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The tomb of Kagemni

Kagemni is found represented at heroic height on this wall, in a pastoral scene of breeding and taking care of the herds.









 





 a herd crosses a ford. A peasant sitting in boat has the whole herd crossing while attracting the mother with a calf, which he holds by a foreleg and by a rope. The calf tries to swim while turning its head toward its mother and while mooing. This attracts the mother and the whole herd.At the rear of the herd a drover raises his stick to drive forward the last reluctant oxen. Behind him a man makes to cross the ford with a calf, undoubtedly very young, which he carries on his back ... it does not appear to be very happy ( 
Crossing the ford is dangerous, not just for the beasts, but also for the men. Indeed, besides the usual fauna of fishes, there are crocodiles and hippos to look out for.

On the second register servants take care of the milking of cows, which have been tethered to stop the animals from moving (and to help keep away the calves which have not yet been weaned, which obviously seek to suckle their mother


To the right, two men are seated face-to-face on some sort of thick vegatable matting. They manufacture faggots from stems of papyrus, even though it is difficult to understand the nature of the instruments which they hold in their hands; nevertheless the action is indisputable since the hieroglyphic wording of the scene is "qeni", which means faggot or bundle
 
Another servant, seated in a strange kind of basket, weans a young pig to which he seems to regurgitate milk into its mouth. Note (as an aside) the pig, which is known from excavations to have been abundantly preserved, is hardly ever represented in tombs, probably considered as an impure animal. Besides, it will later become an animal connected to the god Seth

 

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