Intertextuality and textual transmission in the mid-18th dynasty Theban necropolis: Case studies from TT 84 and TT 95

Intertextuality and textual transmission in the mid-18th dynasty Theban necropolis: Case studies from TT 84 and TT 95
The decoration of the tombs of the mid-18th dynasty Theban necropolis bears witness to a strong social and intellectual rivalry between the members of the contemporary elite. The lifetime competition between the members of this group—all high-ranking officials from the king’s inner circle—thus also manifests in the interconnectedness of the textual program of their tombs. With the help of selected case studies from the textual program of two related Theban tombs—TT 84 and TT 95—this paper seeks to provide insights into the nature and strength of the intertextual relations of these monuments. Exploring the intertextual dimension of the inscriptions of these tombs is expected to contribute to a better understanding of the practices of textual transmission within the necropolis, to reveal some of the intentions of the ancient artists, and to bring us closer to the ancient Egyptian understanding of creativity with regard to text production.
This study unifies the methods of art history and philology—two sub-fields of Egyptology that tend to operate independently of each other. In art history, the discussion on the interconnectedness of the decoration of Theban tombs is still very much dominated by the analysis of their figurative representations and thus by studies on intericonicity; the intertextuality of the material has been largely ignored until now. In philology, the moderate scholarly interest in the inscriptions of Theban tombs can be explained by their rather formulaic nature, although this is more presumed than real. By producing results at the intersection of these two domains, the paper aims to create a bridge between the two. It does so in the belief that a closer cooperation between philologists and art historians is essential for the future of our discipline.