Tomb Graffiti and the Biography of an Ancient Egyptian Cultural Landscape

Examples of ancient graffiti provide a graphic testimony to peoples’ attitudes towards earlier monuments. They have been described as one of the key groups of sources for the study of Egyptian uses of the past, and are considered as one of the richest sources of evidence available of the personal experience of religion in Ancient Egypt. This paper will explore what the graffiti can tell us about the (changing) use(s) of space in the continuously growing necropolis of Saqqara.
Saqqara is the modern name of the ancient desert-edge necropolis of the city of Memphis, located near present-day Cairo. It is where during the New Kingdom (ca. 1539–1077 BCE), a great number of the city’s prominent dignitaries constructed monumental tomb superstructures. While not being part of the urban fabric, the necropolis was seen as a component of the urban environment. Thus the tombs were frequented by the living on many different occasions, such as during festival processions. The graffiti recorded on the tomb walls were left during the different occasions, although it is not always clear in which contexts and by whom. It is important, however, to acknowledge that the necropolis continuously changed: the cemetery grew laterally while available spaces in between tombs were filled by new constructions; passageways crossing the cemetery were blocked but also created. In short: over time, people would continually experience a different version of the same place. The graffiti were produced by individuals moving through this (ever changing) cultural landscape and so the graffiti can be considered to embody movement. This paper will explore how the study of the graffiti can contribute to writing the biography of this cultural landscape.