Technology And Culture In Pharaonic Egypt

The inherent paradox of Egyptology is that the objective of its study – people living in Egypt in Pharaonic times – are never the direct object of its studies. Egyptology, as well as archaeology in general, approach ancient lives through material (and sometimes immaterial) remains. This Element explores how, through the interplay of things and people – of non-human actants and human actors – Pharaonic material culture is shaped. In turn, it asks how, through this interplay, Pharaonic culture as an epistemic entity is created: an epistemic entity which conserves and transmits even the lives and deaths of ancient people. Drawing upon aspects of Actor Network Theory, this Element introduces an approach to see technique as the interaction of people and things, and technology as the reflection of these networks of entanglement.

Find out how the ancient Egyptians lived and worked.

The book describes current research into all aspects of craftwork in ancient Egypt.

When most people think of Egypt, the pyramids probably come to mind. Imagine building such immense structures with the technology available thousands of years ago. Students will learn about irrigation systems, construction, farming tools, and various other technological developments that have helped place Egypt among some of the most advanced ancient cultures in the world.

This book examines the fundamental evidence for many different aspects of change and evolution in ancient Egyptian technology. It includes discussion of the wider cognitive and social contexts, such as the Egyptian propensity for mental creativity and innovation, and the pace of change in Egypt in comparison with other African, Mediterranean and Near Eastern states. This book draws not only on traditional archaeological and textual sources but also on the results of scientific analyses of ancient materials and on experimental and ethno-archaeological information. Case-studies analyse those aspects of Egyptian society that made it either predisposed or actively opposed to certain types of conservatism or innovation in material culture, such as the techniques of stone-working, medicine, mummification and monumental construction. The book also includes detailed discussion of the ways in which the practice and development of Egyptian technology interrelated with Late Bronze Age urban society as a whole, using the city at Amarna as a case-study.

The book examines the connection between identity and material culture, which forms the backbone of archaeology. The assumed direct relationship between the things of daily life and the aspects of identity such as gender, age or ethnicity to name but a few is challenged under consideration of post-colonial theories and critically applied to a case study in ancient Egypt (Tell el-Dab'a), which provides exclusively material culture for interpretation. Besides a detailed introduction to the formation and current use of aspects of identity and culture concepts with special regard to archaeology, definitions (such as 'entanglement' and 'appropriation') and a placement of fusions of material culture from various areas in the theoretical framework are proposed.

This book examines the fundamental evidence for many different aspects of change and evolution in ancient Egyptian technology. It includes discussion of the wider cognitive and social contexts, such as the Egyptian propensity for mental creativity and innovation, and the pace of change in Egypt in comparison with other African, Mediterranean and Near Eastern states. This book draws not only on traditional archaeological and textual sources but also on the results of scientific analyses of ancient materials and on experimental and ethno-archaeological information. Case-studies analyse those aspects of Egyptian society that made it either predisposed or actively opposed to certain types of conservatism or innovation in material culture, such as the techniques of stone-working, medicine, mummification and monumental construction. The book also includes detailed discussion of the ways in which the practice and development of Egyptian technology interrelated with Late Bronze Age urban society as a whole, using the city at Amarna as a case-study.