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This thesis is a study of six Middle Kingdom bread moulds that are currently part of collections in Swedish museums. This thesis is also a discussion on the problems in early Egyptological documentation, with focus on sites such as Mirgissa, Abu Ghalib and Hawara. These are the rumoured places of origin of the six moulds that are part of the analysis for this thesis, three which are from the Gustavianum in Uppsala, and three which are from the Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm. This author hopes to shed some new light on these objects and give them the documentation they deserve. By presenting two case studies on more modern excavations at the sites of Mersa Gawasis and Elephantine, this author will discuss what can be done to move forward in documenting objects in the future, regardless of if they are new finds or if they are a re-documentation of old ones. Furthermore, by using typology theories, the aim is to look at how documentation can get better. This author strives to place these moulds into a new light and bring forth some much-needed documentation to these types of bread moulds.

In Ancient Egypt, names were very important, in this life and the next. Gods had a multitude of names, and kings were usually given five names, but also private individuals could have several names, given at birth or later. One of these names was called rn nfr (the good name), and it was especially prevalent during the Old Kingdom. The term rn nfr slowly disappeared during the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom, but reappeared during the Late Period.The characteristics of all occurrences that could be found of rn nfr from the Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom were studied and compared to the occurrences of rn nfr in the Late Period. They were also compared to the first names of the individuals who wore these rn nfr.The results of this investigation show that there are great differences between the earlier periods and the Late Period, especially in that the names of gods and kings are often prevalent in the rather long rn nfr of the Late Period, possibly used for official and religious purposes. The rn nfr of earlier periods are often short names, which people were probably called, on an everyday basis. They sometimes constitute abbreviations of first names, with phonological changes taking place, in the majority of cases only consisting of three consonants without any apparent meaning, perhaps used from a very early age, and in a few cases taking on the characteristics of true nicknames.

With its exotic appearance and depictions in ancient Egyptian art and literature, the curved sword referred to as ’khopesh’ has been the source of much speculation. While its actual use as a weapon of war is debated, as is its level of effectiveness, there can be no doubt that it was a highly prestigious symbol of power. This essay aims to shed light on not only the practical aspects of such a weapon but also to delve into the cultural and in particular royal ideological roles. This is achieved through studying textual sources, representations in art and preserved examples of the weapon. Comparisons will also be made with other contemporary bladed weapons in Egypt and its vicinity. Aspects of metallurgy which allows for the making of swords will also be touched upon.

This paper targets papyrus fragments kept at the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology, which can be identified as belonging to the group of documents known as “Stato civile”. These fragments most certainly originate from Bernard Bruyère’s excavations in Deir el-Medina. As such, they enable us to contextualize the related published sources from the Museo Egizio (Turin) and, by doing so, to track down the provenance of several papyri of the Drovetti collection: we suggest that they come from the archive of a lineage of scribes who lived in Deir el-Medina during the second part of the 20th Dynasty. Consequently, the lists of households (“Stato civile”) can be interpreted as internal documents written by the Deir el-Medina scribes in order to manage the houses and villagers.

It could be shown with two types of representations of gods, Meretseger as sphinx and different renderings of Amun-Ra protomes, that intericonic relationships can also be found in the corpus of the graffiti de la montagne thébaine. With a clear copy-paste case—graffito 307 made by the sculptor Amennakhte (viii), who was active during the second half of the reign of Ramses II, and copied by deputy Hay (vii) in graffito 349, who was active during the mid-20th dynasty—adaptations and variations in the later rendering could be shown. Rare motives, like Meretseger as sphinx applied on the same spot, could be identified as clearly intericonically related. In these geographically closely related cases the impact of the existing image (agency) could be identified as one of the motivations for the application/production of the copy. It is more difficult to identify the motivation for the image production in the case of the dissemination of the two different forms of Amun- Ra protomes—variants of the once, in the 19th dynasty, established image type—over the entire royal necropolis (Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens and adjacent valleys) during the mid-20th dynasty. But based on the identification of several persons of the Deir el-Medine elite (deputy, scribe, draftsmen), who were involved in the dissemination process and who were all closely connected and aware of the dissemination process, it can be proposed that the application of the Amun-Ra protomes on different, more or less remote, spots in the necropolis was the common goal. Further, the connectedness of the producers may explain the iconographic variants in the renderings of the common motive as markers allowing their personal distinction.

For around one hundred years the Hieratische Paläographie by Georg Möller was the only diachronic and diatopic chrestomathy. It was used for all kind of purposes, from identifying signs to approximately dating texts – not just literary ones, for which the chrestomathy was principally produced, but also administrative texts. With the publication of Wimmer’s Hieratische Paläographie in 1995, there now existed a chrestomathy for administrative texts from Deir el-Medine, covering a period of around 250 years. As an experiment, Wimmer’s palaeography was tested as a means of dating literary texts, which were exemplified by a pre-existing small group of signed and, therefore, quite well-dated texts. On the one hand it could be shown that this works quite well, whilst on the other it demonstrated that earlier identified signs relevant for dating, such as (D51 + D40) and (Aa1), are quite reliable tools. Local idiosyncrasies could be detected, as could exceptions to the changes observed in the use of signs over time owing to the human factors, which always have an impact in studies into handwriting styles.

In the article plans, sketches and 1:1 templates of plans of tombs built during Egypt’s New Kingdom (1530–1050 BC) at Thebes, especially in the Valley of the Kings, were studied as a specific group of models as epistemic duplications. Not yet attributed plans to existing structures or rooms were identified as in the case of the architectural sketches from the Tomb of Senenmut (TT 71) or as on an ostracon displaying a four pillared room. The relation of 1:1 templates to their final execution are also critically discussed. One of the two existing plans of the tomb of Ra-messes IV (KV 2) is clearly one of the first complete plans of a building project in antiquity set up in advance to the building process, attesting systematic planning instead of incomplete preliminary planning as also existing explanation for building projects in antiquity, mainly based on the lack of preservation of ancient plans. In combination with the other plan of the tomb of Ramesses IV as well as the entire material including the sketches and the 1:1 templates the different temporal dimensions of epistemic duplications can be shown. 

“The Oldest Representation of the Initial Image of the Book of the Day”

In 2003, the University of Basel discovered in the Valley of the Kings a fragment of a sculptor’s exercise. Once reunited with another fragment of the same piece found in 1905/06 by Theodore M. Davis, this new fragment permitted the identification of the oldest representation of the opening scene of the Book of the Day/Livre du Jour. Dating to the second half of the 19th Dynasty, the scene shown in the sculptor’s exercise differs from younger images of the Book of the Day, whose “canonical” forms are first apparent in the decorations of the tomb of Ramesses VI (KV 9). This newly identified representation of the Book of the Day can thus be used to argue against a positivistic dating of this/the netherworld books on the basis of their first attestation in a royal tomb. Instead, it reveals an earlier stage in the development of the visual representation of the Book of the Day, one that precedes the versions executed in the tombs of Ramesses VI and Ramesses IX. Furthermore, it allows us to establish the figure of Nut, holding the sun disk in front of her, as well as of the sun disk itself, as central elements of the opening scene of the Book of the Day.

Based on a reassessment of the papyri Pap. Berlin P 15871 and 1582A+B with the correction of several readings, particularly one of the three determinatives of kȝr(i) "shrine", the key word for their earlier interpretations, it is suggested that the architectural drawings do not show a rock cut temple or a hemi-speos but KV 5, the so-called tomb of the sons of Ramesses II in the Valley of the Kings. Differences in the handwriting, in the depiction of the bedrock pattern surrounding the rectangular rooms, and other observations suggest that more than one person was involved in the creation of the architectural drawings. As suggested in the past, they belonged to at least two different papyri. Terms referring to work in progress indicate that the papyri are related to work in progress, as opposed to other architectural drawings which represent the beginning or final stages of tomb construction projects.

During a research stay at the Museo Egizio in September 2014* – which was targeting documents potentially written by the scribe of the necropolis Amennakhte1 (v) son of Ipuy (ii), such as P. Turin Cat. 1879+ TPOP Doc ID 9 (Turin Papyrus Map) and O. Turin CGT 57001 (Hymn to Ramesses IV) – we observed that the state of preservation of O. Turin CGT 57002 is much better2 than could be inferred from the facsimile, hieroglyphic transcription and picture published by López.3 This prompted us to build upon Bickel and Mathieu’s analysis4 and to study this piece anew.

In this paper, we first provide a revised hieroglyphic transcription, an annotated translation and comments on the content and motivations for composing this hymn to Ptah. In a second step, we situate the text within the growing corpus of Amennakhte’s literary compositions. We then contextualize the hymn among the scribe’s expressions of religious piety and discuss the Sitz im Leben of this particular hymn. Finally, we argue that this text is likely to be an autograph. As such, the date of copy can be used as a chronologically fixed point for the analysis of Amennakhte’s handwriting.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the social networks and mobility of officials related to the provincial towns of Elkab, Hierakonpolis and Edfu in southern Upper Egypt. It analyses their sphere of influence in Egypt and Nubia against the backdrop of the Second Intermediate Period and the early New Kingdom. A prosopographical methodological approach is applied with Social Network Analysis as a theoretical framework.

Based on epigraphic sources on which the southern Upper Egyptian officials are attested, the prosopography displays that a number of them were highly mobile within the confines of the Egyptian territory of the Second Intermediate Period. In the early New Kingdom, these officials also became attested in Nubia. Furthermore, the Social Network Analysis reveals that officials from the towns were well-connected locally with each other. Periodically, these officials were also closely linked to the central administration.