Egyptian Gallery Egyptian men on papyrus raft with oxen and crocodile (tactile)
Synopsis
Part of a wall mural in the Egyptian Gallery, Ipswich Museum; this section is 111 cm long and 48 cm high.This is a scene of everyday life in Ancient Egypt of two men - one kneeling and one standing - on a papyrus raft trying to prevent a crocodile from getting near to their two oxen that they are driving across the river.
The structure of the raft can be seen - stems of papyrus bound together with ropes to form a floating wide 'u' shaped platform with each end raised out of the water. Both men hold long poles with 'y' shaped ends that they are pushing down towards the large crocodile that has its mouth open showing its fearsome teeth. Both are looking down directly at the crocodile with determined looks on their faces. The two oxen, standing side by side with water up to their bellies, are directly in front of the raft and have huge horns typical of Egyptian cattle. The ox nearest the crocodile has its head turned towards it with an expression of fear.
The Nile is painted blue with vertical zigzag dark blue lines. The raft is green with darker green for the binding ropes. The men have dark brown skin. The kneeling man is wearing a white kilt and a white headdress that completely covers his hair. The standing man also wears a white kilt but has no headdress and his black hair looks ruffled. Both have bare feet. The oxen have light brown horns with white bodies, one with black spotty markings and the other with brown.
The tactile image is four and a quarter times smaller than the actual scene and follows the lines and shapes as closely as possible. The raft, poles, horns, teeth of crocodile and hair of standing man are shown with solid texture. The oxen and crocodile are shown in outline infilled with two different textures. The men are also shown in outline with no texture for their skin and a third texture for their kilts. The kneeling man's headdress is shown with the same texture as the crocodile. Thin lines show the zigzag lines of the river.