Inscribed “Ugly Objects” – The Presence of Writing in the New Kingdom Cemetery of Sedment.

One of the most profound divisions between different branches of archaeological fields is the occurrence of writing in the subjects investigated. Historically speaking, a deep divide between the fields of Classics or Egyptology on one side and Prehistoric Archaeology on the other, can be observed. The major reason is that written sources survive from Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, but not from Europe before the later Bronze Age at all with most parts remaining without until well into the first millennium CE. Therefore, the methods used in the various subjects differ a lot. But even within a field such as Egyptology “boundaries” persist, the deepest probably between the study of written documents and the study of material culture, even though they are of course inextricably linked. This separation between written culture and “the rest” is not seen as only an etic one, made by modern day Egyptologists. Rather, the Pharaonic sources are interpreted as evidence for an emic literate / illiterate-divide, probably articulated most explicitly in the instruction of Dua-Khety, also known as the Satire on the Trades. Here, the work of a scribe is set against all types of manual labour: “But if you understand writings, then it will be better for you than the professions which I have set before you.” The literate / illiterate divide was not just neutrally observed; literacy has been taken as a fundamental marker for a higher status or a prestigious role, which the literate person could play in contrast to illiterate ones, with the title of “scribe” being of fundamental importance – an idea that has been recently criticised. But if one accepts the importance of literacy, especially for joining the ranks of the administrative system of Egypt, it should still be an important marker for differences in socio-cultural standing, even though the line is somewhat blurred, given for instance the question of where writing begins. To evade these problems, this article mainly focuses on elite-centred textual sources, supplemented by the use of individual personal names as a marker of closeness of the deceased to literacy. With these preliminary considerations and precautions in mind, it seems promising to examine the question of access to and the use of literacy in a context where texts are functionally connected to individuals: tombs with their burial goods. The presence of writing in this context is assessed as the material expression of the socio-cultural background of the deceased. Archaeological data from New Kingdom Egypt will be presented, which can be used in a second step to determine who used written texts in the funerary context in this period and who did not, and how this use changed over the course of five centuries.