Kingdom Egypt Research Articles

The Archaeology and History of the Negev and Neighbouring Areas in the Third Millennium BCE: A New Paradigm

Conventional theory described two settlement waves in the Negev Highlands in the third millennium BCE—in the EB II and the Intermediate Bronze Age— and a period with no evidence for stone architecture between them in the EB III. Arad in the Beer-sheba Valley was presented as an EB I–II site, which lay deserted in the EB III. Old and new radiocarbon dates and other lines of evidence from the copper mining districts in the Arabah, Arad and the Negev Highlands make this scenario obsolete. The new data indicate a long period of activity in the south—throughout the Early Bronze and the first half of the Intermediate Bronze Age. Certain changes in the settlement patterns took place in the transition from the EB III to the Intermediate Bronze Age— abandonment of Arad and the rise of central trading sites within the Negev Highlands. Activity in the Negev Highlands was related to the copper industry in the Arabah and transportation of copper to the north and west. Demand for copper in Egypt played an important role in the settlement history of the arid regions: the peak prosperity in the EB III and first half of the Intermediate Bronze Age corresponds to the time of the Old Kingdom in Egypt and deterioration of the Negev system tallies with the collapse of the Old Kingdom ca. 2200 BCE. The data for the third millennium BCE enables the structuring and presentation of a broader model of human activity in the Negev Highlands and neighbouring regions in the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Deposit f (Nos. 15121–15567) in the Obelisk Temple at Byblos: Artefact Mobility in the Middle Bronze Age I–II (1850–1650 BC) between Egypt and the Levant

Deposit f (nos. 15121–15567), found in the sanctuary of the Obelisk Temple at Byblos, remained – unexpectedly – rather underrated in Egyptological and Near East studies, lying in a ‘no-man’s-land’ straddling between Egypt and the Levant. Notwithstanding, it includes a high number of key objects over a total of 455 artefacts for understanding Middle Bronze Age I–II (1850–1650 BC) Egyptian material culture in contact. Three main questions remain open: the dating of this deposit; the type of deposit; and the material production of its objects, whether they were manufactured in Egypt and imported or locally produced. The deposit includes also a vast array of faience figurines (294) typically manufactured in the (late) Middle Kingdom Egypt. Through a preliminary analysis, mainly based on the published material, the paper aims at providing a more comprehensive picture of the archaeological context of the deposit, including the nature of the artefacts placed in it. In particular, the corpus of faience figurines seem to have been manufactured in Egypt and imported in the Levant as a result of the frequent relations between the two areas during the Middle Bronze Age.

Processional and Chapel Oracular Practice in The Place of Truth

Standing in stark contrast to the relative wealth of evidence about royal and temple based oracles, there is little to give us some notion of the analogous oracular practices of private religion during the New Kingdom of Egypt. The surviving documentation suggests that private individuals could approach their gods for oracular advice during festival processions. However, based on the Deir el-Medina materials, I argue that in addition to processional oracles, chapel oracles were employed by the villagers as well, if not more largely by common people in ancient Egypt. At Deir el-Medina, the former was given by the patron of the village, the deified king Amenhotep I, and was employed in an official setting in order to solve legal disputes. In contrast, the less documented chapel oracles, which could be perhaps delivered by deities other than Amenhotep I, concerned mostly mundane affairs. In both cases, however, oracles were mediated by the priests servicing the gods. This paper seeks to bring together and examine two sorts of evidence that are usually dealt with separately. Firstly, it provides an analysis of the available written testimonies on oracular ostraca found at Deir el-Medina, and discusses their textual significance by showing who the petitioners were, what kind of questions they asked and what the structure of the questions was. Secondly, it examines the archaeological remains of the chapels connected with oracles at Deir el-Medina and the role of the “brotherhood” of priests associated with them. I conclude with some remarks about the mechanics of the chapel oracles in connection with the modalities of their reception and the status of belief and faith. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5913/jarce.53.2017.a013

Communicating the relevance of paleo research in the current societal environment

It is not an easy task for paleoscientists to communicate the relevance of their research to policy makers and funders. However, an increase in catastrophic environmental calamities related to climate change (e.g. landslide, droughts, flooding) demands a response both in terms of policy-making and future governmental decisions. Often, climate change in the recent past was linked to major shifts in human behavior, which masks the relative contribution of humans and nature. For example, the 4.2 ka BP aridification event was so severe that it may have triggered the collapse of several large civilizations (the Old Kingdom in Egypt and the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia; Gibbons 1993). Compilations of long-term records of past variability can help reduce the uncertainties on past, present and future climate changes, and thus support informed societal decisions. Therefore, policymakers should (and some may argue, must) consider the long-term perspective provided by paleoscience research.

A Late Bronze Age II clay coffin from Tel Shaddud in the Central Jezreel Valley, Israel: context and historical implications

To the memory of Trude Dothan 1922–2016During trial excavations carried out in 2013 on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, a seemingly isolated clay coffin with anthropoid lid, containing a single primary burial, was uncovered within a 6 m × 5 m probe bordering the lower east slope of Tel Shaddud in the Jezreel Valley. It lay at the bottom of a tightly constricted burial pit, about 1.8 m below the present surface. Subsequent salvage excavations in 2014 uncovered, less than 3 m to its south-east, a further three burial pits (none of which contained a coffin), enclosing four additional primary burials, oriented east to west — in conformity with the coffin burial. Together these burials form part of an apparent Late Bronze Age II–Iron Age I burial ground at the eastern margin of Tel Shaddud. The coffin and associated funerary gifts bear a strong resemblance to comparable specimens and associated funerary assemblages known foremost from Deir el-Balah in the Gaza strip and Bet Sheʽan in the Jordan Valley. The shared mortuary aspects of Tel Shaddud and the latter sites indicate a strong link with New Kingdom Egypt. Based on the Tel Shaddud data and its very location, in combination with selective reading of relevant, near-contemporary historic records (i.e. the el-Amarna letters) it is argued here that Tel Shaddud was a way station, or estate, functioning within the framework of the Egyptian New Kingdom colonization of the region during the Late Bronze Age II and succeeding Iron Age I.

May my nose and ears be cut off: Practical and “supra-practical” Aspects of Mutilation in the Egyptian New Kingdom

This paper investigates mutilation of the nose and ears in New Kingdom Egypt (c.1550-1070bce). The topic is first contextualised within cross-cultural mutilation research, before discussion shifts to focus more closely on Egypt. The threat of mutilation in oaths is considered, as is the possibility of mutilation not being enforced if such oaths were broken. The paper then investigates the lived experience of mutilation, encompassing both physiological and social impairments. Finally, a ‘supra-practical’ aspect is proposed, considering the esoteric connotations of mutilation, this latter understood as a set of practices including but not confined to actual physical dismemberment.

Importing the law? Possible elements of the Mesopotamian legal tradition in New Kingdom Egypt (1549-1064BCE)

Features of New Kingdom (1549-1064BCE[1]) justice not attested earlierOracle courts, as attested at Deir el-Medina[2] and elsewhere[3]Increase in severe corporal punishment: for example, mutilation of nose and ears becomes a standard element in oath formulae[4]Detailed protasis-apodosis legal decrees, such as the Karnak Decree of Horemheb[5] (1328-1298BCE) or the Nauri Decree of Seti I[6] (1296-1279). Why might this be connected to Mesopotamia/Semitic law?“Hyksos” period (1650-1549BCE) immediately prior to New KingdomAmarna letters/greater exposure to Akkadian in Egypt during New KingdomLegal associations: Akkadian and Egyptian copies of Ramesses II – Hattusili III treaty[7] (1258BCE), where corporal punishment is a prominent topicMesopotamian law, and broader scholarship, often associated with protasis-apodosis[8]Mesopotamian law often associated with severe corporal punishment: for instance, see Code of Hammurabi (1792-1750BCE)[9], Middle Assyrian Laws[10] (c.1400-1100BCE) etc.Why might this NOT be connected to Mesopotamia/Semitic law?Were earlier periods truly different, or is this down to chance preservation of sources?Protasis-apodosis has precedents in the Middle Kingdom (2066-1650BCE): for instance, see 2nd Semna stela of Senusret III (1865BCE)[11] or Illahun Medical papyri (c.1800BCE)[12]. [1] All Egyptian dates are calculated according to the chronology set forth in Dodson & Hilton 2004: 287-294, while Mesopotamian dates follow the chronology in van de Mieroop 2007: 302-317.[2] McDowell 1990: 143-186.[3] Kákosy 1975: 600-606; Černy 1962: 35-48.[4] Lorton 1977: 33-38, 50-51; Tyldesley 2000: 81.[5] Kruchten 1981.[6] Kitchen 1975-1990: 53-55 (text 24); Davies 1997: 277-308.[7] Langdon & Gardiner 1920.[8] Bottéro 1992: 125-137, 156-184; Roth 1997.[9] Roth 1997: 71-142; Richardson 2000.[10] Driver & Miles 1935; Roth 1997: 153-194.[11] Sethe 1924: 83-84.[12] Quirke 2002; Collier & Quirke 2004: 53-64.

Analiza izmjere Keopsove piramide

The topic of this paper is an analysis of the survey of Cheops pyramid (also known as the Great pyramid), the most significant of the three pyramids of the Giza complex, the archeological site on the plateau of Giza, situated on the periphery of Cairo. It is assumed that Cheops as well as Khafre and Menkaure pyramids were built around 2686 -- 2181 BC, known in the history as the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Our goal was to collect data about geodetic survey of Cheops pyramid and analyze it. Along with that, several hypotheses related to the construction method of the pyramid and possible purposes of the construction itself are described. When analyzing the survey, two numbers, also called ``two treasures of geometry'', are constantly appearing, these are the number Pi ($\pi$) and the Golden ratio or golden number Fi ($\varphi$). One of the chapters is dedicated to these numbers.

The Mechanisms of State Collapse (a Macro-Sociological Approach)

The author makes use of the macro-sociological approach to describe state-collapse regularities. It is argued that the final point of a state’s collapse is the total delegitimization of power, and that elites’ conflict is a necessary condition for such a collapse as well as for successful mass rebellions. The elites’ conflict results from the lack of both material and symbolic resources caused by different reasons. The first reason is a geopolitical overextension, and the second was defined as elite “degradation” and elite overproduction. The author analyses some historical examples (the New Kingdom of Egypt and the Khmer Empire) to reveal how these patterns took shape in such cases. The grounds for various dynamics are caused by different elite positions relative to the government, that is, whether the elite is dependent on, or independent from, the government. This is linked to the type of economic relations, that is, the question of who owns the material means of production. If the state is not able to control them, it can not influence the elite. According to the author, the theory of military-technological determinism which states that types of weapon and the logic of state development are correlated can shed some light on the reasons of different elite positions.

Heliopolis and the Solar Cult in the Third Millennium BC

The article reassesses and re-discusses the available archaeological and textual evidence of the city of Heliopolis, in the attempt to clarify its role in the historical evolution of the solar cult and religion in third millennium BC Old Kingdom Egypt. By connecting archaeological evidence with landscape phenomenology as well as private sources with royal texts and decorative material, the paper emphasises how certain Egyptological assumptions, usually taken for granted, are far from being proven. It eventually shows that the key of the discussion has to be searched for in the study of the relationship between Atum and Re.

Maids at the grindstone: A comparative study of New Kingdom Egypt grain grinders

[Summary]Grinding (or milling) grain was an important activity that took place in nearly every ancient Egyptian home. Grinding was necessary to process emmer or barley grain into flour, and thus was a key step in manufacturing bread, the most important food in ancient Egypt. Grinding in ancient Egypt is well-attested archaeologically, and is the most commonly depicted activity of the grain processing sequence in Egyptian art and texts. Indeed, it was the step that likely took the most time and labour. Despite their significance to daily life in ancient Egypt, grinding implements and activities have often been ignored in archaeological reports and historical studies. However, recent investigations of contemporary ancient cultures as well as modern ethnographic work has brought grind stones and grinding to the fore. This has resulted in new archaeological and ethnographic information, and has refined theories regarding grain grinding and those who performed it. Using this cross-cultural body of evidence and theoretical discussion as a starting point, this presentation will investigate grinding in the domestic, non-elite sphere of New Kingdom Egypt. Using the grinding quern as a focus, this study will explore how association with a grind stone, as well as the act of grinding, created or impacted the miller’s identity and contributed to their role in the household. Archaeological data, 2D and 3D artistic representations of grinding, and literary and non-literary texts discussing grinding will be examined in conversation with evidence from other cultures. This paper will argue that grinding grain was particularly associated with females, and was a low-prestige activity. However, it was an important maintenance activity in the household, and contributed significantly to the labour force and economy of New Kingdom Egypt.

To put a cedar ship in a bottle: Dendroprovenancing three ancient East Mediterranean watercraft with the 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratio

This paper presents the latest provenance results of cedar wood (Cedrus sp.) from three ancient watercraft: the Carnegie boat (Middle Kingdom Egypt), the wrecked merchant ship at Uluburun (Bronze Age Mediterranean), and the galley comprising the Athlit Ram (Hellenistic Mediterranean). Comparing the ratios of 87Sr/86Sr of the archaeological wood and cedar from modern forests has helped augment the existing hypotheses pertaining to where the wood used in the construction of these vessels originated. The results demonstrate that strontium isotopic analysis can provide valuable information to assist wood provenance research in ancient and maritime contexts, which in turn may elucidate ancient forestry and shipbuilding practices.

Isotopic Evidence for Early Trade in Animals between Old Kingdom Egypt and Canaan.

Isotope data from a sacrificial ass and several ovicaprines (sheep/goat) from Early Bronze Age household deposits at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel provide direct evidence for the movement of domestic draught/draft and husbandry animals between Old Kingdom Egypt (during the time of the Pyramids) and Early Bronze Age III Canaan (ca. 2900–2500 BCE). Vacillating, bi-directional connections between Egypt and Canaan are known throughout the Early Bronze Age, but here we provide the first concrete evidence of early trade in animals from Egypt to Canaan.

Early Bronze Age copper production systems in the northern Arabah Valley: New insights from archaeomagnetic study of slag deposits in Jordan and Israel

This paper presents results of an archaeomagnetic study of slag from four Early Bronze (EB) Age copper production sites in the Faynan Copper Ore District and the northern Arabah Valley (modern Israel and Jordan). The results provide age constraints for metallurgical activities at these sites. Together with previously published data, they indicate copper production around ca. 2900 cal. BCE (EB II-III transition) and between ca. 2600-1950 cal. BCE, spanning the later part of the EB III and the entire EB IV period. These data strongly suggest a direct link between Faynan and the Old Kingdom of Egypt, which is reflected in the most significant phase of copper production and trade in the northern Arabah prior to the Iron Age, and in a settlement wave in the Negev Highlands. In addition, the results indicate that during the late EB II copper was smelted up to 40 km away from the mines. This is evident at the unique cultic site of Ashalim, located on the main road between Faynan, southeast of the Dead Sea, and the settled areas in the core of Canaan.

Comparative properties of a lime mortar with different metakaolin and natron additions

The heterodox hypothesis about the construction of the pyramids in the Old Kingdom of Egypt with cast stone has served as a starting point in the design of several blends of aerial slaked lime mortar for their potential use in restoration events. Aerial slaked lime mortar characteristics with added metakaolin and sodium carbonate were analysed. Increments in the ratio of lime on adjusted initial proportions, corresponding to a theoretical geopolymer, were then made. Seven blends were characterized: two of them corresponding to different a water/binder ratio geopolymer and the rest to 5, 10, 30 and 60% lime increments. Finally, a lime mortar remained without additions.10 and 30% lime increases on an adjusted specimen of sodium carbonate, metakaolin and slaked lime mainly improve Shore C hardness and compressive strength when compared both to the theoretical geopolymer and to conventional lime mortars. These become the most influential factors within a month, and values in this interval are suggested to improve these characteristics. TGA/DSC, XRD and SEM/EDS analyses show absence of portlandite and an improvement in the continuity of the microstructure in these values, yielding closer results to a polymer rather than to a conventional lime mortar.

State Correspondence in the Ancient World. From New Kingdom Egypt to the Roman Empire. Edited by Karen Radner. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. Pp. xiv + 306. £51 (cloth).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsState Correspondence in the Ancient World. From New Kingdom Egypt to the Roman Empire. Edited by Karen Radner. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. Pp. xiv + 306. £51 (cloth).Marc Van De MieroopMarc Van De MieroopColumbia University Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Near Eastern Studies Volume 75, Number 1April 2016 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/684956 Views: 172Total views on this site © 2016 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. For permission to reuse a book review in this section, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Wie Weltgeschichte erforscht werden kann. Ein Projekt zum interkulturellen Vergleich im mittelalterlichen Jahrtausend

Summary How World History Can be Explored. A Research Project concerning an Intercultural Comparison in the Medieval Millennium The study shown how a group of experts from disciplines as diverse as Medieval Studies, Byzantine Studies, Indology, Islamic Studies and Jewish Studies can successfully work together with a historian to explore world history. The comparison, the humanities’ equivalent of the natural sciences’ experiment (Marc Bloch), is employed for a diachronic investigation of the foundations of various societies. While the ‘state’ and the ‘economy’ emerged as foundations with distinct organizational forms for the first time ever in the Old Kingdom of Egypt (3rd millennium B. C. E.), India employed very similar foundations primarily for the colonialization of new land. In ancient Rome few religious foundations emerged at first due to the public regime of worship, while from the time of the Constantinian Revolution onwards they became indispensable for sacramental and pastoral care in the mass c...

Theban Administration in the Late Middle Kingdom

Summary: The survey of 210 Late Middle Kingdom sources attributable to Theban officials aims to define the highest offices of the local administration in order to describe local administrative structures, and to pinpoint the administrative titles that were predominantly used in the Theban administration, thus distancing it from the administration of the northern residence and other power centers of Late Middle Kingdom Egypt. The paper emphasizes the role of wḥmw “reporters” as top local officials at Thebes and in a number of other regions in the Late Middle Kingdom. The spellings of the word ḫnrt with in administrative titles is only characteristic of Upper Egypt. Among titles used predominantly in Theban and Upper Egyptian administration were ḫrp wsḫt “director of the broad court”, wr mḏw šmꜤw “chief of tens of Upper Egypt”, (sꜢb) rꜢ-nḫn “sab, mouth of Hierakonpolis”, smsw hꜢyt “elder of the portal”, ḥrj n tm “master of the tm”, sš n spꜢt “scribe of the nome”, jmj-ḫt sꜢ-prw “security official estate guard”, and nfw n pr-ḥḏ “treasury captain”.

On the Anatolian Origins of Some Late Bronze Egyptian Vessel Forms

New Kingdom Egypt has long been thought to be an Empire, whose political power extended over Nubia and a great part of the Levant. While the expression ‘Egyptian influence’ is in fact quite vague, and fails to describe a well-defined phenomenon, Egypt’s cultural impact on the Near East remains a topic that is commonly used to explain many iconographies and artistic forms. One of the most characteristic subjects of this supposed Egyptian prestige is luxury vessels. Current research, however, h...

A ROYAL NECROPOLIS AT SOUTH ABYDOS: New Light on Egypt's Second Intermediate Period

Excavations at South Abydos have revealed a royal necropolis dating to Egypt's late Second Intermediate Period, ca. 1650–1600 b.c.e. The necropolis includes the tomb of king Woseribre Seneb-Kay, as well as seven other tombs which — on the basis of architecture, artifacts and human remains — also belong to kings. The necropolis provides evidence for the existence of an independent kingdom, the “Abydos Dynasty,” contemporary with the Theban 16th Dynasty and the early-middle Hyksos Period, and implies a higher degree of territorial fragmentation than is often assumed for Egypt during this time period. Physical remains of the kings buried at South Abydos indicate involvement in military activities, including long-term horse riding, and, in the case of Seneb-Kay, death in a violent military encounter. The necropolis reflects the circumscribed political and economic context of an Upper Egyptian kingdom that appears to have lost its independence during the final stages of the Second Intermediate Period.