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Wall Paintings, Tell el-Dabʿa


Constact: Prof. Dr. Constance von Rüden


Lupe
'Proposal for the reconstruction of a spear-leaved plant from Area H/I'

In the early 1990s, researchers excavated the remains of a palace district at Tell el-Dabʿa, lo-cated in the eastern Nile Delta. It dates from the Thutmoside period of the New Kingdomand was decorated with painted lime plaster. It was soon realized that this material is extraordinary and in technique and visual design foreign to Egypt. New finds from the 2005 excavations expanded the corpus of the wall-paintings. Today, this diverse corpus includes architecture-imitations, large-scale paintings of landscapes, humans, animals and hybrid-beasts, a painted floor with a labyrinth-motif, relief- and miniature-paintings.

‘The Tell el-Dabʿa Wall Paintings Project’ is a cooperation between the Ruhr-University Bo-chum and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. It is institutionally supported by the Austrian Archaeological Institute and funded by the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP). Moreo-ver, it was also part of the project ‘Aegean Design – Knowledge and Materiality in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Second Millennium B.C.’ of the Ruhr-University Bochum, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).


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Publications (chronologically)

Ongoing/eds.:

  • M. Bietak/C. von Rüden (eds.), Ägäische Wandmalereien aus dem Tuthmosidenpalast von Tell el Dabʿa.
  • J. Jungfleisch, Architektonische Impressionen aus Tell el-Dab‘a/Avaris. Zur Produktion und Rezeption der architektursimulierenden Wandmalereien ägäischen Designs aus ‚Palast G‘ im Kontext Ägyptens (Diss. Ruhr-University Bochum 2021) Publication pending.


Recent:

  • J. Becker, Die großformatigen Greifen- und Landschaftsdarstellungen Technik, Ikonographie und Rekonstruktion der Kalkputzmalereien im überregionalen Vergleich. Ägäische Wandmalereien aus dem Tuthmosidenpalast von Tell el-Dabʿa I = Contributions to the Archae-ology of Egypt, Nubia and the Levant 18.1 (Wiesbaden 2024).

Ordered chronologically:

  • T. Skowronek/A. Hauptmann/C. von Rüden, Using Spinel Chemistry to Characterise Archae ological Steatite Found in the Wall Paintings of Tell el-Dab´a. Egypt, JASc 117 online publi-cation, 2020, 1–9,
  • <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440320300595> (Stand 21.10.2024).
  • J. Becker, How to Paint a Landscape. Technical Perspectives on the 'Aegean'-style Landscape Paintings from Tell el-Dab'a. In: J. Becker/J. Jungfleisch/C. von Rüden (eds.), Tracing Tech-noscapes. The Production of Bronze Age Wall Paintings in the Eastern Mediterranean (Leiden 2018) 173–190.
  • J. Becker/J. Jungfleisch/C. von Rüden, Bull Leaping. In: J. Spier/T. Pott/S. E. Cole (eds.), Be-yond the Nile, Exhib. Cat. Getty Museums Los Angeles (Los Angeles 2018) 56–58.
  • J. Jungfleisch, For Further Information Please See the Back of the Plaster. Architectural Im pressions in the ‘Aegean’-style Wall Paintings from Tell el-Dab'a. In: J.Becker/J. Jungfleisch/C. von Rüden (eds.), Tracing Technoscapes. The Production of Bronze Age Wall Paintings in the Eastern Mediterranean (Leiden 2018) 191–211.
  • L. Morgan, Forming the Image. Approaches to Painting at Ayia Irini, Kea and Tell el-Dab'a. In: J. Becker/J. Jungfleisch/C. von Rüden (eds.), Tracing Technoscapes. The Production of Eastern Mediterranean Wall Paintings (Leiden 2018) 235–251.
  • C. von Rüden/J. Becker/J. Jungfleisch, Introduction. Technical Perspective on Wall Paintings in the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia. In: J. Becker/J. Jungfleisch/C. von Rüden (eds.), Tracing Technoscapes. The Production of Bronze Age Wall Paintings in the Eastern Mediterranean (Leiden 2018) 7–26.
  • C. von Rüden/T. Skowronek, Between Common Craft Tradition and Deviation. The Making of Stucco Reliefs in the Eastern Mediterranean. In: J. Becker/J. Jungfleisch/C. von Rüden (eds.), Tracing Technoscapes. The Production of Bronze Age Wall Paintings in the Eastern Mediter-ranean (Leiden 2018) 213–231.
  • J. Becker, The Large-Scale Landscape Paintings of Tell el-Dab’a/Egypt. In: R. A. Stucky/O. Kaelin/H.-P. Mathys (eds.), Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. University of Basel June 9th -13th (Wiesbaden 2016) 23–36.
  • J. Jungfleisch, When Aegean Wall Paintings Meet Egyptian Architecture. Simulations of Ar chitecture from ‹Palace G› at Tell el-Dab’a/Egypt. In: R. A. Stucky/O. Kaelin/H.-P. Mathys (eds.), Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. University of Basel June 9th -13th (Wiesbaden 2016) 37–50.
  • C. von Rüden, Transmediterranean Knowledge and Minoan Style Reliefs in Tell el-Dab’a. An Attempt at Paradigm Shift. In: S. Cappel/U. Günkel-Maschek/D. Panagiotopoulos (eds.), Mi-noan Archaeology. Perspectives for the 21st Century (Louvain 2015) 355–366.
  • C. von Rüden/J. Becker/J. Jungfleisch, From Small Fragments to Large Animals. A Large-Size Animal Fight in Tell el Dab’a. E&L 24, 2014, 149–166.
  • M. Bietak/C. von Rüden/J. Becker/J. Jungfleisch/L. Morgan, Preliminary Report of the Tell el Dab‘a Wall Painting Project. Season 2011/2012, E&L 22/23 (2012/2013), 127–143.
  • L. Morgan, A Pride of Leopards. A Unique Aspect of the Hunt Frieze from Tell el-Dab'a, E&L 20, 2010, 263–302.
  • L. Morgan, An Aegean Griffin in Egypt. The Hunt Frieze at Tell el-Dab'a, E&L 20, 2010, 303–323.
  • L. Morgan, Paintings, Harbors, and Intercultural Relations. In: P. P. Betancourt/M.C. Nelson/H. Williams (eds.), Krinoi kai Limenes. Studies in Honor of Joseph and Maria Shaw (Philadelphia 2007) 117–129.
  • L. Morgan, Art and International Relations. The Hunt Frieze at Tell el-Dab'a. In: E. Czerny/I. Hein/H. Hunger/D. Melman/A. Schwab (eds.), Timelines. Studies in Honour of Manfred Bie-tak. OLA 149 (Leuven,Paris,Dudley MA 2006) 249–258.
  • L. Morgan, Feline Hunters in the Tell el-Dab'a Paintings. Iconography and Dating, E&L 14, 2004, 285–298.
  • L. Morgan, Power of the Beast. Human Animal Symbolism in Egyptian and Aegean Art, E&L 7, 1998, 17–31.
  • L. Morgan, Minoan Painting and Egypt. The Case of Tell el-Dab’a. In: W. Davies/L. Schofield (eds.), Egypt, the Aegean and the Levant. Interconnections in the Second Millennium B.C. (London 1995) 29–53.

Project Management

Prof. Dr. Constance von Rüden
Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Am Bergbaumuseum 31, 44791 Bochum
Raum: 0.3.4
Tel.: (0234) 32-28546
Mail: constance.vonrueden@ruhr-uni-bochum.de


Participants

Cooperation partners and financial support