Ancient Egyptian Iconograpy

(complete pdf added)

During the Third Intermediate Period, in the vignettes illustrating Spell 17 of the Book of the Dead, it is at times possible to spot a rather uncanny figure. Bell-shaped, occasionally adorned with a strip of cloth and provided with human legs and eyes, it can probably be identified with one of the demons mentioned in the Spell: MDd or MaDd, 'the Smiter'. The role and the implications of this creature still need to be fully clarified.
Spell 17 is one of the longest, most important and most intricate, as well as one of the spells most frequently included in the manuscripts, but the depiction of Medjed is absolutely exceptional: it features only in some peculiar categories of Book of the Dead papyri of the 21-st-22nd Dynasties, the most renowned example (but also the most atypical) being the Greenfield Papyrus (pLondon BM EA10554).
In order to be evaluated, the development of such a noticeable rarity in the visual concept of the netherworld has to be set in the frame of the ‘innovation in tradition’ trend in the 21st–22nd Dynasties’ Books of the Dead. The appearance of this demon also raises some significant questions on the criteria that led the workshop and the scribe to choose certain specific elements during the composition of each scroll.

La denominada Tabla Isiaca, tras su aparición en la colección del Cardenal Pietro Bembo, fue interpretada en estrecha relación con la filosofía hermética; posteriormente, las escenas en ella representadas han sido consideradas una simple sucesión de figuras, inspiradas en el arte ptolemaico, con una única intención decorativa. El presente estudio plantea la existencia de un programa iconográfico coherente y global, acorde con la estructura literaria y teológica que late en las denominadas aretalogías o himnos isiacos. Los diferentes registros en los que se estructura la pieza harían pues referencia a las diversas dádivas que la diosa entregó a los hombres, así como a sus potestades divinas y a ciertas relaciones con otras deidades del panteón egipcio. Asimismo, la elaborada decoración del borde exterior de la pieza, inspirada en la iconografía astronómica y astrológica, constituye un espacio simbólico de representación del ámbito estelar controlado por la diosa. Se trata, por lo tanto, de plantear, desde este punto de vista, una nueva función de esta magnífica pieza en el entorno de la liturgia latina de la diosa.
The so-called Table of Isis, after its appearance in the collection of Cardinal Pietro Bembo, was interpreted in close connection with the Hermetic philosophy. Later, the represented scenes in it have been considered a simple succession of figures inspired by the Ptolemaic art, with just a decorative purpose. The present study suggests the existence of a coherent and comprehensive global iconographic program, according to the literary and theological structure that beats in the so-called aretologies or Isiac hymns. The different levels in which the piece is structured would refer to the various gifts that the goddess gave to men, as well as to her divine powers and to certain relationships with other deities of the Egyptian pantheon. Also, the intricate decoration of the outer edge of the piece, inspired by astronomical and astrological iconography, is a symbolic representation of the stellar field controlled by the goddess. We are trying, therefore, to propose from this point of view, a new function of this magnificent object in the context of the Latin liturgy of the goddess.

In 2003, a temple was unearthed by Paolo Gallo's Italian Archaeological Mission in Alexandria (CMAIA) in the El-Bahrein Oasis, 140 km southeast of Siwa in the Lybian Desert. The tripartite sanctuary was decorated with painted reliefs under Nectanebo I and some architectural parallels can be drawn with his mammisi at Dendera; the hypostyle hall was probably added by Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Religious and political connections with the Siwa Oasis are constituted by the presence of the god Paheramon, perhaps an oracular form of Amun, and by the local king Unamon, both represented in the temples of Aghurmi and Omm Obeyda. Unamon ruled over the region at the time of the 30th dynasty and wrote his name in cartouches at El-Bahrein, but not at Siwa. On the other side, religious links with the Bahariya Oasis are established by the identification of the god "Harsiesis the excellent heir of Onnophris" (Ḥr-sꜣ ꜣs.t-i҆wꜥ-mnḫ-Wnn-nfr), whose image is carved also in the first chapel of 'Ain Muftella and in the tomb of Banenentiu. Moreover, the fragmentary toponym Ḏsḏs, one of the Egyptian names of Bahariya attested in the temple and in the mammisi of Edfu, could be read on one of the blocks.

Abstract: This study explores the question of innovation and new pictorial resources in New Kingdom art, especially in the 18th and 19th Dynasty private Theban tombs, which seem to have been a more convenient context for artists’ innovations, where they explored new possibilities. A good example may be the transgression of some Egyptian ‘rules’ of display which artists have followed over centuries, such as the attempts to create
depth and perspective in the composition. Frontal  Images are also an example of the emancipation from Egyptian ‘rules’ of display, attested in human figures and animals. In this research focussed on innovation, I have paid special attention to the frontal poses of animals, such as the cats represented under the seats of their owners in tomb scenes, or the frontal dogs shown
in the popular desert hunt scenes. These hunting dogs shown en face, sometimes even in a twisted pose, reflect a ‘break’ of the movement of animals, being attested in several private Theban tombs. I believe this type of animal frontal poses could have worked as ‘visual hooks’, calling the attention of the viewer to particular details. It is difficult to say if these innovations are
just a self-developed process within the Theban workshops, or if they are the result of artistic foreign influence. We must bear in mind that it was a period of intense contact with the world abroad, when foreign objects displaying new motifs and poses arrived to Egypt, and were appreciated by the elite. In fact, frontal poses in animal depictions are also attested in wooden
boxes of NK date or even in objects from the royal sphere, such as pieces from the funerary equipment of the tomb of Tutankhamun, maybe reflecting the so called ‘International Style’ of the 14th century BC, in which iconographic elements and idioms passed between Egypt, the Aegean and the Near East. The most skilled artists could be inspired by foreign iconography and
poses when decorating the NK private Theban tombs.

Apart from containing other inconsiderate and erroneous statements, a recent brief synthesis of Predynastic art (WENGROW 2009) in an authoritative online encyclopedia (the UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology) has unjustly cast doubt again on a remarkable Predynastic artefact, the decorated jar British Museum EA35324. As will be clear from what is said below, most of which is not new and has already been written elsewhere, both the object and its decoration are definitely genuine. The vessel remains one of the most intriguing and spectacular iconographical documents of the late Predynastic period and certainly deserves a much better fate than its current 'entombment' in one of the storerooms of the British Museum.

QV 71, the tomb of Bint-Anath, the eldest daughter and great royal wife of Ramesses II, is located on the north flank of the Valley of the Queens. As with all other Ramesside queens’ tombs in the valley, QV 71 is relatively large and possesses a rich, complex decorative program that reinforces the tomb’s cosmographic value as the deceased royal woman’s netherworld landscape. However, unlike these other tombs, which are adorned with programs depicting the tomb owner alone amongst the gods, QV 71 represents another human being along with the deceased queen. This person is an unnamed princess, who is shown twice in QV 71’s sarcophagus chamber. The presence of this figure in the tomb has led some scholars to speculate that she represents a daughter of Ramesses II and his daughter-wife Bint-Anath, a notion that, while possible, is far from conclusively proven and not the only explanation for her depiction in the decorative program.


In this paper, I will describe and present a critical analysis of the two scenes showing the unnamed princess in QV 71 with the aim of presenting alternative interpretations of the figure’s identity and function within the tomb’s netherworld landscape. To this end, I will focus on scene content, composition, and layout; the texts associated with each scene, particularly captions describing each royal woman’s titles and epithets; the royal regalia worn by the princess and by Bint-Anath; and the relationship of the two figures to each other and to the deities in each scene.

"A small group of mummiform bronze lamps is taken into consideration here in the light of magical texts as tools for mantic or oracular rituals. The iconography of the mummy surrounded by a snake has been recently attested by another specimen from Antioch. This new sample provides occasion for some considerations. Moreover, a lamp from Luni, the face of which reminds the Antinoos iconography, is taken into account as a witness of the oracular role of Antinoos."

The office of God’s Wife of Amun is distinguished by its long history. It clearly appeared during Middle Kingdom, but it reached its apogee during the 18th  dynasty and the 25th-26th dynasties. Since the New Kingdom, it increasingly received a political characterisation, nevertheless it always maintained also its original religious role.
It is possible to determine the duties of the God’s Wife both on the basis of their titles and iconographical evidence. Titles underline the close relationship between these priestesses and the god, but some scenes carved on the walls of Theban monuments give us more interesting data. Throughout dynasties, as her political influence increased, the God’s Wife was involved in a wider range of rituals which culminated in the Celebration of the Sed Festival by Shepenupet II during the 25th  dynasty.
However, an iconographical distinction between the two categories of rituals (political and religious) was carefully maintained.
The aim of the present paper is to distinguish these two categories and to show the original religious role of the God’s Wife of Amun and how it was preserved through time.