Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period : a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence
The architectural analysis of archaeologically known royal palaces in Egyptological studies has shown that ancient Egyptian royal palaces with similar setting might have served similar function. The differences recognizable in the few royal structures known from the Middle Kingdom onwards must reflect differences in the conception that was at the basis of their construction and the activities performed within each site. Such architectural variety corresponds to the complexity of the terminology associated with Egyptian palaces. There are at least five terms for âpalaceâ that have been identified in the Egyptian vocabulary - 'h, pr-'3, pr-nswt, h_nw and stp-s3 â the exact meaning of the majority of which needs to be specified. The present lexicographical study aims to understand what each word would have been for by analyzing its use in different contexts: private titles, official inscriptions or literary texts. The final attempt of this work is to identify a possible correspondence between such terminology and the surviving structures. As an example of a possible application of the lexicographical study to the archaeological evidence, the word âh, referring in texts to a royal structure with ritual
Pagliari, Giulia
CC Archaeology ; CN Inscriptions. Epigraphy. ; DT Africa
Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period : a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. The architectural analysis of archaeologically known royal palaces in Egyptological studies has shown that ancient Egyptian royal palaces with similar setting might have served similar function. The differences recognizable in the few royal structures known from the Middle Kingdom onwards must reflect differences in the conception that was at the basis of their construction and the activities performed within each site. Such architectural variety corresponds to the complexity of the terminology associated with Egyptian palaces. There are at least five terms for âpalaceâ that have been identified in the Egyptian vocabulary - 'h, pr-'3, pr-nswt, h_nw and stp-s3 â the exact meaning of the majority of which needs to be specified. The present lexicographical study aims to understand what each word would have been for by analyzing its use in different contexts: private titles, official inscriptions or literary texts. The final attempt of this work is to identify a possible correspondence between such terminology and the surviving structures. As an example of a possible application of the lexicographical study to the archaeological evidence, the word âh, referring in texts to a royal structure with ritual
function significance ancient_egyptian royal palace middle kingdom period lexicographical study possible connection archaeological_evidence architectural analysis archaeologically know royal palace egyptological study_show ancient_egyptian royal palace similar setting might serve similar function difference recognizable royal structure know middle_kingdom onwards must reflect difference conception basis construction activity perform within site architectural variety corresponds complexity terminology associate egyptian palace least term palace identify egyptian vocabulary exact mean majority need specify present lexicographical study aim word would analyze use different_context private title official inscription literary_text final attempt work identify_possible correspondence terminology survive structure example possible application lexicographical study archaeological_evidence word refer texts royal structure ritual