Secondary Epigraphy and Members of the Funerary Cult Staff. The Graffito of the Dining-Hall Administrator (ḫrp-sḥ) Kai-hersetef in Tomb Hammamyia A2 (with Graffiti from Meir) (original) (raw)
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As a part of the IFAO-Sorbonne Research Program "ÉCRITURES", an international conference will be held from 15 to 17 June 2019. Organized by Khaled Hassan (Cairo University/IFAO) & Chloé Ragazzoli (Sorbonne Université), the sessions of the conference will all take place in Cairo, at the Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale (IFAO). The practice of graffiti, rock inscriptions and secondary epigraphy in Ancient Egypt need to be examined, elucidated and evaluated in relation to their archaeological and environmental contexts. This conference seeks to render ever more discernible these voices from the past, long regarded as inconsequential and perfunctory, by shedding new light on their interrelational links with visual reception, society and culture. The papers aim to map corpora of graffiti throughout the Egyptian space and to address common issues of definitions and interpretations. It will assess various lines of enquiry such as the relations and dialogues that graffiti create with not only their natural environments (landscape) but also with man-made spaces; the social context of graffiti creation and their reception by an audience when considered as artefacts of cultural practices and performances ; the relations and dialogues between various epigraphic layers on a single surface and with their surroundings ; the semiotic value of various graphical. The conference will also be an opportunity for discussion on the technical tools and concepts which are available for both documentation and publication and exploitation. The edited volume of the conference aims to offer a map of graffiti practices, types of graffiti, relevant sites, communities and spaces covered by graffiti.
The World of Middle Kingdom Egypt III: Contributions on Archaeology, Art, Religion, and Written Sources, 2022
Cristina Alù, Some Remarks on the sx.tjw and their Overseers: The Multiple Meanings of sx.t and the Social Identity of the Marsh-dwellers Daphna Ben-Tor, James M. Weinstein, Scarabs from a Late Middle Kingdom Workshop at Tell el-Dab‘a Edward Brovarski, A Hitherto Unpublished Middle Kingdom Stela in the Field Museum of Natural History – Chicago Arkadiy E. Demidchik, Some Remarks on Neha’s Spell for Gaining Power over his Servant Statuettes Micòl Di Teodoro, The Preservation of Monuments in the Written Sources of Dynastic Egypt between 2000 and 1550 BC Gudelia García Fernández, Angela M.J. Tooley, Paddle Dolls from the Spanish Mission to Dra Abu el-Naga: Images and Contexts Wolfram Grajetzki, Middle Kingdom Coffins and Coffin Fragments in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge Ali Hassan Eid, The Journey from Authenticity to Forgery: A Case-study on an Adzeblade (Egyptian Museum Cairo JE 67944) of the Thirteenth Dynasty Khaled Hassan, Middle Kingdom Wooden Board with Hieratic Inscriptions from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (JE 30442/CG 25369/SR 920) Dinara Hereikhanova, Not only for a King: Nms-headdresses on the Objects of the Twelfth to Eighteenth Dynasties Lubica Hudáková, The Acquisition of a Coffin – Tracing the (Art) History of the Coffin of Neby (MFA 04.2058): From Dayr al-Barsha to Beni Hassan to Boston Alexander Ilin-Tomich, Minor contributions to Middle Kingdom prosopography Esmeralda Lundius, Processing Sites in the Funerary Landscape: Observations on Ancient Egyptian Offering Trays and ‘Soul houses’ Ahmed M. Mekawy Ouda, Seven Oyster Shells at the Egyptian Museum Cairo (CG 12825-12829, JE 28320 and JE 91753) Ahmed M. Mekawy Ouda, Khaled Hassan, Wooden Kohl Tube with Hieratic Inscriptions at the Egyptian Museum Cairo (CG 44703/JE 18553) Gianluca Miniaci, Cornelius von Pilgrim, An Unusual Mutilation of the Crocodile Hieroglyphic Sign in an Early Middle Kingdom Stela from the Sanctuary II of Heqaib at Elephantine Stephen Quirke, Three Types of inscribed Middle Kingdom objects in the Purchases by Flinders Petrie Patricia Rigault, A new Occurrence of CT 398 on two Coffin Fragments in the Louvre Museum Julien Siesse, The Late Middle Kingdom Stela Louvre N 196 = C 42 from the Louvre Museum Uta Siffert, ‘Death ends a Life, not a Relationship’. Some Thoughts on Designatin the Deceased Ax and Wsir NN in the Middle Kingdom Danijela Stefanović, The Administration of the Middle Kingdom Weaving Workshops: a Note on the Textual and Iconographic Data Mohamed Youssef Ali, The Statue of Ameny from his Tomb at Lisht
The study of Old Kingdom elite tomb decoration for a long time focused on the scenes’ representational content. In recent years the focus of research has shifted towards contextualizing the decoration in the tomb’s architectural setting and towards an understanding of the motives behind its establishment. Such an approach, in which the profane scene’s content is understood as offering an insight into the elite society as it was is subsidiary to the context in which these scenes are applied, is the subject of this contribution.
This paper summarizes the principal results of the research project ‘Symbolizing Identity: Identity marks and their relation to writing in New Kingdom Egypt’, carried out at Leiden University. The object of research was the system of marks used by the workmen who constructed the New Kingdom royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, and who were housed at Deir el-Medina. The workmen’s marks were used to express ownership of pottery vessels and other objects, to express identity in graffiti and votive inscriptions, and to compose administrative texts on ostraca. Through the combination of personal marks with numbers, dates, and a range of further icons denoting commodities and calendar months, the marks developed into a pseudo-script with te potential to communicate information that was very similar to the data offered by regular hieratic administrative writing. The investigation has resulted in clarifying aspects of this particular marking system, such as its use and purpose, the identity of the workmen represented by the marks, and the dating of many individual records. It has also revealed much about the relative importance of and interaction between this system of visual communication and writing.
2023
The rock-cut tombs that make up the elite cemetery at Dayr al-Barshā rank among the most important private monuments of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (c. 2050-1750 BC). Especially the funerary complex of Djehutihotep is well-known for the quality of its decoration and the unusual subject-matter of some of the figurative scenes contained within. Unfortunately, the cemetery has suffered greatly from later phases of reuse and vandalism, which led to the collapse of many of the tombs and the degradation of their decoration. To overcome these methodological challenges, Puzzling Tombs, an interdisciplinary research project between engineers and Egyptologists of the KU Leuven was launched in October 2017. While the engineering track of this project explored the documentation and realignment of the fragmented architectural remains, our own study primarily focusses on the decoration in paint and relief. It presents a full digital epigraphic documentation analysis on the funerary chapel of Djehutihotep and a contextualised architectural study of the monument. An essential component of any epigraphic study is the investigation and integration of the archival record left by early visitors to the monument. For the tomb of Djehutihotep, we are fortunate to possess a rich collection of 17th to 19th century descriptions, drawings and squeezes that can aid in reconstructing parts of the structure and its history. For better preserved sections, the digital epigraphic method allows us to analyse and disseminate the content of and the interrelations between textual and iconographic elements of the original decoration in detail. By exposing these, the many Egyptological themes on which the scenes and texts in the tomb touch, can now be explored with much more fidelity to the original source than the highly antiquated publication record on the tomb previously allowed. When considered together, the decoration of Djehutihotep’s tomb reveals a consistent and deliberate programme of self-representation by the tomb owner. Several architectural, iconographic and textual features in the tomb showcase a potent interplay between invention and tradition. This often extends to explicit archaic references not usually encountered to this degree or scale in private monuments of the Middle Kingdom. This well-considered programme of representation was not limited to the tomb owner, but also included secondary figures in the tomb, such as the chief artist, who used several visual ploys to emphasize his contribution in his own work. Part of the process that led to the creation of the tomb can be reconstructed by considering the tomb within its wider spatial setting. The architecture of the funerary complex was specifically adapted to the architectural history of the site and the geological properties of the rock in which it was carved. This demonstrates that the ancient surveyors were intimately aware of their physical environment and able to adjust accordingly. Although no unfinished sections of the tomb directly showcase earlier stages in its establishment, several preparatory traces visible underneath the final painted layer still allow us to discern some of the steps of the skilful artistic process that led to the decoration of the tomb. Other physical marks in and around the complex testify to the complex use-life of the tomb, from its initial establishment in the Middle Kingdom, through quarrying operations in the New Kingdom, Coptic reuse and looting and vandalism in the modern era. As well as a detailed investigation of a key-source in Middle Kingdom iconography, this study should be seen as a case study showcasing the potential of digital epigraphy as an analytical method. It can furthermore serve as a warning against any uncritical use of the often antiquated publications on primary sources, available to Egyptologists.
‘Visitors’ inscriptions’ refer to the ink graffiti left in the public part of funerary monuments in the New Kingdom to record individual visits. This study of the graffiti of TT 60 is part of a larger body of research on visitors’ inscriptions in the Theban necropolis. It presents a range of questions raised by this category of texts, which is here considered as a cultural practice. With these texts, individuals fashion a certain social identity and use the impact of the tomb in terms of social memory to their own benefit. The scribal identity of all the writers of graffiti is closely examined and this practice is considered as part of a specific scribal culture and social identity, which develop in this period and can be traced in the Ramesside literature with compositions such as the Late Egyptian Miscellanies and related texts. The discussion is followed by an appendix containing both published and newly recorded graffiti, along with their positions in the wall decoration
Journey to the West The world of the Old Kingdom tombs in Ancient Egypt. Prague 2012
This book is intended as a commented summary of some of the major trends and most important features that can be encountered when analysing ancient Egyptian society of the Old Kingdom. We have to bear in mind that around 3000 BCE one of the first centralised states in our recorded history rose, and the Old Kingdom represents certainly one of its apogees. Moreover, there is hardly any comparable society that left behind such a wealth of archaeological and literary evidence, a welcome companion for our journey back in time. The goal for writing this book was to outline general trends in the history of the non-royal tomb development of the period. The reason is rather simple and straightforward: ancient Egyptians considered the tomb to be their afterlife residence for eternity. In the afterlife they replicated the life they experienced during the lifetime. Thus the tomb architecture, decoration, inscriptions and equipment paradoxically represent a major tool for our understanding of the everyday life of the ancient Egyptians and enable a better comprehension of the development and dynamics of the Old Kingdom. The book is divided into nine chapters covering, step by step, the development of the Egyptian tomb and society from the Predynastic Period to the end of the first six Egyptian dynasties, a lengthy period of time which covers the Early Dynastic and the Old Kingdom periods. These six chapters are accompanied by three additional chapters on religious aspects of the Old Kingdom society, its economy and environment.
Middle Kingdom Studies 2, 2016
Marilina Betrò, Tombs in transition: MIDAN.05 and windows in the early Eighteenth Dynasty Anna Consonni, Precious finds from an early Middle Kingdom tomb in Thebes: reconstructing connections between the dead and their goods John Coleman Darnell, Colleen Manassa Darnell, Umm-Mawagir in Kharga Oasis: an Industrial Landscapeof the Late Middle Kingdom/Second Intermediate Period Vivian Davies, The tomb of a Governor of Elkab of the Second Intermediate Period Marleen De Meyer, An Isolated Middle Kingdom Tomb At Dayr Al-Barsha Nathalie Favry, The Transmission of Offices in the Middle Kingdom Wolfram Grajetzki, Gianluca Miniaci, The stela of the Thirteenth Dynasty treasurer Senebsumai, Turin Cat. S. 1303 Karin Kopetzky, Some Remarks on the Relations between Egypt and the Levant during the late Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period Ingrid Melandri, Female Burials in the Funerary Complexes of the Twelfth Dynasty: an Architectonic Approach Stephen Quirke, Diachronic questions of form and function: falcon-head utensils in Middle Kingdom contexts Mohammed Gamal Rashed, The Egg as a Metaphor for Isis: A Coffin Text Imagery Gloria Rosati, ‘Writing-Board Stelae’ with Sokar-Formula: A Preliminary Account with a note on the Archaeological Context of Tomb C 37, Asasif, by Gianluca Miniaci Ashraf Senussi, Said Abd Alhafeez Abd Allah Kheder, Two Blocks of Sobekhotep from Hawara Julien Siesse, An Unpublished Scarab of Queen Tjan (Thirteenth Dynasty) from the Louvre Museum (AF 6755) Pascal Vernus, Literary exploitation of a craftman’s device: the sandal-maker biting leather (Teaching of Chety, pSallier VIII, 12). When philology, iconography and archaeology overlap Fred Vink, Boundaries of Protection. Function and significance of the framing (lines) on Middle Kingdom apotropaia, in particular magic wands Paul Whelan, On the Context and Conception of Two ‘Trademark’ Styles from Late Middle Kingdom Abydos
When working at Abydos during the last months of 1908, E.R. Ayrton and W.L.S. Loat were informed about a cemetery being looted at nearby el-Mahâsna. They visited the site and identified it as a Predynastic cemetery, which they subsequently excavated in January 1909. As usual for the time, only the most important finds were described or illustrated in the excavation report. The objects themselves were distributed to a number of museums, amongst them the Egyptian collection of the Royal Museums for Art and History in Brussels. Fortunately, the contents of individual tombs seem to have been kept together during the distribution, and the Brussels museum received nearly all of the objects from Tombs H17 and H41. Tomb H41 was one of the richest in the cemetery, containing among other significant objects, a very interesting human figurine. The material from Tomb H17 includes a palette with lightly engraved decoration, which was unnoticed by the excavators. The inventories of the two tombs are discussed with particular attention given to their visual presentation. For this purpose, parts of the tombs are reconstructed in drawing, using the published photographs in combination with the actual objects in Brussels. The reconstruction of the figurine from Tomb H41 is of particular interest in the context of the recent discoveries in the settlement of el-Mahâsna.