THE DECORATIVE SPACE OF AN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PRIVATE TOMB AS A SIGN SYSTEM

Abstract

This paper examines the decorative space of the Egyptian tomb of the Old Kingdom as a system of architectural and pictorial components. The comparative historical method was used along with the methods of formal and systematic analyses of material from more than a hundred noble burials. The article states that the main purpose of the Egyptian tomb is to maintain the existence of the Double of its owner, for which the architectural and visual space was formed in a special way. It was identified that the large images of nobles are a complex combination of attribute signs necessary to establish the desired correlation with the adjacent labor scenes. These visual signs (various wigs, wands, staves, vestments, etc.) tend not only to convey the information about the corresponding plot, but also to replace and reproduce it. Thus, in a large image of a nobleman, the main material of the scene placed in front of him is accumulated; such images imply the presence of the corresponding plots nearby, and the Egyptian tomb can be studied from the standpoint of semiotics.

Keywords

• egyptian tomb
• system
• egyptian relief
• semiotics
• ancient egyptian culture