An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt

511 Pages·2015·28.34 MB·English

by  Kathryn A. Bard

An
IntroductIon
to the
ArchAeology
Ancient
of
eg ypt
For Rodolfo Fattovich and the late Wallace Sellers
With much gratitude
second edition
An
IntroductIon
to the
ArchAeology
Ancient
of
eg ypt

Kathryn A. Bard
This edition first published 2015
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Edition History: Blackwell Publishing Ltd (1e, 2008)
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bard, Kathryn A.
An introduction to the archaeology of Ancient Egypt / Kathryn A. Bard. – Second edition.
pages cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-470-67336-2 (pbk.)
1. Egypt–Antiquities. 2. Egypt–Civilization–To 332 B.C. 3. Egypt–Civilization–332 B.C.-638 A.D.
I. Title.
DT60.B373 2014
932–dc23
2014030313
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: Wooden model of funerary boat, 2010–1961 bc. Middle Kingdom. © 2014. Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. N. 21.880. All rights reserved/Scala, Florence.
Set in 10/13pt Minion by SPi Publisher Services, India, Pondicherry, India
1 2015
Contents
List of Plates ix
List of Figures xi
List of Maps xv
Abbreviations xvii
Preface xix
Acknowledgments xxi
1 Egyptian Archaeology: Definitions and History 1
1.1 Introduction: Ancient Egyptian Civilization and Its
Prehistoric Predecessors 3
1.2 Egyptian Archaeology 3
1.3 Egyptology 5
1.4 History of Egyptology and Egyptian Archaeology 5
1.5 Archaeological Methods 14
1.6 Archaeological Theory 21
1.7 Ancient Egypt and Egyptian Archaeologists in Fiction and Films 22
2 Hieroglyphs, Language, and Pharaonic Chronology 25
2.1 Language of the Ancient Egyptians 27
2.2 Origins and Development of Egyptian Writing 27
2.3 Scripts and Media of Writing 31
2.4 Signs, Structure, and Grammar 31
2.5 Literacy in Ancient Egypt 33
2.6 Textual Studies 34
2.7 Use of Texts in Egyptian Archaeology 36
2.8 Historical Outline of Pharaonic Egypt 38
2.9 The Egyptian Civil Calendar, King Lists, and Calculation
of Pharaonic Chronology 39
vi Contents
3 The Environmental Background to Pharaonic Civilization:
Geography, Environment, Agriculture, and Natural Resources 47
3.1 Geography: Terms and Place Names 49
3.2 Environmental Setting 53
3.3 Environmental and Other Problems for Archaeology in Egypt 56
3.4 The Seasons and the Agricultural System 58
3.5 The Ancient Egyptian Diet 60
3.6 Other Useful Animals and Plants 62
3.7 Building Materials 63
3.8 Other Resources: Clays, Stones, Minerals 64
3.9 Imported Materials 66
4 Egyptian Prehistory: The Paleolithic and Neolithic 69
Paleolithic 71
4.1 Paleolithic Cultures in Egypt 71
4.2 Lower Paleolithic 73
4.3 Middle Paleolithic 74
4.4 Upper Paleolithic 79
4.5 Late Paleolithic 80
4.6 Epipaleolithic (Final Paleolithic) 82
Neolithic 84
4.7 Saharan Neolithic 84
4.8 Neolithic in the Nile Valley: Faiyum A and Lower Egypt 87
4.9 Neolithic in the Nile Valley: Middle and Upper Egypt 90
5 The Rise of Complex Society and Early Civilization 93
Predynastic Egypt 95
5.1 The Predynastic Period: Egypt in the Fourth Millennium bc 95
5.2 Lower Egypt: Predynastic Culture 95
5.3 Upper Egypt: Naqada Culture 99
5.4 Lower Nubia: A-Group Culture 110
5.5 State Formation and Unification 112
The Early Dynastic State 117
5.6 Organization and Institutions of the Early Dynastic State 117
5.7 Early Writing and Formal Art 129
5.8 The Expanding State 130
5.9 Who Were the Ancient Egyptians? Physical Anthropology 131
6 The Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period 133
6.1 The Old Kingdom: Overview 135
The Early Old Kingdom 140
6.2 The 3rd Dynasty: Djoser’s Step Pyramid at Saqqara 140
Contents vii
6.3 The 4th Dynasty’s First King, Sneferu, and His Three Pyramids 145
6.4 Khufu’s Great Pyramid at Giza 147
6.5 The Great Sphinx and Khafra’s Pyramid Complex 153
6.6 Menkaura’s Giza Pyramid and Its Remarkable Valley Temple Finds 155
6.7 Giza Pyramid Towns 156
6.8 Giza Mastabas, Queen Hetepheres’s Hidden “Tomb,”
and the Workmen’s Cemetery 160
The Later Old Kingdom 166
6.9 Sun Temples of the 5th Dynasty 166
6.10 Later Old Kingdom Pyramids and the Pyramid Texts 168
6.11 An Expanding Bureaucracy: Private Tombs in the 5th and
6th Dynasties 170
6.12 Egypt Abroad 174
The First Intermediate Period 176
6.13 The End of the Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period:
Causes of State Collapse 176
7 The Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period 181
The Middle Kingdom 183
7.1 The Middle Kingdom: Overview 183
7.2 Pre-Unification 11th Dynasty: Saff Tombs at Thebes 190
7.3 Mentuhotep II’s Complex at Deir el-Bahri 190
7.4 Model Workers and the Deir el-Bahri Tomb of Meketra 192
7.5 12th-Dynasty Temples 194
7.6 12th- and 13th-Dynasty Pyramids 198
7.7 Towns and Domestic Architecture: Kahun and South Abydos 202
7.8 Nomarchs in Middle Egypt: The Beni Hasan Tombs 206
7.9 Mining in the Sinai and a Galena Mine in the Eastern Desert 207
7.10 Egyptian Forts in Nubia and Indigenous Peoples There 208
The Second Intermediate Period 211
7.11 The Second Intermediate Period: The Hyksos Kingdom in the North 211
7.12 The Kerma Kingdom in Upper Nubia 217
7.13 The Theban State during the Second Intermediate Period 223
8 The New Kingdom 225
8.1 The New Kingdom: Overview 227
The Early New Kingdom 234
8.2 Early New Kingdom Architecture: Ahmose’s Abydos Pyramid Complex,
the Thutmosid Palace and Harbor at Tell el-Daba, and the Theban
Mortuary Temples of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III 234
8.3 Amenhotep III’s Malkata Palace 238
8.4 Tell el-Amarna and the Amarna Period 240
8.5 The Amarna Aftermath and Tutankhamen’s Tomb 247
viii Contents
New Kingdom Temples 254
8.6 Restoration of the Traditional Gods: Sety I’s Abydos Temple 254
8.7 The Temples of Karnak and Luxor in the New Kingdom 255
8.8 Ramessid Mortuary Temples 260
Royal and Elite Tombs 264
8.9 Royal Tombs in the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens 264
8.10 Elite Tombs at Thebes and Saqqara 270
State Towns and Settlements 275
8.11 The Workmen’s Village and Tombs at Deir el-Medina 275
8.12 Nubian Temple Towns 281
9 The Third Intermediate Period and Late Period 285
9.1 The Third Intermediate Period: Overview 287
9.2 The Late Period: Overview 291
9.3 Tanis: A New City with Royal Tombs 294
9.4 Napata/Gebel Barkal and Sanam 296
9.5 el-Kurru and Nuri: The Kushite Royal Tombs 299
9.6 Saqqara: The Serapeum and Animal Cults 302
9.7 Some High-Status Tombs of the Third Intermediate Period
and Late Period 306
9.8 Tell el-Maskhuta and Tell el-Herr 308
10 The Greco-Roman Period 311
Greco-Roman Egypt 313
10.1 The Ptolemaic Period: Overview 313
10.2 The Roman Period: Overview 317
10.3 Alexandria 321
10.4 Greco-Roman Settlements in the Faiyum 323
10.5 Two Greco-Roman Temple Complexes in Upper Egypt:
Dendera and Philae 325
Sites Outside the Nile Valley 328
10.6 The Western Desert: Bahariya and Dakhla Oases 328
10.7 The Eastern Desert: Roman Ports, Forts, Roads, and Quarrying Sites 332
Nubia 336
10.8 Qasr Ibrim 336
10.9 Meroe: The Kushite Capital and Royal Cemeteries 338
11 The Study of Ancient Egypt 345
Glossary of Terms 351
Suggested Readings 355
Appendix 1: Additional Readings in French, German, and Italian 399
Appendix 2: Websites 409
Chapter Summaries and Discussion Questions 411
Index 427