Intermedial Echoes

Visual Borrowings and Skeuomorphic Design in Manuscript Cultures

Individual Research Project

Ancient Egyptian rolls, pottery shards, and linen cloths served as more than simple notepads: they were dynamic artworks that drew inspiration from towering temples, intricate tomb paintings, and even fellow artefacts, weaving together a visual language that bridged the grand and the everyday. These portable items, spanning from the dawn of the Old Kingdom around 2700 BCE to the end of the Late Period in 332 BCE, didn’t just record words; they absorbed and repurposed artistic elements from larger-than-life monuments, creating a fascinating interplay of styles and symbols. This project delves into that world, examining how these everyday writing tools ‘borrowed’ designs like ornamental details or colour schemes from architecture and paintings, or cleverly replicated the appearance of more prestigious materials, such as stone, to infuse them with deeper meaning, tradition, or even a touch of ritual power.

By blending concepts like ‘intermediality’ (the way artistic styles migrate and merge across different media) and ‘skeuomorphism’ (where one object imitates the form or texture of another for cultural or symbolic reasons) this research offers a novel perspective on Egypt’s writing culture. It reveals how these modest, movable artefacts connected the awe-inspiring scale of pharaohs’ eternal monuments to the practical realities of daily life, illustrating a vibrant, adaptive tradition that evolved over three millennia. Mapping these visual ‘echoes’ not only uncovers hidden layers of ancient Egyptian society, rituals, and creative ingenuity but also ties into broader global conversations about how writing systems shape and reflect cultural identities.

In the colourful world of ancient Egypt, hues weren’t mere decoration; they were invested with symbolism, with black evoking the fertile soil of the Nile and themes of rebirth, and red stirring images of chaos, danger, and the desert’s harsh sun. Yet, much of the scholarly focus has historically been on deciphering the scripts and texts themselves, often overlooking the broader visual flair: the ornate frames, strategic layouts, or the deliberate use of rare pigments that echoed the grandeur of temple carvings or wall murals. For instance, a papyrus roll might feature hieroglyphs meticulously coloured to mimic the solemn columns found on high-elite tomb walls, granting it an illusion of permanence and prestige in a world where paper-like materials could easily degrade. Similarly, an ostracon (a shard of broken pottery repurposed for quick notes or sketches) could be unusually carved and filled with costly blue paint so to replicate the design of more monumental stelae, elevating a mundane memo into something with ritual or artistic weight.

This project systematically catalogues around 50 such artefacts, drawn from renowned collections at places like the British Museum in London, the Neues Museum in Berlin, and the Museo Egizio in Turin. Using digital tools, it compares these portable pieces side-by-side with monumental sites, such as the richly decorated tombs in Thebes (modern Luxor), to trace the flow of influences.

Central questions driving the work include: What sparked these artistic adoptions? How do they mirror shifts in social hierarchies, religious beliefs, or technological advancements across eras like the pyramid-building Old Kingdom, the empire-expanding New Kingdom, and the culturally diverse Late Period?

To ensure the research respects the irreplaceable nature of these ancient treasures, it emphasises non-invasive techniques that prioritise preservation, such as high-resolution digital scans and interactive online viewers that allow for detailed scrutiny without ever touching the originals. A custom-built database serves as the project’s backbone, meticulously recording attributes like colour palettes, graphic styles (from formal hieroglyphs to speedy hieratic scripts), materials, and historical contexts. The study also harnesses cutting-edge visual computing technologies, including image recognition and machine learning software developed at the CSMC, to automatically detect recurring patterns and motifs across vast timelines. This approach not only avoids any risk to the artefacts but also sets a model for ethical, tech-savvy research in manuscript studies worldwide.

The implications of this project extend far beyond the sands of Egypt, offering timeless insights into how societies preserve and reinvent their heritage through subtle, inventive adaptations. It’s akin to how modern designers might make a smartphone app resemble the pages of an old leather-bound book, evoking nostalgia and familiarity in a digital age. By highlighting these ancient strategies, the research enriches our understanding of cultural resilience and creativity, showing how writing wasn’t just a tool for communication but a canvas for expressing identity, power, and belief. In terms of broader impact, it aligns with global explorations of manuscript cultures, demonstrating parallels in how other civilizations (from medieval Europe to ancient Mesoamerica) blended visual traditions across media.

By tracing how portable writings channelled and transformed visual ideas, this research underscores writing’s enduring role as a bridge between the monumental and the intimate, and ultimately its impact on human creativity across time.