On Prestigious Missions in Quarries: Individuals’ Writing Practices and the Royal Sphere
Résumé
In the Eastern Desert and Sinai Quarries, far from the Nile Valley, royal emissaries were sent forth on expeditions of great importance, highly symbolic events ordered by Pharaoh himself, the goal of which was to remove restricted resources. From the early Dynastic to the end of the Old Kingdom, several officials engraved their testimonies on various quarry rockfaces, bearing witness to their coming. While occasionally mentioning relationships with their relatives and co-workers, they also displayed—at times and according to the evolution of local writing practices—their obedience to their remote royal master. Endowed with a prestigious status as emissaries on a mission, some of these dignitaries—through various means which will be discussed—staged and celebrated their close relationship with the royal sphere.