Leiden University Student Repository

Freriks, Kiki (2025)

Creativity in Cursive: Hieratic Iconicity in Late Ramesside Texts from Deir el-Medina

Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)

While the ancient Egyptian hieratic script may have lost much of the iconicity that characterises its hieroglyphic counterpart, it was certainly not entirely devoid of it. Nevertheless, most research into iconicity and other visual elements of the ancient Egyptian scripts tends to focus on hieroglyphic texts. Especially when it comes to documentary texts, the iconicity of the hieratic script is considered to be practically nonexistent. However, scribes of hieratic had many of the same opportunities for visual creativity at their disposal as their colleagues writing hieroglyphic texts. This thesis examines this phenomenon, by studying in detail a selection of texts from various genres.The corpus of texts consists of magical texts, letters, and administrative texts, all originating from the village of Deir el-Medina and dating back to the late Ramesside period. By examining closely the shapes of hieratic signs, this thesis shows that the iconicity of the hieratic script can be used by...Show moreWhile the ancient Egyptian hieratic script may have lost much of the iconicity that characterises its hieroglyphic counterpart, it was certainly not entirely devoid of it. Nevertheless, most research into iconicity and other visual elements of the ancient Egyptian scripts tends to focus on hieroglyphic texts. Especially when it comes to documentary texts, the iconicity of the hieratic script is considered to be practically nonexistent. However, scribes of hieratic had many of the same opportunities for visual creativity at their disposal as their colleagues writing hieroglyphic texts. This thesis examines this phenomenon, by studying in detail a selection of texts from various genres.The corpus of texts consists of magical texts, letters, and administrative texts, all originating from the village of Deir el-Medina and dating back to the late Ramesside period. By examining closely the shapes of hieratic signs, this thesis shows that the iconicity of the hieratic script can be used by scribes in various ways, in all genres, and for any purpose.Show less

hieratic

ancient Egyptian scripts

iconicity

Deir el-Medina

New Kingdom

Author

Freriks, Kiki

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Egyptology

Supervisors

Haring, B.J.J.
Donker van Heel, K.

ECTS Credits

30

Language

en