This book provides an innovative analysis of the conditions of ancient Egyptian craftsmanship in the light of the archaeology of production, linguistic analysis, visual representation and ethnographic research. During the past decades, the “imaginative” figure of ancient Egyptian material producers has moved from “workers” to “artisans” and, most recently, to “artists”. In a search for a fuller understanding of the pragmatics of material production in past societies, and moving away from a series of modern preconceptions, this volume aims to analyse the mechanisms of material production in Egypt during the Middle Bronze Age (2000–1550 BC), to approach the profile of ancient Egyptian craftsmen through their own words, images and artefacts, and to trace possible modes of circulation of ideas among craftsmen in material production. The studies in the volume address the mechanisms of ancient production in Middle Bronze Age Egypt, the circulation of ideas among craftsmen, and the profiles of the people involved, based on the material traces, including depictions and writings, the ancient craftsmen themselves left and produced.

The Early Bronze Age Tombs of Jebel Hafit presents fifty burial mounds excavated by Moesgaard Museum in 1961-1971 in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the Arabian Gulf. These excavations were the first archaeological investigations at all in this part of the world, and they throw light on the beginning of the Bronze Age on the Oman Peninsula. The graves represent a fundamental transformation of the relationship between humans and the environment in the region, preceding the emergence of oasis agriculture. The graves contain the first objects of copper in the region and show that the exploitation of copper from the Oman mountains had begun. The tombs of Jebel Hafit are inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. The publication is the result of a cooperation between the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority and Moesgaard Museum.

Ancient Egyptian coffins provided a shell to protect the deceased both magically and physically. They guaranteed an important requirement for eternal life: an intact body. Not everybody could afford richly decorated wooden coffins. As commodities, coffins also played a vital role in the daily life of the living and marked their owner’s taste and status. Coffin history is an ongoing process and does not end with the ancient burial. The coffins that were discovered and shipped to museums have become part of the National heritages. The Vatican Coffin Project is the first international research project to study the entire use-life of Egyptian coffins from an interdisciplinary perspective. This edited volume focusses on the lavishly decorated coffins of the Priests of Amon that are currently in the collection of the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden. Six chapters, written by international specialists, present the history of the Priests of Amon, the production of their coffins and use-life of the coffins from Ancient Egypt until modern times. The book appeals to the general public interested in Egyptian culture, heritage studies, and restoration research, and will also be a stimulating read for both students and academics.

Communities in Transition brings together scholars from different countries and backgrounds united by a common interest in the transition between the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age in the lands around the Aegean. Neolithic community was transformed, in some places incrementally and in others rapidly, during the 5th and 4th millennia BC into one that we would commonly associate with the Bronze Age. Many different names have been assigned to this period: Final Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Eneolithic, Late Neolithic [I]-II, Copper Age which, to some extent, reflects the diversity of archaeological evidence from varied geographical regions. During this long heterogeneous period developments occurred that led to significant changes in material culture, the use of space, the adoption of metallurgical practices, establishment of far-reaching interaction and exchange networks, and increased social complexity. The 5th to 4th millennium BC transition is one of inclusions, entanglements, connectivity, and exchange of ideas, raw materials, finished products and, quite possibly, worldviews and belief systems. Most of the papers presented here are multifaceted and complex in that they do not deal with only one topic or narrowly focus on a single line of reasoning or dataset. Arranged geographically they explore a series of key themes: Chronology, cultural affinities, and synchronization in material culture; changing social structure and economy; inter- and intra-site space use and settlement patterns, caves and include both site reports and regional studies.

Greek scholars have produced a vast body of evidence bearing on nuptial practices that has yet to be mined by a professional economist. By standing on their shoulders, the author proposes and tests radically new interpretations of three important status groups in Greek history: the pallakē, the hetaira, and the nothos. It is argued that legitimate marriage – that is ‘marriage by loan of the bride to the groom’ – was not the only form of legal marriage in classical Athens and the ancient Greek world generally. Pallakia, that is, ‘marriage by sale of the bride to the groom’, also was legally recognized. The pallakē-wifeship transaction is a sale into slavery with a restrictive covenant mandating the employment of the sold woman as a wife. In this highly original and challenging new book economist Morris Silver proposes and tests the hypothesis that the likelihood of bride sale rises with increases in the distance between the ancestral residence of the groom and the father’s household. The ‘bastard’ (nothoi) children of pallakai lacked the legal right to inherit from their fathers but were routinely eligible for Athenian citizenship. It is argued that the basic social meaning of hetaira (‘companion’) is not ‘prostitute’/’courtesan’ but ‘single woman’ – that is, a woman legally recognized as being under her own authority (kuria). The defensive adaptation of single women is reflected in Greek myth and social practice by their grouping into ‘packs’, most famously the Daniads and Amazons.

In many regions of Europe and beyond fortifications belong to the most impressive of archaeological remains. Their study has a long tradition and today a multitude of aspects about architecture, function or symbolism has been explored. However, fortifications are generally examined in a temporally, regionally or culturally limited context. Going a step further, this volume aims to bring into focus concepts of fortifications, which can be socially, symbolically or functionally, but also chronologically and supra-regionally aligned. An important question is to determine which fortification elements are culture-specific, and which can be regarded as convergence or even universal phenomena. Adopting a comparative view, the central aim of the volume is to highlight the diversity and the structural similarities of ancient fortifications. The chronological framework goes from the Neolithic to the Late Iron Age, and the geographical scope from the Ural steppes to the Iberian Peninsula.

Did ancient Europeans truly believe in an active after-life, as modern Europeans would like to think they did? What purpose did grave-goods actually serve? Are archaeology and the historical sciences in general able to shed, once and for all, a curse placed upon them at their inception as research disciplines in the early nineteenth century? Searching for answers to these questions is the aim of this book which has been written on the basis of widely spread, typical components of grave-goods. For the last two centuries, they have been interpreted incorrectly, because of being aligned with archaeologists’ ideas about the spiritual world of the society in question. The book introduces a recently discovered phenomenon that accompanied mankind from his discovery of the uses of metal all the way through to the Middle Ages – that is the importance of touchstones, tools used to determine the nature and test the nature and value of non-ferrous metals. Of the hundreds of thousands of such finds, which have most often been regarded as ‘whetstones’, the author has made a selection of specimens that cast light on the role of touchstones in the culture of ancient societies, especially in the burial ritual. Forming a key part of the book are the results of chemical microanalyses of metal streaks on the touchstones, a hitherto unused source of information for the skills of ancient metallurgists. Streaks of precious metal are not as important today as the common streaks of lead, tin, brass, etc.; streaks of metals composed of zinc, nickel, mercury, etc., raise new questions. Viking Age Birka serves as a fine example. It has yielded the largest known assemblage of touchstones and also boasts the largest number of such finds to have been analysed in the scanning electron microscope. However, this site has counterparts in Mesopotamia and the Near East, in the ancient Mediterranean region, in the Cimmerian and Scythian environments, in Europe of the Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and Migration periods, and, in particular, in the northern part of Europe during the Early Middle Ages – anywhere trade was not dominated by coins minted by local authorities. The four-millennium continuity of the essentially unified spiritual life shared by a large part of the Old World came to an end with the onset of Christianity in Europe. This book is intended for archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, ethnologists, archaeometallurgists, and for everybody who wishes to marvel at the consistent symbolic behaviour of ancient societies of the Old World from between, at the least, Mesopotamia, the Altai Mountains and Iceland, despite their cultural, ethnic and religious differences.

The ancient Egyptian city of Tell el-Amarna (or Amarna, ancient Akhetaten) was the short-lived capital built by the controversial Pharaoh Akhenaten, probably the father of the famous Tutankhamun, and abandoned shortly after his death (c. 1336 BCE). It is one of the few Pharaonic cities to have been thoroughly excavated and is a rich source of information about the daily life of the ancient Egyptians. This volume, the first of two, presents the leatherwork excavated at the site by these various expeditions. The book consists of two parts: the catalogue and the preliminary analysis. The former presents the detailed description of the objects (among which chariot leather and footwear), accompanied by colour photographs and, where necessary, line- and construction drawings. The latter includes an explanation of the Amarna Leatherwork Project as well as preliminary interpretations of the finds.

This catalogue presents the ancient Egyptian footwear in the collection of the Coptic Museum in Cairo. The catalogue contains detailed descriptions and measurements, photographs and drawings. Each description of a footwear category is followed by short discussions, addressing topics such as typology and dating. In addition a fairly large corpus of comparative material is presented as well, none of which has been published before. The present work will form an important resource for future study.This catalogue is one of the results of the Nuffic Tailor Made Training for the curators of the Coptic Museum in Cairo, jointly organized by the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo and the American University in Cairo in close collaboration with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Coptic Museum Authorities and the Ministry of State for Antiquities Affairs.

The present work is the result of the First International Chariot Conference, jointly organised by the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC) and the American University in Cairo (AUC) (30 November to 2 December 2012). The intention of the conference was to make a broad assessment of the current state of knowledge about chariots in Egypt and the Near East, and to provide a forum for discussion. A wide variety of papers are included, ranging from overviews to more detailed studies focusing on a specific topic. These include philology, iconography, archaeology, engineering, history, and conservation. The book is of interest to scholars as well as anyone with an interest in ancient technology, transportation, or warfare.

There is a cluster of Early Iron Age (800–500 BC) elite burials in the Low Countries in which bronze vessels, weaponry, horse-gear and wagons were interred as grave goods. Mostly imports from Central Europe, these objects are found brought together in varying configurations in cremation burials generally known as chieftains’ graves or princely burials. In terms of grave goods they resemble the Fürstengräber of the Hallstatt Culture of Central Europe, with famous Dutch and Belgian examples being the Chieftain’s grave of Oss, the wagon-grave of Wijchen and the elite cemetery of Court-St-Etienne. . Fragmenting the Chieftain presents the results of an in-depth and practice-based archaeological analysis of the Dutch and Belgian elite graves and the burial practice through which they were created. It was established that the elite burials are embedded in the local burial practices – as reflected by the use of the cremation rite, the bending and breaking of grave goods, and the pars pro toto deposition of human remains and objects, all in accordance with the dominant local urnfield burial practice. It appears that those individuals interred with wagons and related items warranted a more elaborate funerary rite, most likely because these ceremonial and cosmologically charged vehicles marked their owners out as exceptional individuals. Furthermore, in a few graves the configuration of the grave good set, the use of textiles to wrap grave goods and the dead and the reuse of burial mounds show the influence of individuals familiar with Hallstatt Culture burial customs. A comprehensive overview of the Dutch and Belgian graves can be found in the accompanying Fragmenting the Chieftain – Catalogue. Late Bronze and Early Iron Age elite burials in the Low Countries.

There is a cluster of Early Iron Age (800–500 BC) elite burials in the Low Countries in which bronze vessels, weaponry, horse-gear and wagons were interred as grave goods. Mostly imports from Central Europe, these objects are found brought together in varying configurations in cremation burials generally known as chieftains’ graves or princely burials. In terms of grave goods they resemble the Fürstengräber of the Hallstatt Culture of Central Europe, with famous Dutch and Belgian examples being the Chieftain’s grave of Oss, the wagon-grave of Wijchen and the elite cemetery of Court-St-Etienne. The majority of the Dutch and Belgian burials were found several decades to several centuries ago and context information tends to be limited. They also tend to be published in Dutch or French or otherwise difficult to access publications. This research went back to the original reports and studied the objects found in these graves in detail. This generated new and evidence-based insights and interpretations into these exceptional burials and allowed for the reconstruction of the individual burial rituals. Fragmenting the Chieftain – Catalogue presents the first comprehensive overview of the Dutch and Belgian elite graves (in English) and the objects they contain. The results of an in-depth and practice-based archaeological analysis of the Dutch and Belgian elite graves and the burial practice through which they were created can be found in Fragmenting the Chieftain. A practice-based study of Early Iron Age Hallstatt C elite burials in the Low Countries.

There is a cluster of Early Iron Age (800–500 BC) elite burials in the Low Countries in which bronze vessels, weaponry, horse-gear and wagons were interred as grave goods. Mostly imports from Central Europe, these objects are found brought together in varying configurations in cremation burials generally known as chieftains’ graves or princely burials. In terms of grave goods they resemble the Fürstengräber of the Hallstatt Culture of Central Europe, with famous Dutch and Belgian examples being the Chieftain’s grave of Oss, the wagon-grave of Wijchen and the elite cemetery of Court-St-Etienne. The majority of the Dutch and Belgian burials were found several decades to several centuries ago and context information tends to be limited. They also tend to be published in Dutch or French or otherwise difficult to access publications. This research went back to the original reports and studied the objects found in these graves in detail. This generated new and evidence-based insights and interpretations into these exceptional burials and allowed for the reconstruction of the individual burial rituals. Fragmenting the Chieftain – Catalogue presents the first comprehensive overview of the Dutch and Belgian elite graves (in English) and the objects they contain. The results of an in-depth and practice-based archaeological analysis of the Dutch and Belgian elite graves and the burial practice through which they were created can be found in Fragmenting the Chieftain. A practice-based study of Early Iron Age Hallstatt C elite burials in the Low Countries.

The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by Howard Carter in 1922 is one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of all time. It took Carter and his team 10 years to clear the contents of the tomb and among the objects found was a large collection of shoes and sandals. The footwear is analysed here in detail for the first time since the discovery using Carter’s records and Harry Burton’s excellent photographs along with the author’s analyses of the objects, all of which are housed in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo and the Luxor Museum. Several specialists contributed to the volume discussing the different materials (gold, vegetable fibre, birch bark, glass and faience, leather, gemstones) that were used in the footwear. Tutankhamun’s footwear is compared with other finds in order to be able to put it in a broader context. The footwear from the tomb of Yuya and Tjuiu, the King’s great-grandparents, are, therefore, analysed as well. In addition to the analysis, footwear in texts and two- and three-dimensional art is considered.With contributions byAlan J. Clapham, Erno Endenburg, Aude Gräzer, Fredrik Hagen, James A. Harrell, Mikko H. Kriek, Paul T. Nicholson, Jack M. Ogden, Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood

At the beginning of the first century BC Athens was an independent city bound to Rome through a friendship alliance. By the end of the first century AD the city had been incorporated into the Roman province of Achaea. Along with Athenian independence perished the notion of Greek self-rule. The rest of Achaea was ruled by the governor of Macedonia already since 146 BC, but the numerous defections of Greek cities during the first century BC show that Roman rule was not yet viewed as inevitable. In spite of the definitive loss of self-rule this was not a period of decline. Attica and the Peloponnese were special regions because of their legacy as cultural and religious centres of the Mediterranean. Supported by this legacy communities and individuals engaged actively with the increasing presence of Roman rule and its representatives. The archaeological and epigraphic records attest to the continued economic vitality of the region: buildings, statues, and lavish tombs were still being constructed. There is hence need to counterbalance the traditional discourses of weakness on Roman Greece, and to highlight how acts of remembering were employed as resources in this complex political situation. The legacy of Greece defined Greek and Roman responses to the changing relationship. Both parties looked to the past in shaping their interactions, but how this was done varied widely. Sulla fashioned himself after the tyrant-slayers Harmodius and Aristogeiton, while Athenian ephebes evoked the sea-battles of the Persian Wars to fashion their valour. This interdisciplinary volume traces strategies of remembering in city building, funerary culture, festival and association, honorific practices, Greek literature, and political ideology. The variety of these strategies attests to the vitality of the region. In times of transition the past cannot be ignored: actors use what came before, in diverse and complex ways, in order to build the present.

Czech archaeological team discovered in the mortuary temple of Raneferef in Abusir in the 1980s fragments of about a dozen of the statues of the king, including his six complete likenesses. The monograph presents a detailed description and discussion of Raneferef’s statues in the broader context of the royal sculpture of the Fifth Dynasty.