Tracking Ancient Egyptian Artists, a Problem of Methodology. The Case of the Painters of Private Tombs in the Theban Necropolis during the Eighteenth Dynasty

The figure of the Ancient Egyptian artist has often been considered particularly evanescent and almost imperceptible – if not non-existent for some scholars. Dealing with the case of the painters responsible for the decoration of private tomb chapels in the Theban Necropolis during the 18th dynasty, this article aims at demonstrating that with a proper and adapted interdisciplinary methodology, gathering all kinds of documents relating to the subject, it is indeed possible to address the issue of the societal identity of those painters as well as that of their work organisation and work modalities, and even their own individualities. In this context, the article concludes with a reassessment of the criteria used to define an artist.