Inmaculada Vivas Sainz

The present research analyses the role of the Egyptian artist within the context of New Kingdom art, paying attention to the appearance of new details in Theban tomb chapels that reflect the originality of their creators. On the one hand, the visibility of the case studies investigated is explored, looking for a possible explanation as to their function within the tomb scenes (such as ‘visual hooks’) and offering a brief experimental approach. Tomb owners benefitted from the expertise and originality of the artists who helped to reaffirm their status and perpetuate their funerary cults. On the other hand, iconography can include examples of the innate creativity of artists, including ancient Egyptian ones. The presence of such innovative details reflects the undeniable creativity of artists, who sought stimulating scenes which were sometimes emulated by contemporaries and later workmates. Significantly, some of these innovative details reveal unusual poses and daily-life character, probably related to the individuality of the artists and their innovative spirit. In other words, the creative impulse is what leads artists to innovate. In this sense, creativity must be understood as the dynamic of the visual arts that determines constant evolution of styles.

Figurative graffiti made by ancient cultures could be considered as a source of information regarding the lower levels of the society, illiterate people unable to produce a text, as well as a reflection of a mainly unlettered population. The invisible authors of those drawings produced a rich and complex evidence, which shows their intention to leave a trace of their presence in a certain place. Basing on two case studies of figurative graffiti attested in the Royal Cachette wadi or C2 Wadi in ancient Thebes (Luxor, Egypt), I propose a holistic analysis which considers their iconography, function and exact location within the context of the landscape. This analysis will show the significance of the C2 Wadi, the liminal character of the precise location of both graffiti, and the sacred role of the place which has an exceptional concentration of graffiti in the Theban mountain. Los grafitos figurativos realizados por las culturas antiguas pueden ser considerados como una fuente de información de los sectores más bajos de la sociedad, gentes iletradas incapaces de producir textos escritos, y también reflejo de una población mayoritariamente analfabeta. Los autores invisibles de esos dibujos nos han legado una evidencia compleja, pero que resulta una excepcional muestra del deseo de dejar constancia de su presencia en un lugar. A partir de dos estudios de caso de grafitos figurativos del llamado Royal Cachette wadi o wadi C2 en la antigua Tebas (Luxor, Egipto), se plantea un análisis holístico que tenga en cuenta su iconografía, su función y la ubicación exacta en el contexto del paisaje. Todo ello servirá para mostrar la importancia del wadi C2, el carácter liminal de la ubicación de ambos grafitos y el papel sagrado del lugar que presenta una excepcional concentración de grafitos en el contexto de la montaña tebana.

This paper is focused on private tomb scenes with mourners dated to the end of the 18th Dynasty located in the Egyptian Memphite necropolis, with a special interest on the artistic resources and the clear division of groups according to the gender of mourners, as mourning men in expressive attitudes are particularly rare in ancient Egyptian scenes. The presence of men in grief, together with the traditional female mourners, within the funerary procession is striking, portraying expressive poses which provoke feeling of empathy and sorrow in the beholder. Indeed, the expressions of feelings in mourning scenes and their diverse artistic treatment in Memphite tomb decoration reveals the innovation and originality of the artists, features that could be traced back to the reign of Akhenaten. This paper explores the complex process of creation of the funerary iconography of the Post-Amarna art, a period of religious, political and social changes which were mirrored in private tomb scenes.

Este trabajo pretende investigar las motivaciones del prominente papel del antiguo Egipto en la primera exposición universal de Londres (1851) y sobre todo en la posterior desarrollada en París (1867). El Crystal Palace de Londres albergó una interesante recreación de arquitectura egipcia y a la vez un conjunto de antigüedades procedentes del país del Nilo. Del mismo modo, Auguste Mariette diseñó un templo egipcio en la sede de la exposición de París de 1867, trasladando a la capital francesa la arquitectura faraónica de modo muy fiel. En ese contexto cultural se forjaron además proyectos como la estatua de Bartholdi para el canal de Suez (que inspiraría su posterior escultura colosal de la Estatua de la Libertad en Nueva York), o la escultura dedicada a Champollion. A través de las exposiciones universales decimonónicas la imagen del antiguo Egipto se hizo más veraz y exacta, aunque siguió estando impregnada de un halo de exotismo, que en cierto modo sigue presente en la actualidad en la egiptomanía, como huella de nuestra herencia cultural.

The current research is mainly a preliminary study of some of the most significant graffiti located in the wadi C2, in the context of the ongoing investigation of the C2 Project. The Royal Cache Wadi Survey, and tries to clear out the motivations behind the location and concentration of graffiti in the area, probably related to the sacred character of the place. Through the analysis of C2 graffiti published in the work Graffiti de la Montaigne Thebaine, which are being revised in depth, the types of figurative graffiti are established, as well as those figures connected to specific textual graffiti, maybe later additions. The study of the figurative graffiti follows a comparative approach considering them in connection to the landscape and to contemporary and older graffiti in the wadi, and relating them with the presence of graffiti in Theban tombs, which have been analysed by Alexis Den Doncker and Chloé C.D. Ragazzoli. The analysis of an interesting graffito with a hunt in the desert scene (graffito 3652) will be a case-study to understand the reception of the funerary art of the New Kingdom and its transference into the rocky wall of the Theban mountains. In all, we will try to explain the presence of a significant corpus of graffito recorded in the wadi C2, within an inhospitable environment but that maybe had a sacred character linked to a religious cult. The existence of this type of human activity, graffiti, could be understood as an example of ‘space appropriation’, an intention to leave a mark on the site by creating a text or just making a drawing.

Our study will focus on the paintings found on the palace of Amenophis III at the site of Malkata, analyzing their iconography which includes traditional Egyptian themes and also new elements which reflect the influence of Aegean Art such as geometric and spirals decoration, animals rendered in “flying gallop” and symbols like the bull head with a rosette between its horns. We will trace the origin of these symbols, looking for similar examples on the iconography of Egypt, the Aegean and the Near East, analyzing the means of transmission as well. The paintings unearthed at Tell el Dab’a (Avaris) in a palace of the early XVIII Dynasty, with remarkable Aegean style and technique, will prove to be an important connection and a possible direct influence for the Malkata paintings.