Architectural Landscape. A New Interpretation of the Sloping Ceiling of Rekhmire’s Tomb Chapel (TT 100) (original) (raw)
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Frankfurter elektronische Rundschau zur Altertumskunde, 2021
After our preliminary paper concerning the funerary monuments within the 'Neferhotep Complex' in Luxor, which has been presented in this journal a few years ago 2 , it is now necessary to reconsider all the monuments of this architectural complex 3 from a wider perspective, in order to reinterpret the changes of uses and rituals, which are attested in these tombs, as important elements to understand how most of the private funerary monuments of the Theban necropolis are often characterised by an unpredictable complexity and an elaborated cultural stratification. When approaching the study of private tombs at Thebes, often the main emphasis is given to the iconographic and epigraphic apparatuses, to the typologies and chronologies of the finds and to the layout. In general Theban tombs, as suggested by some scholars 4 , are mostly associated with the names of the individuals for whom they were built; they are considered as if they were always and for ever 'pre-planned projects' for a single individual or family. But in this way we lose the developments and the changes to the project which may have occurred even during the early phases of construction; some alterations in accommodation may be due to unexpected reasons which occurred even during the construction of the monument. There are numerous cases of premature deaths of members of the family or of related families which determined a different choice in the layout and in the burials. Possible changes to the original project may have occurred due to an abrupt change in lithotypes to forms which are unsuitable for quarrying, determining therefore the change of orientation of chambers and corridors in order to find more suitable bedrock. Moreover, there was also the need to respect or avoid chambers and sections of close tombs which were earlier in date and may have been unknown because they were no longer in use: in this case the reaching of the chamber of an unknown earlier tomb during the quarrying may have determined the choice to adapt or change the project or even re-use earlier burials. The partial use or reuse of sections or chambers of other tombs may certainly happened in later phases, but it could also belong to the early phases, in case the original project have reached nearby tombs. Therefore the study of use, reuse and later developments of these tombs, in order to properly understand the chronology and the stratification of the architectural and planimetric phases, needs to take into account, together with iconographic, epigraphic, ritual and anthropological studies, also the geomorphology of the area, the topography of the surrounding monuments, the study of lithotypes and sub-lithotypes, the micro-1 CAAM (Centro di Ateneo di Archeometria e Microanalisi), University G.d'Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara. 2 PEREYRA ET ALII 2015. 3 My acknowledgments, as well as of all the team working in this splendid monumental funerary complex, go to the offices and officers in Cairo and in Luxor of the Ministry of Antiquities and to the inspectors of Luxor always collaborating and supporting fruitfully this project. Moreover, a special thank goes to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, to the Italian Embassy and Consulate in Cairo, to the Istituto Italiano di Cultura and Centro Archeologico Italiano, for their support and contributions. 4 For instance DORMAN 2003, in part p.30.
Monumental Funerary Architecture and Ritual Landscape in First Dynasty Egypt
Midant-Reynes, B.; Tristant, Y. (eds.), Egypt at Its Origins 5. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference “Origin of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt”, Cairo, 13th-18th April 2014, 2017
Since the excavation of the 1st Dynasty mastabas at Saqqara in the first half of the 20th century, the main historiographic problem that these monuments have posed has been that of their ownership. The absence of any kind of definitive archaeological or epigraphic proof to settle it has split scholars into two groups: those who believe that they were royal tombs and those who assign them to high officials of the 1st Dynasty court. In some papers published between 2002 and 2011 I sided with the former. My approach to the problem has two main issues: the philological one and the archaeological and “topographical” one. In this paper I will deal with a new development of this second issue from a basic premise: the interpretation of the Saqqara mastabas must not be approached in an isolated way, but in the context of the whole 1st Dynasty cemeteries with monumental niched mastabas of the Memphite region. They share very meaningful features that make them a well planned and articulated “net”, an architectural and landscape “program”. On the other hand, from a sociological point of view, it is the “builder” instead of the “owner” of the tombs that we will emphasise.
The Tomb of Rekhmire (TT 100): Analyzing the Concept and Composition of a Complex Artwork
2019
ICE XII, Mena House, Cairo, 6 November 2019. The Theban tomb of Rekhmire is of vital importance not only due to its owner, vizier in the time of Thutmose III and Amenhotep II, but due to its unique architecture and innumerable motifs, some newly defined for the first time. The monumental character of the chapel challenged the artists and the standard layout of 18th dynasty noble tombs. The concept and composition are in immediate response to this specific architectural setting. Thus, for approaching the way patron and painters elaborated the paintings a consideration of iconic references, semantic interactions, and an interpretation of the overall concept, as well as specific placing and compositions of motifs, is of importance. The paper discusses the ‘pictorial language’ of decoration in TT 100. Analysis will focus on the overall concept of the decorative programme, the layout of picture planes, the composition of themes and motifs, as well as the situation of the beholder. Visual communication and the aesthetics of reception played a decisive role in the layout of the paintings even while the wall decoration was conceptualized. The artists responsible used different techniques including formal elements of art such as space, motifs, colour, or image’s value in order to highlight the paintings, and increase their visibility and notion as an eye catcher. By using certain compositional elements and specific references some subjects could be accentuated and the artistic work was able to strengthen the tomb’s role as an important place of elite self-representation and its crucial function for the afterlife. For further investigations, attention is paid to the architectural environment of the chapel with a specific focus on its acoustic setting. Taking into account the fact that the acoustic setting of TT 100 stands out from the other tomb-chapels of its time and rather relates to temple architecture, one can suggest that it also influenced the construction of ancient visitors' overall perceptions and impressions of the monument, especially in the context of cultic oral performances like recitations, chants, spoken rituals, etc. Audio extract from TT 100's soundscape is accessible online: https://youtu.be/HUzV4xDn\_VI
How to Avoid the Trick? Heritage Discussions from Theban Tomb TT123, Luxor (Egypt
Current Anthropology, 2023
We introduce the surveys of the walls and ceilings of Theban tomb 123 (TT123), located on the West Bank of Luxor (Egypt). On the basis of the identification of material evidence of the different episodes of occupation and transformation of this place since its initial construction, which took place between 1479 and 1425 BC as the tomb of the scribe Amenemhet, until today, we reflect on the difficulties and consequences of the traditional approaches of conservation and restoration in Egypt. We argue that such places are subject to constant changes according to the uses and the agents they summoned all throughout their complex history. TT123 is not only a pharaoh's tomb that deteriorated as a result of the passing of time but also far more than that. This paper seeks to explore the tension between more traditional approaches to conservation and restoration in Egypt and a more inclusive approach that recognizes the tomb's passage through time.
Master of Arts (MA) thesis, The American University in Cairo, 2021
Gardens in ancient Egypt are known from the Early Dynastic Period to the Graeco-Roman Period from archaeological, textual, and pictorial evidence. From this evidence, one can differentiate between informal and formal gardens. This thesis exclusively produces a typology of the š- and Domain of Amun formal garden scenes (the ḫnty-š-, the sš-, the k3mw-, the 'at-nt-ḫt-, and the ḥrrt-š-formal gardens) represented in the early to mid-late Eighteenth Dynasty Theban private tomb art prior to the Amarna Period (TT E2, TT 39, TT 63, TT 80, TT 81, TT 85, TT 87, TT 90, TT 93, TT 96, TT 100, TT 109, TT 161, and TT 334) by their Egyptian names. These formal gardens are examined in this study through (i) visual analyses and (ii) discussions in terms of their additional extant evidence, tomb locations, flora and fauna they sustained, and wider sociocultural significance and relevance to the tomb-owners’ titles in early to mid-late Eighteenth Dynasty Thebes prior to the reign of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten. This study concludes that the formal gardens represented as tomb scenes, and the actual ones known from extant textual, pictorial, and/or archaeological evidence of the period, were symmetrical and even sometimes asymmetrical landscapes, that were located in proximity to either private homes and tombs, palatial residences, cult and/or memorial temples/shrines, and domains. The š-formal gardens were first constructed by the pharaohs, who sometimes gifted them to private and royal individuals, and which influenced other elite individuals, who had the power and resources, to construct ones of their own. The ḫnty-š, the sš, the k3mw, the 'at-nt-ḫt, and the ḥrrt-š-formal gardens were principally constructed as monuments (mnw) by the kings for their palaces or for the gods. In the royal and private spheres, the š- and Domain of Amun formal gardens were aesthetic landscapes with numerous features used for sports, leisure, music, song, and dance performances, boat rites, meals, wakes, private banquets, and/or religious festivals and rituals, as well as provided surplus flower, herb, wine, fruit, fish, fowl, incense, and/or honey production for the institution(s) to which they were connected. Important to note is that the native and foreign flora of these formal gardens would have been purchased and/or introduced locally as seeds, fruit, and/or potted young specimens via gardeners or one’s other gardens or via foreign trade. Each of the 42 floral and 11 faunal species identified in these formal gardens have a specific growth and/or development cycle, which only allows them to be in bloom and/or available for harvest during a certain time of the year for use in food, medicine, festivities, meals, banquets, offerings, and floral arrangements, etc. Additionally, these formal gardens and their production were established, constructed, cultivated, maintained, overseen, and administered by intricate networks of individuals who worked in and/or liaised with them directly or indirectly. This relationship was evident in terms of the relevant titles of the tomb-owners and their colleagues, as well as from the location of the formal garden scenes in the porticos, transverse halls, passages, and chapels of the tombs in proximity to other self-glorifying ‘focal representations’ (Blickpunktsbilder) that would have been regularly viewed by family and community members and ideally visited by the b3 and k3 of the tomb-owner after death.
Windows are a very rare element in Theban tombs, present only in the Eighteenth Dynasty, mainly in its early part. The University of Pisa excavations at Dra Abu el-Naga recently added three new examples of tombs with this feature: MIDAN.05, whose investigation has been completed in 2014, and two new tombs, T1 and T2, opening onto its forecourt, not yet excavated. The first phase of MIDAN.05, a T-shaped tomb with one single window, probably dates to the true beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty, when rishi-coffins were still in use. This paper suggests that the evolution of new models of funerary architecture in the New Kingdom must be slightly backdated to the very beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty, before Hatshepsut. At the same time the importance of openings –both intercolumnia and windows– in saff-tombs as well in the early Eighteenth Dynasty Theban funerary architecture stresses the vitality of a tradition well rooted in the Middle Kingdom, possibly related to the solar cult.
Depicting the Mountain and the Tomb at Thebes. Ancient Images of the Theban Necropolis
in S. Töpfer, P. Del Vesco, F. Poole (eds.), Deir El-Medina Through the Kaleidoscope.Proceedings of the International Workshop Turin 8th-10th October 2018, Modena, 2022, pp. 701-24, 2022
This paper examines how the necropolis and tomb surroundings were conveyed in ancient Egyptian iconography during the New Kingdom and the early Third Intermediate Period, through the study of a type of landscape representation in ancient Egypt, the tomb and its location (the West and the mountain) in the Theban area. By "necropolis", we mean here both the place where the tombs are located and the cluster of tombs that constitutes a burial ground. The focus will be more on the environment of the tomb within the image, as a setting for the "depicted tomb", than on the tomb itself; however, both motifs go hand-in-hand and share a common history within the iconographic field considered here.
Preparing for Eternity: Funerary Models and Wall Scenes from the Egyptian Old and Middle Kingdoms
2022
During the late Old Kingdom to the end of the Middle Kingdom, there were two principal types of artistic representation in the ancient Egyptian elite tomb: funerary models and wall scenes. The two media exhibit several similarities in design, with both depicting people and animals engaged in activities of everyday life. This has caused scholars to regularly label funerary models duplicates or substitutes of wall scenes, implying that they served the same purpose in the tomb. However, there are several notable differences yet to be acknowledged. This book conducts a detailed comparative analysis of the two artistic media, focusing on representations from the sites of Meir, Deir el-Bersha and Beni Hassan in Middle Egypt. The analysis highlights the distinguishing characteristics of each medium and establishes a more precise understanding of the role of funerary models in the tomb and their relationship to wall scenes.