Describe the style and iconography of Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt and explain its significance within the broader context of tomb decoration.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The ideal answer should include:
1. This painted relief is in the mastaba of a government official named Ti and, like other Old Kingdom tombs, this mastaba includes decoration that showed the deceased engaging in the duties and pleasures of earthly life.
2. Ti is depicted in the conventional composite pose, while the hunters are more lifelike and engaged in livelier activities.
3. Since Ti was a government official, he is shown in the relief conducting one of his many duties: supervising a hippopotamus hunt.
4. Seth, the god of darkness, often disguised himself as a hippo, and, therefore, the tomb depiction documents the valor of the deceased and symbolizes the triumph of good over evil.