‘mountains’). She is clad in a long pleated skirt with train and waistbelt; the upper part of the body seems to be bare or clothed in a tight-fitting garment, and the female breast is suggested in the fulness of the bust below the outstretched arm. Her head-dress is the ‘mural crown,’ an upright flat-topped bonnet with vertical supports.[524] Her long plait of hair and turned-up shoes are conspicuous. Both arms are forward; with her left hand she holds a long staff on which she partly leans, and with her right she proffers certain special emblems,[525] which almost touch those held out by the male figure which meets her. To complete the balance of composition, the forepart of a goat with a conical cap upon his head, protrudes from behind her dress also.
PLATE LXVII