Copy–Paste in Graffiti Production? : Intericonicity in religious graffiti in the Valley of the Kings and the dissemination of motives

• 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.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi -- Arkeologi (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology -- Archaeology (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Bildkonst (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Visual Arts (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Graffiti

Intericonicity

Ancient Egyptian Religion

Ancient Egyptian Art

Valley of the Kings

Egyptology

Egyptologi

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