Quelques observations sur l’écriture rétrograde dans les tombes thébaines de l’époque tardive

Abstract

The “retrograde” writing is characterised by an inversion in the reading sequence of the hieroglyphs, which—either in columns or in lines—are to be read in the “opposite direction”, counter to what we would expect from the signs’ direction. Throughout Egyptian history, this writing system was used to inscribe funerary texts on tomb walls and certain objects of the funerary equipment (sarcophagi, stelae, papyri). Several theories, involving technical or theological issues, have been advanced to explain the use of retrograde writing. During the Late Period, this system was widely used in the monumental tombs of the Asasif necropolis in Thebes. The analysis conducted on the decorative programme of these rock-cut tombs shows that the use of retrograde writing in this context was functional. It was intended to express in a visual manner the theological conception of the beyond, where the deceased would cross the Duat before going forth by day following the sun god.