Gods, Myths, and Heroes - Part 69

 Mastaba of Kagemni, Egypt

Kagemni was the vizier of King Teti of Egypt's Sixth Dynasty, c. 2340 B.C.  His wife was a daughter of the king.  When he died, Kagemni was buried in an elaborate mastaba, or tomb, in Saqqara, Egypt.  Above, an image of Kagemni on the wall of his tomb, wearing the odd Egyptian kilt that projects forward like a triangle.

The tomb contained multiple chambers whose walls were covered with carved and painted artwork, much of it depicting the daily life of the common people of Egypt.  The common people wore considerably less clothing than the king and the nobles.  Above, two fishermen.

Here are some more fishermen.

This interesting carving depicts a hippopotamus hunt.  At least one of the hunters is unashamed.

Milking a cow that has extremely long, pointy horns.  Interestingly, the figure on the right is wearing a cloth around his loins, but it's open at the front, so it was not intended to preserve modesty.

We end with what is the most interesting image to me.  While a naked man holds a jar as if pouring from it, another man appears to be kissing a pig, and that's a serious French kiss (click to enlarge image).  Some commentators say that he's not kissing it, he's force-feeding it.  Others say it's not a pig; it's a dog, citing its feet which appear to have claws, but still others say that the claws might have been added later, because otherwise the animal looks like a pig.

Apparently in the ancient Egyptian religion, one way of showing respect for the dead was to decorate his tomb with a man French-kissing a pig.  Who knew?