Designers and Makers of Ancient Egyptian Monumental Epigraphy

Egyptian epigraphy and palaeography may significantly contribute to the study of the artists and craftsmen responsible for the creation of ancient Egyptian monumental decoration and, in return, this double discipline can also greatly benefit from a better knowledge of those crucial actors in the production of its own object of research. A consideration of all marks of a work’s history (from its genesis to its decline) allows one to detect—and document—the material traces of the making of the monument, and hence of its maker(s). This chapter discusses those issues, as well as the societal identity of the actors of artistic and epigraphic production in ancient Egypt; the great diversity of their skills, education, and literacy; the social and geographical mobility among their ranks; their varying work conditions, involving issues such as ergonomics and work organization; and evidence of their adaptation of parts of their work, such as standard formulae and work procedure.