TOMB INSCRIPTIONS: THE CASE OF THE I VERSUS AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN ANCIENT EGYPT
TOMB INSCRIPTIONS: THE CASE OF THE I VERSUS AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN ANCIENT EGYPT

Summary/Abstract: Ancient Egyptian tomb inscriptions were written in order to construct a permanent social and personal identity of the dead for the hereafter as well as for the mémoire collective. They always included names, the titles of the deceased and offered formulae. In the case of well-off people, epithets and other additions or variations to the core formula were used. Traditionally the genre is called “autobiography”, but in fact these Egyptian texts are neither biography nor are they usually “auto” (in the sense of authorship). They present a self sub specie aeternitatis and therefore should be called self-presentations or presentations of self. My considerations on verbal constructions of identity are combined here with a discussion of specific examples from the late third millennium BC. An analysis of topics and rhetorical strategies aims at casting a fresh light on a supposedly dark period.

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