Early Dynastic EgyptEarly Dynastic Egypt spans the five centuries preceding the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza. This was the formative period of ancient Egyptian civilization, and it witnessed the creation of a distinctive culture that was to endure for 3,000 years. This book examines the background to that great achievement, the mechanisms by which it was accomplished, and the character of life in the Nile valley during the first 500 years of Pharaonic rule. The results of over thirty years of international scholarship and excavation are presented in a single highly illustrated volume. It traces the re-discovery of Early Dynastic Egypt, explains how the dynasties established themselves in government and concludes by examining the impact of the early state on individual communities and regions. |
Contents
CHAPTER ONE EGYPTOLOGY AND THE EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD | 2 |
CHAPTER TWO BIRTH OF A NATION STATE | 23 |
CHAPTER THREE HISTORICAL OUTLINE | 50 |
PART II THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AUTHORITY | 91 |
CHAPTER FOUR ADMINISTRATION | 92 |
CHAPTER FIVE FOREIGN RELATIONS | 127 |
CHAPTER SIX KINGSHIP | 155 |
CHAPTER SEVEN ROYAL MORTUARY ARCHITECTURE | 198 |
CHAPTER EIGHT CULTS AND SHRINES | 225 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abydos administration Anedjib archaeological architecture attested Buto cemetery centre deity Delta depicted desert divine Djer Djet Dreyer earliest Early Dynastic period early First Dynasty Egyptian history Elephantine élite Emery evidence excavated figure fragment funerary enclosure goddess graves Hierakonpolis iconography important indicate Kaiser Kaplony Kemp Khasekhemwy king’s kingship label Lacau and Lauer late Predynastic period later Lower Egypt macehead mastaba Memphis Merneith monuments mortuary complex mudbrick Naqada Narmer necropolis Nekhen Netjerikhet Nile valley Ninetjer North Saqqara nswt-bỉty O’Connor Old Kingdom Palermo Stone palette Peribsen pottery Predynastic and Early Predynastic period probably Quibell record region reign ritual royal mortuary royal tombs rulers Sanakht Saqqara Scorpion seal-impressions sealing Second Dynasty Sed-festival seems Seidlmayer 1996b Sekhemkhet Semerkhet serekh settlement shrine southern Palestine status stela Step Pyramid complex stone vessels suggested symbolic temple Third Dynasty town trade Upper Egypt Upper Egyptian votive Wadi Wepwawet