Bamboula (…“Seal impressions…”) Benson 1955Jack L. Benson

Continued from scan 8

… other hand, features of the bull's head have been summarily indicated. The eyes are not shown at all and one cannot be sure where the mouth is. Contrast this with the meticulously rendered hooves of the beast. The features of the man's head are rendered quite clearly, but all between head and calves is done most summarily. Hands are not shown at all and the crouching position is not really carried through anatomically, nor can one be sure what the man is wearing, if anything. All in all, we have before us the work of a man of considerable artistic talent and strong will, without the slightest pedantic [handwritten: consistency] [handwritten: inclination].

Maximum dimensions of the fragment are 12.2 cm. and 5.6 cm. with a width of 3.1 cm. It was a surface find picked up about 10 meters south of the southwest corner of Area D.

The motif of confronted fighting bulls is purely Egyptian and occurs at least as early as the late Old Kingdom. [handwritten: 23] Although Egyptian representations countenance considerable variety in the posture of the bulls - which are sometimes even shown being separated [handwritten: 24] - the most usual representation is that of two bulls in profile pushing forehead to forehead, while an attendant with a stick stands behind each, to incite or to separate the bulls, as the case may be. A representation [handwritten: remarkably] similar to the Bamboula [handwritten: bulls,] [handwritten: 25] one occurs in Tomb 17 at Beni Hasan (Fig.4 Pl. ). The [handwritten: stance] stance, position of tail, neck and head, proportions of men - all are [handwritten: remarkably] in accord with the seal impression. However, three salient differences must be pointed out between the Egyptian prototype and the seal impression. The first is the position of the horns, which on the latter are locked in midair, keeping the foreheads of the bulls apart. The second is that the hind leg of the bull nearest to the observer is thrust forward rather than back. Thirdly, the men behind the bulls do not have sticks but appear to be leaping or crouching.