Ozymandias: a look at text

Carved in to Abu Simbel in Egypt, is text telling the story of how Rameses II  won the battle of  Kadesh against the Hittite forces. Hieroglyphs and images depict the story so that even those who cannot read the words still understand the deeds.

The problem is the Hittites also claim to have won that battle. 

I’ve always been interested in anthropology, so the idea that text is more than just the written word is not new to me. I became interested in Egyptology because I’m a massive nerd, and when you start dealing with long-dead civilizations and their text, you have to expect and accept that:

1. You will may never luck out and have a rosetta stone fall into your lap. 
2. Even if you did, what you find inscribed in the tombs of dead rich dudes is only half of the story. 

TEXT

What would Ramesses II know about the life of a farmer, or a mason, or a fisherman? Probably about as much as many of our elected officials today. If that. No, the remnants of villages and the outskirts of the central hubs of worship and trade, the cities, they are littered with the story of everyday people. Some write it down. You find it in scrolls from temples that record the dreams of worshippers seeking insight or from magistrates handling crucial and mundane matters.You find them in letters pleading for a local officials help, or saying hi to mom and dad. You also find them in the graffiti left behind on monomunets. The ones that you don’t often get show in history class because they are as irreverent as graffiti today. And you find them in the everyday things they owned. The pottery, the jewelry, the games. 

For an archeologist text is not always written or drawn. The story is in the artifacts left behind. The text is in what you find and what you don’t, and so every discovery is precious, and every new question fill with possibility. 

Text is not just written words. It is visual symbols, its the what we choose to surround ourselves with. All the items that make up our everyday lives. No matter how miniscule. 

They say the devil is in the details, and I’m telling you that its true.

Even the title of this piece is text. I am telling you something, and if you find the connections the message becomes clear.