The tombs which preserve best the
figures of the Keftiu are those of Sen-mut and Rekh-ma-ra. That
of Sen-mut is the earlier, though only by a generation, or perhaps
rather less. He was the architect of Queen Hatshepsut, the man who
planned and executed the great colonnaded temple at Deir-el-Bahri,
and who set up Hatshepsut's gigantic obelisks. His tomb at Thebes
overlooks the temple which he built at his Queen's command to be
'a paradise for Amen,' and on its walls we can see 'the men from
the back of beyond' walking in procession, each with his offering
to present to the Pharaoh. There can be no question as to who they
are. The half-boots and puttees, the decorated girdle compressing
the waist, not quite so tightly as in the Minoan representations,
the gaily adorned loin-cloth, which is the only article of attire,
all are practically identical with the type of such a fresco as that
of the Cupbearer at Knossos. The conscientious Egyptian artists
have carefully represented also the elaborate coiffure which was
characteristic of the Minoans, who allowed their hair to fall in
long tails down their shoulders, doing part of it up in a knot or
curl on the top of the head. The tribute-bearers carry in their
hands or upon their shoulders great vessels of gold and silver,
some of them exactly resembling in shape the Vaphio cups, though
much larger than these, some of them of the type of the bronze
ewer found in the north-west house at Knossos.
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