Predynastic human representations. Two sides of a story

Abstract

Rock art has long been neglected as a primary source of information for Predynastic Egypt. Fortunately, interest has picked up strongly for the last twenty years, resulting in numerous publications. However, recent studies tend to focus on the presentation of newly-(re)discovered rock art scenes and sites. In-depth presentations are both infrequent and mostly restricted to rock art itself. Although comparisons have often been made with the iconography on decorated pottery and other objects found in Predynastic cemeteries, the aim was, in many cases, to establish the chronological position of the rock art scenes. However, rock art iconography also offers other opportunities. For instance, comparing human representations in Predynastic rock art with those known from so-called Decorated ware vessels, brings to light a number of striking resemblances as well as differences. It appears that although the same semantics and visual language are being used, the meanings and contexts of rock art and cemetery objects differ rather strongly. This is probably not primarily due to the funerary character of cemetery finds, because there is no obvious difference between their iconography and that attested on materials from settlements, although, admittedly, the information available for the latter is much more limited. This paper first attempts to describe the main characteristics of Predynastic human representations from these contexts, before analysing the semantic elements used. The meaning behind the observed similarities and differences is also discussed.