Women, Gender and Identity in Third Intermediate Period Egypt: The Theban Case Study

197 Pages·2017·1.499 MB·English

by  Jean Li

Women, Gender and Identity
in Third Intermediate
Period Egypt

Women, Gender and Identity in Third Intermediate Period Egypt clarifi es
the role of women in Egyptian society during the fi rst millennium BCE,
allowing for more nuanced discussions of women in the Third Intermediate
Period. It is an intensive study of a corpus that is both geographically and
temporally localized around the city of Thebes, which was the cultural and
religious centre of Egypt during this period and home to a major national
necropolis. Unlike past studies that have relied heavily on literary evi-
dence, Li presents a refreshing material culture-based analysis of identity
construction in elite female burial practices. This close examination of the
archaeology of women’s burial presents an opportunity to investigate the
social, professional and individual identities of women beyond the norma-
tive portrayals of the subordinate wife, mother and daughter. Taking a
methodological and material culture-based approach that adds new dimen-
sions to scholarly and popular understandings of ancient Egyptian women,
this fascinating and important study will aid scholars of Egyptian history
and archaeology, and anyone with an interest in women and gender in the
ancient world.
Jean Li is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Ryerson Uni-
versity, Canada. Her research focuses on Egyptian art and archaeology in the
fi rst millennium BCE, and she is especially interested in using recent anthro-
pological and archaeological theories to study ancient cultural products.
Routledge Studies in Egyptology

1 Ancient Egyptian Temple Ritual
Performance, Pattern, and Practice
Katherine Eaton
2 Histories of Egyptology
Interdisciplinary Measures
Edited by William Carruthers
3 Science in the Study of Ancient Egypt
Sonia Zakrzewski, Andrew Shortland and Joanne Rowland
4 Women, Gender and Identity in Third Intermediate Period Egypt
The Theban Case Study
Jean Li
Women, Gender and
Identity in Third
Intermediate Period Egypt

The Theban Case Study
Jean Li
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Jean Li
The right of Jean Li to be identifi ed as author of this work has
been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Li, Jean, author.
Title: Women, gender and identity in Third Intermediate Period
Egypt : the Theban case study / Jean Li.
Other titles: Routledge studies in Egyptology.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2017. |
Series: Routledge studies in egyptology
Identifi ers: LCCN 2016025011 | ISBN 9781138125421 (hardback :
alk. paper) | ISBN 9781315647531 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Women—Egypt—Thebes (Extinct city) | Women—
Egypt—Social conditions. | Elite (Social sciences)—Egypt—Thebes
(Extinct city) | Sex role—Egypt. | Women—Identity. | Tombs—
Egypt—Thebes (Extinct city) | Egypt—History—Third Intermediate
Period, ca. 1071-ca. 650 B.C. | Thebes (Egypt : Extinct city)—
Antiquities.
Classifi cation: LCC HQ1137.E3 L5 2017 | DDC 305.40932/3—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016025011
ISBN: 978-1-138-12542-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-64753-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To my parents, 李在中 and 張光千. Thank you for
your unwavering love and support.

Contents

List of fi gures ix
List of tables x
Introduction 1
I The case for Thebes 4
II Gender and feminist archaeology in the study of
ancient Egyptian women 6
III Structure of book 7
1 Tradition, innovation and a search for Egyptian
identity in the Third Intermediate Period 10
Introduction 10
I Tradition and innovation 13
Kingship 14
Religion 16
Art 18
Burial practices 19
II Tradition, innovation and women 20
2 Rank, status and axes of identity 22
Introduction 22
I Axes of identity 23
II Titles in Egyptology 25
III Corpus of elite female titles 28
Titles of rank (non-regular, “honourifi c” titles) 28
Titles of occupation (regular, function titles) 31
IV Distribution of titles in corpora 40
V Titles and familial affi liations 43
VI Discussion and comparanda 45
Third Intermediate Period 45
New Kingdom 46
Middle Kingdom 49
First Intermediate Period and Old Kingdom 50
VII Concluding remarks 51
viii Contents
3 Materiality, memory and the mortuary landscape of Thebes 56
Introduction 56
I Examining mortuary landscapes 57
II Burial practices in the Theban Necropolis 60
Temple reuse 61
Tomb reuse 84
New constructions 91

III Administration of Theban Necropolis in the Third
Intermediate Period 100
IV Female agency outside of Thebes 102
V The Theban mortuary landscape and elite female
identity expressions 107
4 The symbolic economy of mortuary practices 113
Introduction 113
I Typical burial assemblage of the period 114
Coffi ns 115
Stelae 119
Ushabtis and containers 121
Canopic jars 124
Funerary papyri 125
Miscellaneous items 126
II Value of assemblage 127
Tombs dataset 128
Objects dataset 144
III The economics of burial 149
IV Capital and the creation of status and identity 152
Capital 152
Capital and status in elite female burial practices 154
Conclusion: Women, gender and status in Thebes of the
eighth–sixth centuries BCE 160
Bibliography 167
Index 183
Figures

2.1 Ushabti fi gurines from Tomb 21, Medinet Habu
(OIM P. 12561, M.H.F. 648) 41
3.1 Map of Theban Necropolis showing localities discussed 58
3.2 Eighth–sixth centuries BCE mortuary activities
in the Ramesseum 61
3.3 Eighth–sixth centuries BCE mortuary activities
at Deir el-Bahri 66
3.4 Plan of Medina Habu 71
3.5 Eighth–sixth century tombs of Medinet Habu 73
3.6 Eighth–sixth century tombs of Medinet Habu 74
3.7 The Great Temple 78
3.8 The tomb of Ankhamenirdis (Tomb 24), Medinet
Habu (OIM P.14379) 80
3.9 Canopic jars of Ankhamenirdis (OIM P. 12555 M.H.F. 642) 81