In terms of colour, it has been reported that most cones are entirely white, entirely red, painted red only on the stamped surface, or are, rather unusually, blue (Daressy 1892: 270; CAA 1984: # 2293; Pellegrini 1902: 153.). Generally speaking, since the outer surface of the tombs was covered with white plaster, it is possible that the cones were coloured so as to attract visitors. The cones of Davies & Macadam # 298 and # 312, which belonged to a couple, serve as evidence of the theory. Based on the observations at the British Museum, I found that the husband's (Nebseny) cone (Left: EA 62684) has a white surface and his wife's (Seniseneb) cone (Right: EA 62645) has a red one. These cones, at the time, were set side by side or were separated into a right half and a left half. Regardless, it can be stated that the Egyptians did not build monotonous tombs as is evident by the inclusion of such colourful elements.
Last updated on 11th Feb. 2010.