The Oxford Handbook of Egyptology offers a comprehensive survey of the entire study of ancient Egypt from prehistory through to the end of the Roman period. It seeks to place Egyptology within its theoretical, methodological, and historical contexts, indicating how the subject has evolved and discussing its distinctive contemporary problems, issues, and potential.
Transcending conventional boundaries between archaeological and ancient textual analysis, the volume brings together 63 chapters that range widely across archaeological, philological, and cultural sub-disciplines, highlighting the extent to which Egyptology as a subject has diversified and stressing the need for it to seek multidisciplinary methods and broader collaborations if it is to remain contemporary and relevant. Organized into ten parts, it offers a comprehensive synthesis of the various sub-topics and specializations that make up the field as a whole, from the historical and geographical perspectives that have influenced its development and current characteristics, to aspects of museology and conservation, and from materials and technology - as evidenced in domestic architecture and religious and funerary items - to textual and iconographic approaches to Egyptian culture. Authoritative yet accessible, it serves not only as an invaluable reference work for scholars and students working within the discipline, but also as a gateway into Egyptology for classicists, archaeologists, anthropologists, sociologists, and linguists.
Author(s): Ian Shaw (editor), Elizabeth Bloxam (editor)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 1312
Cover
The Oxford Handbook of Egyptology
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Contributors
Introduction: Egyptology in the twenty-first century: an historical curiosity or setting new agendas in multidisciplinary research?
Stretching Egyptology beyond European and American perspectives
Issues concerning cultural heritage
Investigating archaeological landscapes
Science in Egyptology
Archaeological practice and multi-disciplinarity
Debates in ethnicity, human mobility, and cross-cultural contact
Society and culture: viewpoints from texts and iconography
Problems in the construction of historical narratives
Contexts and problem-oriented approaches
Bibliography
Part I: Egyptology: Perspectives on a Discipline
Chapter 1: The nature and history of Egyptology
Introduction
Ancient sources
Medieval, Renaissance, and Enlightenment sources
The Napoleonic invasion
The early to mid-nineteenth century
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Twentieth-century Egyptology
Histories of Egyptology
Acknowledgements
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 2: Egyptology and cognate disciplines
Introduction: a problematic birth
Classification, translation, and identity
Egyptology and its objects
Writing ancient Egyptian history
Literary artefacts and modes of performance
Art, cognition, and object biographies
Conclusion
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 3: Egyptology in China
History: ancient Chinese works, early Chinese tourists, and the founding of Egyptology in China
The first Chinese doctorate in Egyptology
Egyptology as a part of general ancient world history
Establishing of IHAC
Teaching and resourcing Egyptology in China
Teaching: the view from IHAC
Egyptological research in China: past influences and current trends
Current research agendas
Popularizing Egyptology in China
International collaboration: the way forward
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 4: Reception of ancient Egypt
Scope and history of research
Sketch of the historical development
The beginning of scientific Egyptology and the persistence of pre-Egyptological concepts
The different storylines of the history of art and objects
The study of reception: topics, diversity, and interchange
Afrocentrism
Future research approaches
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Part II: The Natural Environment: Studying the Macro and Micro-Level
Chapter 5: Landscapes and environmental history of the Nile valley: A critical review and prospectus
Introduction: was the primeval Nile valley a marsh?
Sub-saharan analogues for a free-draining, convex floodplain
A closer approximation for pharaonic irrigation
Critique of the Alleaume thesis on irrigation
A manageable Delta
Questions about the Faiyum
Woodland habitats on a free-draining floodplain
Sacred and ornamental trees
A desert-edge ecotone (i.e. spatial transition between clusters of habitats)
Discussion of the biotic landscape
Geoarchaeology and environmental history: Giza as a case study
Trends and oscillations of the Nile floods
The wider picture of fluctuations in the level of the annual Nile flood
Minor Nile branches near the Giza pyramids
The challenge of poor floods
Aeolian sands versus alluvial wash
Exceptional desert flooding
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 6: Flora of ancient Egypt
Introduction
Brief history of archaeobotany
Artistic evidence
Objects placed in funerary contexts
Textual evidence
Archaeobotanical evidence from settlement sites
Sampling methods
Species present in ancient Egypt
Cereals
Other edible plants
Oils and fibre-plants
Wild grasses
Reeds and sedges
Legumes
Other wild/weed species
Trees and palms
Discussion: current and future research
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 7: Ancient Egyptian fauna
Introduction
Sources
Brief history of Egyptian faunal studies
Current archaeozoology: a combination of methods
Current concerns and future work
Suggested Reading
Bibliography
Chapter 8: The mineral world: Studying landscapes of procurement
Introduction
Researching procurement landscapes: a brief history
Landscape archaeology and the holistic study of procurement sites
Practical and theoretical approaches to analysing procurement landscapes: new approaches and case studies
The Aswan West Bank: deep histories
The Wadi Hammamat: a landscape of contact
Future directions: comparative archaeological approaches and local Egyptian initiatives
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Part III: Archaeological Landscapes: Surveying, Characterizing, and Managing
Chapter 9: Mapping and topography
Introduction: the history of mapping Egypt
Applying cartography to archaeological investigations
Remote sensing
The EES Survey of Memphis
The problems and challenges of remote sensing
Topography
The natural environment
Discussion
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 10: Recording rock inscriptions: Methods and challenges from an Egyptian perspective
Introduction
Overview of epigraphic research methods used in Egypt
The history of epigraphic research in Aswan
The Aswan First Cataract: an overview of epigraphic survey work undertaken in the region
Recent fieldwork
The survey work of the Ancient Quarries and Mines Department
Case Study 1: recording the rock inscriptions of the First Cataract region
Documentation methods
Case Study 2: the central Wadi Hammamat
History of epigraphic research in the Wadi Hammamat
Problems and challenges
English–Egyptian joint mission to Wadi Hammamat
Methodology
Conclusion and discussion
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 11: Cultural heritage management in Egypt: Community-based strategies, problems, and possibilities
Introduction
Cultural heritage management in Egypt: what is the state of play?
Community-based heritage: the critique
Implementing community-based heritage initiatives in Egypt: an overview
Marginalization and the problem of ‘top down’ management and bureaucracy
Case study 1. The central Wadi Hammamat: a peopled landscape
The communities and potential threats at Wadi Hammamat
Communicating a deeper history: stakeholder awareness and expanding the educational, touristic, and economic benefits locally
Case study 2. Aswan: new directions in balancing heritage protection with local livelihoods
Local dialogues and the case of re-directing modern quarrying and mining
Issues still to be resolved: the influence of top down bureaucracy, control and sectional conflict
Conclusions and discussion
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 12: Methods of site survey and excavation in Egypt
Introduction
Survey methodology
Excavation and recording methodology
Stratigraphic units and single context recording
Layers and levels (Schichten, Planum)
Work-step recording (Fundstellen)
Lot-and-locus system
Section recording
The stratigraphic matrix
Discussion
A case study
Current issues—methodology and training
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Part IV: Material Culture
Chapter 13: Studying materials and technology: Introduction
Introduction
The study of materials and technology in Egyptology
Ethno-archaeology and experimental archaeology
The future for materials and technology in Egyptology
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 14: Settlement archaeology and the contextualization of domestic artefacts
Introduction
A brief history of settlement archaeology in Egypt and Nubia
Amarna
Deir el-Medina
The influence of prehistory on settlement archaeology
Areas of progress and debate in the archaeology and understanding of ancient Egyptian settlements
Demographics and population estimates
Ephemeral settlements and encampments
Understanding the relationships between people and mud-brick buildings
Strategies and problems in settlement archaeology in Egypt: the Gurob Harem Palace Project as case study
Studying tools and domestic artefacts in their urban contexts
Examining artefacts within their original contexts
Refuse disposal mechanisms: exposing the hinterlands and afterlives of workshops
Conclusions and discussion
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 15: Ancient Egyptian pottery
Introduction
History
Fabrics: Vienna System
Other fabric classification systems
Scientific technologies used for analysis of ancient ceramics (overview)
Quantitative analysis
Typology
Why a good drawing is important
Manufacture
Function of vessels
Strategies to tackle ceramics: consideration of context
The art of discarding ceramics from archaeological excavations
Going back to material from old excavations
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 16: Textiles
Introduction
Linen
Current excavations
Linen production
Storage
Cultivation and processing
Looms
Uses of linen
Coloured and patterned textiles
What linen means
Status and economic values
The future for the past
Conclusions
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 17: Funerary equipment
Introduction
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 18: Seals and scarabs
Introduction: seals and sealing in ancient Egypt
Pseudo-seals and amulet seals
The seal-devices
Cylinder seals
Shape types of cylinder seals
Sealing-surfaces of cylinder seals
Stamp seals and stamp-seal amulets
Stamp-seal terminology
Shape types of non-scarab stamp seals
Sealing-surface and seal-impressions of non-scarab stamp seals
Scarabs
Scarab terminology
Back design of scarabs
Bottom design of scarabs
Use of scarabs
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 19: Mummies and physical anthropology
Sources of information
The early history of mummies
The era of unwrapping
The birth of complex mummy studies
Holistic mummy studies
Current work using science and ancient remains
Imaging
Palaeopathology and histology
Other technologies, specialities, and the resulting data
The future of the study of human remains
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 20: Ancient Egyptian architecture
Introduction
Discovering ancient Egyptian architecture
Internal space, external shape, and landscape
From the project to the building
Materials and construction techniques
Conclusions and future directions of research
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 21: Statuary
Introduction
Reception, acquisition, and excavation of statuary
Publication and study of Egyptian statuary
Materials and manufacture
Statue forms
Divine statues
Royal statues
Non-royal statues
Suggested Reading
Bibliography
Chapter 22: Relief sculpture
Introduction
Types of relief sculpture
Carving techniques
Historical development of relief sculpture
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Part V: Egypt and its Neighbours: Revisiting Cross-Border Relationships
Chapter 23: Africa south of Egypt
Introduction
Names and terminology
The Nile Valley south of Egypt
Prehistory
The First Intermediate Period
The Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period
New Kingdom
The emergence of Napata
Later Napatan period
Meroitic period
Discussion: beyond Meroe
Suggested Reading
Bibliography
Chapter 24: The Libyans
Introduction
Names
Environment, culture, and geography
The environment
The Egyptian view of the Libyans: cosmology and history
Iconographic evidence
Libyan material culture in the New Kingdom: interpreting the archaeological evidence
The Libyans in the Third Intermediate Period in Egypt
Discussion
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 25: Western Asia
Introduction
Background to the study of Western Asia in Egyptology: past influences and current trends
Interdisciplinary work
Theoretical models
Ideological representation
Identification and interpretation of ‘foreign’ materials
Chronological synchronization
Case studies
Uruk, Egypt, Canaan, and the rise of the early state
Discussion
The Bronze Age Empire
Future directions of research
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 26: The Aegean
Introduction
Chronology
The Thera eruption
LH IIIA2, Amarna, and Uluburun
Contact routes
Texts and inscriptions
Artefacts and iconography
Egypt in the Aegean
The Aegean in Egypt
The Tell el-Dab’a wall paintings
The Theban tomb scenes
Future research
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Addendum
Part VI: Egyptian History: Exploring Sources and Interpretative Frameworks
Chapter 27: The Predynastic Period
Introduction
The origins of the Predynastic cultures
Social structure
Predynastic iconography
The relationships between early Egypt and the Near East
The origins of Egyptian kingship
Future directions of research on Predynastic cultures
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 28: The Early Dynastic Period
Introduction
Egyptianness versus otherness
Development of media
Functions of writing, and its relevance for society in the perspective of sociology of knowledge
A case-study in media, ideology, and politics: the dual kingship of Narmer
Processes and structures in Early Dynastic history
Events in Early Dynastic history
Names and individuals in Early Dynastic history
Memories of the Early Dynastic Period in later Egyptian history
Epilogue: the dark side of history
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 29: The Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period
An historical outline
Available data on monuments
Available textual data
Data deriving from settlements
Specific historical issues
Periods and dating
The Fourth Dynasty
The Fifth Dynasty
The Sixth Dynasty
The end of the Old Kingdom
The length of the First Intermediate Period
The Ninth and Tenth Dynasties
The ‘reunification’
Suggested Reading
Bibliography
Chapter 30: The Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period
Introduction: the sources of data
The Eleventh Dynasty
The Twelfth Dynasty
The Thirteenth Dynasty
The Second Intermediate Period: general issues
The ‘Hyksos’ culture and rulers
The Theban dynasties
Future directions of research
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 31: The New Kingdom
Introduction: historical overview
The Eighteenth Dynasty
The Nineteenth Dynasty
The Twentieth Dynasty
Sources for New Kingdom history
Funerary data
Settlement data
Future directions of research into New Kingdom history
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 32: The Third Intermediate Period
Introduction
Dynasty 21
Dynasty 22
Dynasty 23
Dynasty 22A (Herakleopolitan/Theban Dynasty 23)
Dynasty 24/Dynasty 26
Other Egyptian kings not belonging to Dynasties 22, 22A, 23, or 24
The Twenty-fifth Dynasty
The Dynasties and their kings
Suggested Reading
Bibliography
Chapter 33: Egypt in the Late Period
Introduction
The Twenty-sixth Dynasty
The Twenty-seventh Dynasty
The Twenty-eighth to Thirty-first Dynasties
Future directions for research on Late Period history
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 34: The Ptolemaic and Roman periods
Introduction
Art and material culture in the Ptolemaic period
Ptolemaic and Roman religion and temples
The priesthood in the Ptolemaic period, and the importance of Memphis
Hellenistic and Roman cults in Egypt
Christianity
Egypt’s place in the Roman Empire
The administration of Roman Egypt
Ptolemaic and Roman archaeology in Egypt
Alexandria
Naukratis
Memphis
Conclusions and future research directions
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Part VII: Society and culture: Textual and Iconographic approaches
Chapter 35: National administration
Introduction
The sources and research
Writing and archaeology
Titles
Early Dynastic Period
Old Kingdom
Middle Kingdom
New Kingdom
Third Intermediate Period and Late Period
Conclusion
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 36: Localadministration
Introduction and research questions
Settlement patterns
Provinces: the nome system
The Old Kingdom
The Middle Kingdom
The New Kingdom
Offices and structures
Control of individuals
Village administration and local councils
Local administration of law
Conclusions
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 37: Law
Introduction
Terms and concepts
The Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period
Property and its transmission
Women’s rights, marriage, and divorce
Legal transactions and their documentation
Royal decrees
Tribunals, court proceedings, and punishment
The Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period
Property
Legal transactions and their documentation
Women’s rights, marriage, and divorce
Tribunals, court proceedings, and punishment
The New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period
Women’s rights, marriage, and divorce
Legal transactions and their documentation
Tribunals, court proceedings, and punishment
Suggested Reading
Bibliography
Chapter 38: Genealogies
Introduction
Modern research into Egyptian genealogy
Early Dynastic to Old Kingdom
Middle Kingdom
New Kingdom
Deir el-Medina
Twentieth to Twenty-second Dynasties
Late Period
Ptolemaic period to Roman period
Conclusion
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 39: Gods, mythology, and cosmology
Introduction
Sources
The gods
Gods reflected in animals
Multiple forms and names
Myth
The Osirian myth complex
Creation of the universe
The solar eye
Myths in cultural dynamics
Cosmology
Conclusion
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 40: Symbolism and religious iconography
Introduction: the origins of Egyptian symbolism
The types and uses of symbols
Symbolic landscapes and their inhabitants
Discussion: studies of Egyptian symbolism—challenges and future directions
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 41: Theology
Introduction
Nome Monographs and Mythological Manuals
Other priestly sciences
Commentaries and discursive texts
Readership of theological texts
Dating the sources
Historical development
Conclusion
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 42: Funerary beliefs and practices
The Osiris myth
Funerary rituals
The ‘Night of the Vigil’
The procession to the tomb
The ‘Opening of the Mouth’ ritual
The mortuary cult
Discussion
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Part VIII: Scripts and Philology
Chapter 43: Scripts
Representing language: general principles
Categories of signs
The word level
Determinatives/classifiers
Historical sketch
Origins and early development
Hieroglyphic writing
Linear hieroglyphs
Hieratic
Abnormal hieratic and demotic
Cultural contacts and influences
Obsolescence
Coptic
Pictoriality and iconicity
High-cultural dimensions
Registers of writing in a di(/tri-)graphic culture
A hieroglyphic tradition
Ludic dimensions and enigmatic writing
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 44: Lexicography
The history of lexicography
From the decipherment of hieroglyphs to the beginning of work on the Wörterbuch
The Wörterbuch
After the Wörterbuch
Lexicography today
Specificities of the lexicography of ancient Egyptian
Current research
Writing a dictionary today: database vs. dictionary
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 45: Grammar
Introduction
Coptic grammars
Hieroglyphic Egyptian grammars: early progress
The ‘Berlin School’
British research into Egyptian grammar
Polotsky and the ‘Standard Theory’
Post-Polotsky developments: the gradual abandonment of Standard Theory
Recent developments
Bibliography
Chapter 46: History of the Egyptian language
Introduction: periodization of the language
Elements of a cultural and social history
Linguistic history: a selective presentation
The Afroasiatic background
Phonology
Nominal morphology and syntax
Verbal morphology
Functional domains
Some further changes
Earlier and Later Egyptian
Mechanisms and factors of change
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Part IX: Textual Genres: Current Positions and Future directions
Chapter 47: Orality and literacy in ancient Egypt
Introduction
Chronological developments
Current debates
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 48: Historical texts
Introduction: definitions and source material
Chronicles
Royal annals
King lists
Royal narratives
Warfare
Building activities
Private narratives
Future directions in the study of historical texts
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 49: ‘Autobiographical’ texts
Introduction: the nature of Egyptian autobiographies
Autobiography in the Old Kingdom
The First Intermediate Period
The Middle Kingdom
The New Kingdom
Third Intermediate Period
The Late Period and Ptolemaic and Roman periods
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 50: Literary texts
Introduction
Definition of ‘literature’
‘Instructions’
‘Fine speaking’
Biographies or travel narratives
Use and context
A note on transcription
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 51: Socio-economic texts
Introduction
Script, language, and material
Methodologies
Information available
Controversies
Problems and prospects for future study
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 52: Mathematical texts
Introduction
Sources
Characteristics of Egyptian mathematical texts
Social and cultural setting
Historiography and controversies
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 53: Texts for healing and protection
Introduction
The Egyptological distinction between ‘magical’ and ‘medical’ texts
Formal features of manuscripts
Who were the users of the texts for healing and protection?
Texts on other objects
Texts for healing and protection as sources
Current approaches and research priorities
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 54: Letters
Introduction
Definition of Letters
Purpose of Correspondence
Writing Materials used for Letters
Formats used for Letters
Chronological survey of letters
Letters as source material
Women’s correspondence
Letters to the dead and gods
Model and literary letters
Problems in understanding letters
New research possibilities
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 55: Demotic texts
Introduction: definition of demotic
Corpora and publications of museum holdings
Documentary texts
Legal texts (codes/protocols)
Private legal texts
Literary and scholarly texts
Religious texts
Magic
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 56: Coptic texts
Introduction
Christian, Gnostic, Hermetic, and Manichaean texts
Coptic works concerning monasticism
Saints, martyrs, and other religious figures
Historical writings
Sermons, homilies, hymns, and poems
‘Sub-literary’ genres
Epigraphic texts
Socio-economic texts
Coptic papyrology
Coptic texts as artefacts
Coptic texts in cultural context: the Monastery of Epiphanius
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 57: Rock art, rock inscriptions, and graffiti
Introduction
Predynastic rock art: Niloticizing the desert and imaging the cosmos
Early Dynastic rock inscriptions: sealing the desert—ownership, hegemony, and the extension of ordered space
The Old Kingdom: soldiers, miners, and priests
The First Intermediate Period and the early Middle Kingdom: travellers, policemen, and foreigners—personality and history
The Middle Kingdom: expeditions and outposts
The New Kingdom: tourists, Nubia, the borders of the empire, and royal workmen at Thebes
The Third Intermediate Period: formal tableaux, temple annotations, and priestly families
The Late Period
Rock inscriptions, graffiti, and religion
Monumentality, innovation, and intimacy
Tools and techniques
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 58: Ptolemaic and Roman temple texts
Introduction
State of publication of the temple inscriptions
The writing system, lexicography, grammar
Lexicography
Grammar
Bibliographies, translations, and teaching tools
Studies on content/interpretation
Conclusion
Suggested reading
Bibliography
Chapter 59: Greek and Latin sources
Introduction
Literary sources
Papyrology and epigraphy
Suggested reading
Abbreviations used in this chapter
Bibliography
Part X: Museology and conservation
Chapter 60: Museum collections
Introduction
Acquisition and early collections
Museums and archaeological context
Museums in Egypt
Display and authority
Presenting ancient Egypt(s)
Interpretations
Research
Engaging with visitors
Suggested Reading
Bibliography
Chapter 61: Egyptian museums and storehouses
Introduction
The history of the Egyptian museums
Categories of Egyptian museums
The main Egyptian museums
Local and provincial museums
Archaeological-site museums
Discussion: the problems of Egyptian museums
Archaeological storehouses in Egypt
Discussion
Final word
Bibliography
Chapter 62: Conservation in Egyptological museum collections
Introduction
General considerations
Deterioration processes of inorganic materials
Metal objects
Ceramics, faience, and glass
Limestone and sandstone
Ivory and bone
Deterioration processes of organic materials
Wood
Linen, papyri, cartonnage, and mummies
Discussion: conservation challenges
Suggested Reading
Bibliography
Index
