Royal ideology and legitimacy at the beginning of New Kingdom: The function and decorative program of temples of millions of years

The iconography of temples is an aspect that has been frequently treated in Egyptian research.

Yet, it is still an important source of knowledge for understanding the religion, thought, or ideology of ancient Egypt.

In the 18th dynasty (ca. 1539-1292 BC), a time of ideological rebirth and political stability, specific constructions proliferate: the temples of millions of years.

This action will conceive how the decoration of these temples possessed a particular iconographic program and how their iconographic programs may reflect the needs of the kingship and legitimacy, as well as to explore the relations of power and identity established at that period.

For this purpose, the proposal will focus on a specific aspect: the analysis of the interactions between the royal and funerary worship of the sovereign in the temples of millions of years and in other types of temples dedicated to deities, as well as in relation to the royal and private tombs. A database will, for the first time, gather scenes related to the project.

The action will be carried out in the section Égypte Nilotique et Méditerranéenne (ENiM) of the laboratory of Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes (ASM, UMR 5140, CNRS, University Paul-Valéry, Montpellier) under the supervision of Prof. Marc Gabolde and Prof. Sébastien Biston-Moulin. The host institution is one of the best in the Egyptological field.

It has huge experience in editing epigraphic and iconographic primary sources, in project management in Egypt, and has a strong network.

The allocation will contribute to the research activities of the host laboratory while developing the own candidate network of contacts through the dissemination/publication of the results and by organizing a scientific workshop.

The candidate will particularly develop skills in: database creation, management, and use, with specific training activities at the host institution; budget management; teaching at the university level; organizing scientific conferences.