Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (11.1999(2000))

VALLEY OF THE KINGS

Also the personal names mentioned in
the graffiti are of considerable interest. As
stated above, some important members of
the elite of Graeco-Roman Egypt had visit-
ed the tomb, but there were also visitors
from outside Egypt, attracted by the
renown of the place.
An early example (1st century AD) is
the graffito no. 1720 concerning Antonia
Agrippina. From later times we have vari-
ous officials, both civilian (e.g. Claudius
Bassus alias Himerius, the katholikos of
Egypt, no. 1247, cf. also no. 1249; or 1282,
where a comes of Thebaid left his signature
in commemoration of his visit) and military
(e.g. Tiberius, a princeps, no. 1294).

Some of these texts show more profound
religious inspiration. Many of them explic-
itly mention the name of Memnon with
whom the owner of the tomb, Ramesses VI,
was erroneously identified by the GreeksV
The graffiti are found in various parts of the
tomb. Their respective location may shed
additional light on the visiting conditions
at the time.
Issues of palaeography require special
attention. Only a limited number of texts
could be studied in three working periods
not exceeding a few days each. The work
will be continued in the coming years. The
prospective publication will concentrate on
problems of prosopography and chronology.


Fig. 2. Graffito of Pamonthes, son of Pamonthes
(Photo © A. hukaszewicz)
^ Cf. A. tukaszewicz, Aegyptiacae quaestiones tres (Warsaw 1995).

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