Images, Perceptions
and Productions
in and of Antiquity
Images, Perceptions
and Productions
in and of Antiquity
Editor: Maria Helena Trindade Lopes
Co-editor: André Patrício
Images, Perceptions and Productions in and of Antiquity
Edited by Maria Helena Trindade Lopes and André Patrício
Cover design: Gonçalo Barcino
This book first published 2023
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Copyright © 2023 by Maria Helena Trindade Lopes, André Patrício
and contributors
All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN (10): 1-5275-9275-8
ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-9275-9
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE .................................................................................................. viii
CHAPTER ONE: ANCIENT EGYPT
Ancient Egypt: An Overview ..................................................................... 2
Maria Helena Trindade Lopes
SECTION 1. ANCIENT EGYPTIAN STUDIES
The Presence of the Lithic Industry in Wadi C2 at West Thebes ............. 20
Juan Candelas Fisac
Statues with a Falcon on the King’s Back in the Old Kingdom.
Some Semiotic Readings .......................................................................... 37
Francisco L. Borrego Gallardo
On the Beginning of Monumental Stone Building in Ancient Egyptian
Provincial Temples ................................................................................... 52
Arkadiy E. Demidchik
A Brand-New Cult in a Traditional People: What is the Role of “Antiquity”
During the Amarna Age?.......................................................................... 62
Valentina Santini
When the Producer is the Product: The Demiurge’s Self-Genesis in the
Egyptian New Kingdom’s Religious Hymns (ca. 1539–1077 BC) .......... 74
Guilherme Borges Pires
The Embracing Mountain: The Latest Research in the Royal Cachette
wadi, Luxor West Bank .......................................................................... 100
José Ramón Pérez-Accino Picatoste, Inmaculada Vivas Sainz
and Antonio Muñoz Herrera
vi
Table of Contents
An Approach to the Ancient Egyptian Social Imaginary: The Figure
of the Dog as Guardian and Shepherd .................................................... 115
Beatriz Jiménez Meroño
On the Egyptian Diplomatic Ties with the Aegean During the Reign
of Necho II (610–595 BC) ...................................................................... 130
Ronaldo G. Gurgel Pereira
CHAPTER II: ANCIENT NEAR AND THE MIDDLE EAST
The Mesopotamian Civilisation: An Overview ...................................... 138
Isabel Gomes de Almeida and Maria de Fátima Rosa
SECTION 1. ANCIENT NEAR AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES
The Divine Feminine in Mesopotamia: The Rosette/Star and the Reed
Bundle Symbols in Early Diyala’s Glyptic (c. 3100–2600 BC) ............. 156
Vera Gonçalves and Isabel Gomes de Almeida
Building Identities in the Neo-Assyrian Period ...................................... 178
Beatriz Catarina Tralhão Freitas
SECTION 2. PHOENICIAN STUDY
Changing Perspectives on the Phoenician Presence in the Mediterranean:
Past, Present, and Future......................................................................... 190
Francisco B. Gomes, Elisa de Sousa and Ana Margarida Arruda
CHAPTER III: CLASSICAL WORLD
Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome: An Overview ................................. 202
Leonor Santa Bárbara
SECTION 1. ROMAN AND GREEK STUDIES
Cicero’s Personal Omens: Pater Patriae and Electus Diuorum ............. 212
Rúben de Castro
Caesar and the Ocean ............................................................................. 223
Adrien Coignoux
Images, Perceptions and Productions in and of Antiquity
vii
Pan-Mediterranean Dressel 2–4 Wine Amphorae in Rome and Ostia
During the Middle Imperial Age (2nd–early 3rd Century AD):
Reflections Derived from the Ceramic Contexts at the “Terme
di Elagabalo” in Rome............................................................................ 233
Edoardo Radaelli
Sparta, Thera, Cyrene. Myth and Cult of Theras, the Founder
of a Lacedaemonian Colony ................................................................... 248
Kerasia A. Stratiki
CHAPTER IV: THE RECEPTION OF ANTIQUITY
Reception of Antiquity ........................................................................... 260
Maria Helena Trindade Lopes, Isabel Gomes de Almeida
and Maria de Fátima Rosa
SECTION 1. ANCIENT EGYPT RECEPTION STUDIES
Mummies and Moonlight at Karnak. On José-Maria de Heredia’s
Egyptianising Poem ................................................................................ 276
Åke Engsheden
The Café Oriental: Egypt in Portugal at the Beginning of the XXth
Century ................................................................................................... 289
André Patrício and Marcus Carvalho Pinto
SECTION 2. CLASSICAL RECEPTION STUDIES
Ciceronian Portraits in Oliveira Martins and António Roma Torres ...... 306
João Paulo Simões Valério
The Reception of Classical Myths in Alciato’s Emblemata:
An Inspiring Contribution to Portuguese Modern Art? .......................... 316
Filipa Araújo
SECTION 3. BIBLICAL RECEPTION STUDY
Reception of the Biblical and Eastern Antiquity in Early Modern Records:
Travellers and Pilgrims from Portugal to the Holy Land (16th–17th
centuries) ................................................................................................ 334
Carolina Subtil Pereira
CONTRIBUTORS ....................................................................................... 347
PREFACE
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
—William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun
“It may be argued that the past is a country from which we have all emigrated, that
its loss is part of our common humanity.”
—Salman Rushdie, Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism 1981–1991
“The past is the present, isn’t it? It’s the future too.”
—Eugene O’Neill, Long Day’s Journey into Night
This work is comprised of a large ensemble of geographic, temporal, and
thematic reflections that intend to discuss the forms, topics, paradigms, and
narratives of civilisations, both Ancient and those that structure the socalled Occidental Civilisation.
During the 19th and part of the 20th centuries, these civilisations––those
considered the cradle of civilisation––constructed the field known as
Ancient History and connected it to Greco-Roman Antiquity based on
classical texts.
The origins of civilisation in Africa and Asia broke the construction of
Egyptology and Assyriology. Still, some authors, who acted as defenders of
an overly consecrated past, quickly created an “Ancient Oriental Age” or
some “Pre-Classic Civilisations” given the status of a sort of antechamber
for the birth of civilisation traits “par excellence”. And so, Antiquity and the
idea of Antiquity was kept a prisoner of a vision that served the European
criteria for civilisation.
To counter this reality, several authors who had been profoundly inspired
by cultural studies restored Ancient History via the deconstruction of its
hypotheses and traditional themes. Many linguistic and literary studies
contributed to this, which led to greater attention being paid to the language
and a new wave of questioning of its fonts, which resulted in an investigation
into Antiquity that was profoundly more informed about the limits of its
assumptions and generalisations.
Images, Perceptions and Productions in and of Antiquity
ix
Other significant contributions to this change were the intensification and
ampliation of the “scope” of archaeological studies about Antiquity in the
second half of the 20th century. Classical archaeology and the archaeologic
branches of Assyriology and Egyptology led to a discussion regarding
material culture in Antiquity and a new threshold being marked. Finally, by
the end of the 20th century, with the emergence of the field of study focussing
the reception of the “classics” and the use of the past in the contemporary
world, the final blow was given to the reports that nationalised origins and
legacies. The Eurocentric character of Ancient History fell for good. The
world grew, widened, and Africa and Asia emerged and constructed the socalled Occidental Civilisation.
—Maria Helena Trindade Lopes
CHAPTER ONE
ANCIENT EGYPT
ANCIENT EGYPT:
AN OVERVIEW
MARIA HELENA TRINDADE LOPES1
DH & CHAM, FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS SOCIAIS E HUMANAS,
FCSH, UNIVERSIDADE NOVA DE LISBOA, 1069-061 LISBOA
The next chapter addresses a set of studies about themes of archaeology,
philology, religion, and Egyptian culture, all from different historical times.
Still, the unity and coherence of the work reside in the fact that all of them
give body and expression to one of the oldest, most prosperous, and
emblematic civilisations of antiquity—the Egyptian civilisation. This
civilisation emerged and developed throughout the Valley of the Nile, and
it had a truly impressive temporal span. This longevity is, in the first place,
justified by its geography.2 Egypt, contrary to other contemporary
civilisations or cultures, benefited from natural frontiers that assured its
stability and gave way to the development of a particular form of being and
ways of relating with space. In the East and the West, it was defended by
two deserts—Libyan and Arabic. In the South, the Nubian desert and the
Nile cataracts were gradually “conquered”, closed, and used to protect the
land. In the North, it opened up to the world through the Great Sea—the
Mediterranean. These coordinates were enabled the maintenance of a
civilisation that lasted for more than 3000 years.
On the other hand, it benefited from a river, the Nile3 (itrw) which, by
crossing the territory from the South to the North, assured not only the
fertility and productivity of the “desertic lands” but also the circulation of
men and goods.4 The regularity of its floods determined the counting of
1Address
all correspondence to: helenatrindadelopes@hotmail.com
Vd. Kees, (1961)
3 Butzer 2001, 543-551. About the significance of this river, vd. the even more
recent, Willems and Dahms (eds.) 2017 and Bunbury 2019.
4 Tallet; Argemi (ed.) 2015: 1-29.
2
Maria Helena Trindade Lopes
3
time, the agricultural cycle and its three seasons—Akhet, Peret e Shemu—
and the civil and administrative calendar.5
The understanding and apprehension of the surrounding spaces, such as
deserts and rivers, led to a dual vision of reality that expanded beyond
desert-river/death-life to the differences inside their own territory from
Upper Egypt-Lower Egypt and African Egypt-Mediterranean Egypt.
Geographically, climatically, and even politically, the South was always
rather distinct from the North. Therefore, the Egyptians referred to their
territory as the “The Two Lands” (t3wy). The political unity was reflected
in the geographic duality in emblematic terms by the red crown and papyrus,
symbols of the North and the white crown and the Lotus symbols of the
South, as well as in the divine with the cobra-goddess Uadjit for the North
and the vulture goddess Nekhbet for the South.
The installation and settlement of populations in this territory would have
started around 5000 BCE, and was mainly expressed in the cultures of
Merimde, el-Omari, Maadi, and Tell el-Farkha in the North. In the South,
the cultures of Badari, Nagada I ou Amratense, Nagada II, Guerzense, and
Nagada III dominated. This phase corresponds to the pre-dynasty period
(5000–3200 BCE).6
At the end of Naqada III’s reign we finally witness the emergence of the
pharaonic regime, which was consecrated in a unified state that emerged
during the 0 Dynasty (3200–3000 BCE).7 Memphis, Ineb-Hedj, and “The
White Wall” was founded, consecrating the union of Upper and Lower
Egypt under the domain of a single pharaoh, a divine king, whose power
was legitimised by being the double of Horus, the sacred falcon and son of
Osiris, the founding hero of this civilisation. The first urban settlements8
and the first royal burials in Abydos occurred, as well as the emergence of
writing with the first graphic narratives in palettes.
The deepening of the process of building a State was ended by the Archaic
Period, also called the Thinite Period (3000–2686 BCE), which covers the
5
Vd. the classic Parker 1950 and Clagett 1989. A recent revision about this question
by Martin 2015: 15-27.
6 Cf. Stevenson 2016: 421–468; Anđelković 2011, 25–32 and Baines 1995, 95–156.
However, we cannot forget the presence of populations (=cultures) all over the
Sahara area, during pre-history, which is already attested to through the surviving
testimonies its presence, namely through lithic tools.
7 Vd. Brewer 2014, 109 ss.
8 Moeller 2016.
4
Ancient Egypt: An Overview
two first dynasties.9 In this phase, the centralised state was consolidated in
the figure of the pharaoh, who presented himself via the three names that
constituted the basis of the royal title: the Horus name, representative of the
divine falcon, Horus, the dynastic god of Egypt; the name of the Two
Ladies, which established a union between the king and the two titular
goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nekhebet e Uadjit; and the
coronation name, also called the royal pre-name, introduced by the title
“king of Upper and Lower Egypt”. Alongside this further development in
royal ideology, the dynastic and the funerary cults, and the royal necropolis
in Abydos and Sakkara, the creation of an administration occurred with the
natural development and diffusion of writing, the establishment of the
Calendar, and the first punitive and exploratory expeditions in Nubia and
the Eastern Desert. At the artistic level, the appearance of royal statuary and
private statuary in wood and stone should be mentioned.
The Old Kingdom10 (2686–2160 BCE), also called the Memphite Period or
the Pyramids Period, which took place over four dynasties, and had its
capital in Memphis correspond to the consolidation and centralisation of the
Pharaonic State. This political model was mainly based on two assumptions
of pharaonic ideology: the first confirmed the king as the rightful owner of
all land and resources and, the second, affirmed that Egypt was the centre
of the Universe. In this way, the policy carried out by the different royals of
this period must be understood in the light of these fundamental dogmas.
On the one hand, we are witnessing the appearance of broader and more
specialised functionalism, necessary for the administration of the territory,
which is named by and rewarded by the pharaoh. On the other, we come
across a strategy of aggregation and exploration of the surrounding areas,11
because the natural borders of Egypt did not, of course, coincide with the
boundaries of the Universe. So, the Dakhla oasis is integrated into the
country’s economic and social fabric, the Sinai Peninsula is regularly
explored for economic rather than military purposes,12 and Lower Nubia is
subjected. Contact with the Northeast was also deepened, and Byblos and
the Lebanese coast became indispensable financial partners. With regard to
Asia and the western desert, there was no expansion policy, apart from
sporadic policing operations to control Bedouins and Libyans.
9
Wilkinson 2001 and Wenke 2001, 413-418.
Der Manuelian, Schneider, 2015; Moreno Garcia, 2004 and Verner 2001, 585591.
11 Valbelle 1990.
12 Because of the copper mines.
10
Maria Helena Trindade Lopes
5
In political terms, during the IV Dynasty, the king assumed a new divine
legitimation that was expressed through the title “son of Re”, which was
conferred by the clergy of Heliopolis. This new title reinforced the royal
connection to the solar clergy, whose power and wealth increased
proportionally with in the reigns of various pharaohs.
In parallel, there were significant changes in the economic and social fabric
resulting from the accumulation of functions in the administration by some
families. Thus, in the VI Dynasty, the Empire was faced with an economically
devalued and weakened royalty that was strengthened to the point of
beginning to assert its independence as a result of the consecutive payments
made by the king to his officials and the power of local governors. This
situation led to the breakdown of the administration and the automation of
the nomarchs, who announced the fall of the Empire.
Culturally speaking, the Old Kingdom is considered to be the golden age of
Egyptian civilisation. Notable progress occurred in the field of construction,
as well as with regard to artistic techniques and representations:13 such as
the funerary complex of Djoser (III Dynasty); the Pyramids of Giza (IV
Dynasty); the development of mastabas; and the constructions of the first
solar temples (V Dynasty), sculptures, and bas-reliefs that reveal a mastery
unparalleled in history, jewellery, and furniture. The first funerary texts in
history also appear in the Pyramids Texts.14
The First Intermediate Period15 (c. 2160–2055 BCE), which corresponds to
the VII, VIII, IX, X, and the first part of the XI Dynasties, occurred after the
death of Pepi II. The progressive weakening of Pharaonic power and the
affirmation of local separatism, further aggravated by climate change with
inevitable consequences for the economy as stated by J. Vercoutter,16 led to
the dismemberment of the unity of the Two Lands. The monarchs became
transformed into real “warlords”, who fought among themselves and
established alliances to increase their territorial control. Deaths, epidemics,
and hunger increased.
It was a period of profound political, economic, social, and mental crises
and its consequences at an intellectual and ideological level were remarkable.
On the one hand, a pessimistic view of the world is developed17 that will
13
Vd. Kanawati; Woods 2009 and Lehner 1997.
Vd. Allen 2015 and Allen 2001, 95–98.
15 Willems 2010, 81–100.
16 Vercoutter 1992.
17 Grimal 1988, 194–199.
14
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Ancient Egypt: An Overview
have literary expression18 while, on the other, there is a “democratisation”
of the funerary beliefs that extends the post-mortem solar destiny, until then
known as royal privilege, to all individuals. This was confirmed in the
“Texts of the Sarcophagus”.19 However, little by little, as P. Vernus and J.
Yoyotte state,20 local antagonisms polarised around two “dynasties”: the
heracleopolitan, which controlled the Delta and part of Middle Egypt, and
the Theban which, with the help of Copts, had subdued all of Upper Egypt.
It was the Thebans, the men of the South, who were able to impose their
power and authority on the whole country, thereby restoring the unity of the
state and initiating a new phase of cyclical time: The Middle Kingdom
(2055–1650 BCE).21
This new phase of history, which comprised the second part of XI Dynasty,
the XII Dynasty, and part of the XIII and XIV Dynasties, corresponds to the
reunification of the Egyptian State under Montuhotep II; to its administrative
reorganisation,22 which goes through the reform of state apparatus; and to
the centralisation of real authority, which was supported by a stable
economy and legitimised by ideology and literature that calls for fidelity.23
In this way, the different kings of this period took steps to consolidate
Egypt’s internal and foreign policies.
Thebes become the capital and the number of its temples increased, as well
as the prestige of its tutelary god, Amon, who was elevated to the category
of national divinity. Abydos, the sacred city of Osiris, also became a great
religious metropolis and a place for pilgrimages.
The prestige and political weight achieved by these two cities make it
possible to counter hegemonic trends in the great centres of the past, such
as those of Memphis and Heliopolis. At the same time, the restoration of
“abandoned” temples during the First Intermediate Period occurred, as well
as an extension of the literate elite and the appearance of a “petty bourgeoisie”.24
18
A pessimistic literature emerges: “The Admonitions of Ipuwer” and the “The
Dispute between a Man and is Ba” in Lichtheim 1975, 149–163 and 163–169.
19 Vd. Dunand; Zivie-Coche, 1991, 190–192 and Faulkner 2004.
20 Vernus; Yoyotte 1996, 125.
21 For this period vd. Grajetzki, 2006 and Oppenheim; Arnold; Yamamoto 2015.
22 Grajetzki 2013, 215–257.
23 Vd. Posener 1969 and Pinto 2016.
24 Vernus; Yoyotte 1996, 94.
Maria Helena Trindade Lopes
7
Egypt’s foreign policy gained a new lease of life at this stage: Lower Nubia
was integrated into the Egyptian territory (XII Dynasty, Sesostris II),25 the
relations with Byblos were intensified, and contact with the Siro-Palestinian
region strengthened, reign after reign, to the point that, in XII Dynasty, there
was a massive flow of immigrants.
Economic expeditions to Punt, as well as to the eastern and western desert,
were facilitated by Sesostris I.26 To the north, Egypt opened up the
Mediterranean, establishing relations with Cyprus and the Aegean. The high
point of the Empire was reached with Sesostris III,27 the true precursor of
the imperialist pharaohs of the New Kingdom.
In cultural terms, the Middle Kingdom asserted itself as the founder of a
new “classicism”, which was essentially characterised by the search for
harmony and perfection.28 Its remains are not as impressive as those found
in the Old Kingdom, but the funerary temple of Mentuhotep II29 deserves a
mention as it inspired Hatshepsut centuries later. There were some innovations
in sculpture and the treatment of figures. It appears that, for the first time, a
sense of individualisation was transmitted. In the field of literature, Egypt
reached its highest expression, producing some of its masterpieces. It
renewed an old genre, the wisdom teachings, placing them at the service of
politics.30 It also produced poems, short stories, narrative fiction, and
novels.31 This portrait of the Middle Kingdom, however, only lasts until the
end of the XII Dynasty.32
Much of the XIII Dynasty, until the taking of Memphis by the “Asians”, and
the XIV Dynasty, which ran simultaneously with the previous one, with two
reigning monarchies covering different areas of Lower Egypt, still belong
to the Middle Kingdom.
However, this resurgence of “dynasties” or local powers indicated the
weakening of the monarchy and announced a new phase of disintegration
25
Vandersleyen 1995, 61-64.
Ibidem, 64–67.
27 Tallet 2015.
28 Franke 2001, 393–400.
29 Arnold 1979.
30 One of the most striking expressions of this kind is “Loyalist Teaching” (Posener
1976).
31 The Tale of Sinuhe is one of the masterpieces of universal literature (Parkinson
1997).
32 Cf. Vandersleyen 1995, 115–117.
26
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Ancient Egypt: An Overview
that found its expression in the Second Intermediate Period33 (1650–1550
BCE), which comprises part of the XIII, XV, XVI, and XVII Dynasties.34
The succession of pharaohs, each reigning for a very short time, led to the
decay of the royal power and the erosion of the administration, which
gradually lost control over the territories. This weakening of the State
allowed the weathering of the country. Egyptian power cantons in Thebes
in the South gave rise to the XVII Dynasty.35 The eastern Delta was
absolutely controlled by the Hyksos, who reigned during the XV and XV
Dynasties.36 Everything else in Lower Egypt was “abandoned” at the hands
of the Asian communities’ vessels from Hyksos. The Egyptians became
these foreigners’ collaborators in Middle Egypt until Cusae.
These Hyksos37 (ḥḳA-ḫAswt, in Egyptian) constitute an Asian population,
originating from the Levant, which, having gradually installed itself in
Egyptian territory, submitted to the kingdom of the eastern Delta founded
by Nehesy (XIV Dynasty) and already densely populated with Asians.38
Thus, from Avaris, the capital, they advanced to Memphis, where the first
Hyksos king, Salitis, was crowned.
This sharp division of the country and the powers, despite the supremacy of
the Hyksos,39 led to the militarisation of a society that was, repeatedly, at
war. Meanwhile, Nubia, taking advantage of the fragility of Egyptian power
in the South, regained its autonomy. In the Northeast, the Hyksos kings,
who adopted the traditional titles and apparatus of the pharaohs, plundered
necropolises and cities, while imposing some traces of their civilisation.
They introduced the donkey sacrifice, the cults of Canaanite deities, new
weapons, and, probably, the horse.
This culture, which was integral in the Middle Kingdom, loses expression.
Hieroglyphic writing, for example, as well as monumental art, slowly
33
Ilin-Tomich 2016 and Popko 2013.
The XIII Dynasty extends until the Hycsos took over Memphis, which was then
supplanted in Thebes by dynasty XVII Dynasty. The XIV, which ran parallel with
the first part of the XIII, ended with Hycsos.
35 Vd. Valbelle 1998, 187-191.
36 Vd. Vandersleyen, 1995,168-178.
37 Mourad 2015; Bietak 2001, 136-143.
38 Regarding the progressive installation of Hycsos in the territory, vd. Vandersleyen,
1995, 204-206.
39 It should be remembered that all territories were subject to the payment of tribute
to the Hyksos kings.
34
Maria Helena Trindade Lopes
9
disappeared due to the lack of teaching on a national scale, as highlighted
by P. Vernus and J. Yoyotte.40
Meanwhile, in the South, the Theban dynasty, after more than one hundred
years of Hyksos rule, started the real war of liberation41 with the support of
recruited mercenaries known as the Medjay.42 The final expulsion of the
Hyksos and the unification of the territory became the responsibility of
Amosis, the founder of the New Kingdom43 (1550–1069 BCE) in the XVIII,
XIX, and XX Dynasties.
The recent past profoundly influences this new phase in Egyptian history.
The domination of Egypt by a foreign force, combined with the new
material conditions (more sophisticated weaponry) led the kings of this
period to a policy that was basically based on two complementary vectors:
the construction of an Empire on a “universal scale” (ideological dogma)
and its political-religious legitimation through the phenomenon of royal
propaganda44 and the affirmation of “divine causality”45 that enshrined the
actions of the gods on history.
The construction of a real empire will translate into a markedly expansionist
policy, which begins with Amenofis I (XVIII Dynasty, 1525–1504 BCE)
reaching its maximum expression in the reigns of Tutmosis III (XVIII
Dynasty, 1479–1425 BCE) and Ramses II (XIX Dynasty, 1279–1213
BCE).46 Tutmosis III,47 with his policy of aggression in Asia, the emerging
strength of the Mitanni, and the dominance and control of Nubia,
transformed Egypt into an actual imperialist state. The hegemony achieved
during his reign remained until the reign of Amenophis III (XVIII Dynasty,
1390–1352 BCE).
Ramses II48 had to defend the Empire from the Hittite expansionist pretensions,
which had extended its hegemony to the peoples of Asia Minor and North
Syria, further jeopardising Egyptian supremacy in the Mediterranean. The
40
Vernus; Yoyotte, 1996, 54.
Valbelle 1990, 123-125.
42 Liszka 2012 https://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI3509198
43 Vd. Murname 2001, 519-525 and Grandet 2018.
44 Vernus 1995, 163-165.
45 Ibidem, 135-137.
46 Vd. Valbelle 1990, 137-148.
47 About this royal figure vd. Cline; O’Connor 2006.
48 Kitchen 1985
41
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Ancient Egypt: An Overview
Egyptian-Hittite confrontation in Kadesh,49 which was “understood”
differently by the two players, did restore national pride and reaffirm Egyptian
demands in Asia.
A few years later, and in the face of the emergence of a third force in the
eastern world, that of Assyria, Ramses II finally secured a “peace treaty”
with the Hittites, thus diplomatically guaranteeing the Empire’s borders. He
then survived the first attack from the “peoples of the sea”, during the reign
of Merenptah (XIX Dynasty, 1213–1203 BCE), and their coalition with the
Libyans, during the government of Ramses III (XX Dynasty, 1184–1153
BCE). However, in the following reigns, the “imperial dream” was gradually
lost.
The State that supported this political ideal was, of course, strong and
centralised, both at the level of the royal figure and in the domain of its
organisation. It had a solid economy, due looting and taxes paid as well as
via the control of the main commercial routes.
Interestingly, in this context of the imperial dream, a revolutionary figure
emerged in political, ideological, and religious terms: Amenofis IV (XVIII
Dynasty, 1352–1336 BCE), the “heretic king”.50 The change of name, from
Amenofis IV to Akhenaton, and the construction of new capital, Amarna,
outline Akhenaton’s political-religious project.51 This was based on:
maintaining the hegemony of the Empire through an innovative universal
belief: Atenism.
Atenism consisted of a new religious formulation that replaced the vast
Egyptian pantheon with a single god, creator, father and mother of
humanity, driver of the physical world, and the providence of all living
beings, Aton, the solar disk. An ecumenical god, he was able to bring “all
peoples” together under the same belief.
The influence of this “heresy” had repercussions on art,52 literature,53 and
the behaviour and feelings of Egyptian men. The peace of the Empire was
assured, as Amarna’s abundant correspondence proves. However, neither
49
Ibidem, 81-91.
Vd. Laboury, 2010.
51 Regarding Akhneton’s ideology, vd. Allen, 1989, 89-101.
52 Laboury 2011. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0n21d4bm
53 Grandet 1998, 61-64.
50
Maria Helena Trindade Lopes
11
the military nor the priestly castes supported Akhenaton’s political-religious
project, which did not survive his death.
It is also essential to highlight the cultural development that took place in
the New Kingdom to close this period of Egyptian history. In art,
monumentality and gigantism became visible both at the level of
architecture with its exquisite divine and funerary temples, and at the level
of sculpture, which was punctuated by colossi. In literature, some genres
from the past remained, such as the wisdoms, the novels, and popular tales,
and biographies and epic texts emerged. The appearance of the Love Poetry
stands out and, in the funerary texts, the composition of the Book of the
Dead occurred.
The expansionist policy of the New Kingdom had allowed Egypt to have
contact with other spaces, peoples, cultures, and religions. However, this
contributed to a profound change within Empire: the installation of foreign
colonies in its territory. Customs and traditions became adulterated, and
even the language changed. At the same time, the scandals and corruption
that spread in Egypt, especially after the XX Dynasty54 inevitably led the
Egyptian man to have a sceptical and critical attitude toward institutions.
This led them away from the belief in the intrinsic excellence of the
established order (Maat) and its great capacity for self-regulation. As a
consequence of this rejection, the phenomenon of “religion” or “personal
piety”55 was supported by a new channel of communication with the divine:
the oracle.56 The Empire toppled as its support gradually collapsed. The
beginning of the end had begun and so it entered the Third Intermediate
Period57 (1069–664 BCE).
This new cycle of the history of Egypt, which comprises the XXI, XXII,
XXIII, XXIV, and XXV Dynasties, was characterised by a marked weakness
of “central power”, which allowed the progressive installation of “indigenous”
forces. According to P. Vernus and J. Yoyotte,58 this period corresponds to
four distinct phases.
The first comprises the time of the “kings of Tanis” and the “kings-priests”
(XXI Dynasty, 1069–945 BCE). Effectively, after the fall of the New
Empire, Egypt started to be “governed” simultaneously by two rival forces:
54
Vd. Vernus, 1993.
Ibidem, 172 ss.
56 Ibidem, 193 ss.
57 Dodson 2001, 388–394 and Kitchen 1996.
58 Vernus; Yoyotte, 1996, 179-181.
55
12
Ancient Egypt: An Overview
in the North by a pharaoh, with the capital in Tanis; in the South by the high
priests of Amon, centred in Thebes.59 This accentuated division of territory
and powers (political and religious) inevitably led to the decline of the
monarchy’s unifying and centralising functions, as well as decreasing
Egyptian prestige abroad.
Meanwhile, the Libyans, who had been progressively undermining Lower
and Middle Egypt, settled permanently in power, thus giving rise to the
second phase (XXII Dynasty, 945–715 BCE). This corresponds to the
“apogee of the Libyan kings”, whose capital was fixed at Bubastis. In this
period, Egypt regained some of its international prestige,60 Palestine was
invaded, and Solomon’s temple ransacked. The Phoenician cities again
swore fidelity, and the old commercial circuits were resumed. However, at
the death of Osorkon II, a succession crisis ensued that deteriorated into
civil war, and Egypt thus entered the third phase: the period of “Libyan
anarchy” (XXIII Dynasty, 818–715 BCE).61 Internal wars between the
different princes first led to a bipolarisation of power (two pharaohs
reigning simultaneously) and, second, to the definitive division of their
territory. The last phase of this journey corresponds to the “conflict for
reunification” (XVIV and XXV Dynasties, 727–656 BCE). The South
succumbed to the Nubian Dynasty62 (XXV) that intended to extend its
dominion to the entire territory. However, in the North, the princes of Sais
(XXIV Dynasty) disputed its power. The pacification of the conflict ended
up being determined by the Assyrians who precipitated the fall of the
Nubian dynasty, thus opening the way to “reunification”. This enshrined a
new stage in the history of Egypt: The Late Period63 (664–332 BCE).
This period, which comprises the XXVI, XVII, XVIII, XXIX, XXX, and
XXXI Dynasties, corresponds to a phase of alternation between Egyptian
dynasties, which tried to reaffirm the dogmas of royalty without much
success, and foreign dynasties, which precipitated the fall of an entire
civilisation.
The reunification of the territory, after the Nubian rule, was due to Psametic
I,64 founder of the XXVI Dynasty (664-525 BC). For a century, Egypt
59
Vd. Dodson 2001, 388-394.
Vd. Ibidem, 390-392.
61 Vernus, Yoyotte 1996, 180.
62 Morkot 2000.
63 Vd. Ladynin 2013. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2zg136m8
and Lloyd 2000, 369-94.
64 Spalinger 1976, 133–147.
60
Maria Helena Trindade Lopes
13
recovered the climate of peace and economic prosperity and re-established
contact with Phenicia, Syria, and the Greek colonies. Egypt watched the fall
of the Assyrian empire but failed, nevertheless, to face the mighty army of
Cambyses, which subdued Egypt in 525 BCE, giving rise to the first Persian
rule65 (XXVII Dynasty, 525–404 BCE). This period lasts for one hundred
years and profoundly marks the Egyptian imaginary that witnesses the
progressive process of the “Asianization” of its civilisation. The following
dynasties (XXVIII, XXIX, and XXX, 404–343 BCE) fail to stop this
“process” and sink again under the second Persian domination (XXXI
Dynasty, 343–332 BCE). Therefore, when Alexander the Great, a
Macedonian, enters Egypt, in 332 BCE, he is received as the liberator and
the Hellenistic period (332–30 BCE), with the Macedonian dynasty of the
Ptolemies, signalled the last phase of Egypt’s political history.
After the death of Cleopatra VII, Egypt lost its independence forever at the
hands of Rome (30 A.C.–395 AD).
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SECTION 1.
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN STUDIES
THE PRESENCE OF THE LITHIC INDUSTRY
IN WADI C2 AT WEST THEBES
JUAN CANDELAS FISAC1
C2 PROJECT ROYAL CACHE WADI SURVEY
Abstract
Due to the last two campaigns by the Complutense team in the wadi C2
located on the west bank of Luxor and, as a result of the works carried out
there in 2017 and 2019, it has been possible to prove the presence of the
lithic industry within the site. The prolific material found within the wadi
mainly comprises nodules and retouched flakes of flint but also bifacial
tools which, in their archaeological context, indicate that these were most
likely tools used to carve the vast amount of graffiti that covers the wadi’s
walls. The relevance of this find underpins its impact on the chronology of
the site since, although this type of material is problematic in terms of
dating, it uses the Levallois technique. Therefore, this material would allow
us to place the site chronologically into prehistoric frameworks and give this
spectacular place even more relevance within the Theban necropolis. It also
created a new approach in the interpretation of this unique landscape.
Keywords: flint; lithic industry; wadi; Royal Cache; prehistory.
The find
As a result of the last campaign that took place in February of 2019, the C2
Project Royal Cache Wadi Survey team at Luxor found evidence of the
lithic industry within the C2 wadi located to the south of Deir el-Bahri
temple (Figure 1). The pieces were found during the inspection of the site
in the first days of the campaign, and then they were subsequently
documented and analysed. These pieces formed only a small portion of the
lithic presence within the wadi as this material can also be found scattered
all over the site’s surface, although it is slightly more concentrated in some
1
Address all correspondence to: juan.candels@gmail.com
André Patrício