Documenting Early Egyptian Imagery

Abstract

When attempting to make sense of intentional marks on Predynastic-Late Predynastic material culture, emphasis typically centres on differentiating iconographic from semantic functions and elucidating symbolic meanings. The concern to classify a mark or sets of marks according to conventional, often anachronistically-derived, categories of sign or symbol has led to a general neglect of related areas of past meaning production. One of these areas is material practice, including its technological facets. This paper takes as its point of departure the premise that meaning is not bound up solely in the morphology of graphical marks but also resides in the materials and techniques deployed in their expression. It also aims to address the paradox, that while much of archaeology is ultimately concerned with transformations in technology, as investigators we have been negligent in considering the effects of the technologies we use in the present for the documentation and study of technologies in the past. Before addressing this paradox I discuss how we need to re-materialise our concept of early Egyptian graphical culture so that we can then consider it as part of past technological practice. In doing so, I draw on theoretical concepts of materiality, technological practice and phenomenology for the framework they provide for exploring early graphical evidence as both process and outcome of embodied sensorial and technological practice. In terms of technology in the present as applied to research, various challenges confront inquiry into the finer material details of surface marks and related features. Capture and study using conventional photography, archaeological drawings or other imaging methods are inherently selective and can result in omissions or errors. First-hand study is not always possible and, even then, some surface details can be difficult to discern. Advanced digital technologies are uniquely positioned to overcome such challenges and present exciting potential for bringing diverse subject matter, methodologies, theoretical approaches and media together. Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) enables the high resolution and detailed capture of object surfaces and features. Applied successfully to a range of documentary and other archaeological evidence, RTI is only recently being exploited for the study of early Egyptian graphical culture. I present two RTI case studies: the so-called Battlefield Palette or Lion Palette, and an inscribed ivory funerary label. This RTI data was acquired during the collaborative University of Southampton and University of Oxford project aimed at developing a Reflectance Transformation Imaging Systems for Ancient Documentary Artefacts (RTISAD), funded by the AHRC Digital Equipment and Database Enhancement for Impact scheme (DEDEFI). Through these examples I show the value of taking fuller account of the techno-materiality of graphical marks and demonstrate the tremendous potential offered by RTI for documenting, visualising and studying the early Egyptian graphic traditions and their development.