“LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE STUDIES”
AND ARCHAEOLOGY:
A REEVALUATION OF THE KADESH INSCRIPTIONS OF
RAMESSES II
Fenno F.J.M. Noij
Abstract
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concept “Linguistic Landscapes”. The inscriptions contain an account of the battle of Kadesh (located in
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Previous studies have focused little on their purpose, and often interpreted them as being either propaganGLVWLFRUDSRWURSDLF LHPHDQWWRZDUGRIHYLO 7KLVVWXG\XVHVWKHORFDWLRQRIWKHWH[WVZLWKLQWKHWHPSOH
to reinterpret their possible function. It shows that the inscriptions were placed in different locations within
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amount of individuals were allowed within the temple.
The spatial distribution brings about a new interpretation of the function of the Kadesh inscriptions: the
worshipped god was thought of as being present in the temple, and would have been able to read the text.
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the gods, who worked together to maintain order in Egypt.
Keywords
Egyptian temple reliefs, Linguistic Landscapes, New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, spatial analysis, visibility
studies
E-mail Address: [email protected]
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Academia: leidenuniv.academia.edu/ffjmnoij
I
ntroduction
The placing of written texts in a landscape
is a common occurrence in both modern and
ancient societies. These texts do not only contain
a large amount of historically relevant information,
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the space which surrounds them.
This paper will study the relationship by using a
FRQFHSWIURPWKHÀHOGRI6RFLROLQJXLVWLFV´/LQJXLVtic Landscapes”. This will be applied to a case-study of the Kadesh Inscriptions, which were placed
on the walls of several Egyptian temples during the
reign of Ramesses II (ca. 1279-1213 BCE).
Linguistic Landscapes
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follows:
“The language of public road signs, advertising
billboards, street names, place names, commercial
shop signs and public signs on government buildings combines to form the linguistic landscape
of a territory, region or urban agglomeration”
(Landry and Bourhis 1997, 25).
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proposed (Coulmas 2009, 15), they all share the
framework in which written texts are placed in a
certain space. LL-studies (LLS) focus on the relation between these two. Written texts have a speci-
2015 | INTER-SECTION | VOL I | p.21