Acknowledgements

The present study is a revised version of my doctoral thesis defended at the Faculty of Historical and Cultural Studies, University of Vienna, on December 6, 2013. It would have never come to life without the kind held and support of my colleagues, friends, and family to whom I want to express my sincere gratitude.

Foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor Peter Jánosi, who provided me with the unique opportunity to become part of the MeKeTRE Project (Middle Kingdom Tomb Relief Evolution) funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF, Project No. P 21571-G21) and conducted at the Institute of Egyptology in cooperation with the Department of Distributed and Multimedia Systems at the University of Vienna in 2009–2013. During those years, I was able to concentrate entirely on Middle Kingdom art and discover the inexhaustible world of images in the tombs of officials. The fruit of this encounter was not only my doctoral thesis but also the MEKETREpository,¹ which will hopefully serve Egyptologists as well as the interested public for many years to come. The successful cooperation resulted in yet another common project entitled From Object to Icon, funded by the same institution (FWF, Project No. P 21571-G21, 2014–2018), which allowed me to have a deeper look into the decoration of Middle Kingdom tombs by studying the objects depicted (icons) in relation to their three-dimensional counterparts (artefacts). Peter’s vast knowledge and genuine support have been a great motivation for me over my entire life in and with Egyptology.

I am equally grateful to the other members of both projects, Andrea Kahlbacher, Uta Siffert, and Claus Jurman for their help and encouragement, nice company on many study trips and conferences, as well as for their friendship and all the cheerful lunches and coffee breaks. My special thanks go to Irmgard Hein, Christian Knoblauch, and Gerald Moers for the most valuable discussions and suggestions and for their continuous interest in my work (and life).

Many more colleagues deserve recognition for their support. The supervisor of my master’s thesis, Helmut Satzinger, kindly accepted to review the first version of the manuscript along with Peter Jánosi when submitted in 2013. The head of the Institute of Egyptology in Vienna, E. Christiana Köhler, gave me the opportunity to gain experience in lecturing, adding yet another jigsaw puzzle piece to my academic carrier. I would like to thank all colleagues in Vienna for creating a friendly and respectful atmosphere and Irene Kaplan and Margot Buhl for their readiness to help whenever an administrative or library-related stumbling block crossed my paths.

I also want to express my gratitude to my friends Veronika Dubcová, Benedikt Fuchs, Roman Gundacker, Lucia Hulková, Friederike Junge, Nora Kuch, Martin Odler, all members of the Aigyptos Foundation, members of the previous and current committee of the Egypt and Austria Society, and many many others. Each of you have supported and inspired me in a different way.

The publication of an art-historical study would not have been possible without the assistance and courtesy of scholars who published the decoration of the tombs under discussion, and museums keeping fragments of the decoration in their collections. I extend my deepest gratitude to all institutions and persons who granted access to the material and permitted the reproduction of drawings and photographs: Australian Centre for Egyptology, Macquarie University; British Museum, London; Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio (Bridgeman Images); Egypt Exploration Society, London; Griffith Institute, University of Oxford; Institut français d’ archéologie orientale, Cairo; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Musée du Louvre, Paris; Museo Egizio, Turin; Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery (Norfolk Museums Service); Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, University College London; The Asyut Project; and Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Dieter Arnold; Linda Evans; Wolfram Grajetzki; Peter Jánosi; Jochem Kahl; Janice Kamrin; Naguib Kanawati; Diana Craig Patch; Karl-Joachim Seyfried; and Alexandra Woods. I would like to thank Ingelore Hafemann and Silke Grallert from the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities for providing me with the drawings made during the Lepsius Expedition to Egypt at Beni Hasan (Archiv Altägyptisches Wörterbuch) and John Wyatt for organising the visits to the archives of the Egypt Exploration Society and the Griffith Institute, University of Oxford, and giving access to his personal archive of Middle Kingdom images.

I’m deeply indebted to the editor of the Harvard Egyptological Studies, Peter Der Manuelian, for accepting the manuscript for the series and Katelyn Chin and Kristen Chevalier from Brill for their patient help with words and deeds through the publishing process. My special thanks also go to Michael Isralewitz for the accurate copy editing and valuable comments.

The dissertation was completed as part of the the MeKeTRE Project funded by the Austrian Science Fund and awarded with the Sponsorship Award of the Dr. Maria Schaumayer-Foundation in June 2014 and the Honorary prize of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy in November 2014. On May 13, 2015, I was promoted sub auspiciis Praesidentis rei publicae. The revision of the manuscript was made possible thanks to the Back to Research Grant provided by the University of Vienna in 2018. Financial resources related to the obtainment of photo permissions, proofreading, and all relevant printing costs were kindly covered by the Excellence Award of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy and the project From Object to Icon (Austrian Science Fund, Project No. P 21571-G21).

I would never have come so far without my family. I would like to give my deepest gratitude to my parents, my son, and above all to my husband. They have been there whenever I needed and never lost faith in me. Their encouragement and patience have been the greatest contribution to the completion of this book, which is dedicated to them. Ďakujem!