Issues and Methodologies in Coptic Palaeography

Due to the drastic change of the graphic system that accompanied the emergence of the Coptic language and manuscripts (third century), the issues and methods in producing texts have also changed, becoming closer to those related to Greek texts copied and written in Egypt. The most difficult issue in Coptic codicology is assigning scripts a date, which is linked to their description. The article discusses in some detail these dating issues, first for literary manuscripts, taking into account the dialect and considering not only writing but also other parameters, such as the various aspects of copying and manufacturing a book or the provenance, and then for documents, where regional practices are important variables.

Methods, Tools, and Perspectives of Hieratic Palaeography

Having provided background information about the hieratic script, especially as regards its relations to other Egyptian scripts in terms of figurativity and spatiality as well as its diachronic development, this chapter focuses on two main questions. First, what paleographic tools are available for studying hieratic texts? The methods and future avenues for research in this area are discussed in relation to the different types of written variation that can be observed at the systemic, normative, and perfomative levels. Second, what are the fields of application of hieratic palaeography? From editing and publishing hieratic texts to dating compositions or recognizing individual scribes at work, hieratic palaeography is at the crossroads of many areas of research that are outlined in the second section of this chapter.

When Ancient Egyptians Copied Egyptian Work

Repetition or the practice of copying preeminently structured artistic activity in ancient Egypt. Besides its role in training, as a technique of learning to practice an art, and also serving documentary purposes in creating record copies, it served as a conscious artistic strategy in the act of representation. Different modes of the practice coexisted, such as replication or the effort to reproduce perfect replicas, differential reproduction that encouraged variation as well as emulation and could result in transformation, and finally eclectic imitation that characterized “archaism.” What were deemed as appropriate to serve as models for imitation in ancient Egyptian visual culture at any moment depended not only on the particular aesthetic and historical contexts but also on their accessibility, be it physical or archival.

Demotic Palaeography

This chapter covers all aspects of Demotic palaeography. It deals with its research history and names its most important tools. Palaeographic methodology and issues of sign definition are discussed from a Demotic point of view. The problems of classifying Demotic scribal hands and assigning them to chronologically and topographically defined palaeographic stages are addressed. The chapter furthermore discusses the influence of text types, palaeographic “registers,” and scribal schools on sign shapes as well as the interactions between Demotic and other Egyptian scripts. It addresses the categorization of the Demotic signs and also orthography.

Aspects of the Relationships between the Community of Sheikh Abd al-Qurna and Ancient Egyptian Monuments

Epigraphers and archaeologists working in Egypt must navigate a host of complex relationships both on and off site. This chapter explores the multifaceted nature of local Egyptian peoples’ relationships with nearby monuments through the lens of a single case study: the site of Sheikh Abd al-Qurna and its local population, the Qurnawi. Egyptologists have not traditionally sought to incorporate formally the stories and histories of local populations in their studies of pharaonic sites. An increasing blend of social awareness and the desire for social action on the part of both foreign professionals and local activists, however, is pushing Egyptologists to re-evaluate their practices, which, in turn, is moving the discipline in new and positive directions.

History of Recording Demotic Epigraphy

This chapter gives an overview of the history of recording and publishing epigraphic sources in Demotic language and script from the Late Period to Greco-Roman Egypt (seventh century bce to third century ce), for example, on stelae, offering tables, coffins, or votive gifts. The history of editing such texts and objects spans over two hundred years. Here, the important steps and pioneering publications on Demotic epigraphy are examined. They start from the beginning of the nineteenth century, when Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt found the Rosetta stone, until the twenty-first century.

Reading, Editing, and Appreciating the Texts of Greco-Roman Temples

This chapter describes and reviews the methods applied since the beginning of Egyptology for editing and reading the texts of “Ptolemaic” temples. Modern analyses focus on the elaborate network of scenes and texts, emphasizing the systemic construction of the decoration program. Because of the mass of textual and visual data, the balance is difficult to keep between global overviews and detailed studies. Paying more attention to the architectural setting of Ptolemaic texts, and revisiting the concepts of cryptography and iconography, could help to refresh the conception of the “temple grammar” and to better understand the frame of mind of the Ptolemaic priests who elaborated the last hieroglyphic monuments.

Online Publication of Monuments

This chapter outlines the advantages of digital epigraphy in the context of the original monuments. It analyzes the perception of epigraphic publication of monuments, taking into account new technologies. 3DVR models can be created using architectural drawings and measurements (CAD and 3D modeling), 3D scanning, and Structure for Motion (SfM). These systems present different advantages and challenges, which are discussed. Current options for publication include VSim, 3D GIS, and Unity 3D platforms. The issues of peer review of publications and long-term preservation of data are addressed. The chapter concludes with a consideration of the issue of potentially misleading impressions given by 3DVR representations.

Recording Epigraphic Sources as Part of Artworks

Art history has its own demands for recording visual representations. Objectivity and authenticity are the twin pillars of recording artistic data. As such, techniques relevant to epigraphic study, such as making line drawings, may not always be the best approach to an art historical study, which addresses, for example, questions about natural context and materiality of the artwork, the semantic, syntactic, and chronological relation between image and text, work procedures, work zones, and workshop traditions, and interactions with formal structures and beholders. Issues critical to collecting data for an art historical analysis include recording all relevant information without overcrowding the data set, creating neutral (i.e., not subjective) photographic images, collecting accurate color data, and, most critically, firsthand empirical study of the original artwork. A call for greater communication in Egyptology between epigraphy/palaeography and art history is reinforced by drawing attention to images as tools of communication and the close connection between the written word and figural art in ancient Egypt.

The Reception of Ancient Egypt and Its Script in Renaissance Europe

The chapter focuses on the perception of ancient Egypt and its culture through the eyes of Renaissance scholars and humanists. They could have known ancient Egypt from personal experience, including travels to Egypt or visits to Egyptian monuments that had been brought to Italy in the Roman period. The hieroglyphic script engraved into obelisks became a source of inspiration for the emblematics, but in fact never led to any successful attempt to decipher the ancient script. The symbolic approach to hieroglyphs was also supported by the philosophical trend of the time, Hermetism. It was a “construct” of Late Antiquity, resurrected and elaborated by Renaissance humanists, who were able to apply it to various branches of Renaissance science.