“My beloved stirred my heart with his voice, and left me a prey to my anxiety and longing. He lives close to my mother’s house, and yet I do not know how to go towards him. Perhaps my mother can act on this, and I must talk to her and reveal it to her. He does not know my desire to take him in my arms, and he does not know what prompted me to reveal my secret to my mother. My heart beats faster when I think of my love. It twitches in its place. I have become… “I don’t know how to dress, I don’t know how to put makeup around my eyes, and I never wear nice scents.”
This flirtatious poem, which was recorded in the “Chester Beatty” papyrus under the title “The Virgin Lover”, which confirms that the ancient Egyptian expressed his love and feelings on various occasions and was not ashamed to record it on the walls of tombs and temples or on papyrus papers. This indicates the high status of women in ancient Egypt, which allowed them to express their feelings without regard to the difference between men and women or considering the love relationship to be a disgraceful matter as some ancient civilizations had imagined.
We all know that love works miracles, and the record of Egyptian civilization throughout the ages is filled with many love stories that culminated in marriage, but what Sinat did for Sinab is completely different and is considered one of the strangest love stories throughout history.
Seneb was a princess from the ruling family, and Seneb was a dwarf of short stature. He was responsible for designing and making the jewelry and royal clothing in the palace. Seneb was a funerary priest in the era of the two kings, Khufu and Gadre. In ancient Egypt, they employed most of the dwarves in two jobs: either working in making and designing gold jewelry for the accuracy of their fingers and their ability to make it, or for the purposes of entertainment, fun, and dancing. The story of the princess and the dwarf “Sent and Seneb” began when she asked for it to be made for her. An outfit made of Venus, jewelry, which is an amulet, and a bracelet in the shape of a sun disk. The servants did not fulfill her request, and then Sint revolted against her servants, and Sint herself ran to the head of the dwarves, which was Seneb. When Seneb saw Sint, he fell in love with her from the first moment. Sint had a beautiful face, a slender figure, and white skin, and her hair fell on her shoulders like the black of night, and she wore clothes like mermaids. Despite Sint’s anger at Seneb, Seneb was absorbed. Sinat became angry with his intelligence and eloquence with some kind words that left an impact on her and made her think from the first meeting. Sinat deliberately did not send Sinat clothes and solution on the agreed upon date until she went to him and he saw her again so that he could look at the charming looks in her eyes as if she wanted that too, and from here the princess met Sinab and a love story began, one of the strangest love stories in history, in which they exchanged letters of love and affection.
A story in which Princess Sint challenged the entire ruling family, and despite everyone’s rejection of this relationship, which forced Sint at the time to threaten suicide if her husband, the dwarf Seneb, continued to refuse. Then the members of the ruling family retracted her opinion and let Sint marry Seneb after he was appointed to a position commensurate with his marriage to a princess. Sinab became the head of the state treasury and does not make fashions and jewelry except for the princess of his heart and his beloved Sint.
Princess Sint had a strong and bold personality. She was the first to take the initiative to ask for the hand of the dwarf Seneb in marriage. Seneb’s mind could not comprehend what the princess was doing for him and he could not believe that a beautiful and intelligent princess like Princess Sinat would fall in love with him to the point that he used to say to himself and to her that what was happening could not be reality. It could be a dream or you are deceiving me. A princess like you cannot marry a dwarf servant like me. Then Princess Sint’s eyes were filled with tears and she sat down. On her knees, she held his little hands and looked into his eyes with all love and tenderness and said to him, “I love you, and this is the most important thing. You are the only man with whom I feel safe, and you are the only one who can make me happy, so do not give up on me, and I love you.” So Sinab swore to her and said to her, “I will never abandon you, you are in my blood.” Sinab married the sweetheart of his heart, Sinat, who was never ashamed of him.
The two lovers (Snab and Sent) embodied their love story in a fine work of art, and presented to us the extent of love, loyalty and sincerity in this beautiful marital relationship. The artist’s intelligence also appeared in forming the statue in an ideal position that hides the defects of the difference in height and size between them. Snab is depicted sitting with dangling legs and next to him is his wife who embraces him with intense affection and love, as she places her hand on his shoulder. To achieve symmetry in the statue, the sculptor depicted Snab’s sons in place of his legs so that he was as tall as his wife, and the two children were depicted. They are naked according to the rules of ancient Egyptian art, and each of them places his index finger in his mouth. It was also customary for the woman to appear lighter in color than the man due to the man’s external work and exposure to the sun. The color scheme was beautifully completed by the long white linen robe of Sinat and the short white kilt of Sinab.
