State and economy in ancient Egypt: Fiscal vocabulary of the New Kingdom

Abstract

Combining philological investigation and theoretical reasoning, this book offers a completely new interpretation of the economic role of the state in ancient Egypt. The first part provides background outlining the relevance of Keyne’s General Theory to the ancient Egyptian economy. The central part uses ancient Egyptian texts as the foundation of an analysis of words commonly assumed to relate to taxation during the New Kingdom (c. 1540-1070 B.C.E.). The conclusions summarize the philological results and explore the role of the temples in the ancient Egyptian state during the new Kingdom. The result places ancient Egyptian taxation and state economic activity in an Egyptian economy based on an analysis of primary sources. The book is thus directed at a broad audience including Egyptologists and all scholars interested in economic history in general and the political development of early antiquity in particular.