»How Wise Is Sneferu!«
Lecture Series »Austrian Studies in Egyptian Archaeology« (ASEA)
»"How Wise Is Sneferu!" What Hieratic Inscriptions Tell Us About the Old Kingdom«
Johannes Jüngling | Austrian Archaelogical Institute
Apart from often rather stereotypical hieroglyphic inscriptions, not much written evidence survives from the Old Kingdom (c. 2600–2100 BC). Among the surviving material, hieratic inscriptions from various contexts constitute the largest corpus of texts from which actual historical information can be derived. The lecture will give an overview of the different sources of the hieratic writing culture of the 4th–6th dynasties, their interpretation, and their historical value. Special attention will be paid to hieratic inscriptions painted on the surfaces of building stones from various types of private and royal monuments, so-called building dipinti (or building graffiti). As will become clear, these texts can contribute greatly to our research into the history of Old Kingdom Egypt.