Thebes in the First Millennium BC

Thebes in the First Millennium BC

Edited by

Elena Pischikova, Julia Budka and Kenneth Griffin

Thebes in the First Millennium BC,

Edited by Elena Pischikova, Julia Budka and Kenneth Griffin

This book first published 2014

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Copyright © 2014 by Elena Pischikova, Julia Budka, Kenneth Griffin and contributors

All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN (10): 1-4438-5404-2, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-5404-7

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword …………………………………………………………………xi Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………...xv Part A: Historical Background Chapter One ……………………………………………………………....3 The Coming of the Kushites and the Identity of Osorkon IV Aidan Dodson Part B: Royal Burials: Thebes and Abydos Chapter Two ……………………………………………………………..15 Royal Burials at Thebes during the First Millennium BC David A. Aston Chapter Three …………………………………………………………....61 Kushites at Abydos: The Royal Family and Beyond Anthony Leahy Part C: Elite Tombs of the Theban Necropolis

Section 1: Preservation and Development of the Theban Necropolis

Chapter Four ………..………………………………………………….101 Lost Tombs of Qurna: Development and Preservation of the Middle Area of the Theban Necropolis Ramadan Ahmed Ali Chapter Five ……………………………………………………………111 New Tombs of the North Asasif Fathy Yaseen Abd el Karim

vi Table of Contents

Section 2: Archaeology and Conservation Chapter Six ……………………………………………………………..121 Kushite Tombs of the South Asasif Necropolis: Conservation, Reconstruction, and Research Elena Pischikova Chapter Seven ………………………………………………………….161 Reconstruction and Conservation of the Tomb of Karakhamun (TT 223) Abdelrazk Mohamed Ali Chapter Eight …………………………………………………………..173 The Forgotten Tomb of Ramose (TT 132) Christian Greco Chapter Nine …………………………………………………………...201 The Tomb of Montuemhat (TT 34) in the Theban Necropolis: A New Approach Louise Gestermann and Farouk Gomaà Chapter Ten ………………………………………………………….....205 The “Funeral Palace” of Padiamenope (TT 33): Tomb, Place of Pilgrimage, and Library. Current research Claude Traunecker Chapter Eleven …………………………………………………………235 Kushite and Saite Period Burials on el-Khokha Gábor Schreiber

Section 3: Religious Texts: Tradition and Innovation Chapter Twelve ………………………………………………………...251 The Book of the Dead from the Western Wall of the Second Pillared Hall in the Tomb of Karakhamun (TT 223) Kenneth Griffin Chapter Thirteen ……………………………………………………….269 The Broad Hall of the Two Maats: Spell BD 125 in Karakhamun’s Main Burial Chamber Miguel Angel Molinero Polo

Table of Contents vii

Chapter Fourteen ……………………………………………………….295 Report on the Work on the Fragments of the “Stundenritual” (Ritual of the Hours of the Day) in TT 223 Erhart Graefe Chapter Fifteen …………………………………………………...…….307 The Amduat and the Book of the Gates in the Tomb of Padiamenope (TT 33): A Work in Progress Isabelle Régen Section 4: Interconnections, Transmission of Patterns and Concepts, and Archaism: Thebes and Beyond Chapter Sixteen ………………………………………………...………323 Between South and North Asasif: The Tomb of Harwa (TT 37) as a “Transitional Monument” Silvia Einaudi Chapter Seventeen ………………………………………………...……343 The So-called “Lichthof” Once More: On the Transmission of Concepts between Tomb and Temple Filip Coppens Chapter Eighteen ……………………………………...………………..357 Some Observations about the Representation of the Neck-sash in Twenty-sixth Dynasty Thebes Aleksandra Hallmann Chapter Nineteen ……………………………………………………….379 All in the Detail: Some Further Observations on “Archaism” and Style in Libyan-Kushite-Saite Egypt Robert G. Morkot Chapter Twenty …………………………………………...……………397 Usurpation and the Erasure of Names during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty Carola Koch

viii Table of Contents Part D: Burial Assemblages and Other Finds in Elite Tombs

Section 1: Coffins Chapter Twenty-one ………………………………………...………….419 The Significance of a Ritual Scene on the Floor Board of Some Coffin Cases in the Twenty-first Dynasty Eltayeb Abbas Chapter Twenty-two …………………………………………….……..439 The Inner Coffin of Tameramun: A Unique Masterpiece of Kushite Iconography from Thebes Simone Musso and Simone Petacchi Chapter Twenty-three ……………………………………………….…453 Sokar-Osiris and the Goddesses: Some Twenty-fifth–Twenty-sixth Dynasty Coffins from Thebes Cynthia May Sheikholeslami Chapter Twenty-four …………………………………………………...483 The Vatican Coffin Project Alessia Amenta

Section 2: Other Finds Chapter Twenty-five ……………………………………………...……503 Kushite Pottery from the Tomb of Karakhamun: Towards a Reconstruc-tion of the Use of Pottery in Twenty-fifth Dynasty Temple Tombs Julia Budka Chapter Twenty-six ……………………………………………….……521 A Collection of Cows: Brief Remarks on the Faunal Material from the South Asasif Conservation Project Salima Ikram Chapter Twenty-seven …………………………………………………529 Three Burial Assemblages of the Saite Period from Saqqara Kate Gosford

Table of Contents ix

Part E: Karnak Chapter Twenty-eight ………………………………………….………549 A Major Development Project of the Northern Area of the Amun-Re Precinct at Karnak during the Reign of Shabaqo Nadia Licitra, Christophe Thiers, and Pierre Zignani Chapter Twenty-nine …………………………………………………...565 The Quarter of the Divine Adoratrices at Karnak (Naga Malgata) during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty: Some Hitherto Unpublished Epigraphic Material Laurent Coulon Chapter Thirty …………………………………………………….……587 Offering Magazines on the Southern Bank of the Sacred Lake in Karnak: The Oriental Complex of the Twenty-fifth–Twenty-sixth Dynasty Aurélia Masson Chapter Thirty-one ………………………………………………..……603 Ceramic Production in the Theban Area from the Late Period: New Discoveries in Karnak Stéphanie Boulet and Catherine Defernez Chapter Thirty-two ……………………………………………..………625 Applications of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) in the Study of Temple Graffiti Elizabeth Frood and Kathryn Howley Abbreviations …………………………………………………………..639 Contributors ……………………………………………………………645 Indices …………….……………………………………………..……..647

FOREWORD

“Egypt in the First Millennium BC” is a collection of articles, most of which are based on the talks given at the conference of the same name organised by the team of the South Asasif Conservation Project (SACP), an Egyptian-American Mission working under the auspices of the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA), Egypt in Luxor in 2012. The organisers of the conference Elena Pischikova, Julia Budka, and Kenneth Griffin in-tended to bring together a group of speakers who would share the results of their recent field research in the tombs and temples of the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Dynasties in Thebes and other archaeological sites, as well as addressing a variety of issues relevant to different aspects of Egyptian monuments of this period.

Papers based on the talks of the participants of the conference form the bulk of this volume. However, we found it possible to include the papers of a few scholars who could not attend the conference, but whose contri-butions are pertinent to the main themes of the conference and could en-rich the content of the present volume. Therefore, this volume covers a much wider range of sites, monuments, and issues as well as a broader chronological span. Discussions of the monuments of Abydos and Saqqara, along with the Libyan tradition, enrich the argument on intercon-nections, derivations, innovations, and archaism. The diversity of topics cover the areas of history, archaeology, epigraphy, art, and burial assem-blages of the period.

Aidan Dodson deliberates on chronological issues of the early Kushite state by re-examining the identity of Osorkon IV and related monuments. His paper gives a historical and cultural introduction to the Kushite Period and the whole volume.

The papers of the General Director of the Middle Area of the West Bank Fathy Yaseen Abd el Karim, and Chief Inspector of the Middle Area Ramadan Ahmed Ali, open a large section in the volume dedicated to different aspects of research and fieldwork in the Theban necropolis. They concern the preservation and development of the necropolis, an incredibly important matter which assumed a new dimension after the demolition of the Qurna villages and clearing of the area being undertaken by the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) teams. Numerous tombs found under the houses need immediate safety measures to be applied as well as archaeological and research attention. The conservation, preservation, and recording of the elite tombs in the area are amongst the most relevant issues in the Theban necropolis today.

xii Foreword

David Aston and Anthony Leahy examine the royal burials of Thebes and Abydos. Both papers present a remarkably large number of burials related to the royal families of the First Millennium BC. This time period in the Theban necropolis is traditionally associated with elite tombs, with the royal monuments often neglected. Research on the royal aspect of these sites provides a deeper perspective to the study of the elite tombs of the period.

The papers on the elite tombs of the Theban necropolis address a vari-ety of aspects of work in this group of monuments such as archaeology, conservation, epigraphy, and burial assemblages, as well as relevant issues as archaism and innovations of the decoration and interconnections be-tween the tombs of different parts of the necropolis. The areas of archae-ology and conservation of the necropolis are presented by the papers of the Director of the SACP Elena Pischikova, and its leading conservator Abdelrazk Mohamed Ali. These papers give a summary of the re-discovery, excavation, conservation, reconstruction, and mapping work done in the tombs of Karakhamun (TT 223) and Karabasken (TT 391) over a period of eight years, with emphasis on the 2012 and 2013 seasons. This section is complemented by a paper on the fieldwork in another “forgotten” tomb of the South Asasif necropolis, Ramose (TT 132), by Christian Greco. The archaeological work in the South Asasif necropolis has resulted in the uncovering and reconstruction of a large amount of new architectural, epigraphic, and artistic information, some of which is presented in this volume for the first time.

The new project in the tomb of Montuemhat (TT 34), undertaken by Louise Gestermann and Farouk Gomaà, is another invaluable piece of information which, together with the work of Greco in the tomb of Ramose, and Molinero Polo in the tomb of Karakhamun, modifies our understanding of Kushite and early Saite burial compartments and their semantics within the tomb complex. The paper on the Twenty-fifth to Twenty-sixth Dynasty tombs of el-Khokha by Gábor Schreiber widens our perception of the geographic disbursement of Kushite tombs in the Theban necropolis. The amount of intrusive Twenty-fifth Dynasty burials within the primarily New Kingdom site of el-Khokha gives confidence that we may expect similar results from the numerous Qurna missions. Special attention paid to such intrusive burials in different areas may build a solid basis for our better understanding of Kushite presence and activities in Thebes in the future.

The epigraphical studies of Kenneth Griffin, Miguel Molinero Polo, and Erhart Graefe within the tomb of Karakhamun, and Isabelle Régen in the tomb of Padiamenope, concern the reflection of tradition and innova-

Foreword xiii

tions in the texts of the Book of the Dead, the Amduat, the Book of the Gates, and the Ritual of the Hours of the Day, as well as their new archi-tectural and contextual environment. The comparative research of these texts in different tombs will eventually lead to a better understanding of the reasons for selections of certain traditional texts, reasons for their ad-justments, as well as their interpretations in the new contexts of temple tombs of the period.

Although Kushite and Saite tombs demonstrate a rich variety of archi-tectural, textual, and decorative material they are all interconnected by certain aspects and concepts. The next group of papers by Silvia Einaudi, Filip Coppens, Robert Morkot, Aleksandra Hallmann, and Carola Koch concern such aspects, relevant to most of the monuments. Silvia Einaudi raises the incredibly important question of interconnections and inter-influences between the tombs of the Theban necropolis, origins of certain patterns and traditions within the necropolis, and their transmissions from tomb to tomb. Filip Coppens and Aleksandra Hallmann concentrate on smaller elements of the tomb complexes, such as a piece of garment or a single architectural feature, to track it within a group of monuments. Thus, Coppens traces similarities and differences in the Sun Court decoration in different tombs, its connection with the temple concept, and discusses its symbolic and ritual meaning in temple tombs. Robert Morkot discusses the sources and chronological developments of archaism in royal and elite monuments. Carola Koch addresses the Saite approach to Kushite monu-ments by re-examining the phenomenon of the erasure of Kushite names during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty.

A large group of papers on the burial assemblages and other finds in elite tombs enrich and expend the discussion of the burial complexes of the First Millennium BC. Eltayeb Abbas, Simone Musso and Simone Petacchi, Cynthia Sheikholeslami, and Alessia Amenta discuss the issues of construction techniques, workshops, and iconography of coffin decora-tion and its ritual meaning. Julia Budka and Salima Ikram discuss finds in the tomb of Karakhamun. Budka analyses Kushite pottery found in the burial compartment and its usage in a Twenty-fifth Dynasty temple tomb, while Ikram remarks on the faunal material from the First Pillared Hall. Kate Gosford broadens the boundaries of the discussion with some burial assemblages from Saqqara.

The last section of the volume is dedicated to the new archaeological research at Karnak presented by Nadia Licitra, Christophe Thiers, Pierre Zignani, Laurent Coulon, Aurélia Masson, Stéphanie Boulet, and Catherine Defernez. Their papers concern different areas of the temple complex such as the temple of Ptah, the Treasury of Shabaqo, the “palace”

xiv Foreword of the God’s Wife Ankhnesneferibre in Naga Malgata, and offering maga-zines as well as the new evidence of ceramic production at Karnak in the chapel of Osiris Wennefer. Another Karnak paper introduces a new tech-nology, with Elizabeth Frood and Kathryn Howley describing the use of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) as a means of studying graffiti at the site.

Most of the information included into this volume is being published for the first time. We feel that the research presented here brings together a range of current studies on royal and elite monuments of the period, put-ting them into a wider context and filling some gaps in First Millennium BC scholarship. This time period is still one of the least researched and published area of study in Egyptology despite the numerous recent devel-opments in field exploration and research. The present volume offers a discussion of the First Millennium BC monuments and sites in all their complexity. Such aspects of research as tomb and temple architecture, epigraphy, artistic styles, iconography, palaeography, local workshops, and burial assemblages collected in this publication give a new perspective to the future exploration of these aspects and topics. We hope that the present volume will inspire new comparative studies on the topics dis-cussed and bring First Millennium BC scholarship to a new level. .

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank the Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim and the Ministry of State for Antiquities for their support in organising the conference “Thebes in the First Millennium BC” in Luxor in October 2012 and permission to work in the South Asasif necropolis. We are grateful for the support our Egyptian-American team, the South Asasif Conservation Project, has received over the years from Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Director of the Department of Foreign Missions MSA, Dr. Mansour Boraik, Director General of Luxor Antiquities until 2013; Ibrahim Soliman, Director of Luxor Antiquities; Dr. Mohamed Abd el Aziz, Gen-eral Director for the West Bank of Luxor; Fathy Yassen Abd el Kerim, Director of the Middle Area; Ramadan Ahmed Ali, Chief Inspector of the Middle Area; Ahmed Ali Hussein Ali, SCA Chief Conservator and Director of the Conservation Department of Upper Egypt; Afaf Fathalla, General Director of the Conservation Department of Upper Egypt; the MSA conservation team; and all our team members and volunteers. We are very grateful to our sponsors, IKG Cultural Resources, directed by Anthony Browder (USA), and the South Asasif Conservation Trust, di-rected by John Billman (UK). Without all this help and support we would not have been able to accomplish the field work and research included in the present volume.

Special thanks to the participants of the conference, particularly to our Luxor colleagues Nadia Licitra, Christophe Thiers, Pierre Zignani, Laurent Coulon, Claude Traunecker, Isabelle Régen, Louise Gestermann, and Farouk Gomaà who showed their sites to the participants.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

APPLICATIONS OF REFLECTANCE TRANSFORMATION IMAGING (RTI) IN THE

STUDY OF TEMPLE GRAFFITI

ELIZABETH FROOD & KATHRYN HOWLEY* University of Oxford & Brown University

Abstract: This paper offers an overview of the use of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) for the recording of temple graffiti from the Ptah Temple at Karnak. Details are given of the equipment used and the processes undertaken in the field, as well as the challenges posed by the environment and the inscriptions. Some examples of results from these initial tests are explained, highlighting the potentials of the technique for this and other projects. The hieratic, hieroglyphic, and figural graffiti incised on the gates and exterior walls of the Ptah Temple in the northern area of the precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak have been the focus of new work of recording and analysis since 2011 as part of the larger project of the Centre Franco-Égyptien d’Étude des Temples de Karnak to publish this temple.1 Well over 150 individual graffiti “events”2 are known from the temple, the ma-jority of which cluster on the south exterior wall of the temple proper, ranging from hieratic and hieroglyphic names of temple staff (the majority

* We would like to thank Claude Traunecker for initiating this work on the graffiti, and Ibrahim Soliman, director of the temples of Karnak, Christophe Thiers, direc-tor of the USR 3172-CFEETK, Pierre Zignani, Sébastien Biston-Moulin, Awad Abdel Radi Mohamed, and everyone in Karnak for their assistance and support, as well as Kathryn Piquette and the members of the West Semitic Research Project at USC for so generously sharing their expertise with RTI. Elizabeth is grateful to Jacob Dahl for first introducing her to the technique. Our small RTI team also included Julia Troche, and we are grateful for her work in the field and her com-ments on this paper. 1 Thiers and Zignani 2011; Thiers and Zignani 2013. 2 Baird and Taylor 2011, 6.

626 Chapter Thirty-two bear the title “Scribe” and/or “Wab-priest”) to formal scenes of gods.3 Alt-hough work to date the graffiti is on-going, dating in the late second mil-lennium to the first half of the first millennium BC for those on the south exterior wall is likely (probably largely Third Intermediate Period), while the construction of the new entrance and gates under Shabaqo, Ptolemy III, and Ptolemy XII provide termini post quem for the demotic and figural graffiti inscribed on them.4 The demotic graffiti have been studied by Didier Devauchelle and Ghislaine Widmer; it is hoped that the final publi-cation will integrate analysis of these different types.

The graffiti on the south wall in particular present significant chal-lenges in terms of reading and recording (e.g. fig. 32-3 discussed below). Many of the hieratic graffiti are only lightly incised, and are further ob-scured by erosion and salt damage. Some were partly or entirely erased, a few are palimpsest, and others bear traces of painting, plastering, and re-carving. These deliberate interventions have implications for a range of interpretive issues, including the dating and relative chronology of the graffiti and the extent to which they were intended to be visible in the long-, or even short-, term. Thus the Ptah Temple forms a test-case as much as a case-study for working with temple graffiti and related inscrip-tional practices, offering an opportunity to develop strategies of recording and analysis that integrate a range of resources. These include, for exam-ple, the detailed archive of drawings, photographs and notes created by Claude Traunecker and new technologies, such as Reflectance Transfor-mation Imaging (RTI). This technique, which is the focus of our discus-sion, enables readings of previously illegible or partly legible graffiti, while also clarifying processes and practices relating to graffiti-writing more broadly. We survey this potential here.

The particular demands of studying ancient graffiti prompted us to consider using new recording techniques in addition to epigraphic drawing and photography. In order to render the graffiti at all legible in traditional photography or for epigraphic drawing, extreme raking light is required. This limits the time suitable for photography to a very small window each day. Raking light will inevitably emphasise certain details of a block while obscuring others, thus requiring several photographs of the same block in different light conditions in order to capture the full range of inscription. A traditional photograph also provides somewhat limited assistance to the epigrapher in distinguishing which marks on the wall surface have been made deliberately, and which are due to accidental damage or weathering.

3 Overviews: Frood 2013, 295–298; Ragazzoli and Frood 2013. 4 No surviving graffiti have been identified on the gate of Ptolemy VI.

Applications of RTI in the Study of Temple Graffiti 627 For epigraphic drawing, the manipulation of mirrors into several positions to achieve raking light is usually required in order to complete a drawing, and the finished drawing is, of course, an interpretation of the inscription. While photography and drawing offer, for example, the ability to represent graffiti in their wider context and to document colour, as well as ease of publication, RTI can more thoroughly record the inscribed surface, thus complementing these traditional techniques.5

In order to explore this possibility, we undertook a pilot study in the use of RTI to record ancient graffiti during a short season in September 2012. Initial results were extremely promising, and the use of this tech-nique will be expanded in future seasons. This planned work will benefit from the loan of equipment and consulting expertise of the West Semitic Research Project at the University of Southern California, who have kindly awarded the Karnak Graffiti Project a grant from their RTI Training Program.

Reflectance Transformation Imaging is a method that, in theory, offers two main benefits to the epigrapher alongside traditional photography and on-site strategies for creating raking light effects (e.g. mirrors and torches). Firstly, the user is able to digitally manipulate the position of the light source when viewing the final image, enabling an inscription to be examined with controlled levels of raking light from any angle. Secondly, surface details may be enhanced through the use of RTI software, and the surface of the inscription studied in great detail. This allows closer exami-nation of the eroded block surfaces on the south side of the Ptah Temple than would be possible with a traditional photograph or with the naked eye, and makes it far easier to distinguish between intentional and unin-tentional marking of the wall surface. By manipulating the light source in the final RTI captures, the user can effectively see inside incisions on the wall, and thus distinguish between (for example) chisel marks and unin-tentional scratches.

The RTI method that our team used is known as “Highlight RTI”, and does not require the “light dome” that is often used for the imaging of small objects in museum contexts such as cuneiform tablets.6 Highlight RTI involves taking a series of photographs (usually between 30 and 70), with both the object to be imaged and a reflective sphere arranged within the frame of the photograph. A movable light source, usually an external flash, is used to illuminate the object, and is placed in a different position in each of the series of photographs. The light source is kept at a fixed 5 The restrictions of traditional recording methods when applied to ancient graffiti are also noted by Kleinitz 2012, 8. 6 E.g. Dahl, Green, and Piquette 2011.

628 Chapter Thirty-two distance from the centre of the object to be imaged, no matter its position, thus creating a virtual “light dome” around the object. The light from the flash is recorded on the surface of the reflective sphere, and the RTI pro-cessing software uses this information to calculate the position of the light source in each image. An algorithm in the software uses the data from all the photographs to calculate the angle of light in each pixel of the image, and this allows the digital manipulation of light in the final RTI capture.7

Use of RTI in cultural heritage settings has been increasing in recent years as its benefits for the close study of surface details come to be real-ised.8 Its relative ease of use and the small amount of specialist equipment required have added to its popularity. The majority of this work, however, has been done with objects in a museum setting. While RTI has been used for subjects such as rock art, its use on archaeological sites has thus far been more limited, and it has only been rarely employed within the Nile Valley.9 Therefore, our pilot project set out to explore the practicalities of producing useful RTI captures in the somewhat challenging photographic conditions around the Ptah Temple, using almost no equipment beyond what might already be owned or inexpensively obtained by a project that has undertaken photography before.

The photographic equipment used consisted of a Nikon D5100 DSLR camera with 18–55mm zoom lens, a remote shutter release, a Nikon SB-400 external flash, and a 10m off-camera flash cable to connect the flash and the camera body. Further equipment required included two tripods, a monopod, an umbrella clamp, a reflective sphere, a grey card for colour balance, and a bale of string. Any camera with a full manual mode can be used for RTI, though a DSLR will in most cases produce superior results to a compact camera. In order to obtain the best image quality, a prime macro lens would be the ideal choice. However, we found that the topog-raphy around the temple limited the areas where a tripod could be set up,

7 First published: Malzbender, Gelb, and Walters 2001. 8 E.g. Earl, Martinez, and Malzbender 2010; Earl et al. 2012. 9 The work of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and Humboldt University Berlin on the graffiti at Musawwarat es-Sufra in the Sudan is a major exception <http://musawwaratgraffiti.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/index_html> [accessed 14/04/13]. Cornelia Kleinitz’s (2012) presentation of the use of RTI for this project was not available to us when preparing this chapter. Although both projects work with temple graffiti, the material and contexts differ substantially, thus we hope our discussion complements her more detailed treatment. Our thanks to Julia Budka for bringing this article to our attention. Kathryn Piquette is also working with RTI for the Universidad de Jaén’s project at Qubbet el-Hawa.

Applications of RTI in the Study of Temple Graffiti 629 and therefore a zoom lens was necessary to frame correctly the graffiti being imaged. Our basic zoom lens produced perfectly acceptable results.

The following account presents the particular challenges our team faced in performing RTI in the difficult conditions around the Ptah Temple. While mention is made of the techniques used to complete the RTI image capture, readers who wish to familiarise themselves more deeply with the capture process are directed to the excellent manuals produced by Cultural Heritage Imaging and the West Semitic Research Project.10 These manuals focus mainly on imaging that takes place in a museum setting and assume the availability of expensive equipment and facilities such as a power source. We therefore hope that this information will be of use to those projects planning to use RTI in the field on a more typical archaeological budget.

Fig. 32-1: RTI set-up on the south exterior wall of the Ptah temple

(photo by Julia Troche).

Setting up the equipment is the most time-consuming part of the RTI process, and this was especially lengthy for our project due to restrictions of space and the lack of flat ground surrounding the Ptah Temple. Gener-ally it took at least ten minutes to prepare a capture sequence, with more 10 These are available for free download from <http://culturalheritageimaging.org/ What_We_Offer/Downloads/Capture/index.html> and <http://www.usc.edu/dept/ LAS/wsrp/projects/manuals.shtml> [accessed 14/04/13].

630 Chapter Thirty-two time required for the first sequence of the day and any inconveniently-positioned graffito. Figure 32-1 shows a typical set-up, with the camera and tripod erected on a table for one of the higher graffiti and the reflective sphere placed next to the wall. It is also necessary to take the light condi-tions into account before beginning to shoot. We took all of our images before 9.30am, when the wall bearing the graffiti was in full shade. In the-ory, RTI captures can be done in brighter light conditions; however, as much ambient light as possible should be blocked out, so that only the light from the flash is illuminating the object in the photographs. It is pos-sible to achieve this in direct sunlight through the use of neutral density filters on the camera lens, but a more powerful (and therefore more expen-sive) light source is then required. In order to check that no ambient light is reaching the camera sensor, a test shot can be taken of the object with-out flash. The resulting image should be solid black or near-black; if it is not, the aperture, shutter speed, or ISO should be adjusted so that less am-bient light enters the camera.

The camera must be set up on a tripod, with the area to be imaged framed so as to take as much advantage of the resolution of the camera sensor as possible. The camera should be adjusted so that the lens is par-allel to the surface of the wall, in order to avoid distortion in the final im-age. On the uneven, rocky ground surrounding the Ptah Temple, this step of the RTI process often proved the most time-consuming, and occasionally it was necessary to sacrifice a close framing of a graffito for a stable base for the tripod. The most important part of the capture sequence for RTI is that neither the camera, object, nor reflective sphere moves in any way, to ensure a sharp final image. Whilst the object moving is not a concern when imaging temple walls, setting up a tripod in rocky sand made keeping the camera completely still one of the most challenging parts of our RTI process. We found it absolutely necessary to weight the tripod to provide more stability; the central shaft of most tripods has a hook from which to hang something heavy, and a tripod weight bag can also be used between the legs for further stability. In cases where the graffito to be imaged was located high on the wall, we found it necessary to set up the tripod on a table, and in one case, on scaffolding. This created further problems in ensuring that the camera remained completely still, but with the ingenuity of our co-workers, especially Awad Abdel Radi Mohamed and the conservators, team members as “human ballast” sitting either side of the tripod, and patience, we were able to obtain several successful capture sequences in this way. In future seasons we intend to trial the use of a clamp to attach the camera directly to scaffolding, in

Applications of RTI in the Study of Temple Graffiti 631 order to reduce the potential for movement and obviate the need for setting up a tripod on narrow, uneven beams that were prone to vibration.

The reflective sphere (colloquially known as “the shiny ball”) was the most difficult part of our equipment to obtain. Spheres must be red or black in order to be detected by the RTI processing software, and need to be attached to some sort of apparatus that allows them to be arranged next to the object. We solved this problem by buying red and black snooker balls (easily available online) and drilling them onto a threaded rod from a hardware store (fig. 32-2). We were then able to attach the threaded rod to a second tripod by means of an umbrella clamp, and arrange the ball wher-ever we required it in the photograph. Other options for suitable reflective spheres include juggling balls and ball-bearings painted with gloss paint or ink. When positioning the reflective sphere within the frame of the photo-graph, we generally found that the best position was in one of the lower corners of the frame, so that it would not cast shadows on the graffito. Shadows in the component photographs will affect the final RTI capture, and while we found that no matter where the ball is placed certain raking light angles will produce shadows, these can easily be removed from the capture sequence before processing.

Fig. 32-2: The reflective sphere, a black snooker ball drilled onto a

threaded rod (photo by Julia Troche).

632 Chapter Thirty-two

Before beginning the capture sequence, the camera must be set to manual mode and manual focus, with any lens vibration reduction system turned off. Focusing correctly on the abraded wall surface at the Ptah Temple proved challenging, and we therefore made use of a grey card with focus target to assist with this.11 The grey card is also useful when post-processing photographs to mark the beginning of a new RTI capture se-quence, and for the purpose of colour-correcting the images.

The external flash used to light the object must be connected to the camera so that it is released at the same time as the shutter. We used an off-camera flash cable for this purpose, which was inexpensive and very reliably operated the flash. However, as we found several times to our cost, since the flash and camera are physically connected, careless move-ment of the flash also moves the camera and necessitates starting an image sequence again. Wireless remote flash release systems are available and would have been far more convenient than a cable, but proved to be too expensive on our limited budget. In order to keep the flash at a constant distance from the object, we used a piece of string. During the image cap-ture sequence, the flash can either be held in the hand or attached to a monopod to provide extra reach for the highest light angles.

One disadvantage of performing RTI on graffiti as opposed to objects was that more than one person is required to complete the image capture. We found it necessary to have one person manipulate the flash while an-other person operated the remote shutter release. It can be difficult for the flash operator to tell whether the flash is aimed directly at the graffito, especially at the more extreme angles, and therefore a second person is also useful to help guide this.

Once the image capture sequence is completed, the photographs can be processed to generate the RTI. We used the RTIBuilder and RTIViewer software available for free download from the Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) website.12 Once the user is familiar with the software, we found that an image could be generated from the original files in approximately 20 minutes, though this may vary depending on the processing power of the computer. CHI recommends a sequence of 32–72 photographs to get the best results; we found a number around 50 to provide the best compromise between processing time and highlight coverage. The RTIBuilder software offers the choice of two algorithms with which to process the images; both 11 Tethering the camera to a laptop would improve the ease of focusing, but intro-duces the difficulty of operating a computer outside in bright sunlight and a sandy environment, where no power source may be available. 12 <http://culturalheritageimaging.org/What_We_Offer/Downloads/> [accessed 14/ 04/13].

Applications of RTI in the Study of Temple Graffiti 633 the HSH and PTM fitters give very similar results, but the HSH fitter will provide a better result in cases where full highlight coverage has not been possible (for instance, when shooting in a corner), while the PTM fitter is able to render more surface enhancements than HSH. The software is ex-tremely forgiving; even in cases where good highlight coverage could not be obtained due to the position of the graffito, or where we had to discard some images from the sequence due to movement of the camera, very usa-ble results were obtained.

Although our project was working in challenging conditions and with a minimum of equipment, we found that RTI still produced very useful re-sults through a process that was relatively quick and easy to learn. The software was forgiving enough that even with the occasional difficulties of obtaining suitable image sequences and the odd user error, an image could still be generated that allows detailed analysis of a graffito in combination with epigraphic drawings, traditional photographs, and archival records. Here we give four brief examples of captures that were particularly re-vealing and/or point to the potential of the technique.

Fig. 32-3: A densely inscribed and damaged block from the south exterior wall

(© CNRS-CFEETK/P. Batard). Figure 32-3 is a context photograph of one of the most challenging

blocks on the south wall. The wall-surface is very rough, and bears traces of numerous interventions and damage. Graffiti inscribed on this block are

634 Chapter Thirty-two often palimpsest, plastered, and sometimes possibly erased. Figure 32-4 is a screen-shot of our RTI capture of what had been a partly illegible graf-fito from the bottom left corner. Traces of the last part of another graffito are also visible to the right. Through manipulation of light and surface, which figure 32-4 gives some sense of, “Scribe Amenemhab” became clear (of course we did then wonder why we had not seen it before, since it was suddenly so obvious). The enhanced record of the surface allows examination of the traces of plaster embedded in the lines, while analysis of their incision suggests that the palaeography is close to that of other names carved elsewhere on the wall, opening up the possibility that one scribe could have been responsible for different graffiti. This block will be a focus for future seasons as RTI should allow us to further assess areas that are damaged and palimpsest, and that are, therefore, so difficult to distinguish by eye alone.

Fig. 32-4: RTI screen-shot of a graffito of the Scribe Amenemhab

(photo by the authors). The most visually prominent graffiti on the south wall are two scenes

of gods: one showing Thoth standing before Ptah and Hathor, and the other showing Ptah and Thoth in effigy-form. Both scenes were carved over earlier inscriptions, traces of which are still visible, while the scene of Thoth before Ptah and Hathor was re-carved and added to, perhaps as part of later processes of restyling and/or embellishment. Figure 32-5 is a screen-shot of an RTI capture of a small part of this scene, showing traces of some of the earlier inscriptions. Although these will probably never be able to be read, RTI allows relative arrangement to be assessed in more detail. For example, the hieroglyphs nb and jmn are partly overlaid by the offering table, itself probably a secondary addition to the scene, although still quite visible. RTI renders the almost invisible reed-leaf of jmn detect-able within the line of the table. There are traces above and below the nb-sign which might indicate a small column of inscription; the relationship of this to the horizontal jmn is difficult to determine. The nb-sign may not have been finished, or it may have been partly erased, as faint traces of its upper line seem to be visible to the left of the table. Other traces are can be

Applications of RTI in the Study of Temple Graffiti 635 seen left of Ptah’s recarved leg. RTI has also been crucial to the analysis of the process of the recarving of the scene as a whole.

Fig. 32-5: RTI screen-shot of part of the scene of Thoth before Ptah and

Hathor, lower right (photo by the authors).

Fig. 32-6: RTI screen-shot of graffiti and possible erasures below the scene

showing effigy-form figures of Ptah and Thoth (photo by the authors).

636 Chapter Thirty-two

Further work with RTI may also help us clarify the relationship be-tween these scenes and the surrounding graffiti, especially as it is possible that the names and titles inscribed below the scenes were not intended to be visible during the “life” of the scenes. Some of the graffiti below the scene of Ptah and Thoth in effigy-form seem to have been erased, an im-pression supported by the detailed analysis of the surface which RTI per-mits (fig. 32-6). Although it is very unlikely that any traces of these will be recoverable, our tests with RTI on an erased cartouche of Hatshepsut elsewhere in Karnak produced readable results; we hope to work with more such inscriptions in later seasons.

We also used RTI to confirm and record groups of graffiti that we newly identified on some blocks in the course of the season. Figure 32-7 is one example, showing traces of isolated hieroglyphic signs (e.g. nfr in the upper right corner) and possibly some scribes; the titles are relatively clear but names are less so, and perhaps not completely carved in these cases. In other places on the south wall “scribe” is written without any trace of an accompanying name, perhaps as practice or as emulation of other graffiti. The RTI captures allow this “new” block to be studied in advance of epi-graphic drawing in the next season.

Fig. 32-7: RTI screen-shot of newly identified graffiti, from captures

taken from high scaffolding (photo by the authors). These screen-shots give a sense of how these RTI images work, and

the potential they have for enriching the study of inscriptions. RTI is a

Applications of RTI in the Study of Temple Graffiti 637 precise tool for the epigrapher in the creation of accurate drawings, al-lowing for the checking and re-checking of readings back in the office, as well as contributing to other levels of analysis. The captures are also a further conservation record. However, figures 32-4–7 also highlight some of the limitations of RTI within the context of traditional print publication. Work with RTI is interactive, so ideally the files would be made widely available as part of publication, allowing scholars to access captures and to manipulate the images themselves to check and correct readings, offer new interpretations, and pose new research questions.13 At the moment, the very large file-sizes limit possibilities for this. It is possible that the RTI captures taken in Karnak can be integrated with the new online documen-tation project of the CFEETK, so they can be accessed within this sys-tem.14 We also plan to make our RTI captures available through the Inscriptifact database maintained by the West Semitic Research Project at USC, which offers a way of disseminating and viewing RTI captures online.15

As with all new forms of digital data creation in the humanities, data curation and the proper archival storage of digital data such as RTI cap-tures is a concern for the future availability of information. Many univer-sities are beginning to operate “digital repositories” as a way of safe-guarding and sharing these data, and the on-going development of such archives will undoubtedly affect the ways in which RTI captures can be shared and stored; projects such as the Inscriptifact database and the Cu-neiform Digital Library Initiative demonstrate some of the ways in which cultural heritage projects might take advantage of these technologies.

We hope that this overview shows some of the potentials RTI has as a productive and relatively “cheap and easy” tool for working with carved material in the field, especially erased, damaged, or faint inscriptions. For our project, it will contribute in numerous and detailed ways to the inter-pretation of graffiti-writing practices associated with the Ptah Temple, which relate more broadly to the transformation of this area of Karnak in the first millennium.16 Our intention that the captures be made available to scholars also allows us to hope that new ideas about this material, which cannot be imagined within the scope of our current project, will be devel-oped in the future. 13 Cf. Kleinitz 2012, 18–19. 14 Karnak Project: <http://www.cfeetk.cnrs.fr/index.php?page=projet-karnak> [accessed 14/05/2013]. 15 <www.inscriptifact.com> [accessed 7/05/2013]. 16 See the chapter of Licitra, Thiers, and Zignani in this volume.

638 Chapter Thirty-two Bibliography Baird, Jennifer A., and Claire Taylor. 2011. “Ancient Graffiti in Context:

Introduction.” In Ancient Graffiti in Context, eds. Jennifer A. Baird, and Claire Taylor, 1–19. Routledge Studies in Ancient History 2. Lon-don: Routledge.

Dahl, Jacob L., Jack Green, and Kathryn E. Piquette. 2011. “Exploring Ancient Writings at the Ashmolean Museum with Advanced Digital Technologies.” Ashmolean Museum Department of Antiquities, Current Research Website: <http://www.ashmolean.org/departments/ antiquities/research/research/rtisad/> [accessed 23/04/2013].

Earl, Graeme, Kirk Martinez, and Tom Malzbender. 2010. “Archaeological Applications of Polynomial Texture Mapping: Analysis, Conservation and Representation.” JAS 37: 1–11.

Earl, Graeme, Philip Basford, Alexander Bischoff, Alan Bowman, Charles Crowther, Jacob Dahl, Michael Hodgson, Leif Isaksen, Eleni Kotoula, Kirk Martinez, Hembo Pagi, and Kathryn E. Piquette. 2012. “Reflectance Transformation Imaging Systems for Ancient Documentary Artefacts.” In EVA London 2012: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts, eds. Stuart Dunn, Jonathan P. Bowen, and Kia Ng, 147–154. Swindon: BCM.

Frood, Elizabeth. 2013. “Egyptian Temple Graffiti and the Gods: Appro-priation and Ritualization in Karnak and Luxor.” In Heaven on Earth: Temples, Ritual and Cosmic Symbolism in the Ancient World, ed. Deena Ragavan, 285–318. OIS 9. Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

Kleinitz, Cornelia. 2012. “Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) in der Bestandsdokumentation der Sekundärbilder und -inschriften von Musawwarat es Sufra im Rahmen des Musawwarat Graffiti Project.” MSGB 23: 7–20.

Malzbender, Tom, Dan Gelb, and Hans Wolters. 2001. “Polynomial Tex-ture Maps”. In SIGGRAPH ’01: Proceedings of the 28th Annual Con-ference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, 519–528. New York: ACM Press.

Ragazzoli, Chloé, and Elizabeth Frood. 2013. “Writing on the Wall: Two Graffiti Projects in Luxor.” EgArch 42: 30–33.

Thiers, Christophe, and Pierre Zignani. 2011. “The Temple of Ptah at Kar-nak.” EgArch 38: 20–24.

———. 2013. “Le domaine de Ptah à Karnak. Premières données de ter-rain.” CahKarn 14: 493–513.