Relief of Women in a Boat 595-550 B.C. Late Period Saite tomb relief from the north - Memphis and the Delta - exhibits new subject matter starting roughly in the sixth century. This includes idealized rural vignettes of females boating, dancing, or involved in agrarian activities. Such scenes are enlivened by a smooth and lithe figural style especially among non-focal figures. Although the original location of this block is not known, the scene is a good representative of northern tomb relief as it has been gathered and studied, and the block is testimony of rare subject matter. A group of women travel in a papyrus skiff. In the prow a woman with a long pole punts the craft. Behind her a woman sits low in the bottom of the boat holding a rectangular lyre. A third figure stands with her body facing the viewer, her dress raised to expose herself; she beats one hand against her thigh in time with the music. The figure in the rear of the boat hunches forward, her arm raised behind her; alt