The Preservation of Monuments in the Written Sources of Dynastic Egypt between 2000 and 1550 BC

This paper introduces the concept(s) of monument preservation during the Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period, as part of a larger diachronic project I am working on. The media for the preservation of monuments in Ancient Egypt encompassed the realm of the supernatural, going beyond the limits of the physical world. Rituals and magic combined with restoration works, renewals, and embellishments guaranteed the preservation
of public and private buildings, assuring the eternal remembrance of the benefactor and the beneficiary. Written sources ranging from literary compositions, administrative documents, and funerary inscriptions attest to explicit and implicit wishes to preserve monuments, which gives different nuances to the concept of preservation itself. Various reasons can be identified behind the intent to preserve monuments, mainly of ideological and political character. These may also reveal an awareness of the monumental past that nowadays can be included in the so-called cultural heritage of a country.