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Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool...
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Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance

A special issue of Arts (ISSN 2076-0752).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2024) | Viewed by 5405

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Kathlyn Cooney

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Interests: 21th Dynasty funerary practices and coffins reuse; robbery; innovation in times of crisis; materiality of funerary rituals
Dr. Alisee Devillers

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Interests: artists’ self-depictions and social-professional representations; appropriation of elite’s visual culture by the subelite; identity strategies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will focus on ancient Egyptian Art as a dynamic. Artistic production is here envisioned as being in motion and taking part in a constant feedback loop of competing actors.

Art itself is understood as an agent, which works on multiple people: the artists, the commissioners and the consumers.

This Issue will underline how art acts upon society as a tool of power and eventually leads to identity questions, both for people who controlled human and economic resources and for those who could not afford monumental self-commemoration. Inclusion into certain parts of “high” society created opportunities and/or demands for art production; those close to but not within “high” society tried to emulate elite creations. Craftsmen/artist-producers and merchant-procurers found themselves negotiating much of this dynamic and are, thus, a part of it. In this highly competitive context, elite and non-elite were, thus, part of a never-ending competing sphere, using art production as a means of messaging their social place.

Art starts with the actors and their agenda. It is, thus, socially reactive. Commissioners both innovated newness and reverted to the past, sometimes with the same social goals in mind. Art, therefore, encapsulated the hierarchy dynamics and social changes of ancient Egyptian society while forcing its multiple actors to interact.

From this perspective, this Issue will re-examine epistemological and ontological questions about ancient Egyptian art and its fundamental actors. It will question how innovations were created, in which circumstances people manipulated past productions and how iconographic motives were put into motion for the purposes of creating useful social identities. It will underline how powerful art can be, whether put into the hands of the upper elite or their subordinates.

Prof. Dr. Kathlyn Cooney
Dr. Alisee Devillers
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Arts is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ancient Egyptian art and design
  • production/consumption
  • emulation/competition
  • privileged elite/sub-elite
  • agentivity
  • innovation/archaism
  • power and social impact
  • identity and legitimacy

Published Papers (7 papers)

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20 pages, 13906 KiB  
Article
Reviving Ancient Egypt in the Renaissance Hieroglyph: Humanist Aspirations to Immortality
by Rebecca M. Howard
Arts 2024, 13(4), 116; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040116 - 8 Jul 2024
Viewed by 450
Abstract
In his On the Art of Building, Renaissance humanist Leon Battista Alberti wrote that the ancient Egyptians believed that alphabetical languages would one day all be lost, but the pictorial method of writing they used could be understood easily by intellectuals everywhere [...] Read more.
In his On the Art of Building, Renaissance humanist Leon Battista Alberti wrote that the ancient Egyptians believed that alphabetical languages would one day all be lost, but the pictorial method of writing they used could be understood easily by intellectuals everywhere and far into the future. Amidst a renewed appreciation of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics found on obelisks in Italy and the discovery of Horapollo’s Hieroglyphica, which purported to translate the language, Renaissance humanists like Alberti developed an obsession with this ancient form of non-alphabetical writing. Additionally, a growing awareness of the lost language of their Etruscan ancestors further ignited an anxiety among Italian humanists that their own ideas might one day become unintelligible. As Egyptomania spread through the Italian peninsula, some saw an answer to their fears in the pictorial hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyptians, for they perceived, in Egyptian writing, the potential for a universal language. Thus, many created Renaissance hieroglyphs based on those of the Egyptians. This essay examines the successes and failures of these neo-hieroglyphs, which early modern humanists and artists created hoping that a language divorced from alphabetical text might better convey the memory of their names and contributions to posterity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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22 pages, 17689 KiB  
Article
The Creative Impulse: Innovation and Emulation in the Role of the Egyptian Artist during the New Kingdom—Unusual Details from Theban Funerary Art
by Inmaculada Vivas Sainz
Arts 2024, 13(3), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13030109 - 19 Jun 2024
Viewed by 664
Abstract
The present research analyses the role of the Egyptian artist within the context of New Kingdom art, paying attention to the appearance of new details in Theban tomb chapels that reflect the originality of their creators. On the one hand, the visibility of [...] Read more.
The present research analyses the role of the Egyptian artist within the context of New Kingdom art, paying attention to the appearance of new details in Theban tomb chapels that reflect the originality of their creators. On the one hand, the visibility of the case studies investigated is explored, looking for a possible explanation as to their function within the tomb scenes (such as ‘visual hooks’) and offering a brief experimental approach. Tomb owners benefitted from the expertise and originality of the artists who helped to reaffirm their status and perpetuate their funerary cults. On the other hand, iconography can include examples of the innate creativity of artists, including ancient Egyptian ones. The presence of such innovative details reflects the undeniable creativity of artists, who sought stimulating scenes which were sometimes emulated by contemporaries and later workmates. Significantly, some of these innovative details reveal unusual poses and daily-life character, probably related to the individuality of the artists and their innovative spirit. In other words, the creative impulse is what leads artists to innovate. In this sense, creativity must be understood as the dynamic of the visual arts that determines constant evolution of styles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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21 pages, 22234 KiB  
Article
How Many Lives for a Mesopotamian Statue?
by Imane Achouche
Arts 2024, 13(4), 111; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040111 - 21 Jun 2024
Viewed by 358
Abstract
Among the indicators of the value and power ascribed to statues in Mesopotamia, reuse is a particularly significant one. By studying some of the best-documented examples of the usurpation and reassignment of a new function to sculptures in the round from the 3rd [...] Read more.
Among the indicators of the value and power ascribed to statues in Mesopotamia, reuse is a particularly significant one. By studying some of the best-documented examples of the usurpation and reassignment of a new function to sculptures in the round from the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, our study reveals the variety of motives and methods employed. We hereafter explore the ways in which the status of such artefacts is maintained, reactivated, or adapted in order to secure their agency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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24 pages, 11598 KiB  
Article
Egyptian Art in Colonized Nubia: Representing Power and Social Structure in the New Kingdom Tombs of Djehutyhotep, Hekanefer and Pennut
by Rennan Lemos
Arts 2024, 13(4), 118; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040118 - 14 Jul 2024
Viewed by 333
Abstract
Monumental rock-cut tombs decorated with wall paintings or reliefs were rare in New Kingdom colonial Nubia. Exceptions include the 18th Dynasty tombs of Djehutyhotep (Debeira) and Hekanefer (Miam), and the 20th Dynasty tomb of Pennut (Aniba). The three tombs present typical Egyptian artistic [...] Read more.
Monumental rock-cut tombs decorated with wall paintings or reliefs were rare in New Kingdom colonial Nubia. Exceptions include the 18th Dynasty tombs of Djehutyhotep (Debeira) and Hekanefer (Miam), and the 20th Dynasty tomb of Pennut (Aniba). The three tombs present typical Egyptian artistic representations and inscriptions, which include tomb owners and their families, but also those living under their direct control. This paper compares the artistic and architectural features of these decorated, monumental rock-cut tombs in light of the archaeological record of the regions in which they were located in order to contextualize art within its social setting in colonized Nubia. More than expressing cultural and religious affiliations in the colony, art seems to have been essentially used as a tool to enforce hierarchization and power, and to define the borders of the uppermost elite social spaces in New Kingdom colonial Nubia. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
11 pages, 3315 KiB  
Article
Leaving the “Discomfort” Zone: The Correlation between Politics and New Artistic Practices at the Beginning of the 19th Dynasty
by Gema Menéndez
Arts 2024, 13(3), 98; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13030098 - 30 May 2024
Viewed by 556
Abstract
At the end of the Amarna Period, a process of political and religious restoration began. This attempt at recovery went beyond the strictly official, as the Egyptian society seemed to demand a moral reparation. It was a much-needed change that would encompass all [...] Read more.
At the end of the Amarna Period, a process of political and religious restoration began. This attempt at recovery went beyond the strictly official, as the Egyptian society seemed to demand a moral reparation. It was a much-needed change that would encompass all aspects of society and it was imperative that the changes be visible. It is for this reason that visual art would be one of the main means of communication. The artistic image was the propaganda necessary to reconstruct historical memory and religious sentiment. This was most evident in the early years of the 19th dynasty, when, in addition, the need to legitimize the new royal lineage was reflected in private tombs. The Egyptian artist used art to visually consolidate these changes, and the owner of the tomb was keen to do so. This article aims to analyze the artistic changes, mainly in the private sphere, that occurred in funerary art in opposition to the religious changes that had been made during the Amarna Period and that were most evident from the reign of Horemheb until the first half of the reign of Ramesses II. Politics and art intermingled at a time when reconstructing the past and the relationship with divinity was an urgent necessity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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17 pages, 5150 KiB  
Article
Through the Eyes of the Beholder: Motifs (Re)Interpreted in the 27th Dynasty
by Marissa Stevens
Arts 2024, 13(3), 76; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13030076 - 23 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1412
Abstract
This paper aims to highlight examples of artistic motifs common throughout Egyptian history but augmented in novel ways during the 27th Dynasty, a time when Egypt was part of the Achaemenid empire and ruled by Persian kings. These kings represented themselves as traditional [...] Read more.
This paper aims to highlight examples of artistic motifs common throughout Egyptian history but augmented in novel ways during the 27th Dynasty, a time when Egypt was part of the Achaemenid empire and ruled by Persian kings. These kings represented themselves as traditional pharaohs within Egypt’s borders and utilized longstanding Egyptian artistic motifs in their monumental constructions. These motifs, however, were manipulated in subtle ways to send targeted messages to audience(s) of this art. Art historians tend to situate visual styles and motifs within the longue durée of artistic tradition and pick a singular, official, and centralized perspective to narrate the history and reception of that art. In the case of Egypt, this perspective is often that of the king, and there is an assumption that there was a monolithic message sent to his people. But we are not dealing with a homogenous people; a diverse population would have had varied reactions to and interpretations of this visual signaling. By highlighting both the augmentation of traditional motifs undertaken by the Achaemenid administration and the multiplicity of perspectives they held for their audience(s), we can better understand ancient art as being dynamic in function and interpretation, rather than as a static snapshot of carbon-copied royal authority. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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15 pages, 4546 KiB  
Article
Dialogues between Past and Present? Modern Art, Contemporary Art Practice, and Ancient Egypt in the Museum
by Alice Stevenson
Arts 2024, 13(3), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13030099 - 30 May 2024
Viewed by 389
Abstract
Whenever twentieth-century modern art or new contemporary artworks are included amongst displays of ancient Egypt, press statements often assert that such juxtapositions are ‘surprising’, ‘innovative’, and ‘fresh’, celebrating the external perspective they bring to such collections. But contemporary art’s relationship with museums and [...] Read more.
Whenever twentieth-century modern art or new contemporary artworks are included amongst displays of ancient Egypt, press statements often assert that such juxtapositions are ‘surprising’, ‘innovative’, and ‘fresh’, celebrating the external perspective they bring to such collections. But contemporary art’s relationship with museums and other disciplines needs to be understood in a longer-term perspective. Pairings of twentieth- and twenty-first-century artistic works with objects of antiquity is an activity that has been undertaken for more than a century in what has been a relatively long period of mutually reinforcing influences between modern/contemporary art, museum display, the art market, and Egyptian heritage. Together, they have decontextualised ancient Egyptian culture and shaped the language and perspectives of scholars, curators, and artists. In this paper, rather than considering how artists have been inspired by ancient Egypt, I will give a few examples of how more recent art practices from the late nineteenth century onwards have impacted the language and discourse of Egyptology and its museum representation. Then, using more recent artist engagements with the British Museum, I argue for greater interdisciplinary dialogues between artists and Egyptologists, as both take more critical stances towards research that recontextualises the power and agency of collections, representation, and knowledge production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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