New light on the possible reasons for representing the nine bows in some 18th dynasty private Theban tombs

الملخص EN

In only some 18th dynasty Theban private tombs that few scenes depicted the king in his royal kiosk with the Nine Bows as a decorative motif.

This motif had disappeared from the private Theban scenes of the latter periods for unknown reasons.

Therefore, this paper aims at identifying the locations of the tombs including these scenes, their dates and the titles of their owners.

It also displays and examines the scenes showing this motif in the Theban private tombs and their types to understand the possible reasons behind their appearance in certain tombs and times and disappearance in the later times.

It uses analytical descriptive methodology for the scenes and their contexts.

It concludes that the representation of the Nine Bows in the funerary context was because of political context of the country, social state of the owner of the tomb and a reflection of religious funerary belief on the funerary art during a short time.

The disappearance of this phenomenon was maybe of a change of artistic style or kings’ desire to limit this icon to their monuments.