Ancient Egyptian Society

Description

This volume challenges assumptions about―and highlights new approaches to―the study of ancient Egyptian society by tackling various thematic social issues through structured individual case studies. The reader will be presented with questions about the relevance of the past in the present. The chapters encourage an understanding of Egypt in its own terms through the lens of power, people, and place, offering a more nuanced understanding of the way Egyptian society was organized and illustrating the benefits of new approaches to topics in need of a critical re-examination. By re-evaluating traditional, long-held beliefs about a monolithic, unchanging ancient Egyptian society, this volume writes a new narrative―one unchecked assumption at a time. Ancient Egyptian Society: Challenging Assumptions, Exploring Approaches is intended for anyone studying ancient Egypt or ancient societies more broadly, including undergraduate and graduate students, Egyptologists, and scholars in adjacent fields. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents List of Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables List of Contributors Introduction 1 Investigating Ancient Egypt’s Societies: Past Approaches and New Directions Section I Power 2 Power and the Study of Ancient Egyptian Society 3 Hidden Violence: Reassessing Violence and Human Sacrifice in Ancient Egypt 4 Making the Past Present: The Use of Archaism and Festivals in the Transmission of Egyptian Royal Ideology 5 Divine Kingship and the Royal Ka 6 Trade, Statehood, and Configurations of Power in Ancient Egypt (Early-Middle Bronze Age) 7 The Social Pyramid and the Status of Craftspeople in Ancient Egypt 8 Ancient Egyptian Decorum: Demarcating and Presenting Social Action 9 Co-regency in the 25th Dynasty: A Case Study of the Chapel of Osiris-Ptah Neb-ankh at Karnak Section II People 10 The Egyptianization of Egypt and Egyptology: Exploring Identity in Ancient Egypt 11 Ancient Egyptian “Origins” and “Identity” 12 Eight Medjay Walk into a Palace: Bureaucratic Categorization and Cultural Mistranslation of Peoples in Contact 13 The Value of Children in Ancient Egypt 14 Orientalizing the Ancient Egyptian Woman 15 The Ancient Egyptian Artist: A Non-Existing Category? 16 Hellenistic Warfare and Egyptian Society 17 Revealing the Invisible Majority: “Hegemonic” Group Artefacts as Biography Containers of “Underprivileged” Groups 18 Reevaluating Social Histories: The Use of Ancient Egypt in Contemporary Art Section III Place 19 People of Nile and Sun, Wheat and Barley: Ancient Egyptian Society and the Agency of Place 20 Shifting Boundaries, Conflicting Perspectives: (Re)establishing the Borders of Kemet Through Variable Social Identities 21 Urban versus Village Society in Ancient Egypt: A New Perspective 22 Reassessing the Value of Autobiographical Inscriptions from the First Intermediate Period and “Pessimistic Literature” for Understanding Egypt’s Social History 23 Othering the Alphabet: Rewriting the Social Context of a New Writing System in the Egyptian Expedition Community 24 Language Policy and the Administrative Framework of Early Islamic Egypt 25 New Methods to Reconstruct the Social History of Food in Ancient Egypt: Case Studies from Nag ed Deir and Deir el Ballas 26 Stop and Smell the Flowers: A Re-Assessment of the Ancient Egyptian “Blue Lotus” 27 The Body of Egypt: How Harem Women Connected a King with his Elites Bibliography Index