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| Semester | spring semester 2024 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Alexis Den Doncker (alexis.dendoncker@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | The course will consist of an in-depth introduction to the study of the private tomb-chapels of the Theban necropolis during the New Kingdom. It will focus first on the technical aspects of the making of tomb decoration. It will then explore the main functionalities of these monuments through their complex decorative settings, namely, the tomb as a place for commemoration, transformation, cultic performance, and preservation. An insight into the reception and multiple "systemic" uses of these monuments will provide keys to measure, among others, the gaps between construed theories on how images "functioned" in these sacred environments (etic perspective) and individual agencies (emic perspective) as concerns ancient Egyptian visual culture. |
| Learning objectives | The aim of the course is to introduce students to both the visual culture of Ancient Egypt and its funerary practices. Through case studies, the course will focus on the conception of images on the one hand, and their reception on the other, in an attempt to highlight the epistemological issues at stake in such distinction. Students will take part in these discussions also by presenting Referate designed as reading notes on scientific articles dealing with issues relating to the Theban necropolis. |
| Bibliography | General bibliography (to be completed): General • Assmann, J., Thebanische Beamtennekropolen: neue Perspektiven archäologischer Forschung (1995). • Bács, T.A. et al., Hungarian Excavations in the Theban Necropolis: A Celebration of 102 Years of Fieldwork in Egypt (2009). • Creasman, P.P. (ed.), Archaeological Research in the Valley and Ancient Thebes (2013). • Davies, N. de G. and Macadam, M.F.L., A corpus of inscribed Egyptian funerary cones (1957). • El-Shahawy, A., Recherche sur la décoration des tombes thébaines du Nouvel Empire, IBAES 13 (2010). • Engelbach, R., A Supplement to the Topographical Catalogue of the Private Tombs of Thebes (1924). • Gardiner, A.H., A topographical catalogue of private tombs of Thebes (1913). • Hawass, Z.A., The lost tombs of Thebes: Life in paradise (2009). • Hodel-Hoenes, S., Life and Death in Ancient Egypt: Scenes from Private Tombs in New Kingdom Thebes (2000). Preview • Kampp, F., Die Thebanische Nekropole (1996). • Manniche, L., City of the Dead: Thebes in Egypt (1987). • Manniche, L., Lost Tombs: A Study of Certain Eighteenth Dynasty Monuments in the Theban Necropolis (1988). • Manniche, L., Lost Ramessid and Post-Ramessid Private Tombs in the Theban Necropolis (2011). Preview • Pischikova, E., Budka, J. and Griffin, K. (eds.), Thebes in the First Millennium BC (2014). Preview • Porter, B. and Moss, R.L.B., Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings: I. The Theban Necropolis, Part 1. Private Tombs (1960). • Soliman, R., Old and Middle Kingdom Theban Tombs (2009). • Strudwick, N. and Strudwick, H., Thebes in Egypt: A Guide to the Tombs and Temples of Ancient Luxor (1999). Preview • Strudwick, N. and Taylor, J.H. (eds.), The Theban Necropolis: Past, Present and Future (2003). • Weeks, K.R, The illustrated Guide To Luxor: Tombs, Temples, and Museums (2005). Topics • Bács, T.A., Overseers of Southern Foreign Lands and Thebes in the Reign of Hatshepsut, in: Creativity and Innovation in the Reign of Hatshepsut (2014), 411-426. • Cooney, K.M., Profit or exploitation? The Production of Private Ramesside Tombs within the West Theban Funerary Economy, Journal of Egyptian History 1.1 (2008), 79-115. • Davies, B., Who’s Who at Deir el-Medina (1999). • Galán, J.M., Three burials of the Seventeenth Dynasty in Dra Abu el-Naga, in: The world of Middle Kingdom Egypt (2015), 101-119. • Harrington, N., The Eighteenth Dynasty Egyptian banquet: ideals and realities, in: Dining&Death: Interdisciplinary perspectives on the “funerary banquet” in ancient art, burial and belief. • Laboury, D., Tracking Ancient Egyptian Artists, a Problem of Methodology. The Case of the Painters of Private Tombs in the Theban Necropolis during the Eighteenth Dynasty, in: Art and Society. Ancient and Modern Contexts of Egyptian Art (2012), 199-208. • Laboury, D., Tradition and Creativity. Toward a Study of Intericonicity in Ancient Egyptian Art, in: (Re)productive Traditions in Ancient Egypt (2017), 229-258. • Manniche, L., Reflections on the banquet scene, in: La peinture Égyptienne ancienne (1997), 29-36. • Manniche, L., The so-called scenes of daily life in the private tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty: an overview, in: The Theban Necropolis: Past, Present and Future (2003), 42-45. • Menéndez, G., A selection of wall fragments from Deir el-Medinas’s tombs in Cairo Museum, in: Deir el-Medina Studies (2014), 136-143. • Panagiotopoulos, D., Keftiu in context: Theban tomb-paintings as a historical source, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 20 (2001), 263-283. • Pemler, D., Looking at Nubians in Egypt: Nubian Women in New Kingdom Tomb and Temple Scenes and the Case of TT 40 (Amenemhet Huy), Dotawo: A Journal of Nubian Studies 5 (2018), 25-61. • Polz, D., Excavation and recording of a Theban tomb: Some remarks on recording methods, in: Problems and Priorities in Egyptian Archaeology (1987), 119-140. • Polz, D., Bemerkungen zur Grabbenutzung in der thebanischen Nekropole, MDAIK 46 (1990), 301-336. • Polz, D., Excavations in Dra Abu el-Naga, Egyptian Archaeology 7 (1995), 6-8. • Polz, D., Dra Abu el-Naga: Die thebanische Nekropole des frühen Neuen Reiches, in: Thebanische Beamtennekropolen (1995), 25-42. • Polz, D., The Royal and Private Necropolis of the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Dynasties at Dra’ Abu el-Naga, in: Studies in honor of Ali Radwan 2 (2005), 233-245. • Polz, D., New archaeological data from Dra’ Abu el-Naga and their historical implications, in: The Second Intermediate Period (2010), 343-353. • Polz, D., Rummel, U., Eichner, I. and Beckh, T., Topographical Archaeology in Dra’ Abu el-Naga, MDAIK 68 (2012), 115-134. • Rehak, P., Aegean Natives in the Theban Tomb Paintings: The Keftiu Revisited, in: The Aegean and the Orient in the Second Millennium (1998), 39-50. • Saleh, M., Das Totenbuch in den Thebanischen Beamtengrabern des Neuen Reiches (1984). • Smith, S.T., Intact tombs of the seventeenth and eighteenth dynasties from Thebes and the New Kingdom burial system, MDAIK 48, 193-231. • Vivó, J. and Costa, S., Funerary Cones Unattested in the Corpus of Davies and Macadam (Annex 1), BSEG 22 (1998), 59-72. • Wasmuth, M., Innovationen und Extravaganzen: ein Beitrag zur Architektur der thebanischen Beamtengräber der 18. Dynastie (2003). |
| Admission requirements | Zulassung: Studierende der Altertumswissenschaften oder nach Vereinbarung mit dem Dozenten (alexis.dendoncker@unibas.ch) |
| Course application | Unterricht mit Referaten und aktiver Teilnahme (Deutsch und Englisch). |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Wednesday | 12.15-13.45 | Rosshofgasse (Schnitz), Seminarraum S 01 |
| Modules |
Modul: Aktuelle Forschung der Ägyptologie (Master's degree subject: Egyptology) Modul: Aktuelle Forschung der Ägyptologie (Master's degree program: Archaeology and Archaeological Science) Modul: Themen der altägyptischen Kulturgeschichte (Bachelor's degree program: Ancient Civilizations) Modul: Themen der altägyptischen Kulturgeschichte (Bachelor's degree subject: Ancient Civilizations) Modul: Vertiefung altägyptischer Kulturgeschichte (Master's degree program: Archaeology and Archaeological Science) Modul: Vertiefung altägyptischer Kulturgeschichte (Master's degree subject: Egyptology) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Pass or fail. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Ägyptologie |