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Fans in Ancient Egypt: Iconographic and Contextual Study of Fans in the Predynastic, Old, and Middle Kingdoms

A variety of fans existed throughout ancient Egyptian history. They had several forms and were made of different materials. They appear in two- and three-dimensional representations, as well as in texts. They relate to royalty and high officials and also feature in domestic settings, both out- and i...

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Main Author: Zaki, Nadra
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2024
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access_status_str Open Access
author Zaki, Nadra
author_browse Zaki, Nadra
author_facet Zaki, Nadra
author_sort Zaki, Nadra
collection Thesis
description A variety of fans existed throughout ancient Egyptian history. They had several forms and were made of different materials. They appear in two- and three-dimensional representations, as well as in texts. They relate to royalty and high officials and also feature in domestic settings, both out- and indoors. Fans were used for creating breeze, and providing shade in real life, and also during the journey to the afterlife, where they combined physical and metaphysical protection. Several names were associated with fans, depending on their functions, both in the secular and sacred world. Earlier studies have either generally examined fans or extensively studied the ceremonial fans of the New Kingdom. Using textual and pictorial evidence, this thesis will focus on an iconographic and contextual study of fans in the Predynastic, Old and Middle Kingdoms, a period that witnessed a variety of shapes of fans, which no former scholarship has examined exclusively. The research tackles five aspects related to fans from the Predynastic to the Middle Kingdoms: the different names for the various types of fans, the functions of fans in daily life, the materials of which fans were made from, the manufacturing process of fans, and the symbolic meaning of fans for mortals, both on earth and in the afterlife. This study sheds light on the role of fans in ancient Egypt as well as providing a database of pictorial (and archaeological) evidence involving fans that will be useful for other scholars and for future work on the subject.
format Thesis
id oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3434
institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:35:55.364Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher AUC Knowledge Fountain
publisherStr AUC Knowledge Fountain
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source_str AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3434 Fans in Ancient Egypt: Iconographic and Contextual Study of Fans in the Predynastic, Old, and Middle Kingdoms Zaki, Nadra A variety of fans existed throughout ancient Egyptian history. They had several forms and were made of different materials. They appear in two- and three-dimensional representations, as well as in texts. They relate to royalty and high officials and also feature in domestic settings, both out- and indoors. Fans were used for creating breeze, and providing shade in real life, and also during the journey to the afterlife, where they combined physical and metaphysical protection. Several names were associated with fans, depending on their functions, both in the secular and sacred world. Earlier studies have either generally examined fans or extensively studied the ceremonial fans of the New Kingdom. Using textual and pictorial evidence, this thesis will focus on an iconographic and contextual study of fans in the Predynastic, Old and Middle Kingdoms, a period that witnessed a variety of shapes of fans, which no former scholarship has examined exclusively. The research tackles five aspects related to fans from the Predynastic to the Middle Kingdoms: the different names for the various types of fans, the functions of fans in daily life, the materials of which fans were made from, the manufacturing process of fans, and the symbolic meaning of fans for mortals, both on earth and in the afterlife. This study sheds light on the role of fans in ancient Egypt as well as providing a database of pictorial (and archaeological) evidence involving fans that will be useful for other scholars and for future work on the subject. 2024-12-19T08:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2390 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3434/viewcontent/nadra_zaki_thesis.pdf Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain cooking fans personal fans symbolic fans hand fans flabella gendered use of fans Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
spellingShingle cooking fans
personal fans
symbolic fans
hand fans
flabella
gendered use of fans
Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity
Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
Zaki, Nadra
Fans in Ancient Egypt: Iconographic and Contextual Study of Fans in the Predynastic, Old, and Middle Kingdoms
title Fans in Ancient Egypt: Iconographic and Contextual Study of Fans in the Predynastic, Old, and Middle Kingdoms
title_full Fans in Ancient Egypt: Iconographic and Contextual Study of Fans in the Predynastic, Old, and Middle Kingdoms
title_fullStr Fans in Ancient Egypt: Iconographic and Contextual Study of Fans in the Predynastic, Old, and Middle Kingdoms
title_full_unstemmed Fans in Ancient Egypt: Iconographic and Contextual Study of Fans in the Predynastic, Old, and Middle Kingdoms
title_short Fans in Ancient Egypt: Iconographic and Contextual Study of Fans in the Predynastic, Old, and Middle Kingdoms
title_sort fans in ancient egypt iconographic and contextual study of fans in the predynastic old and middle kingdoms
topic cooking fans
personal fans
symbolic fans
hand fans
flabella
gendered use of fans
Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity
Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2390
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3434/viewcontent/nadra_zaki_thesis.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT zakinadra fansinancientegypticonographicandcontextualstudyoffansinthepredynasticoldandmiddlekingdoms