Memories into Images: Aegean and Aegean-like Objects in New Kingdom Egyptian Theban Tombs

Abstract

Diplomatic relations between the 18th-dynasty Egyptian court and the polities of the Aegean Bronze Age are gaining increasing scholarly attention. The work conducted so far on chronological synchronization has established a relatively firm base for further discussions on social relations. The role of the prestige objects arriving from the Aegean to Egypt has not received the same attention. This is partly because our knowledge of these objects is restricted to Egyptian visual representations in tombs of the officials and not the imported objects per se. This paper will discuss the transformative capacities of Egyptian decorum in regards to the foreign prestige objects of the Aegean provenance arriving in the Egyptian 18th-dynasty court. We first have to understand the iconographical phenomena of transference, hybridization and creativity in Egyptian visual culture, and only then may we attempt to read any historical reality behind them. These transformative representational processes are crucial for the understanding of the reception and the memory of the Aegean objects.

Ancient Artworks and Crocus Genetics Both Support Saffron’s Origin in Early Greece

“…The individuals appearing in these paintings are dressed in a stylized version of Aegean Bronze Age costumes that resemble those in the Procession Fresco from Knossos (Rehak 1996). The adjacent hieroglyphic inscriptions which appear above those men geographically identifies them as Aegean natives, the Keftiu, which is the Egyptian name for Crete, and describes them as people living in the "Islands in the midst of the sea" (Wachsmann and Wachsmann, 1987;Barber, 1991;Panagiotopoulos, 2002;Matić, 2019). Although no record of saffron cultivation by Ancient Egyptians can be found, detailed historic information of saffron usage for several medical purposes is mentioned in the Papyrus Ebers (1550 BCE; Toellner, 2000;Mousavi and Bathaie, 2011).…”

Boy, You Fight like a Woman … Representations of Defeated Enemies, Boys and Male Nudity in the Late Bronze Age Aegean Iconography and Their Role in the Expression of Masculinity

“…This artwork mostly originates from different elite contexts (e.g., houses, palaces, rich graves and sanctuaries) and constitutes our primary data set analyzed here to better understand the role of nudity in the construction of masculine identities. The elites of the late Bronze Age Aegean also established close diplomatic and trade relations with both European and Near Eastern societies, as indicated by numerous imported precious materials such as Baltic amber, African ostrich eggs, copper from Cyprus, and glass and faïence objects or stone vessels from Ancient Egypt (e.g., Cline 1994;Phillips 2008;Matić 2015a;2019b).…”