Town and district: Local and regional administration during the Second Intermediate Period /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Bandy, Kathryn Elaine, author.
Imprint:2016.
Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2016
Description:1 electronic resource (497 pages)
Language:English
Format: E-Resource Dissertations
Local Note:School code: 0330
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11674607
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:University of Chicago. degree granting institution.
ISBN:9781339875217
Notes:Advisors: Robert K. Ritner Committee members: Robert Demaree; Janet Johnson; Nadine Moeller.
This item is not available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 77-12(E), Section: A.
English
Summary:The late Middle Kingdom through early 18th Dynasty was a dynamic time in Egypt's history. Capitals moved, multiple dynasties ruled concurrently, and Egypt was faced with a series of internal and external problems. Recent archaeological work at urban centers throughout the Nile Valley has shifted the discussion beyond the creation of a national historical narrative and onto a more nuanced understanding of the ways in which urban centers operated. A particular emphasis has been placed on the analysis of seals and sealings for an understanding of Egyptian administration and administrative processes.
The careful analysis of excavated sealings and their integration with the surviving monumental, archaeological, and documentary records has led to the creation of local models of the interactions that occurred between different local administrative units and the state at large. Sealings data has been of particular importance in that it identifies mid- and high-level officials at the local and national level. However, the broader pool of untitled laborers, who are largely absent in sealings corpora, remains invisible due to the nature of the preserved archaeological and textual record.
This dissertation analyzes the general labor pool at the site of Tell Edfu during the late Second Intermediate Period through early New Kingdom. The primary evidence for the established model is a corpus of recently excavated hieratic ostraca from the site of Tell Edfu, a provincial capital in Upper Egypt. The ostraca were found in multiple layers of fill in the Second Intermediate Period Silo Court after its abandonment and can be dated on archaeological grounds to the late Second Intermediate Period through mid-18th Dynasty (Thutmose III/Hatshepsut). The texts can be divided into smaller corpora based on their archaeological contexts. One corpus, Silo 393, is of particular importance in that the ostraca were found locked between the original floor of the silo and a walking surface corresponding to later reuse, providing a secure archaeological context and, thus, creating a closed corpus.
The majority of the ostraca are worker lists and payment records for untitled men and women. Through the repeated occurrences of the same names together in multiple documents and the identification of individual scribal hands, distinct groups of workers have been identified. Additional texts, such as the CD-ROM bowls, which are isolates within the corpora in terms of content provide supplemental information on local administrative entities and activities, such as bread baking and land holdings.
Ultimately, this study creates a model for the urban operations of ancient Edfu, the people employed, and the wider network and role of the scribal office(s) creating, housing, and ultimately disposing of the Tell Edfu Ostraca. It is concluded that the records reflect the system of related institutions at the local level that were managed from the 'rry.t of the local mayoral residence and its associations with the local temple. Through doing so, it demonstrates that the local administrative changes previously postulated to have occurred are not reflected in administrative documents and that the local administrative system of the late Middle Kingdom continued, in an adapted form, into the late Second Intermediate Period and early New Kingdom.