Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (16.2004(2005))

DEIR EL-BAHARI

EGYPT

(3) Can tomb representations, taken either
as a whole or as meaningful parts, be
shown to strive for "dynamic" or "static"
expression (I use these terms in order to
determine their scope and limits), that
is, have particular scenes been subordi-
nated by their authors to the movement
of figures, compositional transformation
of scenes or application of artistic tech-
niques (including depth and kind of re-
lief) in a way that supports a presump-
tion of artistic purpose, while the set of
introduced changes justifies describing
the representation or its significant part
as imbued with individual expression?
(4) Does the tomb painting reflect a canon-
ical, strictly copied ideological scheme
or set program? Or is there an element
of creativeness in the plastic composi-
tion of bigger fragments and the exe-
cution of particular tasks?
In consequence of a two-week recon-
naissance, amounting to a repeated observ-
ation and analysis of paintings in the Theban
tombs, compared with the wall paintings
from the sanctuaries of Anubis and Hathor
in the Temple of Hatshepsut, and also the
remains of painted wall decoration from the
temple of Tuthmosis III, the following can
be said:
(1) Actual painting, not.just filling of con-
tours with paint can be observed in many
of the tombs, mostly of nobles and ar-
tisans (e.g. TT 1, 3, 51, 52, 69, 255,
296, 359, but also on fragments of rep-
resentations of royals, and also the paint-
ing from both sanctuaries of Anubis).
(2) Practically everywhere, holistic color or-
ganization was the principle, occasional-
ly even rising to evidently high plateaus
of artistic merit.
(3) Consistent efforts toward presenting an
overbearing emotion — the expression,
dynamics, equilibrium, "decorative ele-

gance" or gravity of the scene — can be
observed in some parts of the tomb
representations, usually in an "image"
that can be isolated (as in the case of the
textbook agricultural scenes from the
Tomb of Nakht); mood, expression,
movement or its lack are best seen in the
most mature of the paintings decorating
the tombs of craftsmen and nobles, but
they are also present in fragments of
scenes from tombs in the Valley of
Queens (QV 44, 55) and the Valley of
Kings (KV 9, 11, 1 4, 19, 47);
(4) Exercises in composition continued re-
gardless of everything, in different scales
and manner. The most interesting, apart
from the already mentioned nobles'
tombs (also TT 31, 55, 96, 100), are the
tombs of the Ramessides (KV 2, 6, 9,
11, 14) with their richness of ideas for
structuring an extensive ideological dec-
oration: in registers, tableaux (panels) and
even overlapping, if texts were included
with the images, or if fragments of dif-
ferent books were juxtaposed in one
painting.
Even this brief reconnaissance has de-
monstrated New Kingdom tomb painting
to contain themes that warrant its treat-
ment as a consciously developed art. The
rules and systems of meanings in force at
the time, obviously belonging to the
repertoire of Ancient Egyptian conventions
and cultural traditions, did not prevent its
appearance. Hence, the present conclusion
(which takes into account the aesthetic
specificity of painting and its European
history) that it is hardly sufficient to
consider Egyptian painting exclusively in
the context of religious meaning. As a field
of art, it is governed by its own set of rules,
which are present to some extent in the
New Kingdom paintings. Hence, they
warrant a study from this perspective.

237