Provincial art in the Old Kingdom and its sources

Memphis was the centre for all artistic developments in the Old Kingdom. Most elite tombs were decorated with scenes representing daily life, funerary beliefs and religious iconography. The aim of this project was to study the artistic influence of Memphis in provincial tombs. This was achieved through a detailed study of tomb decoration in provincial elite tombs dating from the Fifth to the Eighth Dynasties, together with a comparative analysis with tombs in the capital. The spear fishing and fowling scene by the provincial tomb owner was chosen as the theme to be studied, each detail and feature of this scene was carefully compared and analysed with similar scenes from the capital. In addition, attempt was made to trace the artists who decorated provincial tombs. Generally, it was found that the artists who decorated the tombs of the important provincial officials had exposure to or began their careers in the capital and used the superior tombs from the capital as their sources of inspiration. It was also found that, towards the end of the Old Kingdom the Middle provinces such as Deir el- Gebrawi, Meir and ElHawawish were beginning to influence the other southernly provinces.