Review Reports

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper is focused on a very interesting topic. However, the text lacks a clear structure, starting from an absence of the state of the art, including a brief summary on the research on the royal iconography. The objetives are not clearly presented, nor the argument is suported by specific data  Besides, the author must organise the ideas presented on the text in a chronological fashion, as well as create sub-epigraphes. The conclusions must be rewritten, making it clear which is the personal contribution of the author to the scholarship

Surprisingly, the MA thesis by Heffernan, 2010, (a recent research on the topic available online) is absent from the references. We suggest the author should improve the images.  

Please see comments in the PDF attached

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The language is correct but sometimes there is an abuse of very short sentences, that may give the impression of a draft paper

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 1

 

The paper is focused on a very interesting topic. However, the text lacks a clear structure, starting from an absence of the state of the art, including a brief summary on the research on the royal iconography. The objetives are not clearly presented, nor the argument is suported by specific data : please see comments from Reviewers 2 & 3, which contradict this. 

 

Besides, the author must organise the ideas presented on the text in a chronological fashion, as well as create sub-epigraphes. The conclusions must be rewritten, making it clear which is the personal contribution of the author to the scholarship

Surprisingly, the MA thesis by Heffernan, 2010, (a recent research on the topic available online) is absent from the references:  

Heffernan is not included because the thesis treats the imagery during the early Ramesside period, not the eighteenth dynasty.

 

We suggest the author should improve the images: Done.

Please see comments in the PDF attached:  Done.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The language is correct but sometimes there is an abuse of very short sentences, that may give the impression of a draft paper:

A very subjective assessment. Nevertheless I edited the paper with Grammarly, which seems to think the language in the paper is just fine.

 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Very nicely developed discussion of the evolution of the use of royal kiosk scenes in private tombs during the 18th Dynasty and what that can indicate about royal power. The clear shift in the importance of these scenes as part of the presentation of personal identity in the funerary setting is telling, especially given the concurrent reduction of family scenes from the focal walls. The increasingly solarized regalia and prominence of the king in this setting highlights the tomb owner's relationship with and growing dependance on them as their primary source of afterlife sustenance. The transition to Amarna, where the ruler became the sole mediator between the terrestrial and divine, is shown here again to have been a gradual development from TIV - AIII - AIV. 

Use of 'royal red fabric' for shirts (seen e.g. in your Figs 4 & 6. ) is also highly solarizing. Could mention @ lines 110-114 when discussing other regalia.

Para beginning 120. Note that this same type of intentional juxtaposition in headgear is also seen in the corners of the 1st courtyard at Medinet Habu (and elsewhere). Might consider the relationship between the kiosk scenes and this type of venue. MH is obviously later, but the Window of Appearance is a presentation kiosk made stone and may be useful to consider. 

Minor edits:

Header row of Table 1 needs to move to top (currently at bottom).

Bibliography #42 (line 496) is in the wrong alpha order.

"David 2021" references appear in the text (lines 358 & 406) but don't see the full reference... Please add.

Author Response

Author responsed to Reviewer 2

Very nicely developed discussion of the evolution of the use of royal kiosk scenes in private tombs during the 18th Dynasty and what that can indicate about royal power. The clear shift in the importance of these scenes as part of the presentation of personal identity in the funerary setting is telling, especially given the concurrent reduction of family scenes from the focal walls. The increasingly solarized regalia and prominence of the king in this setting highlights the tomb owner's relationship with and growing dependance on them as their primary source of afterlife sustenance. The transition to Amarna, where the ruler became the sole mediator between the terrestrial and divine, is shown here again to have been a gradual development from TIV - AIII - AIV. 

Use of 'royal red fabric' for shirts (seen e.g. in your Figs 4 & 6. ) is also highly solarizing. Could mention @ lines 110-114 when discussing other regalia. Done.

Para beginning 120. Note that this same type of intentional juxtaposition in headgear is also seen in the corners of the 1st courtyard at Medinet Habu (and elsewhere). Might consider the relationship between the kiosk scenes and this type of venue. MH is obviously later, but the Window of Appearance is a presentation kiosk made stone and may be useful to consider. 

Minor edits:

Header row of Table 1 needs to move to top (currently at bottom). Done.

Bibliography #42 (line 496) is in the wrong alpha order. Done.

"David 2021" references appear in the text (lines 358 & 406) but don't see the full reference... Please add. Done.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The translation font is not properly expressed. Please corret the followings:

P. 5 l. 92 xat nswt

P. 6 l.101 Swty

P. 8 l.131 anx

P. 8 l.146 and 147 Htp-di-nsw

P. 8 l. 166 hAty-a

P. 13 l.346 Xkrt-nswt

The name of an author is incorrectly written in P. 8 l. 345. It should be Kawai.

The last line of the table 1 in P. 4 should be deleted.

 

Author Response

thank you for your valuable comments.

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The article collects exhaustive material showing the inclusion of the image of the king in the textual and figurative decoration of the tombs of the 18^th Dynasty in Theban necropolis.
The author correctly draws attention to the connection of this image with the hetep-di-nesu formula. I think it would be appropriate to recall here that it was with the appearance of this formula in the 4^th Dynasty that we can record the dependence of the supply and the position of the deceased in the structure of the afterlife of the ancient Egyptians and its dependence on the royal supply.
It is expected to see a continuation of the research on this topic, which would show the development of the plot in the tombs of the post-Amarna time, i.e. in the Ramessid era.

Author Response

Author response to Reviewer 4

The article collects exhaustive material showing the inclusion of the image of the king in the textual and figurative decoration of the tombs of the 18^th Dynasty in Theban necropolis.
The author correctly draws attention to the connection of this image with the hetep-di-nesu formula. I think it would be appropriate to recall here that it was with the appearance of this formula in the 4^th Dynasty that we can record the dependence of the supply and the position of the deceased in the structure of the afterlife of the ancient Egyptians and its dependence on the royal supply: Added.

It is expected to see a continuation of the research on this topic, which would show the development of the plot in the tombs of the post-Amarna time, i.e. in the Ramessid era.: I would love to!

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The author has improved the paper, reorganising the information. The text is more concise and clear now. 

I would strongly recommend to include the following research, as the way of depicting the royal family during the Amarna period is relevant to the study. 

https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004440517

The images must be included in a bigger size in the final version

 

Author Response

Comment 1: I would strongly recommend to include the following research, as the way of depicting the royal family during the Amarna period is relevant to the study. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004440517

Answer: David 2021 is mentioned in the Introduction, and added to page 10 and 13.

Comment 1: The images must be included in a bigger size in the final version.

Answer: All images are 300 dpi or larger. I trust the editors to make sure the images are the proper size in the final text. Those included in my essay were only for reference purposes.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf