Introduction to Part II

Abstract

This chapter introduces the material to be studied in Part II; it outlines the types of evidence for functional domestic artefacts that reveal the experiences of daily life in Roman and late antique Egypt. It explains that an analysis of object function can reveal how objects were used for different activities on a day-to-day basis, and therefore demonstrate some of the experiences of people in the past. The section assesses a range of everyday artefacts in durable materials, like stone, glass, ceramic, metals, and bone and ivory. Artefacts associated with daily activities such as cooking and dining, lighting the home, leisure time, and textile production are discussed in relation to specific examples from the archaeological record and textual sources. The section also addresses the extraordinary organic artefacts surviving from Egypt, and the special value of functional artefacts made of wood, textiles, leather, and other perishable materials. Organic artefacts associated with home furnishings and other textiles, writing tools and materials, basketry, and cleaning equipment, are discussed in relation to the experiences they facilitated in Roman and late antique Egypt. The chapter also discusses how these artefacts reveal the temporal rhythms of the home and multifunctional nature of domestic space and objects.