| “Linguistic Landscape Studies” and Archaeology |
location of the texts and reliefs in these temples is
diverse: at Luxor, the inscriptions covered the outer face of the pylon, as well as the outer face of
the walls of the temple complex (Porter and Moss
1972, 304-5; 334-5). At the Ramesseum, they were
engraved on both the outer- and inner face of the
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KDYHEHHQLGHQWLÀHGRQWKHLQQHUIDFHRIWKHZDOOV
of the second court (Porter and Moss 1972, 433-5).
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of the southern wall of the Hypostyle hall (part of
which was located inside the Cachette Court), and
the outside of the western wall between pylons VIII
and X (Porter and Moss 1972, 57-8; 179). At Abydos, the reliefs covered the entire outer face of the
walls (Porter and Moss 1970, 39-41), but was not
placed on the pylons. At Abu Simbel, the inscriptions are found on the northern wall of the Great
Hall (Porter and Moss 1975, 103-4), one of the inner rooms of the complex. Abu Simbel is unique in
that only the Bulletin has been found here, while the
other temples have both the Bulletin and the Poem
placed on their walls³6HHÀJXUHIRUSODQVRIWKH
temples with these locations.
The Poem has also been attested on a
number of hieratic papyrus scrolls, namely the papyri Raifé and Sallier III (which are two parts of the
same scroll) and Chester-Beatty III (Kuentz 1928;
Kitchen 1979, 2). The former papyri appear to have
been written at least sixty years after the battle
(Lichtheim 1976, 72).
Accessibility
Egyptians saw their temples as mansions of the gods
who were worshipped there (Shafer 1997, 3; Wilkinson 2000, 25) and who were physically present
in the form of a statue in the inner sanctum (Bell
1997, 133-4; Teeter 2011, 44). The god’s presence
was vital in the preservation of the order of the
world (ma’at), since without divine help, forces of
chaos (isfet) would disrupt it (Shafer 1997, 1). Since
the temple served as a divine residence, it was not a
place anybody could enter. Egyptian temples were
divided into three “zones” (Shafer 1997, 5-7) of acFHVVLELOLW\ VHHÀJXUH WKHÀUVW]RQHVXUURXQGHG
the main building of the temple. This outer area was
usually enclosed by an (undecorated) mudbrick wall
(Wilkinson 2000, 56) and access to it was not restricted. The second zone was an open court, which
could be entered by passing through the pylons.
Normally, only priests could enter this area, but the
rest of the population were occasionally allowed to
enter it (Bell 1997, 135; Teeter 2011, 52; Wilkinson
2000, 62). The third zone was the roofed part of the
temple, which only the ritually cleansed pharaoh
and most senior priests could enter. It was inside
these rooms that the god resided.
The possible audience for the inscriptions
ZDV KHDYLO\ LQÁXHQFHG E\ WKHVH OLPLWDWLRQV LQ DFcessibility. Texts on the outside of the temple, especially those on the pylons, could be easily observed
by everyone in Egypt. Those placed in the open
court could only be seen during special occasions
(although priests could always enter this area), and
those in the roofed rooms were only visible to the
senior priests and the pharaoh himself.
Implications of the spatial distribution
The position of the Kadesh Inscriptions within the
LL of the temples suggests that the texts could only
be observed by a limited amount of individuals.
This is especially clear in Abu Simbel, where the
texts were placed in the inner rooms, and at the
Ramesseum, where they were located in the open
courts. Earlier interpretations should be evaluated
with regard to this information.
Interpretations of the texts as propaganda
RIWHQLPSO\WKDWLWZDVPHDQWWRLQÁXHQFHWKHRSLnion of the population regarding Ramesses II. Their
placement, as discussed above, is not ideally suited
for this purpose. Furthermore, most Egyptians were
illiterate, which means that it is highly unlikely that
the monumental inscriptions, even if they could
be observed, were understood by most individuals
(Goedicke 1985, 79; Bard 2008, 30-32)4. The depictions in the reliefs might have served as pr