Abstract:

As reflected in the title “From Microcosm to Macrocosm: Individual households and cities in Ancient Egypt and Nubia”, both a micro-approach introducing microhistories of individual sites according to recent archaeological fieldwork incorporating interdisciplinary methods as well as general patterns and regional developments in Northeast Africa are discussed.

This combination of research questions on the micro-level with the macro-level provides new information about cities and households in Ancient Egypt and Nubia and makes the book unique. Architectural studies as well as analyses of material culture and the new application of microarchaeology, here especially of micromorphology and archaeometric applications, are presented as case studies from sites primarily dating to the New Kingdom (Second Millennium BC). The rich potential of well-preserved but still not completely explored sites in modern Sudan, especially as direct comparison for already excavated sites located in Egypt, is in particular emphasised in the book.

Settlement archaeology in Egypt and Nubia has recently moved away from a strong textual approach and generalised studies to a more site-specific approach and household studies. This new bottom-up approach applied by current fieldwork projects is demonstrated in the book. The volume is intended for all specialists at settlements sites in Northeast Africa, for students of Egyptology and Nubian Studies, but it will be of interest to anyone working in the field of settlement archaeology. It is the result of a conference on the same subject held in 2017 as the closing event of the European Research Council funded project AcrossBorders at Munich.

Contents

Introduction
Julia Budka and Johannes Auenmüller

Individual Households and Cities in Ancient Egypt and Nubia: A short summary of the state-of-the-art
Julia Budka

The Development of Two Early Urban Centres in Upper Egypt During the 3rd Millennium BC: The examples of Edfu and Dendara
Nadine Moeller and Gregory Marouard

Ancient Gold Mining Settlements in the Eastern Deserts of Egypt and Nubia
Dietrich Klemm and Rosemarie Klemm

Kerma and Dokki Gel: Evidences of impressive changes in the urban architecture at the beginning of the New Kingdom in Nubia
Charles Bonnet

The Many Ethnicities in Avaris: Evidence from the northern borderland of Egypt
Manfred Bietak

Egyptians and Nubians in the Early New Kingdom and the Kushite Background
Bruce Williams

AcrossBorders: Five seasons of work in the Pharaonic town, Sai Island
Julia Budka

Image Based Modelling and Kite Aerial Photography on Sai Island
Martin Fera and Cajetan Geiger

The Fortifications of the Pharaonic Town on Sai Island: A reinvestigation
Ingrid Adenstedt

Pots & People: Ceramics from Sai Island and Elephantine
Julia Budka

From Macro Wares to Micro Fabrics and INAA Compositional Groups: The pottery corpus of the New Kingdom town on Sai Island (Northern Sudan)
Giulia D’Ercole and Johannes Sterba

Tomb 26 in Cemetery SAC5 on Sai Island
Julia Budka

Life History of Khnummose and Selected Anthropological Finds from Tomb 26
Marlies Wohlschlager and Andrea Stadlmayr

The Fortified Settlement at Tombos and Egyptian Colonial Strategy in New Kingdom Nubia
Stuart Tyson Smith and Michele Buzon

Urbanism in Nubia and the New Kingdom Temple Towns
Jördis Vieth

New Kingdom towns in Upper Nubia: Sai, Soleb and Amara West in prosopographical perspective
Johannes Auenmüller