Geographic and chronological scope of

Egyptian archaeology
Kemet, the "black land," was the name the
ancient Egyptians gave to their state. The "black
land" of the fertile floodplain along the lower Nile
Valley was differentiated from the barren "red
land" of the deserts to either side of the valley.
Beginning arond !"##!### B$, a nified state
stretched along the Nile from %swan at the &irst
$ataract to the 'elta coast along the
(editerranean )ea, a distance of over ",###km
downriver. This was the kingdom of ancient
Egypt, rled by a king and his centrali*ed
administration dring the periods of political
stability known as the +ld, (iddle and New
,ingdoms.
%ncient Egypt was the land of the lower Nile
Valley. This is a mch smaller region than what
comprises the modern contry of the %rab
-epblic of Egypt, which incldes the region
soth of the &irst $ataract to ../ N, the hge
desert to the west of the Nile to the 0ibyan
border, the desert to the east of the Nile bordered
by the -ed )ea, and the )inai peninsla to the
1sraeli border.
Because the Nile flows from south to
north, sothern Egypt beginning at the &irst
$ataract is called "2pper Egypt," and northern
Egypt, inclding the $airo region and the 'elta,
is called "0ower Egypt." The region between
2pper and 0ower Egypt is sometimes called
"(iddle Egypt," and consists of the Nile Valley
north of the bend in the river at 3ena and Nag
4ammadi to the region of the &aym. The main
geographic featre of the &aym is a large lake,
now called Birket 3arn, which was mch larger
when wetter conditions prevailed in the early to
middle 4olocene 5circa ".,### to 6,### years
ago7.
The major geographic feature of Egypt is, of
corse, the Nile -iver and the fertile floodplains
to either side. North of $airo the main channel of
the Nile branches off to form the 'elta, a mch
more hmid region than the Nile Valley. 1n
'ynastic times the 'elta was mch more sitable
for cattle pastrage than for large8scale cereal
cltivation.
East of the Nile 'elta is the )inai peninsla, now
separated from %frica by the )e* $anal and the
Glf of )e*. (ontainos and dry like the
Eastern 'esert of Egypt, the )inai provided a
land rote to sothwest %sia. To the west of the
Nile is the 9estern 'esert. 9ithin the 9estern
'esert are a nmber of oases created by
springs, where there is evidence of both
prehistoric and pharaonic activity. These oases
inclde )iwa, Bahariya, &arafra, ,harga and
'akhla.
To the east of the Nile is the Eastern
Desert, also known as the -ed )ea 4ills
becase it borders the -ed )ea. This is a mch
more montainos region than the 9estern
'esert, with some montains over ",.##m high.
&resh water is scarce in the -ed )ea 4ills and
along the shore of the -ed )ea, and this factor
greatly limited hman habitation there. The
Eastern 'esert was the sorce of many hard
stones sed for sclptre and other craft goods,
and minerals sch as copper and gold.
To the south of the First Cataract in the Nile
at %swan is the land known as Nbia. 2pper
Nbia is now in northern )dan, and 0ower
Nbia is the sothernmost part of Egypt,
between the &irst and )econd $ataracts in the
Nile. 9hen the 4igh 'am was bilt at %swan in
the ":6#s, the Nile Valley of 0ower Nbia
became flooded and formed what is now called
0ake Nasser. )i; cataracts block navigation in
the Nile in Nbia, from %swan in the north 5&irst
$ataract7 to the )i;th $ataract located abot
"##km downriver from ,hartom, the capital of
)dan at the conflence of the Ble and 9hite
Niles. (ch of the Nile Valley in Nbia is very
narrow, and as a reslt Nbia did not have the
great agricltral potential of pharaonic Egypt.
In terms of the geographic scope of this
topic, not all sites listed as entries are within the
limits of what the ancient Egyptians considered
the land of Egypt. <haraonic sites are fond at
oases in the 9estern 'esert, and in 2pper and
0ower Nbia, and -oman period sites are
located in the Eastern 'esert. (ch of ancient
Nbia=s history was closely connected to that of
Egypt, clminating in Nbian rle in Egypt nder
the kings of the .6 th 'ynasty. 4ence, a nmber
of cltres and sites in Nbia are also inclded in
this volme. %lthogh the )inai peninsla is not a
part of ancient Egypt, evidence of Egyptian
cltre is also fond there, especially where the
ancient Egyptians mined copper and tr>oise,
and relevant sites in the )inai are also listed.
By the beginning of the st Dynasty ancient
Egyptian ci!ili"ation ha# emerge#, bt this
was preceded by a very long se>ence of
prehistoric cltral development. <erhaps as
early as one million years ago there were
<aleolithic hnters and gatherers living along the
Nile. &arming in the lower Nile Valley did not
appear ntil after circa ?### B$, when
domesticated cereals were introdced from
sothwest %sia. &arming had great economic
potential within the floodplain ecology of the
Egyptian Nile Valley, and farming villages
proliferated along the floodplain. 'ring what is
called the <redynastic period, circa @###8!###
B$, these farming village societies became more
comple;, a development which clminated in the
rise of the early Egyptian state.
The chronological scope of this topic
inclu#es Egypt$s prehistoric past, which was
an important prelde to pharaonic civili*ation.
1ndeed, many cltral developments in pharaonic
civili*ation need to be nderstood from the
perspective of their prehistoric origins. <haraonic
civili*ation spanned thirty8one dynasties, some of
which were periods of strong centrali*ed control,
followed by periods of political fragmentation and
decentrali*ation. 'ring the first millennim B$
Egypt was dominated by different foreign
powers, bt the monments and written
langage contined a royal tradition which had
developed over two millennia. 9ith Egyptian
conversion to $hristianity in the forth centry
%', however, the traditions of pharaonic
civili*ation were considered pagan and came to
an end. Ths, archaeological sites listed in this
topic do not inclde $optic ones nless they are
ancient sites that contined to be occpied
dring early $hristian times.
%rchaeological sites and site
preservation
%rchaeological sites in Egypt have often been
named after the 5%rabic7 names of nearby
villages, or what they have been descriptively
termed in %rabic by local villagers. )ites are
listed in this topic by their most familiar names,
with cross8references in the inde;. &or e;ample,
the <redynastic site of 4ierakonpolis is listed
nder its Greek name, and not the modern ,om
el8%hmar or the ancient Egyptian Nekhen,
whereas the <redynastic site of Nagada is listed
nder the name of the nearby village, and not
Nbt, the ancient Egyptian name of this town.
9hen appropriate, information abot specific
sites is given in topical entries, sch as the
private tombs of the New ,ingdom at )a>>ara.
Very large sites sch as )a>>ara contained
many tombs and monments bilt over three
millennia, and cold not be discssed ade>ately
in one entry.
&uch of the archaeological e!i#ence from
ancient Egypt comes from sites located on the
edge of the floodplain or slightly beyond in the
low desert. Therefore, mch of the
archaeological evidence is highly speciali*ed,
from tombs, temples and mortary comple;es,
and not from settlements. 2ndobtedly, ancient
cities, towns and villages were once located on
higher grond on the floodplain, or along levees
ne;t to the river. (any earlier sites within the
floodplain are now covered by deep allvial
deposits or modern villages, and ths cannot be
e;cavated. $ontinos cltivation of the
floodplain for five to si; thosand years has
ndobtedly destroyed many sites, as have shifts
in the river and its floodplain. %ncient settlements
wold also have been located along the edge of
the floodplain, and some of these have been
e;cavated in this centry, bt many have been
partially or wholly destroyed as more recent
irrigation has e;tended cltivation beyond the
margins of the floodplain. <rehistoric sites
located on the low desert above the floodplain
are sally deflated, a process in which the
desert wind has removed lighter organic
materials and deposits, and the heavier artifacts
from different periods, mostly potsherds and
stone tools, have collapsed onto the desert
srface. &or a nmber of reasons, then,
settlement patterns and changes in these
throgh time are very incomplete in the
archaeological evidence of ancient Egypt.
Because of allu!iation, continos cltivation,
geological conditions which destroy sites, and
the present dense occpation along the Nile,
ancient settlements in Egypt have not been well
preserved or are impossible to e;cavate. %nother
reason why there is relatively little evidence of
settlements in Egypt is probably becase of
earlier e;cavators= priorities. Tombs, temples and
royal mortary comple;es were simply of greater
interest to e;cavate than settlements which had
been distrbed by Egyptian farmers digging for
sebbakh, organic remains from ancient
settlements which is sed for fertili*er. (ch of
Egyptian archaeology, therefore, has been
concerned with the clearance, recording and
conservation of tombs and temples. (any of the
earlier scholars who worked in Egypt were
philologists whose interests lay in recording
te;ts, or were trained in fine arts and were
attracted to the great art and monmental
architectre of pharaonic Egypt. 1n any case,
earlier archaeologists in Egypt did not have the
e;cavation techni>es enabling them to
nderstand settlements and their formation
processes, with the e;ception of very well8
preserved sites sch as %khenaten=s capital at
Tell el8%marna.
'ooting has been another factor in the poor
preservation of archaeological evidence in Egypt.
0ooting of tombs occrred throghot pharaonic
times. To speed constrction, later kings often
sed stone blocks from the monments of earlier
kings. The most blatant e;ample of this process
is the capital city of Tanis in the eastern Nile
'elta, where the kings of the ."st 'ynasty
moved granite monments block by block from
the earlier ":th 'ynasty capital of <i8-amesses,
fonded by -amesses 11. 3arried stones from
the +ld ,ingdom pyramids in northern Egypt
were sed to bild monments in 1slamic $airo.
0ooting of artifacts accelerated in the nineteenth
and twentieth centries %' as msems and
collectors in Erope and North %merica boght
Egyptian anti>ities. 2nfortnately, looting,
thogh illegal, contines in Egypt today.
+ther sorces of information
Becase archaeological sites in Egypt can only
be nderstood within their cltral conte;t, this
topic incldes information abot sociopolitical
organi*ation, the economy, technology,
langage, religion and so on. Egyptian cltre
certainly evolved and changed over three
thosand years, and entries abot aspects of
Egyptian cltre are necessarily short, bt
references are given for where to seek more
information. %n e;cellent introdction to the
sociopolitical organi*ation of ancient Egypt from
<redynastic times throgh the 'ynastic periods
is %ncient EgyptA % )ocial 4istory by B.G.Trigger,
B.B.,emp, '.+=$onnor and 0.B.0loyd.
(ith the emergence of the Dynastic
state, writing was invented, and the evidence of
written te;ts has greatly added to or knowledge
abot the cltre of ancient Egypt. %ncient
Egyptians spoke a langage which is today
called Egyptian, written in a formal script of
hieroglyphs 5"sacred writing"7, and in a simplified
crsive script known as "hieratic." 9ith the
invention of writing, Egyptian cltre moves from
prehistory to history, and in its earliest dynasties
ancient Egypt was a literate society. &rom Early
'ynastic times information began to be recorded
by and abot the state. 2nfortnately, many of
these early hieroglyphic te;ts, aside from names,
are difficlt to decipher.
9riting became more widely sed in the +ld
,ingdom, bt most of what has been preserved
is from a mortary conte;t. Beginning in the
(iddle ,ingdom, however, there is mch more
evidence of writing than Cst the te;ts fond in
tombs. Not only are there acconts and records
of a highly organi*ed state breacracy, bt
there are letters, legal docments, literary te;ts
and te;ts by specialists in fields sch as
medicine and mathematics. 1n the New ,ingdom
an even greater body of te;tal information
recorded on papyri and ostraca has been
recovered, as well as what is known from tombs
and the many votive artifacts for the mortary
clt. &or the first time, nmeros clt temples
were bilt of stone, and their walls are covered
with reliefs and inscriptions. &ollowing the
collapse of the New ,ingdom state, writing
contined to be an important medim of
commnication in the 0ate period, and there are
nmeros papyri and temple inscriptions from
Graeco8-oman times.
(ch of the evidence we have for the se of
writing in ancient Egypt is fairly speciali*ed, and
economic records are mch less common in
Egypt than in the states of (esopotamia. -oyal
inscriptions were not an obCective record of
events, bt were written to glorify pharaoh and
his accomplishments, real or e;aggerated. Very
few people in ancient Egypt ever learned to read
or write. Nonetheless, writing inevitably
spplements what is known abot ancient Egypt
from the archaeological evidence, especially
concerning ideology and beliefs.
Imme#iately recogni"able in Egyptian
civili*ation are formal styles of art and
architectre. This was a material cltre
promlgated by the crown and emlated by elites
in the society. 2nfortnately, there is mch less
information, both archaeological and te;tal,
abot the working class in Egypt, most of whom
were peasant farmers conscripted periodically to
serve in the army and constrct royal
monments and temples. -epresentational
evidence, mainly from tombs and temples, bt
also from artifacts sch as ostraca, conveys
information abot Egyptian workers and farmers,
as well as other sociocltral instittions
5especially religion and beliefs abot the
afterlife7. &re>ently, scenes on the walls of
tombs and temples are accompanied by
hieroglyphic te;ts which specify the activities
depicted, and in this conte;t the te;tal and
pictorial evidence complement and enhance
each other to convey information.
%rchaeology is the stdy of the material remains
of past cltres within their e;cavated conte;ts,
and as sch it deals with evidence which is
fragmentary and incompletely preserved. Bt
ancient Egypt is rich in different forms of
evidence which convey informationD
archaeological, architectral, te;tal and pictorial
Dand a synthesis of all forms of evidence is
needed in order to better nderstand this
remarkable civili*ation in all its comple;ities.
The stdy of ancient Egypt
The systematic stdy of ancient Egypt began
with the Napoleonic e;pedition to Egypt in "E:F.
%ccompanying Napoleon Bonaparte=s invading
army was a grop of savants, scholars who
recorded ancient Egyptian monments along
with information abot the cltre of 1slamic
Egypt and the contry=s natral history.
)ystematic e;cavations in Egypt, however, did
not really begin ntil the late nineteenth centry
with the work of 9illiam (atthew &linders <etrie.
<revios to <etrie=s work in Egypt, e;cavators
had mainly been interested in sending ancient art
and te;ts back to msems and collectors in
Erope and North %merica. <etrie, however, was
interested in the stdy of all artifacts that he
e;cavated, and was the first archaeologist to
recogni*e the importance of stylistic seriation of
ceramics and other artifacts in a relative
chronology of periods, which he called
")e>ence 'ating."
Egyptian archaeology to#ay is stu#ie# in
se!eral aca#emic #isciplines, and scholars
from a nmber of disciplines have contribted to
this topic. The most prominent of these
disciplines is Egyptology, the stdy of ancient
Egypt mainly throgh the analysis of ancient
te;ts, artifacts and architectre. Egyptian te;ts
are stdied by philologists and historians, and
later Egyptian history is of interest to biblical and
classical scholars. Becase ancient Egypt
prodced so mch monmental art and
architectre, and private tombs in which the walls
are covered with paintings andGor reliefs, art
history has also been an important discipline for
stdying the cltre of ancient Egypt.
%nthropologically trained archaeologists in the
early twentieth centry were more interested in
ancient Egypt from a theoretical perspective in
terms of the rise of civili*ation. 4owever,
beginning in the ":?#s a nmber of
archaeologists trained in anthropology began to
work in Egypt on the Nbian )alvage campaign,
which srveyed, recorded and e;cavated sites in
0ower Nbia before they were flooded by 0ake
Nasser following the constrction of the 4igh
'am at %swan.
%rchaeology in Egypt today is condcted nder
the aspices of the )preme $oncil of
%nti>ities, formerly the Egyptian %nti>ities
+rgani*ation 5E%+7, nder the (inistry of
$ltre. 0ocated throghot Egypt are regional
offices of the $oncil, which direct e;cavations
by Egyptian8trained archaeologists and oversee
fieldwork condcted by foreign archaeologists.
The cordial cooperation of the )preme $oncil
of %nti>ities has made possible the ongoing
e;cavations and crrent research which are
reported here.