Egyptian Gallery Egyptian soldiers, one with amulet and one with spear and shield (tactile)
Synopsis
Part of of a wall mural in the Egyptian Gallery, Ipswich Museum; this scene is 39 cm high and 42 cm wide.This is a military scene showing three identical soldiers marching towards a more senior soldier who is standing in front of them. What is significant about the senior soldier is that he has his right arm missing below his elbow showing that a person with a limb missing in Ancient Egypt still was able to play an important role and was not considered "disabled".
The three soldiers, facing to the right are shown with bare feet striding towards the senior soldier, their left legs forward with their right feet bent at the toes in movement. They have dark brown skin, black hair and are wearing white kilts with large pleated front decoration. They have a fearsome expression on their faces. In their left hands they hold a long spear with a pointed tip and in their right hands they hold large oval shields with a straight bottom edge. The shields look like they are covered in oxen skin as they have white with brown markings like the oxen in the river as described in 5 above.
The senior soldier is standing facing you with his legs apart and with bare feet. He is wearing a knee-length white kilt with a pleated front and a T-shirt style white top. His tummy slightly bulges over his kilt showing that he is well fed. He has a bald head and has a proud look on his face as he admires the other soldiers, perhaps because he is responsible for how they look and their training. His left hand is held at his chest just below a large amulet that is around his neck like a necklace. The stump of his right arm is held away from his body so that we can clearly see that the lower part is missing.
The tactile image shows the senior soldier and just one of the other soldiers as they are all identical. The figures are roughly half the size of those in the actual painting. The two figures are shown in outline with no texture for their skin and a texture for their clothing. The spear, hair and outline of the shield are shown as solid texture with a different texture for the body of the shield.