Battle scenes in the tomb of Inti: on the issue of visual representation of the image of the world in the Old Kingdom

The article is devoted to the analysis of battle scenes in the tomb of the nomarch Inti in Deshasheh (the end of the V dynasty) as a unique source for the reconstruction of the visual representation of the image of the world in the era of the Old Kingdom. The study is based on the premise that the pictorial monuments of Ancient Egypt performed not only a decorative, but also a philosophical, constructive function, being a tool for visualizing and consolidating key ideological concepts in the minds of the population. The main attention is paid to the iconographic analysis of the Asian fortress siege scene, which is considered as a complex semiotic text based on the “order-chaos” opposition fundamental to Egyptian culture. The work proves that artistic means (composition, gesture system, ethnic markers) were used to create an extremely clear visual contrast between Egyptians as carriers of organized, structured power and Asians as the embodiment of chaos. The study also raises the issue of the inclusion of previously presented purely royal iconography in a private tomb, which is associated with several factors – a change in canonical rules in art, Inti’s position as “overseer of royal fortresses” and his desire for posthumous legitimization through demonstration of participation in maintaining world order. The main conclusions indicate that the battle scenes of the Old Kingdom era, in particular in the tomb of Inti, were not just a record of the event, but reflected key aspects of the state ideology, embodied individual elements of the worldview.

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