AHIS170 Lecture 1 Egyptian Archaeology: An Introduction. Module 1: Introduction to Egyptian Archaeology: Geography, Chronology and Society (Weeks 1-2)

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1 AHIS170 Lecture 1 Egyptian Archaeology: An Introduction 3/3/2016 Module 1: Introduction to Egyptian Archaeology: Geography, Chronology and Society (Weeks 1-2) Assessments Online quizzes (Modules 1-5) 30% - Week 2, 5, 7, 9, 13 Documentation exercise 15% - Week 5 Object study 30% - Week 10 Dig Diary 25% - Week 12 Studying Prehistory Predynastic Early dynastic Dynastic/Pharaonic Importance of the Nile, settlements, material culture Egyptology = philology + art history + archaeology Philology - study of Egyptian language (pot marks, graffiti, petroglyphs, epigraphy, palaeography) - Hieroglyph - Hieratic - Demotic - Coptic Art history - study of form and style of architecture/2-3 dimensional art (iconography, symbolism, colour, techniques, technology, relationship of form to archaeological context) Archaeology - the study of the past human societies and their environment through the systematic recovery and analysis of material culture or physical remains Involves study of objects that might be immovable, portable (movable - stone tools or statues), human or animal remains Research design - particular question, recording evidence - test evidence against question, processing of artefacts (labelling, cleaning, cataloguing), analysing, publishing results Relies on a wide variety of experts - history and anthropology Archaeology is destruction - can only do it once, have to do it right Egyptian archaeology - study of ancient Egyptian culture and society through its material culture, using empirical and scientific methods Tutankhamun s Tomb Philology - copying (epigraphy), translation and study of texts on walls and objects Art history - analysis of artistic technique and style of statuary, objects and wall paintings Archaeology - systematic excavation and analysis of the tomb s construction and location, the objects and human remains Major categories of archaeological evidence: - Features - non portable remains within an excavation site, immobile human built structures, human manipulation of the landscape (postholes, fire places, architectural features, floors, tombs, walls) - Artefacts - portable, human made, modified (naturally occurring object affected by human activity) or used objects within an excavation site (ceramic vessels, stone tools, models, statues, jewellery) - Ecofacts - non artifactual organic and environmental remains in an excavation site (plant remains, animal bones, soils, sediments) - Geofacts - naturally formed stone formations that are difficult to distinguish from man made artefacts - Human remains 1

2 Archaeological context consists of an artefacts/features/ecofacts/etc: 1. Immediate matrix - material in which it is surrounded (sand, gravel) 2. Provenience (horizontal and vertical position within the matrix) 3. Association - with other artefacts within the same matrix Features - Walls - Sealed doorways - Floors - Steps - Passage way Artefacts - Pottery - Chariots - Furniture - Shrines - Coffins - Clothing - Jewellery Ecofacts - Food remains in containers - Contents of jars - Residues inside stone vessels - Plant remains - Embalming residues and chemicals Human remains - Mummy of Tutankhamun - Foetuses of two babies - Embalmed internal organs - Locks of hair 10/3/2016 Video Lectures Overview of Egyptian Chronology Prehistory Predynastic/Early Dynastic Pharaonic/Dynastic - Old Kingdom, First Intermediate, Middle Kingdom, Second Intermediate, New Kingdom, Third Intermediate, Late Period Ptolemaic Roman Relative chronology - Methods that measure differences in age utilising an ordinal scale - Principal relative dating techniques (stratigraphy and seriation) - Stratigraphy - relationship of one depositional event to another, measures changes in human activity through time - Seriation - artefacts are temporally organised according to relative popularity (pottery, amulets, coffins) Absolute chronology - Methods that allow ages to be reported in years either as years before present (BP) or as calendar years (AD/BC/BP) - Principal absolute techniques include radiocarbon dating - Used for organic materials (remains, plants, mud brick) - Living (100% of 14C) - decreases as time goes on - Calibration - method used to obtain most accurate radiocarbon dating 2

3 - Dendrochronology - scientific method of dating based on analysis of patterns of tree rings - BP (before present), BC (before Christ), AD (anno domini) - CE (common era) Egyptian Chronology II: Historical Early Dynastic - Dynasty 1-2 Pharaonic/Dynastic - Dynasty 3-31 Each dynasty has a succession of kings Manetho (c BC) - priest who established dynasties (30) Dynasty - succession of rulers from the same family or line or any succession of members of a powerful group Palermo Stone (basalt, 5th dynasty) - list of kings Royal Canon of Turin, Karnak King-List, Abydos King-List Manetho s system is flawed - only fragments have survived and his sources are unknown Discrepancies across sources Intermediate periods are interpreted as dark ages Egyptian Society Heavily stratified Pharaoh government officials soldiers scribes merchants artisans farmers slaves King (pharaoh) - believed to be divine, maintained order, received assistance from government officials Vizier - most powerful government official, in charge of all matters of the state Seru (officials) - Acquaintance and secretary of the king - Director of singers - Inspector of artisans work - Inspector of the great house Priests made offerings, presented incense to the gods, held festivals Sesh (scribe) - Record keeping - Composing and copying texts Imy-re (overseer) Monthly wages in the form of food Metal workers produced copper tools, copper statues, jewellery, food utensils, weapons Wood workers (beds, chests, boxes, chairs, models, head rests) and stone masons (stone vessels, stone vases) Pottery and wall painters also important jobs Farmers - harvesting, ploughing, calving, milking Fishermen - evidence from fish hooks and nets The Nile River and Geography of Egypt Egyptian geography important - understanding people, climate, plants and animals helps us understand their daily life, resources and inspiration Papyrus - made paper Plants - source of vegetable and fruit, wine, wood Cattle, goats and sheep - meat and wool Fish in the river Nile Nile - Height changed during the year - July - December (inundation) - Irrigation lead to development of the state 3

4 17/3/2016 Module 2: Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt (Weeks 3, 4, 5) Video Lectures Predynastic Egypt ca BC Larger farming communities Craft specialisation Social hierarchies Regional exchange of resources Luxury product acquisition Complex society Badarian and Naqada (I, II, III) Archaeological culture - assembly of artefacts/archaeological remains assumed to be representation of a particular set of activities carried out at a particular time and place Characteristics - Secondary communities based on farming - Desert margins and levees - Rectangular mudbrick houses - Craft specialisation and local exchange networks - Social stratification - Regional and emerging international relations - Metallurgy See emergence of chiefdoms and dominant towns - lead to first kings in Early Dynastic Badarian ( BC) - Badari - village in Middle Egypt - Excavated by Guy Brunton and Gertrude Caton Thompson in the 1920 s - 40 settlements, 600 graves - Stock farming and agriculture - Hemamieh - most important site - Main type of pottery (bowls) - black top (rippled surface, lower red) Naqada - All over Upper Egypt, expanded into Nile Delta during phase II - Named after site excavated by Flinders Petrie - Cemetery graves - Grave goods selected tombs (Petrie) - Late 1890 s - Naqada I (Amratian), Naqada II (Gerzean), Naqada III (Semainean) - Contemporary: - Predynastic = IA - IIB (4000/ BC), IIC - IID ( BC), IIIA - IIIC Dynasty 0 ( BC) - Early Dynastic = IIIC Dynasty 1 ( BC), IIID Dynasty 2 ( BC) - IIIA - IIIC - cultural division - Dynasty 0 - political division Early Dynastic Egypt Last prehistory and first history BC 1st and 2nd Dynasties (0 as well) - kings of Upper Egypt Territorial state system State - territorial entity with a system of exercising recognised legal authority over its population Step 1 - Naqada IIC/D - IIIA (protokingdoms) Step 2 - Naqada IIIB/C Dynasty 1 (Abydos expands sphere of influence to Memphis) 4

5 Step 3 - Naqada IIIC/D Dynasty 1-2 to Dynasty 3 (economic integration of Egypt, administration development) Important sites - Abydos (Upper Egypt) - first kings buried - Naqada - Hierakonpolis - Elephantine Important for: - Development of state system - Centralised government and administration - Kingship - Writing - Complex society - Several social ranks or classes Unification - two separate but related factors, cultural and political development Evidence for political unification - Narmer Palette - large, 64cm by 42cm, discovered in Temple of Horus - Scorpion and Narmer Maceheads First writing comes from Mesopotamia (c. 3300BC) then Egypt (c. 3250BC) - no connection First evidence of writing in Egypt came from small tomb Abydos (Naqada IIIA) After this more and more evidence for writing Ebony Year Label The Royal Name - Stela of Meretneith and the Stela of the King Snake (Abydos, Dynasty 1) Dynasty 0 (Naqada IIIB - IIIC) Lower Egyptian Cultures Two different areas - Upper and Lower Egypt Several different cultures Culture - archaeological cultures are similar artefact assemblages found at several sites, defined for a specific time period and geographic region Maadi-Buto/Lower Egyptian cultures 3300BC - cultural unification of the Nile Valley (Upper and Lower together - Naqada IIIA/D) Assimilation of population or acculturation Very slowly Naqada culture spread and North adopted burial customs and culture Important sites - Maadi and Buto Maadi - excavated , published in 1987, new excavations Small structures, loose structural plan, no buildings standing out - Small oval structures made of perishable materials, fire places, pottery - Unique subterranean houses - large pits dug in the ground, pots and daily life activity - Reminiscent of early bronze age - Pottery - different from Upper Egypt, globular shapes, flat bases, narrow necks, flared rims, narrow bottles, bowls and cups - Levantine pottery features - calcareous clay fabric, foot, neck and mouth, handles or knob decoration - Copper artefacts - rare in Upper Egypt, axes, fishhooks, ingots, presence shows role of Maadi in trade - Two cemeteries corresponding to two distinct phases of inhumation - North - not important to have artefacts in tomb for the afterlife - Animal husbandry - cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs - Agriculture - wheat, barley - Links with southern Palestine and Upper Egypt Buto - 40km from Mediterranean Sea - German Archaeological Society since 1980 s - Artefacts similar to Maadi - Simple huts, nothing big 5