Commerce and Economy in Ancient Egypt: Proceedings of the Third International Congress for Young Egyptologists 25-27 September 2009, Budapest 9781407306728, 9781407336725

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BAR S2131 2010

Commerce and Economy in Ancient Egypt

HUDECZ & PETRIK (Eds)

Proceedings of the Third International Congress for Young Egyptologists 25-27 September 2009, Budapest Edited by

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT

András Hudecz Máté Petrik

BAR International Series 2131 2010 B A R

Commerce and Economy in Ancient Egypt Proceedings of the Third International Congress for Young Egyptologists 25-27 September 2009, Budapest Edited by

András Hudecz Máté Petrik

BAR International Series 2131 2010

ISBN 9781407306728 paperback ISBN 9781407336725 e-format DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407306728 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

BAR

PUBLISHING

Contents Preface ............................................................................................................................................................................... iii Foreword: Earning a Living in a New Kingdom Village .................................................................................................... 1 Jac. J. Janssen The Olive Tree Cultivation and Trade in Ancient Egypt .................................................................................................... 5 Jose M. Alba Gómez The Economic Component of the Title jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr ‘Overseer of the God’s Servants’? ......................................... 13 Vessela Atanassova Use and Symbolism of Stone in Statuary: the Imitation of Painted Stones ...................................................................... 21 Dania Bordignon An Economic Perspective on Relationships between Near Eastern Kingodms during the Late Bronze Age................... 27 Alessandro Cappellini and Sara Caramello At the Intersection of Trading Routes. Commerce and Economy of Pre- and Early Dynastic Tell el-Farkha (Eastern Nile Delta) .......................................................................................................................................................... 35 Marcin Czarnowicz The Oracular Inscription of the High Priest of Amun Menkheperre in the Khonsu Temple at Karnak ........................... 41 Gabriella Dembitz Business with Gods: The Role of Bargaining in Demotic Letters to Gods and Graeco-Roman Judicial Prayers ........... 49 Kata Endreffy Under the Protection of the Gods: the Divine Role for the Good Outcome of Trade and Mining Expeditions................ 55 Barbara Gilli On Egyptian Wine Marketing ........................................................................................................................................... 63 Maria Rosa Guasch High-status Industries in the Capital and Royal Cities of the New Kingdom ................................................................... 71 Anna Kathrin Hodgkinson The Early Egyptian Rulers in the Nile Delta: a View from the Necropolis at Tell el-Farkha .......................................... 81 Mariusz A. Jucha Two Egyptian Private-Law Documents of the Old Kingdom ........................................................................................... 89 Evgeniya Kokina Storage in the Ancient Egyptian Palaces .......................................................................................................................... 93 Giulia Pagliari Pottery as an Economic Indicator in Egypt’s Marginal Sites ........................................................................................... 99 Virpi Perunka The Grain Trade and the Importance of Egypt for the Economy of the Hellenistic-Roman World: Some Remarks ..... 107 Marco Rolandi Inscribed Stone Vessels as Symbols of the Egypto-Achaemenid Economic Encounter................................................. 113 Ian Shaw Customs Duty in the New Kingdom ............................................................................................................................... 119 Birgit Schiller

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Food and Luxury Goods – Animal Remains as an Indicator for Trade Connections Based on the Example of Faunal Material from Ancient Syene/Aswan, Egypt ...................................................................................................... 125 Johanna Sigl Maritime Study on North- and Southbound Trade: the Red Sea Harbours..................................................................... 135 Alessandra Siragusa Gifts Exchange and Tribute in the Amarna Correspondence.......................................................................................... 143 Hanadah Tarawneh Commercial Routes in Upper Egypt from Naqada II to the Protodynastic: Defining Patterns of Interaction ................ 151 Elena Valtorta Lead Weights and Ingots from Heracleion-Thonis: an Illustration of Egyptian Trade Relations with the Aegean ........ 157 Elsbeth van der Wilt The Egyptian Economy: Sources, Models and History .................................................................................................. 165 David A. Warburton Trade and Money in Ramessid Egypt: the Use of General Equivalents in Economic Transactions ............................... 177 Andrea Zingarelli List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................................................... 185

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Preface The Third International Congress for Young Egyptologists (ICYE 2009) organised by the Byblos Foundation was held between September 25th and 27th 2009 and was hosted jointly by Eötvös Loránd University and the Museum of Fine Arts. The aim of the conference series initiated by Dr Alessia Amenta, Maria Michela Luiselli, and Maria Novella Sordi in 2003 was a “proposal to the necessity of an exchange between ‘young’ scholars of Egyptology belonging to academic and museum institutions from all over the world, in order to let them be for the first time protagonists of an international scientific meeting.” The First International Congress for Young Egyptologists was held at Chianciano Terme (Siena) in October 2003. The topic of the congress was the role of water in Egyptian culture (Water in Ancient Egypt), which connected to the “International Year of Freshwater” proclaimed by the United Nations to 2003. The line was picked up by the University of Lisbon, in particular by Prof. Luís Manuel de Araújo and Aline GallaschHall who organised the Second International Congress for Young Egyptologists at Lisbon in October 2006. The main topic of this second meeting was ancient Egyptian erotica and sexuality (“Erotica, Erotism and Sexuality in Ancient Egypt”). After having participated on the First Congress as undergraduates, and having been present at the Second Congress in Lisbon as graduate students, it was our great pleasure to receive the opportunity to organise the Third Congress in Budapest – this time as post graduates, or let’s say, grown up Egyptologists. The organisation of ICYE2009 was the first project of the Byblos Foundation. Byblos Foundation was created to help and support young scholars in the field of ancient studies, to organise international meetings and get the young scholars together from all around the world. In keeping with the tradition of previous conferences we invited some of the most important researchers of the topic of the recent congress to the Academic Committee, which was thus composed by Prof. Manfred Bietak from University of Vienna, Dr Edward Bleiberg from Brooklyn Museum, Prof. Ulrich Luft from Eötvös Loránd University, Dr Ian Shaw from University of Liverpool, Prof. László Török from Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Dr David Alan Warburton from University Lumière Lyon. A special guest of the meeting was Prof. Jac J. Janssen, doyen of Egyptology and a foremost scholar on Egyptian economy, whose visit (together with his lovely wife, Rosalind Janssen) was a great honour for all of us. During the three days of the meeting the audience enjoyed 28 presentations in 11 sessions by lecturers arrived from 20 countries of four continents. Apart from the speakers, four young scholars presented their research through poster presentations. The official part of the congress was complemented by various programs such as wine tasting, visiting the Egyptian Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, the photo exhibition “Egypt in changing lights” by Péter Antall and an excursion to Visegrád. Behind the success of the Congress lie a great amount of organisation and the work of many people. The conference organisation received the support of numerous persons and institutions, to whom we would like to express our deepest gratitude. Much of the organisation work was done by volunteers, without the help of whom no such success could have been obtained on the Congress. The essential financial and organisational support was provided by the National Cultural Fund, Eötvös Loránd University, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The great number of abstracts we received, the lively discussions, the many contacts that participants have made, and last but not least the proceedings here published, all show that this undertaking should continue. Indeed, the next, Fourth International Congress for Young Egyptologists (ICYE2012) will be organised by our Bulgarian colleagues at Sofia in 2012. Hopefully this volume, besides presenting the papers delivered at the conference for the wider scientific community, will also be a nice record for all the participants at ICYE2009 Budapest.   András Hudecz and Máté Petrik Byblos Foundation April 2009, Budapest

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Foreword Earning a Living in a New Kingdom Village Jac. J. Janssen officials, but from that of a simple workman. How did he acquire all he needed for himself and his family?

Back in September 2008, it was my great pleasure to receive an invitation from co-organizers András Hudecz and Máté Petrik to form part of the Academic and Advisory Committee of the Third International Congress of Young Egyptologists, to be held in Budapest from the 25th to 27th September 2009. At the same time, I was unexpectedly asked to deliver the opening key-note address. As Professor László Török commented in his deft closing remarks, this extremely professionally organized and very friendly Congress was in fact attended by four generations of Egyptologists. At the age of eighty-seven, I count myself the sole representative of the oldest generation. It is therefore fitting that I should dedicate this Foreword to my late friend Professor Vilmos Wessetzky, former Professor of Egyptology at Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, in whose home I had stayed when I last visited this beautiful city. For me he epitomizes a fifth, now vanished and much lamented, former generation of Egyptologists.

Generally we know about the simple people in ancient Egypt only through the texts written by and for the officials: administrative documents, letters, etc. And of course also through the representations on the tomb walls; again, these are the burial places of the upper classes. Moreover, although these scenes may show us aspects of work by the population, it is the solely the techniques they exhibit. They contain no figures, that is, no real economy. For that we possess an exceptional source: the texts from the village of the workmen who built and decorated during the New Kingdom the tombs of the Pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings, on the West Bank of Thebes, and the tombs of the members of the royal family in the Valley of the Queens. These necropolis workmen lived in a village somewhere between these two valleys, in the desert; a village called in our time Deir el-Medîna. That it was exceptional is clear: in the desert, and inhabited merely by tomb builders. It was a community of approximately 500 people, of which we know far more than of any other in ancient Egypt; even in the entire Antiquity. The reason is simple: these people were, far more than the rest of the population, literate. And, living in the desert, much of what they wrote has survived.

In 1975, long before the Young Egyptologists participating at this Conference had been born, I published my Commodity Prices from the Ramessid Period. Dubbed “The Price Bible” by my Dutch students and colleagues, I was delighted to hear it still being cited by several Conference speakers. It is to the microcosm of Deir el-Medîna in the New Kingdom that, three decades later, I, not surprisingly, now return in outlining the basis of the ancient Egyptian economic structure. My starting point for this Foreword is that the Egyptians of the Pharaonic Period were of course people like we, with the same need to earn a living for themselves and their families.

Their texts were not written on papyrus. Not because this was too expensive, as some books insist on telling us, for there is proof from this village that papyrus was rather cheap. But it was delivered, by the workshops that produced it, only to the centres of administration, not to the general public. That made sense, since the large majority of the population could not read; only 1 to 2 per cent was literate. But this meant that the workmen of Deir el-Medîna were unable to acquire much papyrus. Sometimes, if one of them happened to know a member of the administration, he would have been able to beg from him a small strip of papyrus, sufficient for a short letter. Such letters on papyrus are known. But most of what they wrote, including all kinds of provisional notes for the administration (perhaps later to be copied or summarized on papyrus) was written on so-called ostraca: potsherds and flakes of limestone.

However, the economy and society of those days differed fundamentally from ours. To mention only two aspects: there was no money, and no industry. But also: the mentality was different. How did the people manage? They were certainly far less interested in production than in our society, that is the gaining of goods (and that is for us: gaining money). The Egyptians were more inclined to conspicuous consumption than we are, that is, to showing off. The contrast is of course not absolute; it is a matter of degree. But added to their completely different circumstances: the desert climate, low-level technology – to mention only these – their way of life was completely different from ours.

Of these ostraca large quantities have been found during the excavations of the area: in and around the village, in the Valley of the Kings, and in the Valley of the Queens, as well as everywhere around these places. They contain literary and religious texts, but almost half of them are texts about matters of daily life: lists of deliveries to the

Here we will not look at the Egyptian economy in theory, as it were from above, but from the point of view of the ordinary citizen. Also not from the angle of the State – the Egyptians said: Pharaoh – or from that of the high

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT community, of workdays and free days of the men, contracts of sale and hire, oracles and reports on cases dealt with by the local lawcourt, etc. Altogether we possess now perhaps about 5000 of these non-literary ostraca. However, many of them are fragmentary or badly legible, and some are difficult to understand. Moreover, many are still unpublished. Yet, they contain a wealth of information on daily life in this community, and that is the reason that we know so much about earning a living there.

accustomed to translate it as “piece”. We do not know for certain what it means. In similar fashion, what does the British “Pound” mean? It is a weight, but a pound of what? Of silver? At any rate, the sniw was expensive at a weight of 453gs. Therefore it was mainly used for valuing expensive goods, or large quantities. To express the value of a loaf of bread in it would hardly be possible; even to express it in copper is not easy, for it was equal to a tiny bit of it. Moreover, it is logical to express the value of a loaf in grain, that is in khar, or a fraction of it.

The mass of the Egyptian population consisted of peasants. They produced most of what they needed themselves: their food, but also most of the objects they used, including the huts in which they lived, their furniture, their baskets, etc. Not the pottery, since that was produced by the potters, nor their few copper implements and tools, they were the produce of coppersmiths. An economy in which the people produced most of what they needed is called a subsistence economy. It was never completely without products of outside, but was to a large extent self-sufficient.

As is evident, the system was on the one hand complicated, on the other hand more concrete than ours: the measure in which the price of a good was expressed had in may cases a relationship to the commodity itself. One point should be stressed. There was no deben of copper. It was no coin, merely an abstract measure similar to our “ounce”. In some ways the system was more sophisticated than ours, but in other respects it was less abstract. It is now time to present translations of three ostraca in order to demonstrate exactly how this economy worked. My first choice is O. Colin Campbell 5, now renumbered as O. Glasgow D 1925.70 in its present location in the Hunterian Museum in that city. Colin Campbell (18481931) was a Scottish minister and chaplain to Queen Victoria. He was the author of semi-popular books on ancient Egypt, and a collector of antiquities.

The inhabitants of Deir el-Medîna, however, were no peasants but craftsmen, although some possessed a cow, and many owned donkeys. They were by profession tomb-builders. That at least meant that they were trained to use their hands, and not only in the tombs. From the ostraca we know that some of them acted in their free time as carpenters and painters, making wooden coffins for each other, but also for people outside the community. They also produced wooden furniture. These objects they exchanged for other goods, which meant a small extra income. Most of what they needed they received as “wages” from the government.

List of all things which Nekhemmut gave to Hori, son of Huynofre: smooth yarn,10 deben, [almost 1kg] worth ½ khar [38 litres] one fine mat, worth ¼ khar one leather sack, worth ¼ khar 15 donkey-loads of water worth ¾ khar etc.

That is, they were paid in kind, since – as stated above – in ancient Egypt there was no money. Strictly speaking that is not quite correct. There was no currency, but the Egyptians were able to express the value of an object. They were even able to do this in three different ways. They could compare it with the value of a quantity of grain (“worth so much grain”), or with copper, or with silver. The quantity of grain was called khar (’sack‘), 1 khar being a quantity of almost 77 litres. So one could say that, for instance, a mat cost ¼ khar. The second way of expressing the value was in deben copper, 1 deben being a weight of 91 grammes. The use of one measure of value or the other is mostly connected with the object that was valued. Baskets, for instance, were always priced in grain, that is, in khar, for one could put grain in them. And therefore mats, plaited like baskets, were also valued in khar. This seems odd to us, but the Egyptian mind was obviously in these matters more concrete than ours. Garments, items of furniture, coffins, but also materials such as, for example, fat, were almost always valued in deben of copper. And that was self-evidently throughout the case for copper tools.

My second choice is O. Petrie 3 = UC. 39622 (as published in Černý and Gardiner’s Hieratic Ostraca of 1957 as XVI/3). Collected by the great Sir Flinders Petrie (1853-1942), it is housed in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at University College London, just a few minutes from where I live: Year 4 [of Ramesses IV], 3rd summer month, day 1. This day, the policeman Amenmose bought an ox from the workman Penamun. Given in exchange for it: 1 big jar of fat, worth 30 deben [2.7kgs] 2 dresses, worth 10 deben 5 deben of copper, 10 litres of oil, worth 5 deben

Then there was, at least during the 19th Dynasty, a silver measure called a sniw. Originally the word may have meant “ring”, but that is not certain. Egyptologists are 2

JAC. J. JANSSEN: EARNING A LIVING IN A NEW KINGDOM VILLAGE All these goods, the grain and others, were produced somewhere in the country by Pharaoh’s subjects, or in a few instances imported by the State. They were then gathered as taxes (since there was no money, tax was paid in kind), and handed over to particular groups of the population: soldiers, officials, and also the necropolis workmen. The system occurs also in our times: the government collects taxes and uses it to pay its civil servants. But in our world that is money, in Egypt it was the products themselves. This system we term: redistribution.

Total, ‘silver’ which he gave for it: 50 deben of copper. My third and final example is O. DeM 49, published by the French Institute: Given to the draughtsman Maanakhtuf recompense for the kilt which he dyed: 6 bundles of vegetables, 2 kbs-baskets, 1 coffin, in wood

as

worth 1 sniw worth ½ sniw worth 1 sniw

Yet, a workman received as wages and gifts together not everything he needed or wanted while on the other hand he may easily have received of particular goods more than he required. Some objects that he needed he made himself, e.g. from the wood the woodcutters delivered to him; others he acquired by exchanging his surplus for what he missed. However, in such a transaction a ”buyer” did not always have the goods that the ”seller” wanted in exchange. If one, for instance, sold a cow (rather expensive), only a range of products could make up for its value, and each of them needed to be acceptable to the seller. That was not always possible, as indicated by O. Petrie 3 quoted above. In such a case the seller had to give the buyer credit. It should be noted that ‘seller’ and ‘buyer’ are actually not correct words; each party in the transaction sold and bought objects. In the second translation above, the policeman bought an ox, so he seems to us to be a buyer, but the workman ”bought” a pot of fat, dresses, copper and oil; he was thus also a buyer.

Given to him in exchange for painting the coffin: the weaving of 1 kilt, worth 3 sniw 1 sack, worth ½ khar 1 mat + 1 sleeping mat, worth ½ sniw 1 copper dish, worth ½ sniw vs. What is with the draughtsman Rahotep for the masonry which he made: 4 sniw. He said: I will paint for you one coffin for it. The workmen were full-time in the service of the State (of Pharaoh), although they were allowed the opportunity to engage in a bit of ”moonlighting” in their free time: working for each other and even for outsiders, producing coffins, painting for them, etc. (as O. DeM 49, translated above, informs us. For that work they were paid. But it was the State that had to keep them alive. Every month each workman received from the authorities a fixed quantity of grain: 4 khar (over 300 litres) of emmerwheat and 1½ khar (105 litres) of barley (the barley mainly for beer, the emmer for bread). That was more than enough for himself and his family, even if he had several children. This was his basic income.

In the reality of the workmen’s community the credit system was widely spread. A special instance is the following. From time to time a family gave a feast. However, it could not afford to provide a large number of guests with food and drink from its own supplies. Therefore, each of the guests brought a gift; not, as usually in our society, luxurious goods, but food and drink for the party. The consequence was that the man who gave the feast in his turn had to bring a present to the guest when he gave a feast. This is called gift-giving, and the basic aspect of it is reciprocity. We know this too, but for us it is not essential for our subsistence; it is a luxury. In Deir el-Medîna it meant a substantial contribution to the life of the inhabitants, as an essential addition to the redistribution of the State and the production for one’s own needs. Moreover, it encompassed all members of the community. Everyone had obligations to many others. We call that: an open credit system. The debts were never fully paid off.

Over and above it, the community received regularly, almost every day, a small amount of loaves and cakes from the Theban temples, which probably came from the offerings. These were placed for some time on the altar, that the god could enjoy the essence, but then they were distributed among the population. Then, there were connected with the community of Deir el-Medîna potters, fishermen (fishing in the Nile), and growers of vegetables. They delivered regularly their products, as the ostraca tell us. And daily water-carriers and woodcutters and brought their products, not available in a desert village. Finally, at irregular intervals, the authorities sent what are called “presents”, for instance at religious feasts or important days in the life of Pharaoh. They were noted as gifts, due to the benevolence of the Ruler, but actually the workmen had a right on them, although their quantity, the composition of a ”gift”, was not fixed. Such presents consisted of all kinds of goods, for instance: oil, salt, natron (used as soap for the laundry), beans, import beer, meat, garments, etc.

Was there also a market? Buying and selling went from house to house, not at a fixed spot, but there was indeed a market at the riverbank, an hour or so walking away. It played a role in the economy of the Village, albeit a minor one, and accordingly it is seldom mentioned in the texts. Whereas we buy almost all we need on the market (that is, in the shops or increasingly on the internet), for the workmen this was additional and of minor importance. They lived from the redistribution, from what 3

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT the State delivered to them; from what they produced themselves in their free time; and from gift-giving among each other. That is the picture the ostraca present to us about the way these people were earning their living. It now gives me great pleasure to introduce the reader to the following contributions: they represent the exciting products of an upcoming generation of young Egyptologists and, as such, throw new light on the economy of ancient Egypt. London December, 2009

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The Olive Tree Cultivation and Trade in Ancient Egypt Jose M. Alba Gómez* Introduction* The olive and its “fruit” have been part of Mediterranean culture, from the East, where it is supposed to have originated, to the West. The entire Mediterranean basin has one thing in common: the olive tree. The olive tree is one of the oldest and most important fruit trees in history. The early cultivation of olive trees and the use of olive oil have been attributed to the population that lived in the South of the Caucasus and West of the Iranian flatland around 6000 BC.1 Olive trees were not native to Egypt. Olives were probably first brought into cultivation in the Levant2 and were one of the first principal fruit crops cultivated in the Old World.3 Wild olives grew in nearby Syria, Palestine from the Calcolithic period and in Greece, Turkey, Algeria, Crete, Tunisia and Aegean Islands.

Figure 1. Imaginary depiction of Egyptians farmers picking olives (drawing: Begoña Perez Fumero). is to complement and provide new ideas on existing information and answer some basic questions as: Where and when did the olive tree make its first appearance in Egypt?; How did olive tree appear in ancient Egypt?; What kinds of crop types were selected for best quality olives and olive oil?; What were the geoclimatic aspects of the land used for cultivation of the olive trees?; How was it traded?; How were olive trees cultivated and kept?; What were the products obtained from olives trees? And, what was its importance of this product in the society, economy and religion of ancient Egypt?

The cultivation of olive trees and producing olive oil in ancient Egypt is a subject little studied because we encountered many problems. As Meeks already mentioned, doubts weigh on the geographical distribution, production methods, processing and storage.4 But thanks to archaeo-botanical, records, literature, reliefs and inscriptions, we know a little about their culture, their commerce and the development of their derivatives in the Egyptian area. Olives were probably, in some moments of ancient Egyptian history, important culturally and economically, as in the Amarna Period. But the cultivation of olive trees was influenced by the political circumstances and the religious practices that were crucial for the production and distribution of olive oil.

It is necessary to stress the importance of the preservation of the historical, artistic, anthropological and ethnological legacy of the olive of ancient Egypt. Some problems for study the oleiculture in ancient Egypt

The objectives and purposes

The stones of the wild forms can be of similar size to the cultivars; it can be impossible to distinguish between the two (see Figure 2), particularly in early archaeological remains.5 Hence, there is not a reliable methodology for distinguishing between a cultivated olive tree (Olea Europaea L.) and a wild olive tree (Olea Europaea var. Silvestris). In the last few years, many studies try to establish some scientific characteristics to differentiate between wild olives and cultivated olives.6 A study of its biogeography and variation in shape and size using a classifying pictorial key is necessary. This would also assist the study of seeds and fruits and the study of current climate.

It is important to highlight the role of the olive in ancient Egyptian culture, and it is essential to study the most significant aspects of the olive and the development of olive agriculture in ancient Egypt, to know the olive through its history, literature, art, technology, economy, culture and tradition. It is vital to look for its origin, development and its modification by human activities and try to know the different uses of its fruits and the different purposes of consumption, with special attention to one of its derivatives: the oil. The main objective of this research *

Universidad de Jaén. I would like to thank Professor D. Jimenez Serrano and Moiread. 1 Acerbo 1937 199; Viola 1989 85. 2 Zohary and Hopf 2000 151. 3 Zohary and Hopf 2000 248. 4 Meeks 1993 3.

5 6

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Liphschitz et al. 1991 444; Zohary and Hopf 1994 138, 141. Liphschitz and Bonani 2000; Terral 2000 and Terral et al. 2004.

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT major role in Egypt until late. On the contrary, the export of olive oil from Palestine to Egypt is well documented in the Bronze Age8 because olives grow only in a typical Mediterranean climate.9 In the Middle and Late Bronze Age, olive cultivation and olive oil production seem already to have been well established throughout the countries bordering the east shore of the Mediterranean Sea.10 There is not an exact date for olive cultivation in ancient Egypt. The date of the beginning of oleiculture in Egypt is subject of debate,11 and archaeological records have not helped to reach an agreement so far (see Table 1). Most Egyptologists suggested it was intensive farming between the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom,12 or during the 19th Dynasty.13 They also proposed between the 17th and the 20th dynasties,14 during the Ramessid Period.15 But archaeological records about olive remains are older (12th Dynasty at Kom el Rabi’a16 and the Second Intermediate Period at Tell el Dab’a17). The suggested New Kingdom date for the cultivation of olives continues to be based on linguistic evidence which is still open to debate as we can see.18 Most Egyptologists suggested the trade influence of the Levant, Syria-Palestine, where the use and cultivation of domesticated olive is attested during the Early Bronze Age; wild form of olive oil was probably consumed already in prehistoric times.19 The first definitive evidence that Egyptians were growing olive trees dates from Graeco-Roman period.20 The latest research discovered new evidence suggesting that olives were present in Egypt as early 2551-2523 BC.21

Figure 2. Stones of the wild (right) and cultivated (left) olives.

Earlier excavations looked for art and were not interested in other vestiges. Meeks also mentioned doubts based on the geographical distribution, production methods, processing and storage, but there are more.7 One problem is the current use of the olive and its previous use. Few references in texts and reliefs do not demonstrate the presence of absence of this product and vice versa. Another problem is the pottery. Pottery was usually recycled and imported. It is also difficult to analyze its contents. So to know the real role of olives and oil storage, and the pottery used is complicated. One more important doubt is about the terminology used by Egyptians. We have some terms to refer olive trees and olive oil such as bAq, Ddt, Dt, nHH. There is not much mentioned in ancient Egyptian documents, and also it is controversy between scholars how to translate them. Another difficulty is raised by the archaeological sites. We do not have Egyptian oil press in archaeological records, and the ancient Egyptian depictures are insufficient for detailed study. We have only a few references, and the depictions do not proof the presence or absence of press. As a result, all those problems make this study difficult.

There is also a problem with the terminology to denominate olive trees as we mentioned before. It is difficult to find Egyptian documents referring to olive trees, olive fruits and olive oil.22 It was a controversy between the Egyptologists. Some Egyptologist translated the product bAq as ‘moringa oil’.23 It was found in texts from Middle Kingdom time. Other authors have accepted a double identification.24 But almost all Egyptologists are not in agreement25 and use the borrowed Semitic for olive

The initial part of my research is detailed here. I am reviewing all the bibliographic information on the topic. I am creating an index of olive remains in ancient Egypt, including all artistic and linguistic data. It is based on the book: Codex of Ancient Egyptian Plant Remains/Codex des restes vegetaux de l’Egypte Ancienne, by Christian de Vartavan and Victoria Asensi Amorós. I am compiling information and pictures from the museums that keep olive records in their display cases and archives. I am also reviewing all archaeo-botanical works in the excavations made in Egypt with reference to olive records.

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Zohary and Hopf 2000 151. Zohary and Hopf 2000 145. Zohary and Hopf 2000 150. 11 Meeks 1993 5-8; Serpico and White 2000 398-400. 12 Brun 2004 69. 13 Kees 1978; Manniche 1989. 14 Bietak 1991 27-72. 15 Baum 1988 129-30; Grandet 1999; Keimer 1924 29-30; Meeks 1993 5-8; Peters 2005 50-1; Tallet 2002. 16 Murray 2000. 17 Thanheiser 2004. 18 Meeks 1993 5-8. 19 Ahituv 1996 41-4. 20 http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/projects/digital/apis/search/ Accessed on 20 October 2009. In this web site we can find more than 76 papyri that made references to olive grown. And also we have classics texts from Theophrast, Pliny, XIII, 19 and Strabo, XVII, I, 35. 21 Gerish et al. 2008. 22 Ahituv 1996 42. 23 Baum 1988 129-30; Keimer 1924 27; Koura 1999 82; Loret 1886 101-6; Stager 1985 174-5. 24 Ahituv 1996 41-4; Faulkner 1962 78; Germer 1985 58; Hepper 1992 150; Manniche 1989 122; Zohary and Hopf 1994 142. 25 Dubois 1925 63; Loret 1886 101. 9

10

When did the olive appear in Egypt? Environmental conditions in Egypt are not conducive to olive production. As a result, the date for the beginning of oleiculture in Egypt is unclear. The olive did not play a 7

Meeks 1993 3.

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JOSE M. ALBA GÓMEZ: THE OLIVE TREE CULTIVATION AND TRADE IN ANCIENT EGYPT Gerish et al. (2008)

2551–2523 BC

Present, if not grown, in Egypt as early as the time of Menkaure

Brun (2003)

Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom 2000 BC

Intensive farming

Patac et al. (1954) Train (2004)

Newberry (1937) cited in Lucas 1962 Acerbo (1937), Bosi (1994) Bietak (1991)

Meeks (1993), Baum (1988), Tallet (2002), Peters (2005), Keimer (1924)

2000 BC

reign of Merenptah.30 In the Ramessid Period we have the terms D.t and dt which refer to ‘olive tree’. And the term tA n Ddt, ‘The big olive land’31, or kAmw n Ddt which refers to an ‘olive cultivated land’. To refer to “olive oil” in the Ramessid Period we have the term nHH, an Aegean loanword.32 From the 17th Dynasty, it is easy to refer to olive oil, but its translation could also refer to food, ointment, or fuel for lamps.

Arrived from Crete

But it is difficult to understand how olive oil, a basic product traded for a millennium, is hardly mentioned in ancient Egyptians documents. Hence, it is best to think about the word bAq, since it was a general word to refer to oil and moringa oil.

Oriental influence of Phoenicia.

8th Dynasty

Between the 11th and 13th dynasties Between the 17th and 20th dynasties New Kingdom

Camps-Fabrer (1953)

1300 BC.

Kees (1978), Manniche (1989)

21th Dynasty

Where was the appearance of the olive in Egypt? As we can see on the maps,33 olives were present in Egypt (see Figure 3). It is difficult to identify their origin, and they probably arrived from the Syro-Palestinian areas. The Nile Delta was the original area of olive farming, because this area was influenced by trade with the Mediterranean, and close areas such as Syria and Palestine.34 The better lands to cultivate olive trees are different; they depend on the sand and the weather. The areas with more traces are the Delta and the oases, and Theban area, probably because of trade influence and better weather conditions. So if there was olive tree farming in these areas, the farmer would take a long time to acclimatize the olive.

Influenced by Syria and Palestine Fariming during the Ramessid Period

Arrived from Palestine, alternatively with Syria and Asia Minor

Was there a developed olive intensive farming and olive oil trade? Trade, from the earliest time, was carried out with Asia: Syria-Palestine, Mesopotamia, Arabia and Anatolia, and with the Northern and Eastern Mediterranean: Cyprus, Crete, the Sea Peoples and the Greeks.35 It was a commercial and diplomatic link with the emerging state of Egypt. Egypt was self-sufficient, but they needed to import certain products.36 The principal motivation appears to have been to obtain rare or exotic materials and products that could serve to bolster the power base of individuals or groups concerned.37 Olive trees and olive oil were probably these certain products. It was a commodity product; the olive oil was destined for an élite whose social position was becoming increasingly distinct from the rest of population. It was a luxury product, probably a cultural influence, creating a distinctly cosmopolitan and multicultural society.38

Table 1. Authors and dates proposed for the beginning of oleiculture in Egypt. zayit, in Egyptian, djoeit, to refer to “olive trees” and “olives”. The Akkadian word for olive is serdu26, whereas olive oil is šaman serdi27. The ideographic spelling is first attested in Old Babylonian lexical lists, so Sumerian SÉ.ER.DUM is at best a borrowing from Akkadian, if not an invention of the Akkadian scribes.28 The word bAq or bAq.t is sometimes accompanied with an adjective bAq wAD: ‘green oil’ or ‘virgin oil’. This is the “natural” color of olive oil;29 bAq nDm:’sweet oil’; and bAk dSr: ‘red oil’. The term djoeit is known from the 19th Dynasty, from the

30

Ahituv 1996 41-4. P. Harris I 27:10-11, P. Harris I 8:5. kAmw aA n Ddt. Krauss 1999. 33 After Brun 2003 150; Meeks 1993 7; and Serpico and White 2000 398-9. 34 P. Newberry cited in Lucas 1962 388. 35 Shaw 2000 308. 36 Shaw 2000 313. 37 Shaw 2000 323. 38 Shaw 2000 323. 31

26

32

It can be written syllabically or with the ideograms SÉ.ER.DUM, SÉ.ER.DU, SÉ.ER.DU.UM. 27 It can also be written syllabically or with the ideograms for oil Ì or Ì.GIŠ, followed by the ideograms for “serdu”. For example: Ì SÉ.ER.DUM, or Ì.GIŠ SÉ.ER.DU, and so on. 28 Thank you to Olivier Lauffenburger for explaining me these references personally. 29 Ahituv 1996 41-4.

7

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT

Figure 3. Archaeological records of olives found in Egypt. In the Naqada Period, the commercial links with Early Bronze Age Palestine, with the northern cultures is attested for in the account of the presence of distinctive footed ceramics which contained imported products as oils, wines and resins.39 It was an intercultural and commercial contact. It established a commercial network between Egypt and Palestine as early EBA IA. The Egyptians established camps and way stations in northern

Sinai and organized settlements in Southern Palestine. There is also evidence of contacts between Delta and South-West Asia in the fourth millennium BC.40 In the Early Bronze Age I, increasing Egyptian demand for horticultural products, especially grapes/wine and perhaps olive oils, spurred trade in these goods with the Levant.41 40

39

41

Midant-Reynes 2000 54.

8

Bard 2000 62. Hartung 1994.

JOSE M. ALBA GÓMEZ: THE OLIVE TREE CULTIVATION AND TRADE IN ANCIENT EGYPT In Dynasty 0 and early 1st Dynasty, there is evidence of Egyptian presence in northern Sinai and Southern Palestine. We found fortified cities in north and south Palestine dated to the EBA II period.42 Imported potteries from these areas suggest state-organized trade directed by Egyptian officials residing at this settlement for most of the 1st Dynasty. During the 2nd Dynasty, the sea trade with Lebanon was intensified, trading in oil.43

and Memphis were evidently the favored areas for cultivation, and other areas as Thebes51. During the Ptolemaic Period olive production was encouraged by the Greeks, and they made an intensive olive farming and agricultural center in the Arsinoe52, as well as in the lake of Mareotis, where we found olive grove plantations.53 In Roman times the use of olive oil was very common, but apparently less so in the Ptolemaic Period.54

From the 1st Dynasty, olives and olive oil came from Syria, Palestine and Libya because they had olive oil factory sites from fourth millennium BC. In the tomb of the last king of the 1stt Dynasty, Qa’a, was found along with thirty inscribed labels describing the delivery of oil. These oils were imported from Syria-Palestine. There is also the presence of huge quantities of oil in Semerkhet’s tomb. This can only suggest very-large scale foreign trade and indicates the importance of such luxury goods for royal burials.44

It is possible that olives, and olive oil production and trade, were under the rule of the Temples and Pharaoh, because olive oil was a luxury product. It was limited almost exclusively to the high social positions, whose value was more expensive than local oils. The oil was delivered almost exclusively to the temples and the royal house.55 But the olives stones found at el-Amarna56 and Deir el-Medina,57 at workers’ houses, is significant to their use as consumption for food for the other sector of the population.

To summarize, during the Old Kingdom commerce or diplomacy is attested by the presence of Egyptian objects in Byblos, north of Beirut, Ebla (Syria). Military campaigns in foreign countries, e.g. Libya, were in search of resources to exploit.45

As we saw before, not all the olive oil came from abroad. There are some archaeological records that confirm that olives were grown in ancient Egypt. But they also obtained olives and olive oil from others ways, as the exchange of gifts;58 the military plunder and taxes from nearby areas.

In the Middle Kingdom, we have the first paleobotanical records of olive stones (from 12th Dynasty) discovered in Memphis, Kom el Rabi’a. This early date shows the possibility of olive trade, because it was a port for importing products.46 In Palestine, there is very little evidence of any permanent Egyptian presence during the Middle Kingdom. There was contact between the Levant and the Aegean during the 12th and 13th dynasties, but we do not know if it was a political or economic control.47

Uses and utilities The dietary products of the Egyptians were diverse, plentiful and included olives and olive oil. The olive was used as food and the extraction of oil would also have been of importance. If indeed the olive tree was introduced into Egypt late, we must assume that olive was one of Egypt’s earliest imports.59 Oil production may have originated from wild olives. It is also possible that the olive used for oil were different varieties from those which were eaten.60

In the New Kingdom, contact increased with foreign lands and customs, making Egypt a cosmopolitan society.48 Olive stones, leaves and olive wood become more common on archaeological sites in Egypt from that time.49 It is a very important contact between Egypt and the Aegean. Direct contact, diplomatic (exchanging gifts) or trade, with the Mycenae during the reign of Thutmose III is attested and also intensified with the reign of Akhenaten and proved with the archaeological Mycenaean pottery found in Amarna.50

The use of oils and their by-products were common in ancient Egypt for all society sectors and status. Nobles consumed high quality oils, and farmers and others of social status consumed affordable oils. Oils were present in a lot of aspects of daily life, industrial activities, funerary cults, etc.61

In the Graeco-Roman period, records on olive cultivation are intensified. There is a lot of evidence for large-scale olive oil production, such as Hibeh and Zenon papyrus. And we have more information from reading classical texts from Theophrastus, Pliny and Strabo. The Faiyum

51

Serpico and White 2000 398-400. Ancient Faiyum. 53 Bunson 2002 135. 54 Serpico and White 2000 398-400. 55 Haldane 1993. 56 Renfrew 1985 188. 57 Bell 1982 153. 58 It was not just an economic activity but also of social significance, as in the case of luxury goods. 59 Serpico and White 2000 398-400. 60 Zohary and Hopf 1994 137. 61 Galán and Diaz-Iglesias 2007 577-87. 52

42

Bard 2000 73. Bard 2000 74. 44 Bard 2000 69. 45 Malek 2000 96. 46 Meeks 1993 4. 47 Shaw 2000 318. 48 Taylor 2000 334. 49 Serpico and White 2000 398-400. 50 Kelder 2009. 43

9

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT

Figure 4. Example of an olive tree. The use of olive tree and olives is attested as food: olives were eaten. During the funerary and religious practices, olives were used as funerary trousseau, its branches and leaves to make bunches and funeral wreathes, garlands, collars and bouquets. It was as well used as offering to Gods in different rituals and ceremonies. The olive wood is used to do mummy labels and coffins.62 Olives could be used as offerings for food in the afterlife. The use of olive oil was employed in cookery and as preservative for meat, and maybe to prepare some drinks. During the funerary and religious practices: oils were used as offering to Gods in different rituals and ceremonies. The Pharaohs and functionaries used oils in investiture ceremonies, and probably used olive oil too. It was an important offering with and important political and diplomatic meaning. Olive oil was used as illumination, as combustible or fuel for lamps: and the olive wood scraps were used as firewood and charcoal. In Medicine is attested as therapeutic techniques and medicinal preparations.63 And it was as well used as cosmetics, unguents and personal toilet: oil was used as emollients for moisturizing the skin. It could be used with make-up or applied to hair.64 Oil could have been mixed with other components, such as a flower, resins, herbs, spices and aromatics woods. Oil could have been applied to the artisans’ works, to lubricate, tan, stick, waterproof or curing hides in industrials aspects or work process.

Conclusions As we can see, a big problem exists when it comes to understanding the real role of olive trees in ancient Egypt, and we need to work hard to look for more conclusive dates. Olive trees are highly successful in the Mediterranean culture. The olive tree serves as a good source of food because of its calories and protein proprieties. It is a good material for conservation, and it has the advantage of being readily maintained and stored. Thanks to the archaeological remains, the traces of art, papyrus information and the classic sources, we conclude that olive trees were grown in Egypt. Olives were first imported as fruit and oil into Egypt and later introduced as crops. It is possible a small amount of olives were grown to consume and to produce small quantity of olive oil; but we can appreciate that it was not a local and major product in Ancient Egypt, as we can see in the production, trade and distribution laws under the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246 BC). In that law, there is no mention of olives or olive oil production. The crops were probably insufficient or the quality of the olive fruit was not very good to eat or to press and produce high quality olive oil. Further research is needed to be more conclusive, but as we can see, olive was not an Egyptian fruit crop, cultivated on a large scale, until later. The likely easy trade of goods meant some advantages, and for this

62

Grosser et al. 1992. Germer 1985 6-7, 12, 14, 16. 64 Lucas 1962 84-5. 63

10

JOSE M. ALBA GÓMEZ: THE OLIVE TREE CULTIVATION AND TRADE IN ANCIENT EGYPT reason they did not need to cultivate olives, even though it was easier and cheaper to produce locally than to trade. It was also possible they cultivated some of them in private gardens, garden temples, royal gardens and palace gardens to supply the bare necessities.

References Acerbo, G. 1937. La Marcia storia dell’olivo nel bacino del Mediterraneo. Atti delle Società italiana per il progresso della Scienza. Rome. Ahituv, S. 1996. Observations on Olive Oil in Ancient Egypt. In D. Eitham and M. Heltzer (eds.), Olive Oil in Antiquity. Haifa. Arambarri, A. 1992. Oleicultura Antigua (el Olivo: Su Historia. El Aceite: Del Pisado A La Prensa De Viga). Madrid. Bard, K. 2000. The Emergence of the Egyptian State (c.3200–2686 BC). In I. Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, 61-88. Oxford. Baum, N. 1988. Arbres et arbustes de l’Egypte ancienne: la liste de la tombe thebaine d’Ineni (no 81). Leuven. Bell, M. R. 1982. Preliminary Report on the Mycenian Pottery from Deir el-Medina (1979-1980). ASAE 68, 143-63. Bietak, M. 1991. Egypt and Canaan during the Middle Bronze Age. BASOR 281, 27-72. Bosi, R. 1994. L’olivo, storia, tradizione, e usi della millenaria cultura dell’olio di olivo. Fiesole, Nardini. Brun, J.-P. 2003. Le vin et l’huile dans la Méditerranée antique. Viticulture, oléiculture et procédés de fabrication. Paris. Brun, J.-P. 2004. Archéologie du vin et de l’huile: De la préhistoire à l’époque hellénistique. Paris. Bunson, M. 2002. Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. New York. Camps-Fabrer, H. 1953. L’olivier et l’huile dans L’Afrique romaine. Alger. Dubois, C. 1925, L’Olivier et l’huile d’olive dans l’ancienne Egypte (I). Revue de Philologie, Litterature et d’Histoire Anciennes 49, 60-83. Faulkner, R. O. 1962. Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian. Oxford. Galán, J. and Díaz-Iglesias, L. 2007. El aceite en el Antiguo Egipto. In J. M. Blázquez Martinez and J. Remesal Rodríguez (eds.), Estudios Sobre el Monte Testaccio (Roma) IV, 553-558. Barcelona. Gerish, R. et al. 2008, Egypt’s Oldest Olive. Aeragram Ancient Egyptian Research Associates 9.2, 3. Germer, R. 1985. Flora des Pharaonishen Ägypten. Mainz. Grandet, P. 1999. Le papyrus Harris I, Vol. 3. BdE 129. Cairo. Grosser, D. et al. 1992. Holz - ein wichtiger Werkstoff im Alten Ägypten. In S. Schoske et al. (eds.), “Anch” Blumen für das Leben. Schriften aus der ägyptischen Sammlung 6. 251-61. Munich. Haldane, C. 1993. Direct evidence for organic cargoes in the Late Bronze Age. World Archaeology 24, 348-60. Hartung, U. 1994. Bemerkungen zur Chronologie der Beziehungen Ägyptens zu Südkanaan in spätprädynastischer Zeit. MDAIK 50, 107-13. Hepper, F. N. 1992. Pharaoh’s Flowers: The Botanical Treasures of Tutankhamun. London. Kees, H. 1978. Ancient Egypt. Chicago. Keimer, L. 1924. Die Gartenpflanzen im alten Ägypten. Hamburg.

Some authors suggest that ancient Egyptian climate conditions were not favorable to cultivate olives, but it seems that climate has not suffered any appreciable change in rain-fall, river-flow, or sand-blow since historic times;65 but it is now possible to cultivate olives, and so olive farming was probably possible long before we thought. It is very easy to cultivate olive trees; we only need stems or cuttings which we then graft. Summer is difficult for olives, but they only need little water, and in winter, olives recover again. Some areas are useless to certain stages in the life cycle of the plant. To make bouquets, garlands, collars and wreaths Egyptians needed fresh leaves. If not, they could be easily broken, so fresh olive leaves were necessary. The use of word bAq, the refined moringa oil, has a yellowish color and sweet taste.66 But refined olive oil has different colors: straw yellow, golden yellow, yellowgreen, green and deep green (the natural color of oil). It has a sweet and fruity taste. So with the translation of bAq as olive oil with these features, we can conclude that it could also be translated as olive oil too. Studying the beginning of olives grown in ancient Egypt and its trade was not an easy task, because there are many problems in the study of decaying organisms. It is also difficult to recognize them botanically and differentiate between cultivated olive and wild olive trees. Leaves, bones, and olives roots are difficult to keep and to come by. Another problem exits; we cannot know if the remains of the olive stones, branches or leaves found, were collected intentionally from Egyptian crops, or on the contrary, were imported from neighboring regions. Because of this big controversy, we must consider an introduction date, but we need more sources and to develop this research more; we agree, as do almost all Egyptologists, to propose its definitive introduction (but not its first introduction) in Egypt between the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom so far. It is likely that we have lost some records from earlier excavations, since old archaeological techniques are not the same as now and many archaeologists wanted to find treasures. It is necessary to continue with this investigation and research of the archaeological and archaeobotanical records in Egypt. It is indispensable to research studies of seeds and carbon from wood to obtain new dates and conclusions that confirm and state its early introduction and its point of origin and the first place where olive trees were cultivated. 65 66

Petrie 1883 151. Lucas 1962 331.

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Kelder, J. 2009. Royal Gift Exchange between Mycenae and Egypt: Olives as “Greeting Gifts” in the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean. AJA 113, 339-52. Koura, B. 1999. Die “7-Heiligen Öle” und andere Ölund Fettnamen. Eine lexikographische Untersuchung zu den Bezeichnungen von Ölen, Fetten und Salben bei den Alten ... (von 3000 v. Chr. - ca. 305 v. Chr.). Aegyptiaca Monasteriensia 2. Aachen. Krauss, R. 1999. Neh(eh)-Öl = Olivenöl. MDAIK 55, 293-8. Liphschitz, N. and Bonani, G. 2000.Dimensions of olive (Olea europaea) stones as a reliable parameter to distinguish between wild and cultivated varieties: Further evidence. Tel Aviv. Liphschitz, N. et al. 1991. The beginning of olive (Olea Europaea) cultivation in the Old World: a reassessment. Journal of Archaeological Science 18, 441-53. Loret, V. 1886. Recherches sur plusieurs plantes connues des anciens Égyptiens, dans Recueil de travaux relatifs à la philologie et à l’archéologie égyptiennes et assyriennes 7. Paris. Lucas, A. 1962. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries. London. Malek, J. 2000. The Old Kingdom (c.2686–2160). In I. Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, 89117. Oxford. Manniche, L. 1989. An ancient Egyptian herbal. Texas. Meeks, D. 1993. Oléiculture et viticulture dans l’Égypte pharaonique. In M.-C. Amouretti and J.-P. Brun (eds.), Oïl and Wine Production in the Mediterranean Area. Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, Supplément 26. 3-38. Athens. Midant-Reynes, B. 2000. The Naqada Period (c.4000– 3200). In I. Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, 44-60. Oxford. Murray, M. A. 2000. Fruits, vegetables, pulses and condiments. In P. Nicholson and I. Shaw (eds.), Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, 609-55. Cambridge. Patac, L. et al. 1954. Tratado de Olivacultura. Madrid. Peters, M. 2005. Pain, bière et toutes bonnes choses...: L’alimentation dans l’Egypte ancienne. Paris. Petrie, W. M. F. 1883. The pyramids and temples of Gizeh. Reprinted by Z. Hawass, The pyramids and temples of Gizeh. 1990. London. Renfrew, J. M. 1985. Preliminary report on the botanical remains. In B. J. Kemp (ed.), Amarna reports II, EESOP 2. 1975-90. London. Shaw, I. 2000. Egypt and the Outside World. In I. Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, 308-23. Oxford. Serpico, M. and White, R. Oil, fat and wax. In P. Nicholson and I. Shaw (eds.), Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, 390-429. Cambridge. Stager, L. E. 1985. The First Fruits of Civilization. In J. N. Tubb (ed.), Palestine in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Papers in Honor of Olga Tufnell, 172-88. London Tallet, P. 2002. La Cuisine des pharaons. Paris. Taylor, J. 2000. The Third Intermediate Period (1069– 664). In I. Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, 330-68. Oxford.

Terral, J.-F. 2000. Explotation and Management of the olive tree during Prehistoric times in Mediterranean France and Spain. JAS 27, 127-33. Terral, J.-F. et al. 2004. Historical biogeography of olive domestication (Olea europaea L.) as revealed by geometrical morphometry applied to biological and archaeological material. Journal of Biogeography 31, 63-77. Thanheiser, U. 2004. Die Pflanzenreste. In I. Hein and P. Jánosi (eds.), Tell el-Dab’a XI. Areal A/V. Siedlungsrelikte der späten 2. Zwischenzeit. 377-83. Vienna. Train, J. 2004. The Olive, Tree of Civilization. Easthampton Vartavan, C. de and Amorós, V. A. 1997. Codex of Ancient Egyptian Plant Remains / Codex des restes végétaux de l’Égypte ancienne. TEMOS 1. London. Viola, P. 1989. L’olio di olive nella storia, nella gastronomia, nella medicina. Olivicoltura, Elaiotecnia, Olio di Oliva. Rome. Zohary, D. and Hopf, M. 19942, 20003. Domestication of plants in the Old World. The origin and spread of cultivated plants in West Asia, Europe and the Nile Valley. Oxford.

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The Economic Component of the Title jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr ‘Overseer of the God’s Servants’? Vessela Atanassova nomes).7 There are only two documents dating to the Middle Kingdom mentioning persons who lived in Lower Egypt (Kom el-Hisn and Tell Basta).8 This scarcity is more probably due to the bad preservation of objects in this part of Egypt than to any particular reason because the existing documents do not reveal any specific differences with the documents from Upper Egytian nomes.

The organization of the Egyptian provinces during the Middle Kingdom was a complex system of relations between the local and central powers. A governor (also called a nomarch) was at the head of the local administration in the various Egyptian provinces while the king was at the head of the central power of the state. It is easy to imagine that there was an important degree of dependence between the local governor and the king. On the other hand, however, there was a kind of reciprocity governing the relations between the king, the nomarchs and their nomes.1

The situation is completely different for those working in the capital or its surroundings – in particular the important temples of Ptah in Memphis and of Re in Heliopolis which, as the documentation in the Middle Kingdom shows, were still functioning and were great temple complexes. In the present documentation, though, none of the persons related with one of those temples held the title jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr ’overseer of the god’s servants‘.9 This suggests that the organization of these temples was different from that in the Egyptian provinces. This could be due to the location of both temples (very close to the central power), as opposed to the provincial temples which were far from the capital and close to the nomarchs.

During the Middle Kingdom, a great part of the duties of the nomarchs lay in the proper functioning of the nome for which they were responsible; N. Favry has discussed some of these responsibilities in her study of the nomarchs during the rule of Sesostris I. According to her, the titles of the nomarchs related to important duties in the nome such as collecting taxes, controlling internal and external security, the execution of justice, building activities, etc.2 Several of the nomarchs also had highranking titles showing that they were on the same level as people with the same ranking titles at the royal court.3 So the nomarchs were the great administrators of their nomes and kept a close relation with the central power. In this situation, the local temples were important structures, as economic, political and social poles in each Egyptian nome.4 That is why it is not surprising that the nomarchs were strongly linked to the local temples and that the control always lay in their hands. So it is essential to understand how this kind of control was expressed in the Egyptian provinces and the extent of dependence from the central power. This demands understanding the degree to which the crown controlled the local temple and its revenues.

The title jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr is mostly translated as ’overseer of the prophets‘, because of the Greek translation of the title Hm-nTr as ’prophet‘ in the decrees of Canopus and Memphis,10 but literally it is ’god’s servant‘, and that is the translation which is preferred here. The exact functions of the title are still under discussion. At the beginning of the twentieth century, scholars understood the title as implying the role of the High Priest of the local temple or “…identique au ‘premier prophète’. Il était un simple ‘prophète’ comme les prêtres auxquels il commandait. Il était simplement choisi, peut-être à l’ancienneté, parmi eux pour diriger un certain nombre d’entre eux”.11 In recent decades, scholars have tended to see the role of the office behind the title as being more closely related to the administration of the temple12 or to the management of the temple staff.13

The title jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr is probably the one which expresses this relation between the local governor and the local temple(s) the most clearly. That is why it is essential to carry out a study of its occurrences during the Egyptian Middle Kingdom. The investigation was carried out on 63 persons living between the end of the 11th and the end of the 13th dynasties. All of them were nomarchs and with only three exceptions, all of them bore the title HAtya.5 This title is described as the title expressing the local governor’s function par excellence.6 For the most part, the persons came from Upper Egypt (14 of the U. E.

                                                         7 See Table 1, nos. 1-61.  8 See Table 1, nos. 62-3.  9 See Table 2.  10

                                                         1 Favry 2004 377.  2

For all the responsibilities of the nomarchs see Favry 2004 348-77.  Grajetzki 2006 152.  4 Moreno Garcia 2005 95.  5 Favry 2004 34-6. All of them were from the 16th U. E. nome which is an interesting case and some further research would be useful.   6 Favry 2004 116. 

Urk II 126, 8 and 173, 3. Also Gardiner 1947 52*.  Gauthier 1931 21.  12 See Baer 1960 46; Brovarski 1986 387; McFarlane 1992 200; Quirke 1990 179.  13 Selve 1993 73-81. 

3

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13

 

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Analysis of the titles related to the temple

The title jt-nTr mry, which is probably derived from the more developed title jt-nTr mry nTr ’god’s father, beloved of the God’, also enters into this category of ritual titles related to the daily cult.23 This title appeared for the first time during the 6th Dynasty, in the reign of Pepi I, and at that time it had two major aspects: on the one hand, it revealed a privileged relation with the royal court because of its use by one sA-nswt ’royal son’ and one vizier, and on the other hand the title had a religious aspect because it was held by some of the “high priests” from Heliopolis and Memphis.24 Later, during the Middle Kingdom, the title was more often used in the titles of the priests in the cult of Amun at Karnak where it was apparently nearly equivalent in function to the title Hm-nTr ’god’s servant‘.25 At that time, the title jt-nTr ’god’s father‘ was also borne by the nomarchs but on a smaller scale than the previous two.26

It is clear that the title was closely related to the local temple, but we will see that it did not seem to be related to any of the functions proposed till now. Firstly, the persons who held the title jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr tended to have a large number of other titles related to responsibilities in the temple. Those titles can be divided into two broad categories: on the one hand, ritual titles associated with the cult of the god and on the other, titles dealing with the functioning of the temple. The latter category can be divided into two smaller categories – titles related to the temple’s possessions and others referring to the temple’s personnel.14 Ritual titles In the first category, the most common titles held by the nomarchs were Hm-nTr ’god’s servant‘ and wab, ’wabpriest’. These are the titles mentioned in the daily cult ritual in the Papyrus Berlin 305515 and they certainly were related to the daily performance of the everyday rites for the divinity.16 Seven of the 63 Middle Kingdom nomarchs held the title Hm-nTr ’god’s servant‘ followed by the name of the divinity from the locality under their rule.17 Two nomarchs were attested with the title Hm-nTr wab Dbaw ’god’s servant whose fingers are clean‘.18 This title is close to the title sm wab Dbaw ’sm-priest whose fingers are clean‘ which was given to the participants in the cult of Osiris in Abydos. The addition of ’whose fingers are clean‘ after the title Hm-nTr of the two nomarchs shows the physical quality needed for the execution of the rituals rather than a particular kind of function.

To sum up, it turns out that many of the nomarchs bore titles related to the daily cult, which proves their participation in the service of the local divinity. Moreover the nomarchs also held ritual titles in relation to some specific ceremonies in the temple. Among these titles were the sequence of three titles: Hry-tp Xry-Hb ‘chief lector priest’, xrp SnD.t nb.t ‘controller of every kilt’ and sm-priest. It is called a sequence since the three titles were frequently written together not only in the titularies of the nomarchs, but in that of the “high priests” from Heliopolis and Memphis as well.27 Occasionally, one of the three titles appears alone in the titularies of the nomarchs but this is rare. On the whole, thirteen of the nomarchs bore all three or some of these titles, suggesting their participation in the specific ceremonies performed for the local god in the local temple.28 Titles related to the administrative functioning of the temple

Seven of the 63 nomarchs bore the title wab but most had the extension aA ’great‘19 – only one nomarch held the simple title wab.20 This extension shows a higher rate of importance in the functions of the wab-priests and the functions of the title wab aA ’great wab-priest‘ must be closer to those of the Hm-nTr ’god’s servant’.21 The equality of those two titles is also seen in the titulary of the nomarchs where they were hardly ever linked together: the exception being in the titulary of WADt from Crocodilopolis.22

On the other hand, during the Middle Kingdom, the nomarchs, according to their titles, were also involved in the organization of the local temple. They held titles related to the administration of the temple’s possessions and personnel. In the first category of titles linked to the administration of the temple’s possessions were all the titles whose functions can be assigned to the management of the different items in the temple used for the daily ritual as sacred objects, food offerings, etc. Among those titles was the title jmy-r(A) Hw.t-nTr ‘overseer of the temple’ which was frequently included in the titularies of the nomarch.29 According to W. Grajetzki, during the early Middle Kingdom, the titles HAty-a, jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr ‘overseer of the god’s servants’ and jmy-r(A) Hw.t-nTr ‘overseer of the temple’ were never written together.30

                                                        

14 It must be noted that most of the titles come from the extensive inscriptions of the nomarchs’ tombs. It is assumed that the other nomarchs – whose tombs were not found and who are documented only with smaller objects where there was not enough space for developing all their titles – also had some or all of these titles.   15 P. Berlin 3055 1/7, 4/2-3, 10/2-3, see Hinrichs 1901 Pl. 1.  16 Gee 2004 98.  17 Cf. Table 1, nos. 34, 41, 52, 54-5, and 62-3.  18 Cf. Table 1, nos. 48, 57.  19 Cf. Table 1, nos. 26-7, 39, 46, 50, and 57.  20 Cf. Table 1, no. 90.  21 In the Late Dynastic Period, the  wab aA  ’great wab-priests‘ were associated with the Hm-nTr  ’god’s servants‘ and were the executants of the daily cult ritual in the temple of Edfu, cf. Alliot 1949 46-51.  22 Cf. Table 1, no. 57. 

                                                         23 Cf. Schenkel 1965 30.  24 Cf. Blumenthal 1987 11 (no. 6), 25-6.   25 Cf. Lefebvre 1929 61. 

26 It was carried by Jmn-m-HA.t II from the 4th U. E. nome (Table 1, no. 23) and by _wA-nxt #sw-wr from 3th L. E. nome (Table 1, no. 62).  27 Cf. Table 2, nos. 1, 4-7.  28 Cf. Table 1, nos. 1, 16, 23, 27, 35, 38-9, 41-3, 52, and 54-5.  29 Cf. Table 1, nos. 34-6, 49, 51, 57, and 62.  30 Cf. Grajetzki 2006 151. 

14

VESSELA ATANASSOVA: THE ECONOMIC COMPONENT OF THE TITLE JMY-R(A) HMW-NTR ’OVERSEER OF THE GOD’S SERVANTS’ During the 12th Dynasty, those titles are found together in the titularies of the nomarchs, indicating that there must have been a difference between the functional meaning of these two titles. At that period, the title jmyr(A) Hw.t-nTr ’overseer of the temple’ is found, being held by a large number of persons who were not particularly nomarchs but for the most part people with important social status,31 while the title jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr ’overseer of the god’s servants‘ was attested only for nomarchs. Consequently, it is obvious that the functions of both titles must be separated and that the meaning of the function of the jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr ’overseer of the god’s servants‘ must be sought not in the administration of the internal functioning of the local temple, but rather at a higher level.

was jmy-r(A) km.t nfr.t nt +Hwty nb #nmw ’overseer of the goodly herds of Thoth, lord of Hermopolis‘.36 The inscriptions from the tombs at el-Bersheh confirm that the slaughtering of animals was an important part of the course of the rites in the divine cult in Hermopolis.37 So the management of those animals was essential for the local temple and its governors. In the other category of titles related to the administration of the temple’s personnel were such titles as xrp jAwt nb.t nTr.t ’controller of every divine office‘38 and mty-n-sA m Hw.t-nTr ’regulator of a phyle in the temple‘.39 Both titles express the control of the persons responsible for the execution of the daily ritual. The title mty-n-sA ’regulator of a phyle‘ was more commonly attested during the Middle Kingdom than the other.40 It was linked to the organization of the four phyles of priests who performed the daily ritual in the temple.41

In the category of administrative titles related to the temple’s possessions were also the titles sHD Hmw-nTr ’inspector of god’s servants‘, jmy-r(A) wpw.t Htpw-nTr ’overseer of the inventories of divine offerings‘, xrp Htpw-nTr ’controller of the divine offerings‘, Hry-tp DA.t n @w.t-@r, nb.t Jwnt ’chief of the wardrobe of Hathor, mistress of Dendera‘ jmy-r(A) km.t nfr.t nt +Hwty nb #nmw ’overseer of the goodly herds of Thoth, lord of Hermopolis’.

There were also some titles found to be specific only for regions, such as jmy-r(A) tp.wt Spss.wt nt $nmw nb #mnw ’overseer of the noble women of Khnum, lord of Hermopolis‘ as seen in the titulary of the nomarch of Hermopolis, Jpw.42 Those “noble women” were probably musicians and/or dancers who worshipped the god during some special ceremonies performed in the temple. Probably the titles jmy-r(A) nfwrt ’overseer of lovely ones‘ and jmy-r(A) xnr.t ’overseer of the harem‘ held by the nomarch _wA-nxt #sw-wr from 3th Lower Egyptian nome were also related to that kind of temple personnel.43 So the nomarchs of the Middle Kingdom held a great number of titles in relation with the functioning of the temple. These titles were for the cult to the god as well as for the administration of the temple’s possessions and personnel. This means that the nomarchs were actively participating in temple events and that they had an important degree of responsibility for it. But this also implies that the function of the title “overseer of god’s servants” was not related to any of those activities. So what was exactly the precise meaning of the title jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr if it was not linked to the internal functioning of the temple?

The title sHD Hmw-nTr ’inspector of god’s servants‘ is attested several times in the Middle Egyptian texts. Most of the attestations come from the titularies of the nomarchs.32 The case of @r-m-xaw=f is significant for the understanding of the meaning of the function of this title.33 He was sHD Hmw-nTr tpy n @r Nxn ’chief inspector of god’s servants of Horus from Hierakonpolis‘ and erected a stela on which he mentioned his trip to the capital whence he was obliged to bring the divine statues for the local cult in Hierakonpolis. This action shows some of the functions of the title sHD Hmw-nTr ’inspector of god’s servants‘ related to the responsibilities with the sacred objects in the temple. Here, further researches will probably be necessary. The other titles related to the administration of the temple’s possessions found in the titularies of the nomarchs related to the mentioned Htpw-nTr, ’divine offerings‘. The title Hry-tp DA.t n @w.t-@r, nb.t Jwnt ’chief of the wardrobe of Hathor, mistress of Dendera‘ was found in the titulary of the nomarch JAmw from Dendera.34 This title, in relation with the goddess Hathor, was attested in Dendera from the end of the Old Kingdom.35 The term DA.t ’wardrobe‘ probably refers to the place where the textiles used for the everyday ritual were kept, and the title Hry-tp DA.t n @w.t-@r, nb.t Jwnt ’chief of the wardrobe of Hathor, mistress of Dendera‘ shows the control of that place. Another title with more specific functions held by the nomarchs in Hermopolis

The writing of the title during the Middle Kingdom It is important to see how the title was presented in the Middle Kingdom documents, where the title could be written simply jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr, or with the addition of a god’s name. It was concluded that there is no specific rule for the presence of the god’s name after the title. The addition or omission of the god’s name after the title

                                                         36 Cf. Table 1, no. 51.  37 Anthes 1928 83.  38 Cf. Table 1, nos. 34, 41, and 55.  39 Cf. Table 1, no. 54, 62.  

                                                        

Cf. Ward 1982 nos. 250-4. Further study would be useful.   Cf. Table 1, nos. 23, 34, and 62.  33 Cf. Hayes 1947 3-11.  34 Cf. Table 1, no. 24.  35 Cf. Fischer 1968 137.  31

 For the title xrp jAwt nb.t nTr.t ’controller of every divine office‘, cf. Ward 1982 133.   41 Cf. Roth 1991 214-6.  42 Cf. Table 1, no. 51.  43 Cf. Table 1, no. 62.  40

32

15

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT %r.t ‘priestess of Pakhet, mistress of %r.t’.51 The term %r.t designates a locality called Istabl Antar in Arabic today, where during the New Kingdom Hatshepsut built a chapel dedicated to Pakhet.52 It is very probable that that place was also in use during the Middle Kingdom and that there was a cult of Pakhet. But – as in Elephantine – there was not a major temple structure with important income and perhaps that was the reason why this place was not distinguished by the title jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr ‘overseer of the god’s servants‘ held by the nomarchs of the 16th Upper Egyptian nome.

depended mostly on the available space more than anything else. More important for the comprehension of the title is the choice of the gods following it. In the first place, the title is never followed by more than one god’s name and that name was, in most cases, followed by the location where that god was venerated. For example %A-rnp.wt I who was nomarch at Elephantine was jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr n %T.t nb.t Abw ‘overseer of the god’s servants of Satis, mistress of Elephantine’,44 while +fAj-Hapj I from Assiut was jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr n WpwAw.t nb %Aw.t ‘overseer of the god’s servants of Upuaut, lord of Assiut’.45 However, it was also possible that a nomarch held more than one title as ‘overseer of god’s servants’, each title relating to the priests of a different god: thus %A-rnp.wt I of Elephantine was jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr n %T.t nb.t Abw ‘overseer of the god’s servants of Satis, mistress of Elephantine’ but also jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr n $nmw ‘overseer of the god’s servants of Khnum’. It was also possible that in the same nome two different nomarchs living in different periods held the title ‘overseer of god’s servants’ for two different gods: in Beni Hasan the nomarch NTr-nxt was jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr n @r ‘overseer of the god’s servants of Horus’,46 while Jmn-m-xA.t Jmny was jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr n $nmw ‘overseer of the god’s servants of Khnum’.47 But in each case, the title specifies the god or the gods in the district ruled by the nomarch, and a temple of the god in question always existed there, as proven by archaeological or textual evidence.

This was probably due to the fact that the charge of this structure was not so important to the “overseers of the god’s servants”. Even if they did have it, they did not mention it in their titularies. The important thing for them was the mention of the major temple structure whence came an important quantity of income for the nome. Conclusions In conclusion, it can be said that the title jmy-r(A) HmwnTr ‘overseer of the god’s servants’ was one of the most important titles of the nomarchs during the Middle Kingdom because it was always included in their titularies and in the majority of cases it was right after the rank titles HAty-a and jry-p.t. The title was essentially used in the Egyptian provinces and never in the capital or near it, where there was obviously another type of organization of the temple. It is clear that the title was closely related to the main local temple but not with its religious internal functioning (cult and administration of the temple’s possessions and personnel) and that this temple was not small, but an important structure with significant income for the nome and for the crown. So the understanding of the functional meaning of the title must be sought in the relation between the nomarch and the local temple income or on a larger scale between the nomarch and the crown to which the nomarch had some obligations (such as paying taxes).

Meanwhile the nomarchs did not mention all of the temples in the nome after their title of “overseer of god’s servants”. The venerated gods in Elephantine during the Middle Kingdom were Satis, Khnum and Anukis but only the first two gods were mentioned by the nomarchs. Anukis is never attested in the titularies of the nomarchs. A block from Elephantine records: ano.t Hmw-nTr wabw=sn tm ‘the god’s servants of Anukis and all of her wab-priests’,48 which confirms that in the nome of Elephantine, during the Middle Kingdom, there was a cult of Anukis. However at present there is no evidence of a temple for that goddess, while for Satis and Khnum there is.49 Similar is the case of the 16th Upper Egyptian nome where the gods mentioned after the title jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr of the nomarchs were in all cases Horus or Khnum. None mentions the goddess Pakhet who was present in the other titles of the nomarchs. $nmw-Htp(=w) II was Hry-tp jAwt Hw.t-nTr PAxt ‘chief of temple offices of Pakhet’ and smA PAxt ‘smA – priest of Pakhet’50. Some of the nomarchs’ wives and daughters were Hm.t-nTr PAxt nb.t

                                                         44 Cf. Table 1, no. 1.  45 Cf. Table 1, no. 34.  46 Cf. Table 1, no. 53.  47 Cf. Table 1, no. 54.  48 Schenkel 1975 114, Fig. 5.  49 Valbelle 1981 99.  50

                                                        

51 The wife of  Jmn-m-HA.t Jmny (Table 1, no. 54) and the wife and daughter of $nmw-Htp(=w) II (Table 1, no. 55).  52 Bickel and Chappaz1993 94-101. 

Cf. Newberry 1894 41-72 and Table 1, no. 55. 

16

VESSELA ATANASSOVA: THE ECONOMIC COMPONENT OF THE TITLE JMY-R(A) HMW-NTR ’OVERSEER OF THE GOD’S SERVANTS’

Egyptian nomes

1st U. E.

2nd U. E.

3th U. E.

4th U. E.

6th U. E. 8th U. E. 9th U. E. 11th U. E. 12th U. E.

13th U. E.

14th U. E.

15th U. E.

16th U. E.

21st U. E.

3th L. E. 18th L. E.

No.

Name

Bibliography

Date

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55

%A-rnp.wt I @oA-jb I $-mA %A-rnp.wt II @oA-jb II Jmny-snb(=w) @oA-jb-anx #a-kAw-ra-snb @oA-jb III $nmw-Htp(=w) Nxt-anx(=w) @r-m-xa.w=f @rj Jb(=j)-ja(=w) ¡r-Hr-xw.t=f ¡r-Htp(=w) JJ-mrw %bk-nxt I %bk-nxt II Jn=tj=fj MnTw-Htp(=w) Nj-sw-MnTw Jmn-m-HA.t II JAmw &p-Sw-m-[…]-nw RwD-aHAw WpwAwt-aA RHw-anx(=w) Jnj=tj=fj Nfr-Xnmw WAH-kA I WAH-kA II @tpwy +fAj-Hapj I +fAj-Hapj II +fAj-Hapj III +fAj-Hapj IV %nbj A Wx-Htp A %nbj B Wx-Htp C Wx-Htp D aHA-nxt I +Hwty-nxt IV NHrj I +Hwty-nxt V NHrj II +Hwty-nxt VI Jmn-m-HAt KAy Jpw +Hwty-Htp(=w) NTr-nxt Jmn-m-HAt / Jmny

Urk VII 1, 10 Habachi 1985 24-7 Habachi 1985 43-4 Urk VII 7, 20 Habachi 1985 48-9 Habachi 1985 51-3 Habachi 1985 52-3 Habachi 1985 55-6 Habachi 1985 57 Habachi 1985 73-4 Franke 1984 226 Daressy 1918 51-2 Alliot 1935 38 Alliot 1935 38 Franke 1984 272 Favry 2004 Franke 1984 339 Franke 1984 339 Franke 1984 339 Schenkel 1965 230-5 Stewart 1979 20 Franke 1984 195 Lefebvre 1929 61  Vendier 1936 54-8  Steindorff 1946 25 Lichtheim 1988 71-72 Franke 1984 153 Petrie et al. 1925 10 Franke 1984 112 Griffith 1889 11 Franke 1984 150 Franke 1984 150 Martin 1971 91 Urk VII 53, 7 Favry 2004 50-1 Favry 2004 51-2 Favry 2004 52 Favry 2004 76-7 Favry 2004 77-8 Favry 2004 78-9 Favry 2004 53-4 Favry 2004 54-5 Favry 2004 29-32 Anthes 1928 72-3 Anthes 1928 32-65 Anthes 1928 38-9 Favry 2004 80 Favry 2004 80-2 Favry 2004 82-4 Favry 2004 56-8 Favry 2004 65  Favry 2004 56-8 Newberry 1894 27-9 Newberry 1893 11-38

Senusret I Senusret I – Amenemhat II Amenemhat II Amenemhat II – Senusret III Senusret III Senusret III Senusret III Amenemhat III Amenemhat III Neferhotep I Early 13th Dynasty 13th Dynasty after Sobekhotep IV Late 13th Dynasty Late 13th Dynasty Late 13th Dynasty Late 12th Dynasty 13th Dynasty Late 13th Dynasty Late 13th Dynasty Mentuhotep II Senusret I Amenemhat II th 12 Dynasty Late 11th Dynasty Middle Kingdom Late 11th Dynasty Senusret I – Amenemhat II Late 12th Dynasty Amenemhat I 12th Dynasty Amenemhat II Amenemhat III Middle Kingdom Senusret I Amenemhat II Amenemhat II Senusret II Senusret I Senusret I Senusret I – Amenemhat II Amenemhat II Senusret III Late 11th Dynasty Amenemhat I Beginning 12th Dynasty Amenemhat I Amenemhat I Senusret I Senusret I Senusret I – Amenemhat II Amenemhat II Senusret II – Senusret III 12th Dynasty Senusret I

$nmw-Htp(w) II

Newberry 1894 41-72

Amenemhat II – Senusret II

56 57 58 59 60

Jmn-m-HA.t-anx / Jmny-anx / Jmny-jp WADt Jmny Jmn-m-HA.t sA-sT.t WAH-kA %bk-Htp(=w) _wA-nxt #sw-wr #a-kAw-ra-snb

Zecchi 1999 3  Zecchi 1999 53 Zecchi 1999 53 Franke 1984 86 Franke 1984 86 Zecchi 1999 68  PM Vol. 4 51-2 Farid 1964 92-3

12th Dynasty (Amenemhat III ?) 12th Dynasty End 12th Dynasty Neferhotep I – Sobekhotep IV Neferhotep I – Sobekhotep IV 13th Dynasty Middle Kingdom Middle Kingdom

61 62 63

Table 1. List of the nomarchs with the title jmy-r(A) Hmw-nTr during the Middle Kingdom. 17

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT

  Place

No. 1 2

Memphis

3 4 5 6 7

Heliopolis

8 9 10

Name

%Htp-jb-ra-anx %Htp-jb-ra-anx-nDm Nb-pw %Htp-jb-ra-Xrd %n-wsrt-anx(w) Jj-m-Htp #nty-Xty-(wr) #a-kAw-ra-m-aH.t Ra #nty-Xty-Htp-jj-m-jat-jb

Bibliography Franke 1984 406

Date Senusret I

Maystre 1992 251-2

Amenemhat III

Maystre 1992 251-2

Amenemhat III and later

Maystre 1992 251-2

Amenemhat IV

Maystre 1992 253-5

Middle Kingdom

Moursi 1972 38-40

Senusret I

Moursi 1972 40-1

2nd half of 12th Dynasty

Moursi 1972 41-2

Late 12th Dynasty

Martin 1971 67

Middle Kingdom

Martin 1971 96

Middle Kingdom

  Table 2. List of the high priests of Memphis and Heliopolis during the Middle Kingdom. Hayes, W. C. 1947. Horemkha’uef of Nekhen and His Trip to It-towe. JEA 33. 3-11. Hinrichs, J. C. 1901. Rituale für den Kultus des Amon und für den Kultus der Mut, Hieratische Papyrus aus den Königlichen Museen zu Berlin I. Leipzig. Lefebvre, G. 1929. Histoire des grands prêtres d’Amon de Karnak. Paris. Martin, G. T. 1971. Egyptian Administrative and Privatename Seals: principally of the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period. Oxford. Maystre, C. 1992. Les grands prêtres de Ptah de Memphis. OBO 113. Freiburg, Göttingen. McFarlane, A. 1992. Holders of Priesthood. In K. Kanawati and A. McFarlane (eds.), Akhmim in the Old Kingdom. Part 1: Chronology and administration. ACE 2. 199-289. Sydney. Moreno Garcia, J. C. 2005. Deux familles de potentats proviniciaux et les assises de leur pouvoir: Elkab et El-Hawawish sous la VIe dynastie. RdE 56, 95-128. Moursi 1972, M. Die Hohenpriester des Sonnengottes von der Frühzeit Ägyptens bis zum Ende des Neuen Reiches. MÄS 26. Munich. Newberry, P. E. 1893. Beni Hasan,Vol. 1. London. Newberry, P. E. 1894. Beni Hasan, Vol. 2. London. Petrie, W. M. F. et al. 1925. Tombs of the Courtiers and Oxyrhynkhos, London. Quirke, S. 1990. The Administration of Egypt in the Late Middle Kingdom. New Malden. Roth, A. M. 1991. Egyptian phyles in the Old Kingdom, the evolution of a system of social organization. SAOC 48. Chicago. Schenkel, W. 1965. Memphis-Herakleopolis-Theben. Die epigraphischen Zeugnisse der 7.-11. Dynastie Ägyptens. ÄA 12. Wiesbaden. Schenkel, W. 1975. Die Bauinschrift Sesostris I. im Satet-Tempel von Elephantine. MDAIK 31, 109-25. Selve, V. 1993. Les fonctions religieuses des nomarques au Moyen Empire. CRIPEL 15, 73-81. Steindorff, G. 1946. Catalogue of the Egyptian Sculpture in the Walters Art Gallery. Baltimore Stewart, H. M. 1979. Egyptian Stelae, Reliefs and Paintings from the Petrie Collection, II: Archaic Period to Second Intermediate Period. Warminster.

References Alliot, M. 1935. Rapport sur les fouilles de Tell Edfou 1933. FIFAO 9. Cairo. Alliot, M. 1949. Le culte d’Horus à Edfou au temps des Ptolémées. Cairo. Anthes, R. 1928. Die Felseninschriften von Hatnub. Leipzig. Baer, K. 1960. Rank and Title in the Old Kingdom. The Structure of the Egyptian Administration in the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties. Chicago. Bickel, S. and Chappaz, J. L. 1993. Le Spéos Artémidos, un temple de Pakhet en Moyenne Égypte. DossArch 187, 94-101. Blumenthal, E. 1987. Die “Gottesväter” des Alten und Mittleren Reiches. ZÄS 114, 10-35. Brovarski, E. 1986. Tempelpersonal I. LÄ 4, cols. 387401. Daressy, G. 1918. Monuments d’Edfou datant du Moyen Empire. ASAE 18, 49-52. Farid, S. 1964. Preliminary Report on the Excavations of the Antiquities Department at Tell Basta (Season 1961). ASAE 58, 85-98. Favry, N. 2004. Le nomarque sous le règne de Sésostris Ier. Paris. Fischer, H. G. 1968. Dendera in the third millennium B.C. down to the Theban Domination of Upper Egypt. New York. Franke, D. 1984. Personendaten aus dem Mittleren Reich. Wiesbaden. Gardiner, A. 1947. Ancient Egyptian Onomastica, Vol. 1. London. Gauthier, H. 1931. Le Personnel du dieu Min. RAPH 3. Cairo. Gee, J. 2004. Prophets, Initiation and the Egyptian Temple. JSSEA 31, 97-107. Grajetzki, W. 2006. The Middle Kingdom in Ancient Egypt. London. Griffith, F. L. 1889. The inscriptions of Siût and Dêr Rîfeh. London. Habachi, W. C. 1985. Elephantine IV, The Sanctuary of Heqaib. AVDAIK 33. Cairo.

18

VESSELA ATANASSOVA: THE ECONOMIC COMPONENT OF THE TITLE JMY-R(A) HMW-NTR ’OVERSEER OF THE GOD’S SERVANTS’ Valbelle, D. 1981. Satis et Anoukis. Mainz am Rhein. Vendier, J. 1936. Quatre stèles inédites de la fin de l’Ancien Empire et de la Première Époque Intermédiaire. RdE 2, 43-64. Ward, W. A. 1982. Index of Egyptian administrative and religious titles of the Middle Kingdom with glossary of words and phrases used. Beyrouth. Zecchi, M. 1999. Prosopografia dei sacerdoti del Fayyum. Dall’Antico Regno al VI secolo a. C. Imola.

19

Use and Symbolism of Stone in Statuary: the Imitation of Painted Stones Dania Bordignon

Quarries

Not far from Amarna is the alabaster quarry of Hatnub, excavated since the Old Kingdom. I. Shaw, analyzing workmen's accommodation, pointed out that during the New Kingdom there was the presence of a small group of individuals, independent from the government.8 At the same time, textual documentation indicates that expeditions were planned to supply specific materials (especially raw materials) far away from the Valley. This is strongly attested during 18th Dynasty because of the estate expansionism. Several royal expeditions were promoted in order to reach precious materials (like hard stones) and these expeditions were organized to quarry materials even within Egypt, and by the nature of their nearness to the cities, some quarries were easily accessible by its inhabitants. Apart from materials such as natron, gypsum and alabaster, we could suppose that limestone was also present and part of a private economy (even if not proved) and we have the presence of limestone quarries and limestone private works bearing witness to such an existence.

One of the best patterns to explain importance in the closeness between quarries and cities is Tura, placed about 12kms from Memphis and 15kms from the Giza Plateau. Limestone has been extracted and used since Predynastic times because of this proximity, but it has also been extensively quarried since Old Kingdom, e.g. the pyramids of Snefru and other huge monuments of that time. The ‘beautiful white stone’ inr HD nfr, has been quarried in this place;3 Theban area has similar evidence of quarrying. This stone was surely much appreciated by craftsmen because of the considerable number of buildings and monuments found in this district.

Quarries could generally be reached within a few hours from the river. Probably small teams, equipped with food, water and simple tools would settle to survive a few days on the site. There are some elements that justify the poor archaeological proof: the easiness in extraction, the environmental conditions and the closeness to the cities. These elements confirm the private use of quarries and unofficial activities, based on what was left after the official expedition.9 The use of various materials is joined with the birth of the New Kingdom’s upper class that had a self-determining personal taste and the economic power.

There are several limestone quarries present in the Nile Valley and various authors have considered the peculiarity and quality of many kinds of Egyptian limestone in the context of their economic use1 and provenance,2 indicating the importance of this rock. The great abundance of this material, used as construction material as well as in artistic art crafts, can be justified – but the aim of this paper is to underline the preference in the choice of this material as painted stone. Considerations to underscore begin with the closeness of many quarries to the main cities, then the chemical composition of the stone: it is fine grained and not very porous (features that made it simple to work without hard or complex tools) and finally limestone’s colour which can be grey-yellow or white-grey, a perfect base to colour with pigments.

Several inscriptions left in the quarries proved that precious materials were obtained by official expeditions. Contrarily, we have no written or archaeological proofs on exploitation of poor materials (e.g. natron4 and gypsum5), or evidence of materials excavated by private workers (basalt from Qasr el-Sagha).6 For example, since the Old Kingdom the site of Umm el-Sawan was quarried to extract gypsum; not far from the site was a seasonal camp, it was not structured (differing from other sites in the same period) yet distinctive flint tools evidence a local production.7 This suggests the relative independence of the site from the state control.

Features The birth of the upper class justified the necessity of stone for the private market. Most probably there existed several specialized workshops but it is difficult to find the place where they were situated, even if material concentrations can give information, as in Amarna.10 The private market and the private trade of stones, have never been proved.11 Limestone was requested to shape statues and relief and is attested by the numerous private works found all over Egypt. We could put forward the theory of one craftsman who made several statues, and this is proved by the presence of different private sculptures with exact resemblance, from the same area.

1

Arnold 1991; Klemm and Klemm 2008. Middleton and Bradley 1989. 3 Klemm and Klemm 2008 36. 4 The best known sources are the Wadi Natrun and the el-Kab area. Kaczmarczyk and Hedges 1983 243. 5 From Umm el-Sawan: Caton-Thompson and Gardner 1934. 6 Shaw 1994 114. 7 Kemp 1989 248. 2

8

Shaw 1994 112. Shaw 1994 111. 10 The workshop of ©Hwty-ms. 11 Janssen 1975 158. 9

21

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Colours Nevertheless, pigments were also used to underline specific features on the monuments, the very reason why limestone has been chosen with continuity since the Old Kingdom. We can recognize how the yellow pigment was used to paint the skin on statues and reliefs.16 This custom had a symbolic value (e.g. giving a layer of yellow paint as base on a statue is known by the statue of Djoser from Saqqara), in this example only the yellow layer totally survived. However it is well known that there were two other thin layers of red paint on uncovered parts of the king’s body,17 connected to the duality of king’s nature. The use of the yellow paint suggested and enhanced the sense of duality typical in the Egyptian mind, but in private statues the use of yellow has others reasons. As we know, yellow skin usually denotes women, but many works present men with yellow skin.18 This dichotomy is typical since 5th Dynasty. We are not convinced that this custom would have represented a sexual differentiation but more probably it was connected with tribal custom. In Palaeolithic contexts and from contemporary African and New Zealand populations, men and women used to decorate their body with natural pigments during ceremony. This custom is corroborated by the discovery of four pieces of pigments19 during investigation of the Late Pleistocene archaeological site of Twin Rivers (Zambia).20

Figure 1. Museo Egizio di Torino, inv. no. 3032 (courtesy of Museo Egizio di Torino)

The utilization of the colour yellow can explain the skin differentiation between men and women, but different skin colour has also been theorised as a class distinction: in Old Kingdom reliefs the peasants had darker skins compared with the tomb’s owner, as it is possible to analyse in Ity’s tomb from Gebelein.21 This choice has also been explained to indicate a differentiation on age;22 e.g. in some reliefs the contra-position between yellow and red usually suggests that yellow skin is used for young men while red skin represents old men.

In the case of five limestone statues [two collected in Turin (Figure 1),12 one in Cairo,13 London14 and Paris (Figure 2) 15] all painted in the same way: white is largely used for skin and clothes, with most of the details being black or dark – all five come from Thebes (three surely from Deir el-Medine). Probably the substantial use of limestone for private statues is as a consequence of the strong presence of this stone in this area. These examples can suggest the preference of such stone in private workshops, chosen for two main reasons: firstly easy processing due to the rock's softness (Mohs hardness: 3), and secondly its large presence in the Valley, especially in the Theban area.

Yellow is the classical colour used to depict the skin of gods, as is well described in the tale of Destruction of Mankind. The description of Ra is comparable with that one of other deities: “[…], his bones being silver, his flesh gold, his hair true lapis lazuli”.23 As pointed out, different minerals constitute the body of gods.24 With reference to this feature, we know some gods were

Finally we notice that craftsmen used materials that were closer to their workshops, and used colours on their works to express the different connotations to the statue. The custom to use pigments is explained with the need to avoid the search of different material, because stones such as granite, gneiss and diorite were difficult to reach and to extract, they were also exclusive to the king due to their unavailability and price.

16

Here I intend to highlight the yellow, which is part of my PhD research on the use and perception of colour still in progress. 17 Fischer 1963 20. 18 Myśliwiec 2006 232. 19 Limonite and hematite cobbles with evidence of use, produced a characteristic brownish yellow and reddish colours. 20 Barham 1998 703. 21 Donadoni Roveri et al. 1994 Fig. 58. 22 E.g. Khaemwaset’s tomb: he is represented yellow while his father Ramesses III is red; also the limestone false-door from the tomb of Kaihap in Saqqara (5th Dynasty): British Museum EA 1848. 23 Lichtheim 1976 198. 24 Urk IV 427, 9.

12 Museo Egizio Cat. 3032: Andreau and Donadoni Roveri 2003 215. Museo Egizio Cat. 1372: Donadoni 1989 136, 145-6, Pl. 214. 13 Egyptian Museum JE 43576: Andreau 2006 15. 14 British Museum EA 21979: Kozloff and Bryan 1992 253-4. 15 Louvre E16346: Andreau and Donadoni Roveri 2003 208; Andreau 2006 10.

22

DANIA BORDIGNON: USE AND SYMBOLISM OF STONE IN STATUARY: THE IMITATION OF PAINTED STONES boxes,31 and we also have examples of wooden coffins32 painted using the same technique.

represented with yellow flesh: Osiris, Ptah, Anubis and Amenophis I. As we notice, divine bodies were made of gold, and surely this metal was used to realize statues of different deities and kings. On the other hand rarely have we the possibility to admire such statues of gold.25 When it happened, they are always by royal origin. Yellow evokes gilding, as by its use in temples e.g. in the temple of Sety I in Abydos, the central five doorways into the chapels in the second Hypostyle Hall were painted yellow, and in Medinet Habu the doorways were not painted, but decorated, with gold leaf:26 the same perception evokes the gold and the divine. Sculptures of gods were realized with different materials, and yellow pigment was applied to evoke gold: statues of deities from private context confirm this custom. Usually Osiris is depicted with black, when portrayed in funerary context; he is blue or green when associated to the regeneration, but pattern portrayed him with yellow skin.27 Usually Ptah has green skin, likewise we also know his image depicted with yellow skin. Anubis is usually coloured black or dark, as imposed by his netherworld’s nature, and we also have his representation with yellow skin.28 Amenophis I is represented with yellow flesh on some representations relating his posthumous cult prevailing at Deir el-Medine: probably these representations are originated from elite usages, to support the necessity to obtain materials is avoided by the use of pigments. Imitation We described how colours were used on stones; we can now observe how colours were used to imitate other stones. The technique to realize limestone’s object and to paint it to imitate another kind of stone or wood seems to be typical of the New Kingdom production. Mainly we find it on daily objects e.g. pots and bowls of different sizes, and wooden boxes for clothes and papyri, but it is also well recognizable for statues, coffins and structural elements of huge dimension. The will of copying precious stones can be seen in the imitation of them using colours on different materials. The economic purpose is clear:29 thanks to this ruse, the upper class was able to imitate objects and materials (generally reserved to the royal family) over its economic significance. Nevertheless the copied stone was not always precious; we know of the imitation of wood as limestone or faience. Wooden boxes are painted white as imitation of limestone,30 as well as wooden canopic

Figure 2. Musée du Louvre (Paris), inv. no. E16346 (courtesy of Musée du Louvre) Above all the imitation for the production of pots is well known. Generally speaking pottery objects were easily used to imitate alabaster, lapis lazuli or faience, while limestone pots imitated wood and other stones, and (fake) wooden vases are painted to imitate alabaster and other precious stones. Since the 19th Dynasty onwards some

25

Metropolitan Museum of Art inv. no. 26.7.1412; JE 60710. Baines 2001 150. British Museum EA 9861. 28 Stele of the Royal Scribe Ipi from the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (without inv. no.). 29 Drenkhahn 1980 148. 30 Uppsala Museum inv. no. UM0159. 26 27

31 32

23

Brooklyn Museum inv. no. 37.1390E. Louvre E14543.

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT vases, collected in the Museo Egizio (Turin), are in limestone and coloured with blue pigments to imitate faience (Figure 3);33 and numerous limestone pots are painted with yellow ochre to imitate alabaster.34 Alabaster is also copied with pigments on different materials e.g. wood35 and earthenware.36

Figure 4. Museo Egizio di Torino, inv. no. 3412 (courtesy of Museo Egizio di Torino)

Figure 3. Museo Egizio di Torino, inv. no. 3607 (courtesy of Museo Egizio di Torino) These examples prove the will to reproduce the use of determinate vases in rituals; in such occasions specified pots were used to contain oils and sacred ointments and every vessel was associated to determine content. In these rituals, and on the reproduction of the pots in coffins37 and on the wall of burial chambers, the oil was associated to a particular pot’s shape. In the New Kingdom there is an evolution on the concept of this type of pot: they are used in private contexts, and are not just depicted, but three-dimensionally realized. The intent is always equivalent, but this is the reason some pots have only the exterior shape of pot, without internal opening (Figure 4).38 The reproduction in different materials referred to the content of the pot and the colour helped to recognize the kind of pot and the ritual associated. Even if the private people could not use materials reserved to the royal market, the craftsmen used poor stones, easily found near their atelier, to answer to the upper class demand.

33

Museo Egizio Cat. 3607 and Cat. 3324. Museo Egizio Cat. 3323, Cat. 3325, Cat. 3327. 35 Museo Egizio Cat. 3412. 36 Museo Egizio Cat. 3630, Cat. 3631. 37 This use is known since the Old Kingdom; as an example one might point the seven pots for sacred oils depicted on the interior northern side of the wooden coffin of Raherka (Pepi–Ima), 6th Dynasty, Saqqara, mastaba N VIII. Jéquier 1921 54; PM Vol. 3 186. 38 Museo Egizio Cat. 3412. 34

Figure 5. The Wlaters Art Museum (Baltimore), inv. no. 22.142 (copyright The Walters Art Museum)

24

DANIA BORDIGNON: USE AND SYMBOLISM OF STONE IN STATUARY: THE IMITATION OF PAINTED STONES When a stone was used instead of another, there was a symbolic value in that choice, as in the Osirian pillar of Sesostris I from Lisht, and the sphinxes from Tanis, the king’s selection concerned the solar aspects inspired by the red granite, and the stone painted like granite was a substitute of it in this research. Basically it is not important the type of stone used, but the perception recalled by itself.

Besides small size objects, examples of statues can explain the importance and diffusion of imitation. The statuette of Ity-iby from Asyut in Baltimore (12th Dynasty) represents the man in the classical pose of the Old Kingdom (Figure 5).39 It is made of limestone with traces of red paint with white spots situated in the fleshy areas of the sculpture. This suggests that the exposed parts of the body were painted to make limestone resemble red granite.

This is better explained analyzing pots: the vessel’s colour helps to identify the oil, and the ritual associated. Stones were painted to resemble the material that they should represent in rituals, and colours were used for their symbolic value. This means that a specific feature is not always immediately visible in the reality, but is connected with the use of colour itself.

Some statues depicted in the Tomb of Kenamun at Thebes (18th Dynasty) conserved unpainted or partially painted examples of various colours, including several white paintings.40 White paint (or lack of paint on stones) probably imitated alabaster, limestone or possibly ivory. On some of these statues of the king and his family, red indicates the necessity of rendering the red granite typical of the king’s statue and connected to solar reference.

References Even if the imitation was typical of private production, some royal works reproduced this technique, as we could suppose observing the Osirian pillar of Sesostris I from Lisht, made of limestone but painted as imitation of granite.41 The same conclusion is reachable for the sphinxes from Tanis, which are made of black granite:42 they were realized for the king, but they were painted with red pigment. In this case another perception succeeds, linked to the particular aspects of the works, and their solar influences.

Andreau, G. 2006. À la Recherche d’ateliers de sculpteurs à Deir el-Medineh. In A. Dorn and T. Hofmann (eds.), Living and Writing in Deir elMedine. Socio-Historical Embodiment of Deir elMedine Texts, 9-19. Basel. Andreau, G. and Donadoni Roveri, A. M. (eds.) 2003. Gli Artisti del Faraone. Deir el-Medina e la Valle dei Re e delle Regine. Milan. Arnold, D. 1991. Building in Egypt: pharaonic stone masonry. New York, Oxford. Baines, J. 2001. Colour use and the distribution of relief and painting in the Temple of Sety I at Abydos. In W. V. Davies (ed.), Colour and painting in Ancient Egypt, 145-57. London. Baines, J. 2007. Visual and written culture in Ancient Egypt. Oxford. Barham, L. S. 1998. Possible Early Pigment Use in South-Central Africa. Current Anthropology 39, 70310. Borchardt, L. 1925. Statue und Statuetten von Königen und Privatleuten (Catalogue Général des Antiquités Égyptiennes du Musée du Caire), Vol. 2. Berlin. Caton-Thompson, G. and Gardner, E. W. 1934. The Desert Fayum. London. Davies, N. de G. 1930. The Tomb of Ken-Amun at Thebes. New York. Donadoni, S. 1989. L’immagine e la forma: l’esperienza della cultura. In A. M. Donadoni Roveri (ed.), Civiltà degli Egizi. Le Arti della Celebrazione, 98-185. Milan. Donadoni Roveri, A. M. et al. 1994. Gebelein: il villaggio e la necropoli. Quaderni del Museo Egizio 1. Turin. Drenkhahn, R. 1980. Imitation. LÄ 3, cols. 148-9. Fischer, H. G. 1963. Varia Aegyptica: Yellow Skinned Representation of Men in Old Kingdom. JARCE 2, 17-22. Janssen, J. J. 1975. Prolegomena to the study of Egypt’s economic history during the New Kingdom. SAK 3, 128-85. Jéquier, G. 1921. Les frises d’objets des sarcophages du Moyen Empire. MIFAO 47. Cairo.

Final remarks Limestone was chosen since the Old Kingdom due to its features and availability. Its use was connected to economic reasons, the closeness of quarries and the ease of quarrying. Craftsmen reached the quarries near their workrooms, and possibly specialized workers were able to quarry limestone by themselves with simple tools. Maybe these peculiarities evidence the possibility of a private market and a private transport of items and materials, connected to the private life in ancient Egypt. As regards the diffusion of this stone for private statues, we have to consider the necessity of the upper class to leave his image.43 Elite members had the possibility to receive royal presents from the king, as is well described in the autobiographies of such people,44 others, who were not as close with the king, but had financial opportunity, acquired materials for their statues to justify their economic power. Hard stones, such as granite, granodiorite and gneiss were used exclusively by kings and the royal families, but this sole right was emulated by upper class people through the imitation of such stones with pigments.

39

The Walters Art Museum, Inv. no. 22.142. Davies 1930 15-6. Borchardt 1925 nos. 397-402. 42 Borchardt 1925 nos. 393-4. 43 Baines 2007 224. 44 The autobiography of Weni mentions the white stone coffin gifted from the king. Lichtheim 1976 19. 40 41

25

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Kaczmarczyk, A. and Hedges, R. E. M. 1983. Ancient Egyptian Faience. Warminster. Kemp, B. J. 1989. Ancient Egypt. Anatomy of a Civilization. London. Klemm, R. and Klemm, D. 2008. Stones and Quarries in Ancient Egypt. London. Kozloff, A. P. and Bryan, B. M. 1992. Egypt’s dazzling sun: Amenhotep III and his world. Cleveland. Lichtheim, M. 1976. Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume II: The New Kingdom. Berkeley. Middleton, A. P. and Bradley, S. M. 1989. Provenancing of Egyptian limestone sculpture. JAS 16, 475-88. Myśliwiec, K. 2006. The red and yellow: an aspect of the egyptian ‘Aspective’. In E. Czerny et al. (eds.), Timelines. Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak, Vol. 2. OLA 149. 225-38. Leuven. Shaw, I. 1994. Pharaonic Quarrying and Mining: Settlement and Procurement in Egypt’s Marginal Regions. Antiquity 68, 108-19.

26

An Economic Perspective on Relationships between Near Eastern Kingodms during the Late Bronze Age Alessandro Cappellini and Sara Caramello families, i.e. a social activity. In fact, even if the nature and quantities of the raw materials and luxury goods could be considered very remarkable and, as a consequence, also be regarded as a real form of commerce, they were exchanged in a friendly context (section 2); they represented the basis for the diplomacy (section 3) and, as a matter of fact, both according to the behaviour (section 4) and the analysis of the copper exchange (section 5), all these gifts were probably strictly reserved for the king and his family (and just enough for them and their court).

Introduction Late Bronze Age international relations are familiar, having been studied and investigated in depth, thanks to the discoveries of some archives containing international correspondance.1 One of the most important sources is certainly the Tell elAmarna archive, found in 1887 by a peasant-woman at the site of the old city of Akhetaten, the Egyptian capital during the reign of Amenophis IV/Akhenaten. The Amarna corpus, comprising the international correspondance between the pharaohs Amenophis III and Akhenaten and Near Eastern kings and princes, consists of 382 tablets, but certainly the complete archive included several hundred more tablets.2

Raw materials, environment

luxury

goods

and

familiar

From the Amarna correspondence, it appears evident that the attention of the “Great Powers” is mostly directed towards raw materials and, as a consequence, the “strictly economic” interpretation of the Amarna gift exchange (as suggested by Liverani7) is probably due to the frequent mentions of gold, silver and copper in these letters. The massive presence of requests and presentations of these and other raw materials (for example lapis lazuli and Lebanese cedar wood) has been interpreted as “real commerce” under the more generic aspect of the “royal gift”. However, the raw materials could be considered even more important if they could guarantee the access of a relatively small kingdom into the prestigious “Great Powers’ Club”. In fact, the presence of Cyprus (Alashiya) among the members of this exclusive group would be surprising if we did not consider its huge copper production. It is only thanks to the copper mines of this island that an anonymous Cypriot king and the Pharaoh referred to themselves as “brothers”.

One of the important recent contributions to research on the socio-economic aspects of the Amarna archive is the publication of the letters by Mario Liverani,3 where he has not only translated and analysed this important archive, but has also suggested new and innovative interpretations of the diplomatic and economic relations between Egypt and the Near Eastern states. In particular, Liverani affirms that, considering the high quantity of disparate (and valuable) materials exchanged among the royal courts, the phenomenon of “gift-exchange” rightly represents a true type of commerce.4 In the present contribution, our aim is to refute Liverani’s thesis. Our method consists of an analysis of a relatively small group of letters, the correspondance of the so-called “Great Powers’ Club”,5 a sort of elite circle including the most powerful kings of the period. For the moment, we will exclude all the letters betweeen Pharaoh and his vassals.6 Essentially, using this material, we intend to demonstrate that the frequent and remarkable “giftexchanges” among the great empires of the Late Bronze Age, which are occasionally considered to be an authentic kind of economically significant commerce, should rather be re-interpreted as simple gift giving among royal

However, it is important to note that raw materials are often mentioned together with long lists of luxury goods (jewels, statues, fabrics and clothes, furniture etc.) that reinforce the idea of private gifts. The same thought can also be applied to the Near Eastern requests for gold and silver. Precious metals often appear as wrought items or, in any case, destined for the production of jewellery, statues and other kind of luxury goods in the royal courts. On the basis of such considerations, one must ask whether copper was really the only raw material lacking a “strictly luxury role”. This is the necessary basis for the suggestion that it was destined for the national economy of Egypt and not intended exclusively for the king and his court.

1

Buchholz 1999; Hikade 2001; Holmes 1975; Knapp 1993, 2000; Liverani 1990, 1994, 1998, 1999; Moran 1987; Zaccagnini 1973. 2 There is necessarily a risk involved in developing a complicated argument without complete data. However, the data does allow one to draw some conclusions about international exchange during this era – and the absence of a complete archive has not prevented others from drawing wide-ranging conclusions. Ultimately, it will be necessary to confront the written sources with the archaeological evidence. 3 Liverani 1998, 1999. 4 Liverani 1999 326. 5 Liverani 1998, 1999. 6 During the reigns of Amenophis III and Akhenaten the “Great Powers’ Club” comprised Egypt, Babylon, Hatti, Mittani and Cyprus, but at the end of the reign of Akhenaten, the Mittani collapse favoured the growth of Assyria, which became a new member of the “Club”.

7

27

Liverani 1999 326.

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Royal brotherhood exemplifies an international society: “a group of states, conscious of certain common interests and common values, form a society in the sense that they conceive themselves to be bound by a common set of rules in their relations with one another, and share in the working of common institutions”10. This international society assumes the existence of common interests such as trade and trade protection. In the Amarna Letters we can find some norms and rules developed to regulate these common interests (trade). In fact, the kings try to guarantee assistance and protection for messengers and merchants.11 They ask each other to protect expeditions and messengers and they occasionally claim damages and could theoretically obtain indemnity and compensation in case of robbery.

Differences between ancient and modern states: arising diplomacy An approach to an economic analysis of the Amarna Period requires setting aside modern perspectives about government and trade. In fact, there are many differences between the modern states and the ancient ones and, at the same time, many aspects of these diplomatic relations can allow us to better define the relations between kings. First of all, it appears evident that the “familiar” structure (and subdivision) of power differs. In ancient Egypt, high functionaries were often members of the royal family, so they held their offices both privately and publicly, causing some confusion about the management of power. Today, high functionaries of government are usually elected and there is a strong division of powers, whereas in Egypt there was a coexistence of these two “opposite” aspects.

Behavioural perspective The first reading of Amarna Letters has to be the simplest one. A first absolutely literal meaning of these gifts should be interpreted through the words of Adam Smith,12 “kindness is the parent of kindness”, and the seminal works of Mauss analysing gift-giving.13 Finley likewise notes that in the ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ gift exchange among elites is essentially pragmatic; it is used to establish mutually profitable alliances, and participation can bring great prestige (or shame) to both giver and receiver depending on the generosity of the gifts.14 In this sense the Alashiya kings pay a price in copper to sit among the other superpower nations in that period, and to be called “brother” by the Pharaoh. This social aspect is confirmed by Offer’s analysis of the dimensions of the gifts.15

Something similar happened in connection with the resources (and raw materials) management: this function was publicly controlled by the state, but sending and receiving letters concerning metal exchanges in the form of gifts was mainly related to private aspects. As a consequence, also established by the Amarna tablets, with a curious mixture of public and private arguments, the state management of raw materials and the raw material gift exchanges seem to be two separate phenomena, implying different approaches. Today western democracies strictly regulate giving or receiving gift to/from foreign representatives. In Canada – as in the United States – there is a Gifts Disclosure Law8 that obliges several categories of public employees to report gifts valued at more than a few hundred dollars and sometimes those rules force the receiver not to accept the gift, or it becomes a public good. The situation was quite different during the Late Bronze Age when the prestige and the power of a king was directly proportional to the quantity and value of the gifts received.

The readers of the Amarna letters may sometimes wonder about the kings’ brotherly behaviour. Is it rational giving tons of strategic raw materials such as copper or gold to a potential enemy? Over the course of recent decades, social science research has considered micro interactions, initially through sociology16 in the 1960s, and in particular by behavioural and experimental economics, revealing explanations for some “irrational” behaviour of Homo oeconomicus, through laboratory and field experiments, using the support of cognitive and evolutionary psychology.

Other “familiar” aspects can be found in international relations. In fact, membership of the “Great Powers’ Club” gave the king a number of privileges, including the possibility of calling the other members by the term “brother”. In fact, the Akkadian words connected with the concepts of “brotherhood” (ahhūtu) and “friendship / love” (ra’amūtu) help us to hypothesize both diplomatic and private kinds of relations. The frequent use of this “familiar terminology” in the Amarna Letters is only one example of this double-level exchange. In fact, recourse to expressions like “gladden the heart” (libba huddû), “not sadden the heart” (libba lā šumrusu), “alliance” (tābūtu), “peaceful relationship“ (salīmu) and similar metaphors gives an immediate impression of intimate and direct contacts.9

Modern behavioural economics suggest to us many possible keys to interpreting exchanges. The first is social: “norm of reciprocity, in its universal form, makes two interrelated, minimal demands: (1) people should help those who have helped them, and (2) people should not injure those who have helped them”17. Such 10

Bull 1977. Liverani 1999 EA 7, 8, 30, 38, 39 and 40. 12 Smith 1759. 13 Mauss 1954. 14 Finley 2002. 15 Camerer 1988; Offer 1997; Ven 2000. 16 Gouldner 1960. 17 Gouldner 1960. 11

8 For example, see the Delaware regulation on “the conduct of officers and employees of the state” available at: http://delcode.delaware.gov/title29/c058/sc02/index.shtml, or the Hawaii state Ethics commission at: http://hawaii.gov/ethics/forms/gd. Accessed on 26 February 2010. 9 Liverani 1999.

28

ALESSANDRO CAPELLINI AND SARA CARAMELLO: AN ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE ON RELATIONSHIPS behaviour was also observed amongst animals;18 as among humans, reciprocity has the role of building and maintaining the stability of social systems.19 During the 1980s, reciprocity seemed to become established only under restricted conditions, as an evolutionary process of cooperation among individuals.20 But the role of reciprocity in economic exchange grows from a mere condition to “a contractor enforcement device”21 and proves that reciprocity is the base for a stable and enduring relationship among small elites.22 Reciprocity is a well-known concept in Egyptology, even if often associated with the concept of redistribution. However Liverani23 places more stress on the concepts of alliance and mutual aid:“whatever you desire in my land, write to me and they will bring it to you; and whatever I desire in your land, I will write to you”.24

Table 1 reveals that the most exchanged material is copper and its alloy bronze, on which we should focus our analysis. Table 2 shows the same amounts but expressed in kgs of silver equivalent (AgEq)28; here the copper is the second item for value, after the precious stones. In order to judge the importance of copper exchange in the Amarna Letters and its role in economic life during Late Bronze Age we have to think about three quantities: the amount of copper exchanged, the annual Egyptian supply (production) and the annual Egyptian demand (consumption). Eight tons of copper are documented in the Amarna Letters. Taking account of the period covered by the preserved letters, that means about 400kgs of documented copper exchanges per year. On the other hand we have to consider the possibility that we may have been misled in our estimations since we are looking at only a portion of the Amarna archive. If these exchanges are exemplary, and annual, we should raise our estimate to 1.3 tons or more per year.

A second explanation for the Amarna exchange is competitive altruism.25 It is stated that “individuals may behave altruistically for reputation reasons because selective benefits (associated with status) accrue to the generous.” So altruism without direct reciprocation can bring benefits through reputation building. The behaviour of the Alashiya kings is coherent also under this theory. According to an anthropological perspective, it is possible to separate three aspects of gift giving: the social, the personal and the economic. Giving itself has three stages: the gestation, the prestation and the reformulation.26 The iteration of those stages represents a reinforcement mechanism for social and diplomatic ties. Finally, it is possible to conclude that the king of Alashiya has an egotistical motive in looking for social approval through his gifts. The royal brotherhood has a strategic interest in signalling and trust-building towards fairness and social norms.

The supply of copper was based on two sources: trade and Egyptian national production, which was not negligible. Several mines were active in the eastern desert (Wadi Hammamat, Tura, Aswan etc.) and in the Sinai (Magharah, Serabit el Khadim, Wadi Nasb, Timna).29 The annual production is estimated by scholars from slag heaps at the mines from 4 to 20 tons per year30. Hikade31 estimated a 1000 tons productions of Egyptian copper in Sinai over 150 years. This is meaningless compared to the production of the little island of Cyprus during LBA, considered by Buchholz32 in 200,000 tons equivalent to 6,500,000 ingots. The only explanation for Cyprus overproduction is a massive export in the Mediterranean area.33 For what we concern, this fact is well known in the ancient times, seeing that, for example, “an Egyptian text from the temple of Ramses II at Luxor

Copper and trades overview It is important to contextualize and to quantify the motivation of royal gift exchange. Some figures of the amount of raw and precious materials exchanged in Amarna Letters are evident in Table 1. To translate from ancient measurement to a modern one we adopt the “international” Babylonian talents of 30.3kgs.27

We adopt the usual Babylonian metrics: the mina had a value of 1/60 talents as well as 60 shekels. The actual weight of an ingot is less constant and varies from 20 to 30kgs (a talent); preferring caution, we choose 2/3 of a talent (20.2kgs), according to two references in the letters. In EA 40 there is a clear conversion stated: 5 ingots are 3 talents; in EA 36 the king of Alashiya is organizing two copper shipments of 70 talents and 120 ingots respectively: it is reasonable to think that the two consecutive dispatches were more or less equivalent. 28 The conversion is based on average values in silver in Mesopotamia. The rates are: for copper (1:135); gold (1:8); lapis lazuli (1:3), silver (1:1). The primary reference of these rates is a personal comment of Prof. David Warburton, we are grateful to, whose sources are: Durand 1997-2000; Michel 1992, 1999; Michel 2001a, 2001b; Reiter 1997. 29 Ogden 2000. 30 Buchholz 1999;Lucas 1962; Ogden 2000. Obviously the mining exploitation, and therefore the copper production, was not constant. 31 Hikade 2001. 32 Buchholz 1999. 33 Holmes 1975 98, according to, in Cyprus are “some direct imports of jewellery, glass, faience, alabaster, scarabs and gold; by extensive Egyptian influence on all local Cypriot arts and crafts; and by the exportation of Cypriot copper, wood, ships, oils and pottery. […] If, however, one considers the close Cypro-Egyptian contact depicted in the Amarna letters, the vast amount of Cypriot pottery in Egypt and the Egyptian objects imported into Cyprus, he must conclude that there was extensive direct trade between Cyprus and Egypt.”

18

Roberts 1998. Gouldner 1960. 20 Axelrod and Hamilton 1981. 21 Fehr et al. 1997. 22 Ferrary 2003. 23 Liverani 1990 211 24 Liverani 1999 EA 6; Warburton 1997 25 Hardy and Vugt 2006 26 Sherry 1983 27 For coherence, we’ll also use the “weight interpretation” of Liverani (1999): sometimes it’s quite difficult to understand quantities and weight-measures, considering not only the difficulties of the translation but also the several and different interpretations offered by different scholars for the same passage. The talent itself was approximately the mass of water required to fill an amphora. This measurement changed among countries and among cities. For example, in the Cape Gelidonya shipwreck a set of 60 weights were found, presumably used as a measure in different harbours (Bass et al. 1967). 19

29

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT

Table 1. Exchanged materials from/to Egypt, figures in kilograms 

 

Table 2. Exchanged materials from/to Egypt, figures in kilograms of silver equivalent. that was used for purchasing silver and copper.40

gives the list of mining regions, and here Cyprus appear as a place which produced copper ‘in millions, in endless, masses, in hundred and thousands’”.34

Furthermore, if the exchanges to which the Amarna Letters testify had represented the main or one of the most important sources for copper, we would have had to consider some peculiarities of those relationships. It was in the interest of the kings to try to reduce the amount of gifts, or, even better, procastinate the envoy of materials and goods through excuses41 or various ploys. Moreover, both specious and concrete excuses were pleaded in order to justify small gifts, but frequently also pressing requests (for marriages, dowries, a new house, the construction of a mausoleum etc.). Consequently, these exchanges were neither constant in quantity nor in time: for these reasons they could not represent a strong and stable commercial channel. Finally, these requests do not represent and consider the population requirements and the economic

One should also consider a large amount of copper trade driven by private merchants. Archaeological finds from the Ulu Burun35 and Cape Gelidonya shipwrecks,36 which were carrying, respectively, 10 and 1 tons of copper, seem to confirm that private trade was usual.37 The role of the market economy during the New Kingdom is not completely clear. In fact, “a sufficiently large part of the independent commercial trading was in the hands of the central state organizations”,38 so a monopoly on copper imports or some entrepreneurs’ trades are possible.39 In the end, trade is the most important source of copper, as also suggested and explained by comparative advantage theory: the advantage for Egypt was in production of gold 34

40 Warburton 1997 106. Table 1 confirms the comparative advantage theory Egypt was usually send gold. The theory was first introduced by Ricardo (1817) and developed further, for reference have a look at Heckscher and Ohlin 1991. 41 In EA 35 (Liverani 1999) the king of Alashiya claims a reduction of the copper gift due to a pestilence in his country.

Holmes 1975 91. Bass 1986, Bass et al. 1989; Pulak 1988; Gestoso Singer 2007. 36 Bass et al. 1967; Muhly et al. 1977. 37 Haldane 1993. 38 Warburton 1997 338. 39 Warburton 1997 106. 35

30

ALESSANDRO CAPELLINI AND SARA CARAMELLO: AN ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE ON RELATIONSHIPS and during the following years excavations of other tombs revealed hundreds of copper objects.49 In a burial at Gizeh, belonging to Impy and dated to the late 6th Dynasty, copper jars, vessels, tools and dishes, and also copper model tables were found.50 The tomb of the architect Kha and his wife Merit, dating to the 18th Dynasty, from the necropolis of Deir el-Medine, is rich of bronze artefacts.51 Although the archaeological finds are unfortunately rare and can not confirm the geographical and chronological spread of this practice, it is nevertheless legitimate to hypothesize that huge quantities of copper were placed in the tombs over the centuries, the same huge quantities that, after some decades, could be stolen by tomb robbers and melted down several times. It is consequently possible to consider this metal tomb use as ordinary consumption among the middle and upper classes.

production exigencies. As already seen in Table 2, the highest value traded item corresponds to a luxury good (lapis lazuli) and not an industrial products. The most difficult estimate concerns the consumption (demand) of copper (and its alloy bronze) in Egypt. Since the beginning of the Chalcolithic, one of the main sources for metallurgy is reuse.42 Copper and its alloys represent the highest technologies available for every human activity: many artefacts found demonstrate they were used in every field, from war (khopeshs, daggers, spears, equestrian stuff related to the chariotry) to agriculture and carpentry (sickles, fish hooks, chisels, saws, awls, axes),43 including different uses connected with fine arts production (statues44, ritual objects, ornaments and jewellery),45 house keeping and personal care (razors, vessels, scrapers, needles, tweezers, pins, and rings). Nobles and priests needed these metals also for the bronze door leaves and copper plating in palaces and temples. Small quantities of copper were also used in medicine.46

The army was organized by the state,52 and copper and its alloys were used for weapons such as arrowheads and swords (khopesh).

The estimation concerns also some consideration about the penetration and the use of bronze/copper artefacts in Egypt. The penetration is the percentage of the population having bronze/copper instruments, while their usage is the daily utilization as well as their wearing out. Both rates increased constantly over the millennia of the Chalcolithic and the Bronze Age, but they differ among classes. We have to consider the different needs of the Pharaoh and the inner court, of the middle-high class, of the army and the rest of the population (mainly farmers).

Finally, many craftsmen depended on copper and bronze for saws, chisels, axes and drills. We have to mention also the hundreds of kilograms of copper that were used (and lost) for public works in Egypt, e.g. drilling the granite sarcophagi or carving the temples’ walls. The rest of population could use copper and bronze for scrapers, fish hooks and sickles, otherwise made of wood, stone or bone. Thus, the Pharaoh and his inner court really needed a relatively limited quantity of copper for their “personal” use compared to the national necessity. In fact a few hundred kilos of copper could be easily employed by the Pharaoh every year and, even if it seems to constitute a great quantity, it was only just enough.

What is copper for in Pharaoh’s court? Weapons for the guards (and the army), jewellery for the women of the harem and of the court, vessels (including gifts for the dignitaries47), tomb furnishings, artisans' equipment and furniture details constitute only part of the possible uses of this metal. A part of the upper class needs is explained through the evidence from some burials of the middle-high class since the beginning of the Bronze Age. A number of tombs of 1st Dynasty at Saqqara show a very large usage of copper: in just one of these tombs, in 1939, Emery found more than 600 copper vessels, tools and weapons,48 42

Lead isotope analysis establishes the provenance of ores or artefacts derived from metallurgical processing. Knapp 2000; Ogden 2000. 43 Schiaparelli 1927; Stead 1986 37, “Set of carpenter's tools from a Theban tomb, consisting of an axe for trimming and splitting wood, a pull-saw, adzes, chisels, bradawls and a bow-drill, as well as a honing stone and an oil flask.”; Quirke and Spencer 1992 183-4. 44 Vassilika 1997 45 Ogden 2000 149. Copper was used as pigments and as colouring agents in glazes and glass. 46 Ogden 2000 149; Weser 1987 189-94. 47 Some valuable copper based gifts are those for the “Amarna” brotherhood, such as the 434kgs of bronze to Babylonia as shown in Table 1. Other examples of royal gift are in P. Harris, in which Ramesses III lists all the gifts given to the temples during his reign. In particular it states a total of 25.580 deben of copper (2509kgs) of which 114kgs to Heliopolis and 2395kgs to Thebes (Warburton 1997 215). 48 Emery 1939 “The next room on the south side of the burial chamber contained the great collection of copper objects, by far the largest that

findings Amarna

weight 8306

Cape Gelidonya Ulu Burun

1000 10,000

Royal Gift in P. Harris

2509

Table 3. Main findings about copper trade and consumption compared with Amarna’s figures A very preliminary and conservative consumption estimate suggests that Egypt needed from 7 to 15-20 tons of copper per year just to maintain stocks.

has as yet been found belonging to the First Dynasty.”. 49 Emery 1939; Emery 1949 20-57 (Tomb no. 3471); Emery 1954 5963, 66 (Tomb no. 3504); Emery 1958 14, 50 (Tomb nos. 3505 and 3506). 50 Maddin et al. 1984. 51 Schiaparelli 1927. 52 Spalinger 2005

31

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT court, but it is not relevant at a national level. If the giftexchange is not considered to be a form of commerce, the phenomenon must be interpreted as gift-exchange between kings – and no more.

Comparing the quantities of copper imported into Egypt from Cyprus reported in the Amarna tablets with an estimate of Egyptian copper requirements, it would appear that one or two tons of copper every year probably represented nothing more than gifts for the king. Table 3 shows a comparison of (a) the eight tons of copper known from the Amarna correspondence with (b) the well established figures in single trading ventures (the Ulu Burun and Cape Gelidonya shipwrecks) and (c) some Egyptian consumption (as represented by the royal gifts recorded in P. Harris). Appears evident that Amarna copper quantities almost tally with a single medium cargo ship and that one pharaoh privately (and non strategically) used 1/3 of the Amarna copper for a single employment. As a consequence, if the eight tons of the Amarna correspondence were the principal Egypt source, a non constant flow of copper in real economic life would mean a real reduction of production. Failing this, a non constant flow of copper at court would imply a slight reduction in luxury objects. Thus the exchanges of so small quantities recorded in the Amarna correspondence are not strategic and not representative of annual national trade. The documented quantity of copper exchanged in the Amarna Letters (several hundred kilograms per year) seems to be insufficient compared with other estimates and figures. In our opinion “gift exchange” is not palacesponsored trade or international trade. It is the tangible sign of early diplomatic relations and gift giving in the framework of prestige exchanges among kings as individuals.

We argue these answers firstly using a behavioural economics analysis, that gives a theoretical framework, which is supported by a rough overview of copper market and consumption in Egypt. Royal gift-exchange constitutes an important aspect of international diplomacy of the period. Access to raw materials could confer prestige, and not only wealth. These gifts were intended as a demonstration of the power of the giving state (the king itself) and, at the same time, of the needs (and the weakness) of the receiving state. This is confirmed, when a Mittani king wanted to sollicit a gift of gold from the Pharaoh, he usually provided him a precise and concrete reason for that request (in one case the construction of a mausoleum,55 in another cases a dowry): to give good arguments can be considered by someone an excuse (in order to motivate and justify the request, avoiding the admission of a concrete need of gold), but, in any case, the construction of a mausoleum and a large dowry clearly demonstrate the very “personal” aspect of these exchanges. Good relations (and frequent exchanges) between kings guaranteed not only good relations between states, but also assistance and protection for messengers and merchants. Merchants and messengers were more or less protected during their missions and could claim damages and obtain indemnity and compensation in the case of robbery. In this sense, Liverani’s model of multi-layered “gift exchange” remains valid, considering both a private view of gift giving among the Late Bronze Age elites and the building of a society of nations.

Some scholars53 adopted Liverani’s model of multilayered “gift exchange”, arguing that metal was circulated in commercial trade, though he suggests that “formalities were arranged in terms of gift exchange, masking the commercial nature of the transactions”.54 We disagree with this interpretation suggesting that these transactions be understood as being commercial in nature. The Amarna Letters reveal a “prestige chain” and “gift exchanges”: they represent only private deals among kings and not a kind of international commerce.

Thus, this kind of trading cemented personal relationships among “royal brothers” and can be considered as an opening for real – and more important – international commerce between Egypt and the other Near Eastern kingdoms. Finally, royal gift giving was also a useful tool of political propaganda.

Conclusion References Our work can be summarised in three main questions regarding the relevance of the Amarna exchanges and trade.

Axelrod, R. and Hamilton, W. D. 1981. The evolution of cooperation. Science 211, 1390-6. Bass, G. F. 1986. A Bronze Age Shipwreck at Ulu Burun (Kaş): 1984 Campaign. AJA 90.3, 269-96. Bass, G. F. et al. 1967. Cape Gelidonya: A Bronze Age Shipwreck. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (New Series) 57.8, 1-177. Bass, G. F. et al. 1989. The Bronze Age Shipwreck at Ulu Burun: 1986 Campaign. AJA 93, 1-29. Buchholz, H. G. 1999. Ugarit, Zypern und Ägäis, Kulturbeziehungen im zweiten Jahrtausend. Münster.

1. Is Amarna gift giving important? Yes, it was aimed at building an international society. 2. Do elements in th Amarna corpus reveal a diplomatic role in trade? Yes, the kings tried to guarantee assistance and protection for messengers and merchants. 3. Is the exchange, per se, important? Yes, for the inner 53 54

Renfrew 1972; Knapp 1993 Renfrew 1972

55

32

Liverani 1999 EA 19

ALESSANDRO CAPELLINI AND SARA CARAMELLO: AN ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE ON RELATIONSHIPS Bull, H. 1977. The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics. New York. Camerer, C. 1988. Gifts as economic signals and social symbols. American Journal of Sociology 94, S180S214. Durand, J.-M. 1997-2000. Documents épistolaires du Palais du Mari. Paris. Emery, W. B. 1939. A Preliminary Report on the First Dynasty Copper Treasure from North Saqqara, ASAE 39, 427-37. Emery, W. B. 1949. Great Tombs of the First Dynasty, I. Excavations at Saqqara. Cairo. Emery, W. B. 1954. Great Tombs of the First Dynasty, II. Excavations at Sakkara. Oxford. Emery, W. B. 1958. Great Tombs of the First Dynasty, III. Excavations at Sakkara. Oxford. Fehr, E. et al. 1997 Reciprocity as a Contract Enforcement Device: Experimental Evidence. Econometrica 65, 833-60. Ferrary, M. 2003. The Gift Exchange in the Social Networks of Silicon Valley. California Management Review 45.4, 120-38. Finley, M. I. 2002. The World of Odysseus. New York. Gestoso Singer, G. 2007 El barco naufragado en Ulu Burun y el intercambio de bienes en el Mediterraneo oriental. Davar Logos 7, 19-32. Gouldner, A. W. 1960. The Norm of Reciprocity: A Preliminary Statement. American Sociological Review 25, 161-78. Haldane, C. 1993. Direct Evidence for Organic Cargoes in the Late Bronze Age. World Archaeology 24, 34860. Hardy, C. and Vugt, M. v. 2006. Nice guys finish first: The competitive altruism hypothesis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 32, 1402-13. Heckscher, E. and Ohlin, B. 1991. Heckscher-Ohlin Trade Theory. Cambridge. Hikade, T. 2001. Das Expeditionswesen im ägyptischen Neuen Reich. SAGA 21. Heidelberg. Holmes, Y. L. 1975. The Foreign Trade of Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age. In N. Robertson (ed.), The archaeology of Cyprus. Recent developments, 90-110. Park Ridge. Knapp, A. B. 1993. Thalassocracies in Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean Trade: Making and Breaking a Myth. World Archaeology 24.3, 332-47. Knapp, A. B. 2000. Archaeology, science-based archaeology and the Mediterranean Bronze Age metals trade. European Journal of Archaeology 3, 3156. Liverani, M. 1990. Prestige and Interest. International Relations in the Near East ca. 1600-1100 B.C. Padova. Liverani, M. 1994. Guerra e diplomazia nell'antico Oriente 1600-1100 A.C. Bari, Rome. Liverani, M. (ed.) 1998. Le lettere di el-Amarna. 1. Le lettere dei «Piccoli Re». Brescia. Liverani, M. (ed.) 1999. Le lettere di el-Amarna. 2. Le lettere dei «Grandi Re». Brescia. Lucas, A. 1962. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries. London Maddin, R. et al. 1984. Old Kingdom Models from the

Tomb of Impy: Metallurgical Studies. JEA 70, 33-41. Mauss, M. 1954. The Gift. London. Michel, C. 1992. Les ‘diamants’ du roi de Mari. In Mémoires de N.A.B.U. 1, Florilegium marianum, Recueil d’études en l’honneur de Michel Fleury, 12736. Paris. Michel, C. 1999. Les joyaux des rois de Mari. In A. Caubet (ed.), Cornalines et pierres précieuses, 40132. Paris. Michel, C. 2001a. Prix. In F. Joannes (ed.), Dictionnaire de la Civilisation Mésopotamienne, 689-91. Paris. Michel, C. 2001b. Le Lapis-Lazuli des Assyriens au début du IIe millénaire av. J.-C. In W. H. van Soldt et al. (eds.), Veenhof Anniversary Volume, 341-59. Leiden. Moran, W. L. 1987. Le lettres d’el-Amarna. Paris. Muhly, J. D. et al. 1977. The Cape Gelidonya Shipwreck and the Bronze Age Metals Trade in the Eastern Mediterranean. Journal of Field Archaeology 4, 35362. Offer, A. 1997 Between the gift and the market: the economy of regard. Economic History Review 50, 450-76. Ogden, J. 2000. Metals. In P. T. Nicholson and I. Shaw (eds.), Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, 148-76. Cambridge. Pulak, C. 1988. The Bronze Age Shipwreck at Ulu Burun, Turkey: 1985 Campaign. AJA 92, 1-37. Quirke, S. and Spencer, J. 1992. The British Museum Book of Ancient Egypt. London. Reiter, K. 1997. Die Metalle im Alten Orient unter besonderer Berücksichtigung altbabylonischer Quellen. AOAT 249. Münster. Renfrew, C. 1972. The Emergence of Civilization. The Cyclades and the Aegean in the 3rd Millenium B.C. London. Ricardo, D. 1817. On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. London. Roberts, G. 1998. Competitive altruism: from reciprocity to the handicap principle. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 265, 427-431. Schiaparelli, E. 1927. La tomba intatta dell'architetto Kha nella necropoli di Tebe. Turin. Sherry, J. F. 1983. Gift giving in Anthropological perspective, The Journal of Consumer Research 10, 157-68. Smith, A. 1759. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. London. Spalinger, A. J. 2005. War in Ancient Egypt. The New Kingdom. Malden. Stead, M. 1986. Egyptian Life. London. Ven, J. v. de 2000. The economics of the gift. Discussion Paper 68, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. Vassilika, E. 1997. Egyptian Bronze Sculpture Before the Late Period. In E. Goring et al. (eds.), Chief of Seers. Egyptian Studies in Memory of Cyril Aldred, 291-302. London. Warburton. D. A. 1997. State and Economy in Ancient Egypt: Fiscal Vocabulary of the New Kingdom. OBO 151. Fribourg. Weser, U. 1987. Biochemical basis of the use of copper 33

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT in ancient Egyptian and Roman medicine. In J. Black (ed.), Recent Advances in the Conservation and Analysis of Artifacts, 189-93. London. Zaccagnini, C. 1973. Lo scambio dei doni nel Vicino Oriente durante i secoli XV-XIII. Rome.

34

At thee Intersecction of Trading T R Routes. Com mmerce and a Econnomy of PreP and Early Dyynastic T Tell el-Faarkha * (Easteern Nile Delta) D Marccin Czarno owicz was occupied byy a Lower Eggyptian culturre settlement,, and ends during thhe time of thee 4th Dynasty.3

n Introduction E was alw ways based onn the The economyy of ancient Egypt Egyptian goold: grain.∗Thhis refers, of o course, too the dynastic tim mes from which we have not only archaeologiccal materials but also wrritten texts. Since S written textss can bring to t the light details d which will never be disscovered duriing archaeoloogical excavaations they are cruucial during the process of reconstruucting patterns of thhe market. Thhis is why tallking about Early, E Pre- and Prootodynastic tim mes’ commercce and econom my is so hard. How wever, based on o the excavattions carried out o at Tell el-Farkhha some econnomic landmaarks could stiill be reconstructedd.

ha Thee economy of Tell el-Farkh ncient times Egypt E had achhieved fame of o the world’ss In an gran nary, and was called “the ggift of the Nille”. But whatt was it earlier, inn the Naqadiian4 times? Based B on thee hat one of thee current state of thhe research it is believed th n activities off the Tell el-F Farkha’s citizens was foodd main prod duction. It couuld be provenn that the locaal communityy was producing some quantities of grain n, meat andd prob bably beer surpplus to use theem in trade. fortunately, grrain productioon itself does not leave uss Unfo enou ugh good arcchaeological ddata, so it iss hard to sayy anytthing specific about this proocess. The preesence of suchh an activity a and itss scale can be reconstructed d based on thee existtence of graanaries. We have found a few suchh consstructions at our site. Onn the one haand we havee discovered the reemains of fulll-scale mud-b brick silos, onn o hand sm mall granary m models.5 A gro oup of granaryy the other mod dels (see Figuure 1) was fouund in 2006 nearby n one off grav ves at the Easttern Kom.6 Ceereal granariees had an ovall rooffed shape withh a hole on tthe top and probably, as itt coulld be seen onn the modelss from Tell el-Farkha, e ann open ning near the t bottom.7 The existeence of thee consstructions built to store grrain shows the scale of itss prod duction and thhe position of iits owner in th he society.8

F is situuated The archaeoological site of Tell el- Farkha around 120kkms northeasst of Cairo in i the districct of Simbilawien. The site is located on thhe outskirts of o the G It consists of three modern village called Ghazala. k – the Western, the Central andd the mounds – koms Eastern Kom m and covers an area off about 4ha. The western partt of the site was w an adminnistrative, cultt and residential arrea. The centtral one was the t settlementt and production area a while thhe eastern iss a mixture of a settlement annd a graveyardd.1 o excavations at Tell el-Faarkha began in the The history of middle of 19980s. In 19877 an Italian team t from Ceentro Studi e Riceerche Ligabuee from Venicce was carryiing a survey projeect in the Easstern Nile Deelta between Tanis T and Mendes.. The Italianss then started their excavattions, which lastedd three seasonss. Due to the lack of signifficant finds in 19990 the Italianss decided to stop their woorks.2 The interest shown by scholars s conceived the ideea of resuming thee work at thee site. It was in 1998, thaat the Polish Archaeological Expedition Ex to the Eastern Nile m Delta has staarted its own project at thhe site. Two major scientific orgganizations arre involved inn these works. One of them is thhe Institute off Archaeology from Jagielloonian University and a the otheer is Poznann’s Archeoloogical Museum.

Figure 1. Granary models from Tell el--Farkha ( (photo: M. Czarnowicz)

y The chronoloogy of Tell el-Farkha coverrs over 1000 years of history. Itt begins duringg Naqada IIc--IId1, accordinng to Kaiser’s chroonology, thatt means the tiime when thee site

      

3

Juch ha 2005 19-21. Terrminologically ”Naqadan” ” is a more accepted usage to labell Naqaada-style culturall traits, the autthor uses the teerm “Naqadian”” throu ughout the text deliberately d to uunderline the eth hnic and culturall diverrsity between this and other culturees – editorial notee. 5 Kolodziejczyk 2009 53-4. 6 Kolodziejczyk 2009 50. 7 Kołodziejczyk 2009 51. 8 Kolodziejczyk 2009 50-2

                                                            

4

∗ I would like to thank to Ms Agnieszka Ochaał-Czarnowicz annd Ms E Izabella Maciejjowska for their time and remarks about the English grammar and orrthography of the text. 1 For latest infformation about works carried at a Tell el-Farkhha see: Chłodnicki andd Ciałowicz 20008, or visit thee project’s webssite at http://www.farkkha.org. 2 Chłodnicki et al. a 1992.

35

 

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Palestinian colony could be interpreted as a core – periphery relation.16 In this relationship Egypt played the dominant role gathering valuable natural resources such as copper alloy, luxury goods and the much-desired products like olive oil and wine.17 Simultaneously, through the cooperation with Palestine, the Egyptians were trying to fulfill their need for timber as it was suggested by Ram Gophna in his article about excavations at Ashkelon (Afridar).18 On the other hand Palestine was in the period of a rapid increase in population. The demographical change caused the lack of food and Egypt was able to fulfill that need. The Palestininan inhabitants benefited from the relations by getting the grain, some amounts of meat, and luxury goods. An argument to support the above-mentioned theory could be found at several sites such as Small Tell Malhata or Halif Terrace where silos for grain storage were found.19 At the various Southern Levantine sites also bones of the Nile River or Red Sea fish were found.20

The existence of structures used to store large quantities of grain in both Tell el-Farkha and Southern Palestinian sites with Naqadian elements such as Small Tell Malhata or Halif Terrace,9 could be used to build up a thesis about use of the grain surpluses in trade. In a discussion about food production meat cannot be excluded. Most of the animal bones found in Tell elFarkha belong to pigs. Renata Abłamowicz, Tell elFarkha expediton’s archaeozoologist, has found a very interesting relation. Over 80 per cent of the pig bones are parts (such as jaws) containing small amounts of meat.10 In 2008 a grave that contains the remains of post-funerary rituals was found. The whole shaft of the grave was filled with animal bones (of aurochs, pigs, goat, sheep, birds and fish) and broken pottery (bread moulds, granary jars, small jugs and juglets). Even there the pig bones were almost only jaws. Other parts like pork hock or ham are missing. Renata Abłamowicz suggests that Tell elFarkha’s citizens were selling the meat-rich parts somewhere out of the site. An analogy could be observed with fish bones assemblage. In this case the majority of the bones belongs to the Nile Perch’s fish tails and heads.11 An industrial aspect of fishing could be underlined also by the large number of harpoons and hooks, made of copper, flint and fish bones, found at the site.12

Tell el- Farkha and the long distance trade It is believed that Tell el-Farkha played a vital role in the above-mentioned relations. Based on data collected during 12 seasons of archaeological prospection, it could be said that the region of the Nile Delta was not a simple stop where caravans could rest but probably the starting point for caravans heading to Canaan and a place of goods’ redistribution.21 A large number of clay seals and seals impressions could be used to build up this thesis, as was mentioned by Marek Chłodnicki. Tell el-Farkha is a settlement with long traditions in commercial contacts with the Southern Levant.22 The beginning of this process could be linked up with the first phases of the Lower Egyptian culture village. According to the data, given by detailed stratigraphy of the site, the rapid development of the village is directly connected with the presence of Naqadian settlers. They occurred at Tell el-Farkha somewhere during Naqada III d2 according to Kaiser (beginning II D2 according to Hendrickx).23 Tell elFarkha achieved its highest significance during the time of the Egyptian state formation, that is the reign of dynasties 0 and 1.24 These times are comparable to EB I in Canaan.25 During that specific period, the so-called Naqadian colony existed.

The other aspect of food production is beer brewing. At the Western and Central koms fireplaces in the shape of a clover were found. These structures were recognized as the places where Egyptian beer was made.13 It is hard to estimate now if the amount of beer from such a brewery covered only the needs of Tell el Farkha or whether some of their production was sold. Unfortunately, it is difficult to establish how many breweries were working at one time, but thanks to the great patience of microbiologist Lucyna Kubiak, the recipe of Tell el Farkha’s beer is no longer a secret.14 It is believed that people who lived in Tell el-Farkha generated large amounts of food: grain, pork,fish, and beer. In case of the meat we are sure that some parts were sold outside of the site.15 In case of other surpluses we cannot exclude such a possibility. But where could these products have been sold? Of course, some amounts could have been sent to the other cities especially to the centers, located in the south where some people were engaged in the early Egyptian administration or other nonagricultural activities. But there is also a different direction. During the time of dynasties 0 and 1, that is during the period of Tell el-Farkha’s prosperity, a socalled Naqadian colony in Southern Palestine was established. Nowadays most of the scholars accept the theory saying that relation between Egypt and the

Pottery imports and their imitations The vivid and profound commercial relations between 16

Brink and Braun 2003 77-89, 93. Brink and Braun 2003 77-91. Gophna 1968 256. 19 Levy et al. 1997 8-9. 20 Andelković 1995 39. 21 Chłodnicki 2008 489. 22 Chłodnicki 2008 493-7. 23 Ciałowicz 2007 920. 24 Jucha 2005 21. 25 Amiran and Gophna 1992. 17 18

9

Levy et al. 1997 8-9. Chłodnicki 2008 492. Chłodnicki 2008 492. 12 Pawlikowski 2009 79. 13 Cichowski 2008 34. 14 Kubiak-Martens and Langer 2008 429-40. 15 Chłodnicki 2008 492. 10 11

36

MARCIN CZARNOWICZ: AT THE INTERSECTION OF TRADING ROUTES Tell el-Farkha citizens and Palestine find their reflection in the existence of imported goods. During 12 seasons of work in Egypt a large amount of imported pottery has been found. Among others jars used for wine and olive, oil storage jars with short neck, flat base, convex body and wavy ledge-handles, create the most representative group.26 Their presence is noted almost in every occupational phase of the site. Such examples of jars are widely represented at EB I Palestinian sites, for example at Tel Dalit.27 This kind of pottery is also known from the Nile Valley where it could be found both in Upper Egypt – Hierakonpolis, Abydos;28 and in the Delta – Tell elIswid Tel Ibrahim Awad and Minshat Abu Omar.29 Among the pottery types at Tell el-Farkha the vessels arising from EB Levantine assemblage were found. In the deposit from the Western Kom a holemouth jar was found. This vessel has a very typical rim adapted to cover it with a lid. This kind of pottery is typical for EB Palestine and is rarely found in Egypt. It’s closest analogies can be found at Tel Dalit in Canaan.30 Another example of the pottery arising from Palestinian assemblages comes from grave no. 9. Among 27 clay vessels deposited in this complex three have different, unique shape. They have elliptic base and flattened body. (Figure 2). Such vessels cab be found among Petrie’s Ftype potteries.31 Ruth Amiran derives this type of vessels from churn pottery and bird vases known from Palestine.32 Closest analogies to our examples could be found at Ballas in Egypt and Tel Erani and En Besor in Palestine.33(Figure 3) Those two examples found in the Southern Levant are imports from the Nile Valley. A very important piece of pottery was found also during the latest season of the work at Tell el-Farkha. At the Western Kom a vessel, bearing features typical for both Egyptian and Palestinian pottery was discovered. It is a small, Naqadian shape jar made of local clay, with lug and ledge handles and more barrel-shaped body as wavyhandle pottery has. Scholars refer to this kind of pottery as hybrid pottery. The vessels, which are the outcome of a mixture of Naqadian and EB traditions are typical for Southern Levantine sites where the Egyptians and Palestinians were living together.34 Unfortunately there are no known examples similar to ours.

Figure 2. Oval-shaped pottery from grave no. 9 (drawing: M. Czarnowicz)

The imported pottery is not the only symptom of the contacts with Canaan. Apart from vessels of Palestinian origin, also some samples of lug and ledge handle jar imitations have been found. In this context two examples should be noted. One of them was found during the 2005 season at the Eastern Kom in a deposit with alabaster vessels. It is about 15cm high and has a well preserved

26

Jucha 2008a Fig. 1. Gophna 1996 89, 103, 115. 28 Andelković 1995 57-66. 29 Andelković 1995 62-3. 30 Gophna 1996 90, 117. 31 Czarnowicz 2009 46; Quibell 1896 22. 32 Amiran 1992. 33 Czarnowicz 2009 44-7. 34 Brink and Braun 2003 77-91. 27

Figure 3. Oval-shaped pottery: the analogies (drawing: M. Czarnowicz) 37

COMMERCE AND A ECONOMY Y IN ANCIENT T EGYPT

Figure 4. “Residencee”, plan of thee architectural remains, 199 99-2002 excavvations. wavy-ledge handles.35 Thhe shape of thhe body and neck O objects from refers to clayy examples of such jars. Other this deposit are typical Naqadian veessels, whichh can prove that also imitation of o ledge handle jars was maade in Egypt.

Kom m hides a monnument that pproves the theeory about thee Tell el-Farkha’s involvement i iin the long distance d trade.. out 2ms below w the ground level an outliine of a mud-Abo brick k structure waas found. Up to now this construction iss the biggest buildding found in a Naqadian context. Thee struccture was all covered by a layer of ashes and sealedd by a sterile layer of grayish m mud, which is interpreted ass an evidence e of thhe Nile flood.. The building g had at leastt two constructionaal phases. It w was constructted at the endd t Naqada IIII of teerminate Naqqada II D2 annd lasted up to 3 A2.38 (Figure 4)) Rooms weere built around a smalll courrtyard. The walls w were upp to 2.5ms thick t and thee existtence of an upper u storey ccannot be exccluded.39 Thee funcction of the particular p roooms is suggessted by smalll finds and potteryy. A large nnumber of counters, c seall w that some of o them weree imprressions and pottery show used d as storeroom ms.40 In one oof such placess an importedd Paleestinian vessell was found.441 A smaller room locatedd nextt to the courttyard is belieeved to be a shelter for a Naq qadian governoor.42 The existtence of such a complex inn Tell el-Farkha cannnot be simplly accidental. It proves thee ory about Telll el-Farkha’s participation in trade withh theo the Levant and goods’ redisttribution. Thee end of thiss a militaryy struccture was fastt and deadly. The theses about

f at the Western Kom m. In The other exxample was found 2006 a deposit of potteery was founnd. In one off the vessels, locaated close too the wall, a jar filled with miniature obj bjects was disccovered. This jar contained over 60 items, moostly ivory figgurines but also some exam mples of miniature vessels.36 Am mong them theere was a miniiature i 2.4cms highh and jar with a weell visible ledgge handle. It is made of alabbaster. Besides the ledge haandle jar two other examples froom this deposiit should be nooted. Both of them have lug handles h and were made of basalt stone. s Up to now the t only know wn analogies to such copies of Palestinian vessels v come from Tell Halif Terrace,37 but this example was made off clay. ple The architecctural examp i gooods the commercial contactts are Besides the imported also reflectedd in the settleement’s structuures. The Weestern

38

Ciaałowicz 2007 9199. Mo olag 2007. 40 Ciaałowicz and Chłoodnicki 2003 100--2. 41 Juccha 2008a 64. 42 Ciaałowicz 2007 9200.

35

39

Brink and Braaun 2007 817. 36 Błaszczyk 20008; Buszek 2008 35-55; Chłodniccki and Ciałowiczz 2008 128-47; Ciałowiicz 2009. 37 Levy et al. 19997 34-5.

38

MARCIN CZARNOWICZ: AT THE INTERSECTION OF TRADING ROUTES (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 489-500. Leuven. Chłodnicki, M. and Ciałowicz, K. 2008. Tell el-Farkha, Preliminary report, 2006. PAM 18, 127-154. Chłodnicki, M. et al. 1992 The Nile Delta in Transition: a View from Tell el-Farkha, in E.C.M. van den Brink (ed.), The Nile Delta in transition, 171-90. Tel Aviv. Ciałowicz, K. 2007. From residence to early temple: the case of Tell el-Farkha, in K. Kroeper et al. (eds.), Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa. In Memory of Lech Krzyżaniak, 917-34. Poznań. Ciałowicz, K. 2009. Female Representations from Tell elFarkha. SAAC 13, 7-24. Ciałowicz, K. and Chłodnicki, M. 2003. Tell el-Farkha (Ghazala) season 2002. PAM 14, 99-110. Cichowski, K. 2008. The Brewery Complex from Tell elFarkha. Archaeological Aspects of the Discovery. In B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 33-40. Leuven. Czarnowicz, M. 2009. Tell el-Farkha 2006. Oval-shaped Pottery from Grave no. 9. SAAC 13, 43-9. Gophna, R. 1968. Notes and News, Ashkelon (Afridar). IEJ 18, 256. Gophna, R. 1996. Excavations at Tel Dalit, An Early Bronze Age Walled Town In Central Israel. Tel Aviv Jucha, M. A. 2005. Tell el-Farkha II, Pottery of the Predynastic Settlement. Cracow, Poznań Jucha, M. A. 2008a. Wavy-handled and Cylindrical Jars in Nile Delta- a View from Tell el-Farkha. SAAC 12, 63-73. Jucha, M. A. 2008b. Tell el-Farcha i rozwoj kontaktow handlowych Egiptuod V do początków III tys. p.n.e. Alma Mater 99, 210-5 Kolodziejczyk, P. 2009. Tell el-Farkha 2006. Granary Models. SAAC 13, 49-54. Kubiak-Martens, L. and Langer, J. 2008. Predynastic beer brewing as suggested by botanical and physicochemical evidence from Tell el-Farkha, Eastern Delta. In B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2, Proceedings of the International Conference “Origin of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt. Touluse (France) 5th- 8th September 2005. OLA 172. 427-43. Leuven. Levy, T. et al. 1997. Egyptian – Canaanite Interaction in Nahal Tillah, Israel (ca. 4500 – 3000 B.C.E.) An Interm Report on the 1994-1995 Excavations. BASOR 307, 1-51. Molag, A. 2007. Możliwości zastosowania nowoczesnych technologii w rekonstrukcji archeologicznej na przykładzie obiektu ze stanowiska Tell el-Farcha. Unpublished MA thesis at the Institute of Archeology Jagiellonian University of Krakow. Pawlikowski, M. 2009. Tell el-Farkha 2007 Mineralogical and Petrographical Investigation of Grave No.55. SAAC 13, 67-82. Quibell, J. 1896. Ballas. London.

raid or catastrophic fire and earthquake cannot be excluded. Our residence may be a victim of the struggle between the Upper Egyptian centers which were fighting to take power over Egyptian lands ompeting against each other in the field of trade with Canaan. Conclusions All monuments and artifacts with Palestinian connections known from Tell el-Farkha led us to the conviction that the site played a crucial role in the Naqadian long distance trade. The time of Tell el-Farkha’s prosperity ends with the fall of the Naqadian presence in Southern Palestine (end of EB IB/beginning of EB II). Probably the Egyptians shifted from the land route to a maritime one.43 Tell el-Farkha which lays far from the main Nile branches could not be involved in the long distance trade any longer. The results of those events were catastrophic for the site and their inhabitants. The local nobility involved in trade with Palestine moved to the place which took the burden of the long distance commercial contacts via maritime route. This process is clearly visible at the Western Kom, which is a residential part of the site. After the rapid and flourishing development it was abandoned during the second half of the 1st Dynasty. References Amiran, R. 1992. Petrie’s F-ware. In E. C. M. van den Brink (ed.), The Nile Delta in transition, 429-30. Tel Aviv. Amiran, R. and Gophna, R. 1992. The Correlation between Lower Egypt and Southern Canaan during the Early Bronze I Period. In E. C. M. van den Brink (ed.), The Nile Delta in transition, 357-60. Tel Aviv. Andelković, B. 1995. The relations Between Early Bronze Age I Canaanites and Upper Egyptians. Belgrade. Błaszczyk, K. 2008. The Royal Figurine from Tell elFarkha. SAAC 12, 57-61. Brink, E. C. M. v. d. and Braun, E. 2003. Egyptian elements and influence on the Early Bronze Age 1 of the Southern Levant: recent excavations, research and publications. Archéo-Nil 13, 77-94. Brink, E. C. M. v. d. and Braun, E. 2007. South Levantine Influences on Egyptian Stone and Pottery Production, Some Rare Examples. In K. Kroeper et al. (eds.), Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa. In Memory of Lech Krzyżaniak, 817-25. Poznań. Buszek, A. 2008. Dwarf Figurines from Tell el-Farkha. SAAC 12, 35-55. Chłodnicki, M. 2008. Trade and Exchange in the Predynastic and Early Dynastic Period in the Eastern Nile Delta. In B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse

43

Jucha 2008b 213.

39

The Oracular Inscription of the High Priest of Amun Menkheperre in the Khonsu Temple at Karnak Gabriella Dembitz Our understanding of the chronology, political activities and social history of the 21st Dynasty is unfortunately far from complete.1 Our knowledge of the 21st Dynasty economy is equally limited. Typically there are very few monumental inscriptions that can securely be dated to this period and could also help us gain insight into the social and economic situation of this era. In addition, we know very little about the political and social activities of the high priests of Amun themselves.

hieroglyphs. There is not one complete line in the entire surviving inscription. The script is oriented from left to right facing Amun-Re of the scene above. Although the oracular inscription is in a very bad state of preservation, and we do not know the exact content of its beginning and end, we are nevertheless able to reconstruct it. Like all oracles of the period it began with the date and the specification of the festival during which the commemorated petition was performed.8 In our case this part and the accompanying scene are lost; the only surviving traces of the second line,9 the words “…his beauty in this court”,10 suggest that the event was carried out in an open courtyard, most probably at the Temple of Amun.11

The only high priest of whom we possess more monumental inscriptions is Menkheperre son of Pinudjem I.2 These inscriptions are the so called “Banishment Stela”,3 which commemorates the installation of Menkheperre as high priest of Amun and the release from exile of certain people from a distant oasis; and a stela from year 48 that celebrates the building of an enclosure wall by the high priest in the northern part of the Amun precinct at Karnak and the clearance of houses or huts of illicit occupation from the courts of the temple.4 We also have some minor inscriptions from his high priesthood such as a Karnak Priestly Annals Fragment (3A) from year 405 that commemorates an inspection ordered by the high priest and the Oracular Inscription in the Khonsu Temple, which is the subject of this article.

The setting is followed by the introduction of the affair and the protagonists. From the fragmentary lines the following names can be reconstructed: the high priest of Amun Menkheperre son of Pinudjem I, the Hm.t-nTr of the face of Amun Tenetnebu,12 the scribe of the commands of the Estate of Amun and letter writer Hori. From line 5 only the children (Xrd.w) of the god’s father and army-scribe Jryaa13 can be reconstructed.

Introduction of the text 8

Černý 1962 35-48. For the numbering of lines see: Temple of Khonsu II Pl. 133. 10 pAj=f nfr m tAj [w]sx[t]. Translation of E. Wente, Temple of Khonsu II 17. 11 The oracle was most probably performed in the court of the Tenth Pylon of the Amun Temple. A sandstone slab with incised footprints and the name of the high priest Menkheperre and his wife and son was found during the excavations of the court in 1977 (Goyon 1982 275). The plaque was found almost intact at the centre of the courtyard (see also Azim 1980 153, Fig. 1). This kind of votive object is well known from temple roofs where usually ordinary priests commemorated their names. However the exact purpose of Menkheperre’s slab is unknown, it most probably was in connection with some religious activities celebrated in the court. J.-C. Goyon suggested that the plaque might indicate the place of ritual purification of the high priest before entering into the temple (Goyon 1982 278-9). The Court 4 of the transverse axis of the Temple of Amun at Karnak was in all probability frequently used during the 21st Dynasty. More inscriptions and scenes from the late 20th Dynasty onwards shows that this court might have been used as a way-station during festival processions and also as an intermediary space between the sacral and profane world that was occasionally visited by the townsfolk. A doorway built by Horemheb connected the court and the transverse axis of the temple with the Khonsu precinct (Barguet 1962 250). More texts carved onto the inner and outer walls of the court commemorate oracles of Amun such as the oracle of Nesamun dating to the late 20th Dynasty, to the year 7 of the wHm msw.t period. This inscription records the inauguration of Nesamun to the post of his father during the high priesthood of Piankh (Nims 1948 157-62). Another inscription dating to the second half of the 21st Dynasty was placed onto the outer face of the east wall of the court (Kruchten 1986). 12 Ranke 1935 360, no. 22. 13 Ranke 1935 41, no. 24.

The inscription was carved on the No. 1 column of the first court of the Khonsu Temple next to the small doorway leading to the open space of the enclosure between the Khonsu Temple and Court 4 of the Amun Temple.6 The oracle was placed below a scene of Herihor who is depicted as king and presents ointment to AmunRe of Karnak.7

9

Unfortunately our text is in very bad condition; approximately half of the preserved inscription is lost with the beginning and the end of the text missing. In its present condition the text is almost 4.5ms long and consists of 52 fragmentary columns of medium-sized 1 For a summary of earlier studies see: Taylor 1998 1143-4 notes 1-3. More recently: Beckerath 1997; Jansen-Winkeln 1992, 1997, 2006; Kitchen 1996, 2006, 2009; Lull 2009; Niwiński 1995; Römer 1994. 2 For a summary of his career see: Kitchen 1996 § 226; for a detailed list of his monuments and inscriptions see Römer 1994 66-73 and also Jansen-Winkeln 2007 72-94. 3 Beckerath 1968 7-36; Jansen-Winkeln 2007 72-4, no. 1. 4 Barguet 1962 36-8, with Pl. 32 B; Jansen-Winkeln 2007 74, no. 2; Thiers 1995 495-7. 5 Legrain 1900 53; Jansen-Winkeln 2007 74, no. 3. 6 PM Vol. 22 232 top, wrongly attributed to Pinudjem I; Temple of Khonsu II Pl. 133 with translation by E. Wente in the same publication, 17-20; Jansen-Winkeln 2007 75-8, no. 5. 7 Temple of Khonsu I Pl. 75.

41

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Following these the high priest Menkheperre presents the will of Amun-Re King of the Gods, the Great God, the Primeval-Who-Began-Existence14 about the price equivalents of the contract of purchases of some sites by the Treasury of the Estate of Amun at Karnak from certain Theban citizens.

treasury of) Amon-Re, King of the Gods, the Great God. Give it at the rate of 60 deben of copper per deben of silver, and I will give the remaining 40 (deben). I will gi[ve] 5 khar of emmer [per] shawl, although it is only 3 khar that the (whole) country gives per shawl, a difference of 2 khar. As [for] any[one] who shall hereafter contest the plan that Amon-Re himself has made, Khonsu-in-Thebes Neferhotep shall cause him to enter into. …” [The rest of the line is lost.]

In line 9 we can read the following: [at least two sign-groups lost] “…equivalent to the deben of silver. I have seen 100 deben of copper over and above15 the assessment(?) of deben …⌐the¬...” [rest of the line is lost].

The oracle is closed with the statement that no heirs should contest the decision after they were given payment from the high priest and with a curse formula for those who do not observe the law.

In line 10:

The decree is followed by the long and detailed list of actual amounts of payment that were given to certain people’s heirs. The members of at least three families, the family of Tanetserer, Painebenadjed and Iryaa, can be reconstructed from the fragmentary lines. The families of Tanetserer and Iryaa received 305.5 deben of copper consisting of 30.5 rwDw garments, while the heirs of Painebenadjed were most probably given 905 deben altogether.

“per shawl] today [1.5 sign-group lost]… ⌐3¬ oipě of emmer over and above grain of mine.”16 Unfortunately the lines declaring the value of copper, emmer and shawls concerning the transactions are fragmentary. It appears from the preserved text that the usual value of these goods had been increased by the god himself for this occasion. Then (lines 11-13) the high priest asks: “Will Amon-Re, King of the Gods, turn himself against any persons among these heirs who stand in the presence of Khonsu-in-Thebes Neferhotep, m[y] lord, a[nd sa]y falsely, ‘I received something from the agents of Menkheperre justified’ without having received it?’ Said… as one: ‘We have received these 5 [khar] of emmer per [shawl] …copper (per) deben of silver...‘”

Commentary on the text When examining the text, we should keep in mind that the Oracular Inscription of the high priest Menkheperre is not a detailed administrative document but a ceremonial inscription placed inside a temple court with the aim of commemorating the deeds of the high priest and recording and publishing the contract between Menkheperre and the citizens of Thebes.

Lines 14-24 of the oracular inscription are severely damaged, only a few words can be reconstructed from the traces. In lines 18-19 the text originally determined the value of certain plots of land (jwtn) but this unfortunately also has been lost.

Nevertheless, lines 9 to 11 and 26 to 28 inform us about the financial details of the matter. From the traces it seems certain that the value of 1 deben of silver was less than 100 deben of copper in the time of Menkheperre. Despite this, Amun-Re wished that 1 deben of silver should be valued as 100 deben of copper.

From the surviving fragments of the next lines it seems that the first variation of paying for the plots was not in accordance with the plans of Amun: the god moved backwards showing disagreement. The next question, most probably concerning the business with the citizens of Thebes pleased Amun, who agreed completely.

Our information on the silver to copper ratio provided by administrative texts and ostraca is the best traceable in the Ramessid Period. During the reign of Ramesses II 1 deben of silver was valued 100 deben of copper, but by the time of Ramesses IX the price of 1 deben of silver was worth only 60 deben of copper.17

In lines 25-29 Menkheperre son of Pinudjem I says: “Look ⌐after¬ these people, ci[ti]zens of Thebes. Let [th]em be given payment [in exch]ange for the plot of land. … Let the payment be large [from] (the

It is quite difficult to determine the usual silver to copper ratio during the time of the high priest Menkeperre. Our sources securely dating to the 21st Dynasty are scarce. Unfortunately most of them are monumental inscriptions and scenes that were carved on temple walls by high priest of Amun mainly at the Khonsu Temple at Karnak. Other important texts were found on coffins, mummy

14

According to J.-M. Kruchten this is the form of Amun who resides in the bark sanctuary of the Amun Temple, and whose statue took part in festival processions and replied to questions addressed to him during oracles. Kruchten 1986 337-54. 15 Egyptian term HAw. For the translation see Temple of Khonsu II 19 note g. 16 All translations of the texts presented in this article were made by E. Wente, Temple of Khonsu II 17-20. See also Jansen-Winkeln 2007 76.

17 Janssen 1975 106. The exact reason of this change that took place most probably during the reign of Ramesses III is unclear for us. Janssen 1988 17-8.

42

GABRIELLA DEMBITZ: THE ORACULAR INSCRIPTION OF THE HIGH PRIEST OF AMUN MENKHEPERRE police that supervised the necropolis.28 The last tomb in the Valley of the Kings was begun to be built for the last ruler of the 20th Dynasty, Ramesses XI, but was never completed. From year 13 of Ramesses IX tomb robberies and temple thefts became more frequent,29 and from then on the main assignment for the necropolis scribes, foremen and workmen were to check the safety of the royal tombs and to help rewrap and rebury their royal ancestors.30

bandages and linen found in the two royal cachettes at the Valley of the Kings and Deir el-Bahari, but unfortunately none of these deal with commodity prices of the period either.18 The ostraca and papyri were replaced as our main sources about the necropolis workmen by hieratic graffiti carved on the walls and in the vicinity of the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings and upon the cliffs nearby.19 These graffiti most frequently commemorate the name and titles of the Scribe of the Tomb Butehamun who also possessed a once elegant house with six columns at Medinet Habu.20 As the scribe of the tomb his main occupation might have been to supervise the clearance of the known royal tombs at the Valley of the Kings during the high priesthood of Pinudjem I.21

During the 21st Dynasty the government seems to have remained stable despite the duality of power held by rulers whose residence was in Tanis and the high priest of Amun at Karnak and ‘great army commanders’ who controlled the Thebaid from their el-Hibeh residence.31 In spite of the political situation the state economy was firm and the northern rulers were recognised throughout the country. Most of our knowledge of the economy of the period comes from certain papyri dealing with fields and their revenues. We possess several papyri fragments32 and the Papyrus Reinhardt33 most probably originates from Thebes with a list of fields mentioning their tenants and revenues. These texts in all probability dating to the second half of the 21st Dynasty and to the 22nd Dynasty34 follow Ramessid scribal practices like those used in the Wilbour Papyrus from the reign of Ramesses V.35 Unfortunately these papyri do not help us to decide the silver to copper ratio of the period either.

Our knowledge of the economic circumstances of the period is also limited. A weakening of royal economic power can be observed from the 20th Dynasty onwards, but its full nature and intensity remains unclear.22 An indicator of internal problems might be the inflation of grain prices during the reign of Ramesses VII but at the end of the dynasty the normal upper level of two deben price for one sack of emmer again dominates.23 Largescale building projects with stone-mining expeditions so characteristic of the early Ramessid era ceased even during the longer reigns of Ramesses IX and XI. After the death of Ramesses III tribute and foreign trade declined and royal copper-mining expeditions to the Sinai peninsula and the Arabeh stopped after the reign of Ramesses V and VI respectively. However, Sudanese gold was accessible until the end of the dynasty24 the last Viceroy of Kush title-holder was the high priest of Amun Herihor.25

Nevertheless the value of the rwDw garment used as the actual payment for some plots and the price of emmer in the Oracular Inscription of Menkeheperre might help us to solve this problem. In line 28 the high priest states that he will provide for the garment 5 khar of emmer, although the whole country gives only 3 khar per shawl. Lines 32-33 of the inscription inform us that the heirs of Tanetserer received 305 deben of copper in the form of 30.5 rwDw garments. This means that the value of the linen equalled 10 deben, which was 4 deben more than the actual price throughout the country.

We know extremely little about the life of ordinary people of this period. Some inscriptions report internal problems or tensions during the late 20th Dynasty, like the suppression of the high priest Amenhotep or famine.26 The formerly peaceful life of the necropolis workmen also changed significantly during the late Ramessid Period. The everyday life at Deir el-Medina and the work in the Valley of the Kings were disturbed by occasional attacks of Libyan tribes beginning from the end of the 20th Dynasty.27 The population of western Thebes began to move within the enclosure of Medinet Habu, whose massive walls could serve as fortifications, and which became the seat of administration of the Theban necropolis and probably housed a garrison of military

We know from J. Janssen’s study that the price of rwDw garment in the Ramessid Period varied between 5 and 15 deben.36 For a smooth shawl the usual price was 10 deben or slightly less.37 In our text the 3 khar of emmer given country-wide for the garment was the equivalent of 6 28

Hölscher 1954 1. Kitchen 1996 247. 30 Černý 1975 655. 31 O’Connor 1983 233-4 also see Černý 1975 652-3. 32 For a comprehensive collection of these see Gasse 1988. 33 Vleeming 1993. 34 A. Gasse dates the Griffith Fragments together with the matching Louvre AF 6345 papyrus to the year 6 of the wHm msw.t period of Ramesses XI, the Papyrus Reinhardt and Prachov to the reign of Psusennes I and the so called ”Grundbuch” to the beginning of the rule of Psusennes II (Gasse 1988 174). However it seems more likely as S. Vleeming believes that all these papyri should be dated later to the 21st22nd dynasties and these texts span a shorter period of time as they most probably derive from the same find (Vleeming 1991 221 and Vleeming 1993 8-9). 35 Gardiner 1948. 36 Janssen 1975 284-6. 37 Janssen 1975 286. 29

18

For these see Maspero 1889 511-787 and also Kitchen 1996 411-23. These graffiti mostly contain biographical data of the workmen during the period. Černý 1956; Černý 2004 357-83; Peden 2001 238-65; Spiegelberg 1921. 20 Hölscher 1954 4-5 with Fig. 3; PM Vol. 12/2. 773 and plan 16. 21 Černý 2004 373-4. 22 O’Connor 1983 226. 23 The normal price for 1 khar of emmer was 1 to 2 deben of copper during the 20th Dynasty. Janssen 1975 116. See also Černý 1934 173-8. 24 O’Connor 1983 226. 25 Černý 1975 636. For the titles of the high priests of the period see Jansen-Winkeln 1997 51, Tab. 1. 26 Kitchen 1996 § 208. 27 Černý 1975 616-9; Haring 1992 71-80. 19

43

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT certain fields measuring one to five arouras.47 The term might designate the lower class citizens of Egypt who most frequently were wab’s, carriers, soldiers, bearers (xrty-nTr), scribes, scribes of the army, ladies and occasionally jt-nTr priests.48

deben. This means that the price of emmer was still 2 deben during this period, just like at the end of the preceding dynasty. As we can see the God Amun’s desire was a 40 per cent increase in the standard prices of commodities. This most probably also applies to the price of silver even though its value was 60 deben of copper in the time of the high priest Menkheperre, just as it was during the preceding dynasty.

In our case the titles held by the individuals mentioned in the text suggest that these people were in close relationship with the Temple of Amun at Karnak. The title-holders of the text:

Unfortunately the most important element of the text, namely the value of the plot of land, the Egyptian term for which is jwtn, is missing. In general, the word jwtn means ‘ground’.38 An 18th Dynasty letter contains the jwtn n pr expression meaning literally ‘land of the house’. This term seems to signify the land on which the house is being built.39 In our case the word probably means ‘site’ or ‘property’.40 This interpretation is also suggested by the ostraca from Deir el-Medina, where the expression is used for pieces of land but not arable land. One such mentioning of the prices for jwtn occurs in O. DeM. 593 (mid 20th Dynasty). The damaged text informs us that the jwtn of the workman Hori, son of Huynofer, was sold for 5 deben. The price seems surprisingly low even if the lots or parcels owned by the workmen of Deir el-Medina were relatively small.41 Another, even more fragmentary ostracon gives 1 deben price for a jwtn.42 The Papyrus Bulaq 10 (also mid 20th Dynasty) verso mentions a pA jwtn nty tAy=f StAy.t m-jm=f ‘the site where its StAy.t is: (length) 6 cubits, width 6’ equalling approximately 10sqms.43

Line 4:

Hm.t nTr n pA Hr n Jmn49 §ntnb.t

Line 5: jt-nTr sS mSa JryaA Line 7:

sS sHn n pr-Jmn sS Sa ¡rj50

Line 34: swnw NsjpAjrtjtAwj Line 35: aA PAjjnbaDd n pA qwr n Pr-Jmn Line 36: sS anxfnmwt Line 40:

In our case we do not have any information about the measures or nature of these jwtn-lands purchased by the Estate of Amun from the heirs of certain citizens of Thebes.

Line 44:

jt-nTr n Jmn NsjpAirtjtAwj51

sS Htp.w nTr Pniwnab(?) sA n JmnHtp52

44

These people are termed as rmT nmHy.w n njw.t. On the basis of mostly Middle Kingdom texts the expression nmHw can be translated as ‘orphan’, ‘person without protection or property’ or ‘poor’.45 The administrative texts suggest that from the New Kingdom onwards the term means private people’, ‘freeman’ who might have owned certain properties like a Hsp garden as mentioned in the Decree of Horemheb.46 In the administrative papyri from the late Ramessid Period onwards we can find several nmHw people who are mentioned as tenants of

Accordingly, some title-holders were not members of the lower class clergy and officials, who usually were designated as nmHw, but rather belonged to the middle class of Thebes, such as the overseer of the miners of the estate of Amun and the scribe of the divine offerings. Although we do not know any details about the properties bought by the Treasury of the Estate of Amun with the help of Menkheperre, we can presume that these properties were more valuable than those in possession of the workmen at Deir el-Medina. The heirs of the lady

38

Wb I 58. Glanville 1928 299-300. 40 Janssen 1975 396. 41 The value of arable land during the reign of Siamun varied between 0.5-0.6 deben of silver that equals 30-36 deben of copper calculated with the 1:60 silver:copper ratio. The price of the land decreased significantly to 0.08-0.12 deben at the end of the dynasty. Baer 1962 29, Tab. 2. 42 Janssen 1975 396-7. 43 Translation made by R. Demarée, see: Demarée 2006 59. Also see: Janssen-Pestman 1968 147. 44 For the different writings of the term see Römer 1994 413. 45 Wb II 268. See also Römer 1994 412-42. 46 Paragraph 6 line 32 at Kruchten 1981. For the term nmHy see Kruchten 1981 31-3 and 126. 39

47

Gardiner 1948 Vol. 1 91. Römer 1994 437-8 § 478. For an example see the titles of the tenants enumerated in the Griffith Fragments and Papyrus Louvre AF 6345. Gasse 1988 14-22 with Pls. 19-31. 49 The title ‘priestess in the countenance of Amun’ is quite obscure for us. For the title Hm.t nTr see: Naguib 1990 211-3. 50 The ‘scribe of the commands of the Estate of Amun and letter writer’ Hori most probably was not a beneficiary of the decree but an official in duty during the oracle. Römer 1994 434, note 647. 51 The ‘physician’ and the ‘god’s father’ Nespairtitawy seems to be members of different families. 52 See Temple of Khonsu II 19 note uu. 48

44

GABRIELLA DEMBITZ: THE ORACULAR INSCRIPTION OF THE HIGH PRIEST OF AMUN MENKHEPERRE high priest of Amun.61 B. Haring translates this term as ‘palanquin’,62 A. Gasse as ‘sanctuary of portable shrine’.63 Unfortunately there is no other known reference for a qnj.w of a high priest. The Papyrus BM 10053 twice mentions a funerary priest (wAH-mw) of the high priest of Amun who occasionally might serve in a qnj.w too.64

Tanetserer and of the the jt-nTr priest and scribe of the army Iryaa received 305 deben while the heirs of Panebenadjed who was overseer of the miners of the Estate of Amun were able to divide a striking 905 deben. The only plausible explanation for this is that Panebenadjed had obtained a more valuable piece of land than the other proprietors.

The high priest of Amun was not only overseer of the Estate of Amun and its revenues but he seemed to own individual domains with annual income and most probably a mortuary cult too.

It is noteworthy that the payment for the plots of lands was compensated from the Treasury of the Estate of Amun. However, the treasury only paid the regular silver:copper ratio of the period and the high priest himself, who was responsible for the properties and the treasury of Amun, guaranteed the extra 40 deben. Although our knowledge on the economic practices of the Estate of Amun is far from satisfactory,53 this method of payment is, as far as I know, unparalleled in administrative texts.

Another possibility to increase the revenues of the Treasury of Amun might have come from the Valley of the Kings. From the high priesthood of Piankh onwards the interest in restoring and repairing the burials of the Valley was not solely restricted to religious reasons. For example when the high priest Pinakh needed more assets for his military campaign against Panehsy he might have reused the treasures of a previously untouched tomb.65 Most of the reburials and restorations took place during Pinudjem I, the father of Menkheperre, who adopted some kind of kingly status from a year 13, most probably of Psusennes I. It is noteworthy that the increase of his activity in the Valley seems to be close to this event.66 Several dockets dating to the office of Menkheperre show that he also had the opportunity to exploit the remaining treasures for economic reasons too.67

The Griffith and Louvre Fragments, dating most probably to the second half of the 21st Dynasty, resemble in some aspects the Texts A and B of the Wilbour Papyrus. Several institutional domains54 are mentioned on the recto, such as the domains of the estates of Amun, Mut and Khonsu and other temples.55 On the verso we can find a list of individual landholders like in the apportioning paragraphs of Wilbour Papyrus Text A.56 The fields listed in the fragments were situated in or near the 10th Upper-Egyptian nome.57 The surviving references to institutions in the papyri show a great resemblance for those mentioned in the Wilbour Papyrus.58 On the basis of the papyrus we can presume that the economic situation remained almost the same – at least concerning the temples – as it was during the second half of the 20th Dynasty. The fragments also suggest that the income of the Estate of Amun at Thebes was stable during at least in the second half of the 21st Dynasty.

The question, then, is obvious: why did the high priest of Amun give huge amounts of valuables for some sites to the heirs of the officers of the Temple of Amun at Karnak? For a possible explanation we need to examine the historical background of the period with the help of the other inscriptions of the high priest Menkheperre. Historical background from other texts of the high priest

Therefore the Treasury of the Estate of Amun could have been able to afford to pay for the properties of some citizens of Thebes. The more interesting part of the contract is that the high priest Menkheperre offered to compensate himself the extra 40 percent of the price declared by Amun. It is a rather difficult task to determine the personal wealth of a high priest during the 21st Dynasty.59

The so-called Banishment Stela dated to year 25 of most probably Smendes informs us that Amun-Re of Karnak in an oracle that took place at a festival procession at Karnak asked Menkhepperre to travel south from his elHibeh residence to Thebes with his army to pacify and protect the city and to suppress its enemies. Although the foe of the high priest is not mentioned or is lost, he most probably rose to power after the death of Menkheperre’s predecessor with the support of local Theban opposition. Following the victorious arrival of Menkheperre at Thebes he was installed as high priest of Amun and generalissimo according to the wish of Amun-Re himself.

The recto II, 6 and VI, 4 of the same papyrus studied above mentions a certain domain of the qnj.w60 of the

53

Gasse 1988 175-236. Egyptian term rmny.t. Gardiner 1948 Vol. 1 110-1; Gasse 1988 224-5. 55 Gasse 1988 50-5; Haring 1997 330-1. 56 Haring 1997 327. 57 Gardiner 1927 66. 58 Haring also points to the fact that these are not only smaller Theban institutions as previously suggested. Haring 1997 332. 59 The treasury had to pay to the heirs of Tanetserer, Jryaa and Panebenadjed 1089 deben of copper, the remaining 726 deben was compensated by Menkheperre. Unfortunately the fragmentary state of the inscription does not allow a precise data of the expense of both parties. 60 Wb V 52. 54

61

Haring 1997 331. Unfortunately the name of the high priest had lost.

Only the first two signs survived from the name of a high priest mentioned in Column IX, 5 who newly founded a domain for a temple. Gasse 1988 11, Pl. 11. 62 Haring 1997 331, with note 3. 63 Gasse 1988 24, no. 9. 64 Haring 1977 331, note 3. 65 Jansen-Winkeln 1995 67. 66 Reeves 1990 277-8, see also Jansen-Winkeln 1995 62-78. 67 For these dockets see Kitchen 1996 §§ 384-7.

45

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT A third oracle commemorates the clemency of the high priest for asking the approval of Amun to release some rebels from their exile in the western oasis and to save them from execution. Unfortunately the date of the third oracle is lost; it can only be supposed that the year date might be 1-5 of probably Psusennes I.68

country. Moreover, the high priest himself paid this extra 40 per cent probably in an attempt to win the support of the lower or middle class priesthood and the officers of the Temple of Amun at Karnak. The inscription survived on a column in the court of the Temple of Khonsu that was occasionally visited by those who participated in the festivals and was carved near a doorway that was used by priests upon entering the temple from the Amun precinct. This fact also strengthens the assumption that the text was not only an administrative record of some purchases by the Estate of Amun, but it commemorated an important event in the life of the Theban community.

In Thebes Menkheperre carried out a variety of works during his later years, most notably in the Amun precinct, the Khonsu Temple, and Luxor Temple. One fragment of the Karnak Priestly Annals records an inspection (sjp) of most of the Theban Temples carried out in his name by the 4th Prophet of Amun Tjanofer in Year 40.69

References

The Stela of year 48 found in the Ethiopian court of the Eastern Temple at Karnak commemorates the building of a great wall on the north of the Temple of Amun in order to keep the Amun precinct free from the houses of the poor who might have sought shelter within the fortified walls of the temple from unspecified threat.70

Azim, M. 1980. La fouille de la Cour du Xe Pylône: Rapport préliminaire. KARNAK 6, 153-65. Baer, K. 1962. The Low Price of Land in Ancient Egypt. JARCE 1, 25-45. Barguet, P. 1962. Le Temple d’Amon-Rê à Karnak: essai d’exégèse. RAPH 21. Cairo. Beckerath, J. v. 1968. Die “Stele der Verbannten” im Museum des Louvre. RdE 20, 7-36. Beckerath, J. v. 1997. Chronologie des pharaonischen Ägypten. Die Zeitbestimmung der ägyptischen Geschichte von der Vorzeit bis 332 v. Chr. MÄS 46. Mainz. Caminos, R. A. 1958. The Chronicle of Prince Osorkon. AnOr 37. Rome. Černý, J. 1934. Fluctuations in Grain Prices during the Twentieth Dynasty. ArOr 6, 173-8. Černý, J. 1956. Graffiti Hiéroglyphiques et Hiératiques de la Nécropole Thébaine. Nos 1060 à 1405. DFIFAO 9. Cairo. Černý, J. 1962. Egyptian Oracles. In R. A. Parker (ed.), A Saite Oracle Papyrus from Thebes in the Brooklyn Museum (Pap. Brooklyn 47.218.3), 35-48. Providence. Černý, J. 1975. Egypt from the Death of Ramesses III to the End of the Twenty-first Dynasty. CAH Vol. 2/2, 606-57. Cambridge. Černý, J. 20043. A Community of Workmen at Thebes in the Ramesside Period. BdE 50. Cairo. Demarée, R. 2006. A House is not a Home – What exactly is a Hut? In: A. Dorn and T. Hofmann (eds.), Living and Writing in Deir el-Medine. Sociohistorical Embodiment of Deir el-Medine Texts. AH 19. 57-66. Basel. Gardiner, A. H. 1927. Ramesside Texts Relating to the Taxation and Transport of Corn. JEA 27. 19-73. Gardiner, A. H. 1948. The Wilbour Papyrus. Vols. 2-3. Oxford. Gasse, A. 1988. Données nouvelles administratives et sacerdotales sur l’organisation du Domaine d’Amon XXe-XXIe dynasties: à la lumière des papyrus Prachov, Reinhardt et Grundbuch (avec édition princeps des papyrus Louvre AF 6345 et 6346-7). BdE 104. Cairo. Glanville, S. R. K. 1928. The Letters to Aahmōse of Peniati. JEA 14, 294-312.

It seems from the surviving inscriptions of Menkheperre that he had to suppress local opposition and instability in the beginning of his high priesthood, but he also had problems to solve later on. We know of several oracular decrees that came into existence in periods of tension. Two of them, namely a fragmentary inscription71 and the Chronicle of Prince Osorkon72 from the Temple of Amun at Karnak can be dated to the 22nd Dynasty most probably to the reign of Takeloth II. In these inscriptions Prince Osorkon, who had to fight for power in Thebes with Harsiese B,73 gives benefactions to the lower priesthood of the Temple of Amun after restoring order and promises to safeguard them from future injustice. The aim of these texts was to win the support of the lower class priesthood of the Temple of Amun at Karnak and to ensure their support during any possible future upheavals. Although in the case of the Oracular Inscription of high priest Menkheperre, the original purpose of the text was more ambiguous, we can still try to draw some conclusions. Conclusion The investigation of the text and its historical context suggests that the heirs mentioned in the inscription received some sort of compensation for plots of land which their relatives had probably lost during the troubled times. Thus an injustice was later restored by the high priest Menkheperre. The inscription informs us that the heirs received 40 per cent more for the value of silver and rwDw garment than the usual price throughout the 68

For this summary see Kitchen 1996 260. No. 3A. Legrain 1900 53; Jansen-Winkeln 2007 74, no. 3. 70 Thiers 1995 510-1. 71 Vernus 1980 215-33. 72 Caminos 1958. 73 Kitchen 1996 328-32. 69

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GABRIELLA DEMBITZ: THE ORACULAR INSCRIPTION OF THE HIGH PRIEST OF AMUN MENKHEPERRE Dynasties: Proceedings of a Conference at Leiden University, 25–27 October 2007. EgUit 23. 241-9. Leiden, Leuven. Maspero, G. 1889. Les momies royales de Déir-el-Baharî. MMAF 1/4, 511-787. Naguib, S. A. 1990. Le clergé feminin d’Amon Tébain à la 21e Dynastie. OLA 38. Leuven. Nims, C: 1948. An Oracle Dated in “The Repeating of Births”. JNES 7, 157-62. Niwiński, A. 1995. Le Passage de la XXe á la XXIIe dynastie. Chronologie et histoire politique. BIFAO 95, 329-60. O’Connor, D. 1983. New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period 1552-664 B.C. In B. G. Trigger et al. (eds.), Ancient Egypt: A Social History, 183-278. Cambridge. Peden, A. J. 2001. The Graffiti of Pharaonic Egypt: Scope and Roles of Informal Writings (c. 3100-332 B.C.). PAe 17. Leiden, Boston, Köln. Ranke, H. 1935. Die ägyptischen Personennamen, Vol. 1. Glückstadt, Hamburg. Reeves, C. N. 1990. Valley of the Kings: The Decline of a Royal Necropolis. London. Römer, M. 1994. Gottes- und Priesterherrschaft in Ägypten am Ende des Neuen Reiches: ein religionsgeschichtliches Phänomen und seine sozialen Grundlagen. ÄUAT 21. Wiesbaden. Spiegelberg, W. 1921. Ägyptische und andere Graffiti (Inschriften und Zeichnungen) aus der Thebanischen Nekropolis. Heidelberg. Taylor, J. H. 1998. Nodjmet, Payankh and Herihor. The End of the New Kingdom Reconsidered. In C. Eyre (ed.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists. Cambridge, 3–9 September 1995. OLA 82. 1143-4. Leiden. Temple of Khonsu I. The Epigraphic Survey: The Temple of Khonsu, Vol. 1. Scenes of King Herihor in the Court with Translations of Texts. OIP 100. 1979. Temple of Khonsu II. The Epigraphic Survey: The Temple of Khonsu, Vol. 2. Scenes and Inscriptions in the Court and the First Hypostyle Hall, with Translations of Texts and Glossary for Volumes 1 and 2. OIP 103. Chicago. 1981. Thiers, C. 1995. Civils et militaires dans les temples: occupation illicite et expulsion. BIFAO 95, 493-516. Vernus, P. 1980. Inscriptions de la troisième période intermediare (IV): Le texte oraculaire réemployé dans le passage axial du IIIe pylône dans le Temple de Karnak. KARNAK 6, 215-33. Vleeming, S. P. 1991. Rezension: A. Gasse: Données nouvelles administratives et sacerdotales sur l’organisation du Domaine d’Amon XXe-XXIe dynasties: à la lumière des papyrus Prachov, Reinhardt et Grundbuch (avec édition princeps des papyrus Louvre AF 6345 et 6346-7). BdE 104. Cairo. Enchoria 18, 217-27. Vleeming, S. P. 1993. Papyrus Reinhardt: An Egyptian Land List from the Tenth Century B.C. Hieratische Papyri aus den Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin 2. Berlin.

Goyon, J.-C. 1982. Une dale aux noms de Menkheperrê, fils de Pinedjem I, d’Istemkheb et Smendès (CS X 1305). KARNAK 7, 275-80. Haring, B. J. J. 1992. Lybians in the Late Twentieth Dynasty. In R. Demarée and A. Ebgerts (eds.), Village Voices. Proceedings of the Symposium "Texts from Deir El-Medina and their Interpretation". Leiden, May 31 – June 1, 1991. CNWS Publications 13. 7180. Leiden. Haring, B. J. J. 1997. Divine Households: Administrative and Economic Aspects of the New Kingdom Royal Memorial Temples in Western Thebes. EgUit 12. Leiden. Hölscher, U. 1954. Post-Ramessid Remains: The Excavation of Medinet Habu, Vol. 5. OIP 66. Chicago. Jansen-Winkeln, K. 1992. Das Ende des Neuen Reiches. ZÄS 119, 22-37. Jansen-Winkeln, K. 1995. Die Plünderung der Königsgräber des Neuen Reiches. ZÄS 122. 62-78. Jansen-Winkeln, K. 1997. Die thebanischen Gründer der 21. Dynastie. GM 157. 49-74. Jansen-Winkeln, K. 2006 The Relevance of Genealogical Information for Egyptian Chronology. ÄUL 16, 25773. Jansen-Winkeln, K. 2007. Inschriften der Spätzeit Teil I: Die 21. Dynastie. Wiesbaden. Janssen, J. J. 1975. Commodity Prices from the Ramessid Period: An Economic Study of the Village of Necropolis Workmen at Thebes. Leiden. Janssen, J. J. 1988. On Prieces and Wages in Ancient Egypt. AoF 15, 10-23. Janssen, J. J. and Pestman, P. W. 1968. Burial and Inheritance in the Community of the Necropolis Workmen at Thebes (Pap. Boulaq X and O. Petrie 16). JESHO 11, 137-70. Kitchen, K. A. 19962. The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100-650 B.C.). Second edition reprinted with new preface. Warminster. Kitchen, K. A. 2006. The Strengths and Weakness of Egyptian Chronology – A Reconsideration. ÄUL 16, 293-308. Kitchen, K. A. 2009. The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt: An Overview of Fact & Fiction. In: G. P. F. Broekman et al. (eds.), The Libyan Period in Egypt: Historical and Cultural Studies into the 21st-24th Dynasties: Proceedings of a Conference at Leiden University, 25–27 October 2007. EgUit 23. 161-202. Leiden, Leuven. Kruchten, J.-M. 1981. Le décret d’Horemheb: Tranduction, commentaire épigraphique, philologique et institutionnel. Université Libre de Bruxelles. Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres 82. Brussels. Kruchten, J.-M. 1986. Le Grande Texte Oraculaire de Djéhoutymose intendant du domaine d’Amon sous les pontificat de Pinedjem II. MRE 5. Brussels. Legrain, G. 1900. Notes prises à Karnak: Fragments des annales des prêtres d’Amon. RT 22, 51-64. Lull, J. 2009. Beginning and End of the High Priest of Amun Menkheperre. In: G. P. F. Broekman et al. (eds.), The Libyan Period in Egypt: Historical and Cultural Studies into the 21st-24th 47

Business with Gods: The Role of Bargaining in Demotic Letters to Gods and Graeco-Roman Judicial Prayers Kata Endreffy Wooden board CUL Michael. x4, dated to the Early Ptolemaic Period, is a letter to the deified Amenhotep, son of Hapu.5 The petitioner, a priest of Amun-Ra-Sonter, offers two deben of silver to Amenhotep, but – quite bluntly – makes his offering subject to two conditions:

Demotic letters to gods Letters to gods constitute a unique source of Demotic religious literature from the Late and Ptolemaic periods in Egypt. Petitioners – as a rule private individuals – ask the gods for assistance in everyday affairs, such as problems of health, family and business, and request their support in cases of injustice and unfair treatment. The corpus is not large, about 40 letters are known, and only half of them published.1

(3) If (4) &Aj-p.t, the daughter of PA-di-Imn-smA-tA.wy should become pregnant, (5) I will give (you) 1 (deben of) silver, that is 5 staters of silver, (6) which again makes 1 (deben of) silver. If she gives birth, (7) I will give (you) another (deben of) silver, that is 5 staters (of silver), which again makes 1 (deben of) silver (8) to make 2 (deben of) silver in exchange for the costs, on the day (9) that it is ordered.6

Concerning their content, A. G. Migahid categorised the letters as 1) complaints, 2) requests, and 3) promises (Gelübde-Briefe).2 It is this last category that the present paper aims to examine more closely. I will first present two typical examples, then compare the Demotic material with Greek judicial prayers, a specific group within the corpus of curse tablets, and suggest that the similarities shared by the two genres may not be purely incidental.3

Another example, P. BM 10857, is a Late Ptolemaic letter to the ibis, sacred animal of Thoth, written by a certain Djehuty-Nakht, whose father, Gemu-Hapi was taken seriously ill.7 Similarly to the previous case, the petitioner offers money for the cult of the god, on the condition that his father would recover from the illness.

Gelübde-Briefe What Gelübde-Briefe essentially contain is a fairly simple business deal: letter-writers offer something to the deity invoked, on the condition that he or she will assist them in the problem put forward. Most frequently the offering is money or gifts given to the sanctuary of the deity.4

(3) If ⌐Gm=w-@p¬, your servant, should happen to get well (4) and not ⌐die¬ … (5) of the illness that he is in, I will ⌐give¬ (6) ... ⌐silver(s)¬ [… staters, which makes … silver(s)] ⌐again¬ [for the] (7) burial of the ibis, always (8) 1 kite silver monthly, from the last day of the second month of akhet (9) continuously…8

1 For the first systematic study of the material, see Migahid 1986, who gave an extensive analysis of the entire genre, improved on the understanding of many documents already published, and also translated new material. For documents published since Migahid’s treatment, see Zaghloul 1985 (P. Mallawi 485 and L. Mallawi 489); Vittmann 1995 (L. CUL Michael. and P. Vienna D.12026); Migahid and Vittmann 2003 (L. BM 73784 and L. BM 73786); Zauzich 1992-93 (P. Berlin 15660); and Ray 2005 (Saqqara H5-1660 [3545]). There are still a number of letters that await publication. These are partly of unknown provenance, partly come from the Saqqara and Tuna el-Gebel animal necropoleis. (For the former cf. El-Khouly 1973 151-2; and Migahid 1986 Vol. 1 25; as well as Davies and Smith 1997; and Smith 2002. A Demotic letter to Thoth written in 12 lines of early Demotic and inscribed upon an incomplete clay vessel also resurfaced in Tuna in 2007 during the joint archaeological mission of Cairo and Munich Universities (M. Ebeid, e-mail message to author, 6 July 2008). 2 Migahid 1986 Vol. 2 67. While considering the first two groups strongly connected, he claims that the last group is isolated, and never appears in combination with the other two. This might be disputed, however, when one considers the bribe-letters that will be discussed further on. 3 Although the comparison of the Demotic and Greek material with Coptic letters to Jesus Christ and the angels on the one hand, and Latin defixiones on the other, would also bring interesting results, this falls outside the scope of the present paper. The same is true for the examination of the older Egyptian genre of letters to the dead. 4 Again, the genre is not new to Egyptian religious literature, cf. for example O. Gardiner 310 published in Černý and Gardiner 1957 15 with Pl. 50, 2.

Later in the letter the amount to be given is further specified as ¼ silver monthly, which makes a yearly donation of three silvers. The letter is dated to the 22nd day of the first month of akhet. This suggests that the

5

Malinine 1962. Translation after Malinine 1962 42: “S’il arrive que devient enceinte Taipé, fille de Pétéamestous, je donnerai un (deben d’) argent, soit 5 stater (d’argent), soit, encore, un (deben d’) argent, au total 2 (deben d’) argent, pour les frais, le jour que l’on m’ordonnera”. 7 Migahid 1986 Vol. 1 122-9, Urk. no. 10. 8 Translation after Migahid 1986 Vol. 1 124: “Wenn es geschieht, daß ⌐ Gm=w-@p¬ dein Diener schön wird, daß er nicht ⌐gestorben ist [an] der¬ Krankheit, in der er ist, (dann) wer[de ich] ⌐geben¬ […] ⌐ Silberling(e)¬, [macht… Stater, macht] ⌐wiederum¬ [… Silberling(e)] [für das] Begräbnis des Ibisses, jeweils eine Silberkite für jeden Monat, vom 30. Phaophi an fürderhin.” 6

49

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT petitioner expected a speedy recovery for his father, and intended to start paying the following month.

The writer of another early Demotic letter, L. CUL Michael, explicitly says:12

In both letters the problems put forward are quite serious, and it is easily understood that one would turn to supernatural assistance when faced with issues for which perhaps modern medicine could not offer a solution. What is noteworthy is that despite the gravity of the problems, the tone of the letters – especially as opposed to other Demotic letters to gods – is quite dispassionate.9 Petitioners turn to the gods in a rather blunt, business-like manner, and without much ado, and any humbleness for that matter, transform the problem into a simple bargain with the divine. They also expect the gods to act first: they will only keep their side of the bargain, if the deity has already fulfilled their wish.

(6) Our great lord, (7) make it (i. e. the food of the ibis) come to me for your own sake, (because) I am not going to let the property of the ibis be taken away, (8) if the food should again be established with me.13 Judicial prayers This strategy on the petitioners’ part takes us to ancient Greek and Roman curse tablets, more specifically to the so-called judicial prayers, treated by Versnel as a separate category within the wider genre of defixiones.14 In contrast to curse tablets in general, the authors of both judicial prayers and Demotic letters to gods tend to name themselves, and present their cases in a detailed and elaborate way. They also show a similarity in the way the attention of the deity is secured: in both cases the gods, too, are involved in the affair, since the acts of the accused party interfere with their interests as well.

Bribe letters Besides money and gifts, services may also be offered. This happens in certain letters of complaint and request: petitioners here emphasise that it is not only the gods who can help them: they can also help the gods, and if they fail to do so, that may cause serious problems in the cult service. In a sense, they bribe the gods by making clear that their services are indispensable for the proper functioning of the cult, and again we have a bargain between the petitioner and the deity: if the god helps the letter-writer, the letter-writer will express his gratitude by also helping the god.

A Greek bronze tablet from Asia Minor, dated between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD reads: I consecrate to the mother of the gods the gold pieces that I have lost, all of them, so that the goddess will track them down and bring everything to light and will punish the guilty in accordance with her power and in this way will not be made a laughingstock.15

The following extract comes from an early Demotic letter to Thoth, L. BM 73784, written on linen by a certain @rwAH-ib-Ra, who complains about losing his job as provider of the food for the sacred ibis.10

The goddess is bound to track the accused for several reasons: if she does so, she will receive the gold pieces, and will also have the opportunity to express the greatness of her power. If she should fail to help, she would risk her own reputation.

(7) Oh, living ibis, go to Hermupolis for the offering, report (8) before Thoth, the twice great, the lord of Hermupolis, so that my livelihood is not cut off. If his livelihood (9) should be cut off, there would be no other man (like me) to do good for the ibis.11

From another example it will be clear that the order of events is identical to what we encountered in the Demotic texts: it is the god who has to act first, and the donation will only be made if the petitioner is vindicated. This is a plea to an unnamed goddess from Sicily, dated to the 1st century AD:

This letter-writer connects his own plight with that of the sacred birds of Thoth: he is sending the holy ibis to report to the god, stressing the fact that if Thoth should not help him be established in his job, the sacred ibises would also suffer, as he is the only person to take good care of them.

Mistress, destroy Eleutheros. If you avenge me, I shall make a silver palm, if you eliminate him from the human race.16 There are hundreds of more examples, ranging in time from the 5th century BC to well into late antiquity, attesting a practice popular in the entire Graeco-Roman world. The great number of judicial prayers shows that

9 Suffering formulas are an otherwise essential characteristic of Demotic letters to gods, serving both to emphasize the misery of the petitioner – e.g. hblA grH Ayt mtr (“misery by night, misfortune by day”: P. BM 10845, 5), and the uniqueness of the deity in being able to help him or her: e.g. mn m-Dr rmT-xm nxt.t m-sA +Hwty (“a small man has no protection besides Thoth”: L. BM. 73786, 4). 10 Migahid and Vittmann 2003. 11 Translation after Migahid and Vittmann 2003 48: “O lebender Ibis, gehe nach Hermopolis zur Einkunft des Gottesopfers! Mache Meldung vor Thot, dem zweimalgroßen, Herrn von Hermopolis, um nicht Lebensunterhalt von mir abzuschneiden! Wenn Lebensunterhalt von ihm (!) abgeschnitten wird, ist kein anderer Mann wie ich da, daß er Gutes für den Ibis tut!”

12

Vittmann 1995. Translation after Vittmann 1995 171: “Unser großer Herr, möge es zu mir kommen deinetwegen, indem ich nicht veranlassen wurde, daß etwas weggenomen wird, was dem Ibis gehört, indem der Futterplatz fest (?) unter meinen Aufsicht (?) ist wiederum.” 14 Versnel 1991. 15 Translation: Versnel 1991 74. 16 Translation: Versnel 1991 65. 13

50

KATA ENDREFFY: BUSINESS WITH GODS: THE ROLE OF BARGAINING IN DEMOTIC LETTERS TO GODS the practice was considered to have been very effective: divine power was believed to have manifested in the form of a sudden, otherwise inexplicable illness, which forced the culprits to confess the crimes they have committed.

Overview: a chain of events If we take a look at what circumstances may have led people to write a letter or petition to a deity, this will also show the connection between the different genres, and the way the Greek and Demotic traditions may be related.

This is also paralleled in Egyptian sources. The first example comes from P. Brooklyn 47.218.135, a late hieratic wisdom text dated to the 4th century BC:

The starting point is a situation where an individual feels helpless in some unfavourable physical condition, or has been wronged and finds no remedy against an injustice. In the first case he might interpret this misfortune as the manifestation of divine power, which then forces him to either admit a crime he has committed (this happens in the majority of Greek confession inscriptions, and in Demotic L. BM 73785), profess his innocence (as in other confession inscriptions, or Demotic P. Cairo 50015 and P. Cairo 50111) or, when this is not questioned, simply ask for help (as in Demotic letters of request and promise). In the second case, when someone has been wronged and feels that turning to worldly authorities would not be much of a help, he complains to a god about the injustice in the hope of divine retribution (Greek judicial prayers, Demotic letters of complaint). In both cases divine assistance is secured through making the god interested in the affair: the petitioner may offer money, or a share of the profit, or his own indispensable services for the cult (bribe-letters). The affair is then solved in one way or another: wishes may be granted, the guilty punished, and it is the petitioner’s turn to fulfil his side of the bargain. This is a crucial point, not only in the reconstruction of the process, but also in the entire interpretation of the Demotic genre of letters to gods.

[If] they discover that you have stolen, they will [kil]l you, if they do not discover that you have stolen, sickness will be in your flesh.17 Even if human jurisdiction fails, divine punishment will come about. An Early Ptolemaic letter to Osorapis complains about a woman who has wronged the petitioner in several ways.18 The letter-writer asks: (6) Do justice to her which is severe (?). (7) Do not hesitate with her. Look upon my heart. (8) Harsh be the… heart which you show (9) to her. Let them speak (to) every man (about) the fierce (?) (10) retribution (?) of the way you deal with her.19 The text echoes the sentiment already expressed in the judicial prayers: the god is to have no mercy on the culprit, and use the occasion to show his/her power. Luckily, we also have what may be the other side of the story – the culprits’ version – both in the Greek and the Egyptian material. In Greek, these are the confession inscriptions known from Lydia and Phrygia and dated to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, which basically contain a praise of the god’s power and a confession of guilt to which the author was forced by the punishing intervention of the deity, usually manifested through an illness or accident. Other texts are addressed to the deity in order to inquire what the petitioner may have done wrong, or are meant to profess innocence.20 Demotic letters to gods, such as P. Cairo 50015 to Teephibis,21 and P. Cairo 50111 to Anubis,22 may also contain lengthy lists of crimes that the letter-writer has not committed. Presumably these petitions were occasioned by similar situations: the letter-writers were perhaps falsely accused, or they may have experienced something that they interpreted as the manifestation of divine power directed against them, and their reaction was to complain to the deity professing their innocence. At the same time, another Demotic letter to Thoth (L. BM 73785) asks for defense against gods the petitioner has in fact sinned against.23

Writing to gods: was it private or public? One question that has strongly divided researchers concerns the person of the petitioners, more precisely the privateness of the practice of writing to gods. Was it a possibility open for everyone, or was it a privilege for the few initiated? Going against the commonly held view, D. Kessler has repeatedly expressed the opinion that oracle questions and petitions could only be submitted by people who were institutionally associated with the cult admininstration of the deity in question, and has claimed, based on archaeological evidence from Tuna el-Gebel, that pilgrims had no way of addressing a deity of their choice privately.24 H. S. Smith, on the other hand, who has extensively studied the Saqqara material, claims that the letters stood “in the focus of individual devotion among the populace, reflecting the ‘personal piety’ which emerged in the Ramesside Period”.25 I have also argued elsewhere that at least in some cases petitioners seem to have belonged among those “eternal losers”, who chose to apply for divine assistance precisely because they had

17

Lines 5/3-4. Translation: Jasnow 1992 97. Ray 2005. 19 Translation: Ray 2005 175. 20 See Versnel 1991 75-9. 21 Migahid 1986 Vol. 1 74-87, Urk. no. 5. 22 Migahid 1986 Vol. 1 93-6, Urk. no. 7. 23 Hughes 1968. There exist much older Egyptian sources of the genre as well: texts from the New Kingdom, mostly from Deir el-Medina often refer to the ‛bAw ntr.w’ in the context ‘a manifestation of god has come about’. In these cases an individual made an offense against the deity, then, as a result of the manifestation of the god in question, made a confession of his crime and praised the power of the deity. Such an 18

event is documented by BM stela no. 589 from Deir el-Medina, which says: “I am a man who swore in a lying way to Ptah, the lord of Truth. He caused me to see darkness by day. I shall tell of his manifestation to him who ignores it (and) to him who recognizes it, to the little ones (and) to the great ones…”. (Translation: Borghouts 1982 7). 24 Cf. eg. Kessler 1989 203-6; and more recently Kessler 2003. 25 Smith 2002 370.

51

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT no chance to prove their right and protect themselves in civil courts.26 In these cases it must have been essential that writing and transmitting the petition remained a private matter.

P. Carlsberg 67/14-15 written in the Fayum in the 1st century BC contains: [The] abomination (of) Sebek lord of [Tebtunis] the great god follow any man (on) earth who shall remove this do[cument from] the sanctuary…33

It would be, however, more fitting to say that the truth lies somewhere in between, or, better: both schools have a point. The practice of writing letters to gods was not uniform: although messages are quite similar as regards wording and the problems put forward, different choices were open for approaching the deity, as is attested by what we know about the letters’ original place of deposition.

The plea to Osorapis from Saqqara, quoted above, was written on a piece of linen fastened at the top to thin sticks. J. D. Ray, the editor of the text supposes that these sticks were inserted into a wall or door frame near the shrine so that the letter could be read by the deity – and anyone else with an access to the enclosed area.34

The majority of Demotic letters to gods are unprovenanced, and even if we know where they come from, properly documented archaeological information is generally lacking. Our knowledge about where they were originally placed relies mostly on the information provided by the texts themselves and the surface they were written onto. Some letters may have been deposited in tombs or catacombs: such is probably the case with a letter to Thoth, now in Berlin (T. Berlin 5/66), which was written on a pottery jar.27 There is indication in the text that the message was perhaps meant to be transmitted by the dead, in whose tomb the vessel was deposited.28 We now have another Thoth-letter written on a pottery jar: this came to light in the ibis catacombs of Tuna el-Gebel, during the joint archaeological mission of Cairo and Munich universities.29 A significant number of letters to gods were written on linen, which may point to a connection with the embalming procedure of the sacred animals. It is perhaps also possible that linen used for wrapping the votive statues of the ibis were inscribed with pleas to the god.30 Some statuettes have internal cavities or hollow bases, which might have served as ideal places for hiding the petitions.31

Greek and Roman defixiones also show a very strong connection with the chthonic and the hereafter; many of these tablets were safely hidden from human eyes in graves, underground sanctuaries, and wells. If we examine the category of judicial prayers, however, we will find that, as mentioned above, their message was often meant to be public – this was one way of making sure they would be effective. This is also the case with the first example, the bronze tablet from Asia Minor, quoted above, which bears a round hole in the middle of the top edge, where it could be attached to a public surface.35 The role of intermediaries There are several cases both in the Demotic and Greek material, when priests or other officials explicitly mentioned as intermediaries, or as personnel actually receiving the payment offered to deity in return for the assistance provided.

the are the the

A bronze tablet from Southern Italy, dated to the 3rd century BC says:

Another destination for letters to gods was naturally the sanctuary. Although the sanctuary is, in essence, a sacred space inaccessible for human intruders, letter-writers seem to have been anxious about their messages being safe there: many of them included warnings against those trying to destroy the documents.

Kollura consecrates to the servants of the goddess the three gold pieces that Melitta received but does not return…36 Demotic letters to gods also contain useful hints: the verso of P. Cairo 50015 (which is one of the examples for the petitioner professing his innocence in a number of crimes) bears a small note about a receipt of payment:

The Greek letter of Artemisia to the Egyptian god Osorapis from the Serapeum in Memphis, dated to the 4th century BC says:

What comes as payment: 2 silvers 5 kite, because he has not given wine. Received: 2 silvers 5 kite again.37

Whoever takes away this petition and does injustice against Artemisia, may the god punish him.32

Whether this note is indeed connected to the text on the recto is impossible to decide. If it is, the sum mentioned could be interpreted both as the money offered to the

26

Endreffy 2009. Lüddeckens 1971. 28 For speculations on the relation between the three people mentioned in lines 1-3 of the letter, see Hughes 1968 177; Lüddeckens 1971 7 n. o); and Migahid 1986 Vol. 1 34. 29 See above, note 1. 30 The custom is attested in both Saqqara (see Emery 1970 6 with Pl. 5), and Tuna el-Gebel (see e.g. Mallawi Mus. inv. nos. 49-b and 221. 31 Davies and Smith 1997 123. 32 First published in Wilcken 1927 97-104. Translation: Versnel 1991 69. 27

33

Ray 1975 183. Ray 2005 175. Versnel 1991 74. 36 Versnel 1991 73. 37 Translation after Migahid 1986 Vol. 1 77: “Für den Lohn, der kommt: 2 Silberlinge 5 Kite, weil er keinen Wein gegeben hat. Empfangen 2 Silberlinge 5 Kite wiederum(?).” 34 35

52

KATA ENDREFFY: BUSINESS WITH GODS: THE ROLE OF BARGAINING IN DEMOTIC LETTERS TO GODS deity, or as payment for the priest who delivered the letter.38

the language of examples ranging from places so far from each other in space and time, cannot simply be explained by a similarity of religious mentality, and that in this case direct borrowing is indeed more probable than a spontaneous development of the genre in different regions.41 In another treatment J. Gager adds the possibility that there may have been written handbooks or formularies in circulation that facilitated the international transmission of the genre, much as it was done with the collections of the Greek magical papyri.42 Without wanting to overplay the significance of Egyptian elements in this tradition – considering the number of documents we possess in Demotic as opposed to the overwhelming number of sources in the Graeco-Roman tradition, this could hardly be done – one may perhaps add to this a small thought: just as for the Greek magical papyri there existed a corpus of Demotic magical papyri, Demotic letters to gods might also have belonged to the same, international tradition as Greek (and Latin) judicial prayers, and perhaps also played a role in their development.

It is also interesting to note the last line of the letter to Amenhotep, son of Hapu (CUL Michael. x4): the passage “on the day that it is ordered” might indicate that there was a specific date, perhaps connected to a festival, for the fulfilment of the letter-writer’s promise. Summary Through examining the status and motivation of letterwriters, as well as the way petitioning was believed to work, and the relationship between similar genres in the Egyptian and the Greek tradition, the present paper has aimed at comparing the phenomenon of bargaining in Demotic letters to gods and Greek judicial prayers. Both Demotic letters quoted at the beginning were written by people who actually belonged to the cult service, and examining the entire corpus would also result in a high percentage of the petitioner’s direct involvement in the gods’ service. Although at times the privacy of writing and posting the letters was obviously all important, in other cases messages were probably made public, and occasionally the presence of intermediaries is also documented.39 Some letter-writers must have asked a scribe to note down their messages,40 others may have needed help with posting it. When the time came for the petitioner to keep his side of the deal, the transaction must have been officially handled by the cult personnel. All this, however, does not necessarily mean that writing to the gods was reserved for the privileged, it still looks more like a recourse for the poor and miserable. The sums offered to the deities may be large as seen from the petitioner’s point of view, but were probably negligible from the perspective of the entire cult – the same is the case with judicial prayers, where often such simple items are dedicated to the deities as pieces of clothing. Demotic bribe-letters also seem to strengthen this argument: the services mentioned in the letters were probably all that the petitioners could offer. The practice thus seems to have served a simple purpose: the authors of both Greek and Roman judicial prayers and Demotic letters to gods made sure their pleas would be heard by involving the deities addressed in the matter. This way, the letters were perhaps effective from a psychological as opposed to practical perspective: they served to ease their authors’ conscience by shifting the weight of the problem and the responsibility of solving it onto the god.

References Barns, J. 1949. The Nevill Papyrus: A Late Ramesside Letter to an Oracle. JEA 35, 69-71. Borghouts, J. F. 1982. Divine Intervention in Ancient Egypt and Its Manifestations (bAw). In R. J. Demareé and J. J. Janssen (eds.), Gleanings from Deir el Medîna, 1-70. Leiden. Černý, J. and Gardiner, A. H. 1957. Hieratic Ostraca. Oxford. Davies, S. and Smith, H. S. 1997. Sacred Animal Temples at Saqqara. In S. Quirke (ed.), The Temple in Ancient Egypt: New Discoveries and Recent Research, 112-31. London. El-Khouly, A. 1973. Excavations East of the Serapeum at Saqqâra. JEA 59, 151-5. Emery, W. B. 1970. Preliminary Report on the Excavations at North Saqqâra 1968-69. JEA 56, 5-11. Endreffy, K. 2009. Reason for Despair: Notes on Some Demotic Letters to Thoth. In Basem Samit ElSharkawy (ed.), The Horizon. Studies in Egyptology in Honor of M.A. Nur El Din, 241-51. Cairo. Gager, J. G. (ed.) 1992. Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World. New York, Oxford. Hughes, G. R. 1968. A Demotic Plea to Thoth in the Library of G. Michaelides. JEA 54, 176-82. Hughes, G. R. 1969. The Cruel Father: A Demotic Papyrus in the Library of G. Michaelides. SAOC 39, 43-54. Jasnow, R. 1992. A Late Period Hieratic Wisdom Text (P. Brooklyn 47.218.135). SAOC 52. Chicago. Kessler, D. 1989. Die Heiligen Tiere und der König I. Wiesbaden. Kessler, D. 2003. Tierische Missverständnisse: Grundsätzliches zu Frage des Tierkultes. In M. Fitzenreiter (ed.), Tierkulte im pharaonischen Ägypten

Versnel, in his pioneering study on judicial prayers, has emphasised that the striking similarity of atmosphere and 38

See also Migahid 1986 Vol. 1 87-8. This happens in Late Ramessid P. Nevill from Deir el-Medina: “I was looking for you to tell you of certain matters of mine, (but) you disappeared into your sanctuary, and there was no one admitted to it to send to you. But as I was waiting, I found Hori, this scribe of the Mansion of Usirmare-Miamun, and he said to me ‘I’m admitted’, I am sending him to you.” (Translation: Barns 1949 69). 40 For example the writers of P. BM 10845: two small children complaining about their father (See Hughes 1969). 39

41 42

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Versnel 1991 90-1. Gager 1992 177.

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT und im Kulturvergleich. IBAES 4. 33-68. Berlin. http://www2.rz.hu-berlin.de/nilus/netpublications/ibaes4. Accessed on 6 July 2008. Lüddeckens, E. 1971. Frühdemotische Inschrift eines Tongefässes in Berlin. Enchoria 1, 1-8. Malinine, M. 1962. Une lettre démotique a Aménothès, fils de Hapou. RdE 14, 37-43. Migahid, A. G. 1986. Demotische Briefe an Götter von der Spät- bis zur Römerzeit, Vols. 1-2. Würzburg. Migahid, A. G. and Vittmann, G. 2003. Zwei weitere frühdemotische Briefe an Thot. RdE 54, 47-59. Ray, J. D. 1975. Papyrus Carlsberg 67: A Healing-Prayer from the Fayûm. JEA 61, 181-8. Ray, J. D. 2005. An Inscribed Linen Plea from the Sacred Animal Necropolis, North Saqqara. JEA 91, 171-9. Smith, H. S. 2002. The Saqqara Papyri: Oracle Questions, Pleas and Letters. In K. Ryholt (ed.), Acts of the Seventh International Conference of Demotic Studies. Copenhagen, 23–27 August, 1999, 367-75. Copenhagen. Versnel, H. S. 1991. Beyond Cursing: The Appeal to Justice in Judicial Prayers. In C. A. Faraone and D. Obbink (eds.), Magika Hiera. Ancient Greek Magic and Religion. New York, Oxford. Vittmann, G. 1995. Zwei demotische Briefe an den Gott Thot. Enchoria 22, 169-81. Wilcken, U. 1927. Urkunden der Ptolemäerzeit (Ältere Funde). Erster Band: Papyri aus Unterägypten. Berlin, Leipzig. Zaghloul, El-H. O. M. 1985. Frühdemotische Urkunden aus Hermopolis. BACPS 2. Cairo. Zauzich, K.-T. 1992-93. Paläographische Herausforderungen I. Enchoria 19/20, 165-79.

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Under the Protection of the Gods: the Divine Role for the Good Outcome of Trade and Mining Expeditions Barbara Gilli trade routes towards the Land of Punt and the Levantine areas were set in this territory.10

di.n n.f xAswt imt.sn m wD MnTw Hry-ib Iwn Imn nb nswt tAwy (Wadi el-Hudi no. 14)

In the eyes of the Egyptians the desert was an area of contact between two worlds where the human and divine realms were not completely separated. For that reason, it was regarded not only as an environment where negative events occurred, but also as a place in which the contact with the deities was favoured and the miracles could happen. Although the Eastern Desert and the mountain regions had some positive aspects, they were always characterized by difficult climatic conditions. The inscription of Harwerre, who was sent in Sinai during the summer season by Amenemhat III, offers a vivid report on the troubles encountered during a mining expedition:11

Introduction The understanding of the ancient Egyptian economy is an issue still debated; this situation is in part due to the ways used by Egyptian people to record their economic activities and transactions. The aim of this paper is not to conduct an analysis of economic reality but to comprehend the ideology behind the Egyptian economy outside the Nile Valley, in particular the role of the deities in desert economy. Thanks to rock inscriptions left in the desert,1 it is partially possible to reconstruct the Egyptian thought on rules governing the economy in peripheral territories. The economic activities undertaken in the desert (dSrt ‘The red Land’2) have been influenced by the perception of this environment felt by the Egyptians completely different compared to the Nile Valley (kmt ‘The black Land’). The desert caused anguish because it was a border region, outside of an ordinate world.3 Due to its red colour the desert was regarded as a manifestation of Seth4 who embodies the cosmic force of chaos and confusion, and who, in origin, was the god associated with the wilderness.5 Moreover, the existence of adverse natural conditions, such as sandstorms, and the presence of fantastic animals or demons were viewed as evocations of this deity.6 On the other hand, the desert7 could have a positive connotation as well, given that precious minerals or metals and fine hard stones grow as divine emanations within it.8 Most of the luxury products came from eastern regions9 by means of mining and quarrying expeditions and of commerce. In fact, the main

iwt.i Hr kmt Hr.i bdS.i StA m Hr.i gmt inm.s tA Sm(m) xAst m Smw Dww Hr Abw inmw Xn ‘When I came from Egypt I was discouraged, because I did not know to find the body12 for it, since the land was hot and the highland being in summer. The mountains burn and the bodies were upset.’13 By the reading of this type of account, it is easy to realize how difficult it was to live in these inhospitable territories. Nevertheless, the Egyptians were forced to go across the desert in order to reach the mines and quarries or the far countries for commercial aims. The desert economy According to the Egyptians’ beliefs14 the desert was accounted as a divine domain15 and its economic exploitation, which comprises both mining activities and long-distance commerce, was integrated into a divine plan.

1

Blumenthal 1977 85-118. 2 Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 13. 3 Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 34-6; Keimer 1928. Cf. Mariette 1871 6, ro. VI, 1. 4 Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 36-7; Te Velde 1967 115-6. 5 On Seth: Te Velde 1967. 6 In Beni Hassan’s tombs there are interesting representations of the desert hunt (Newberry 1894 Pls. 4 and 13). In these images, the Egyptians reveal their view on the fauna of this territory comprising both fantastic animals evoked by Seth (such as sDA, a hybrid animal half panther and half serpent; sfr, the griffin; SA, the Seth-animal) both real animals, which are typical of the desert (gazelles, panthers, antelopes etc.). By means of these representations, we can argue that the desert was deemed a place where the real world and the imaginary one were overlapped. The desert symbolizes the chaos to repel: through the hunt the owner of the tomb keeps under control the disorder. Keimer 1944. 7 The desert was frequently called xAs(w)t as well, a term used to indicate a mountain territory. Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 7-12. 8 Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 314. 9 In eastern territories were also comprised part of Nubian Desert and Sinai.

10 The eastern desert assumes positive connotation contrary to western one regarded the domain of Seth. 11 Translations in this article are the author’s own translations based on original texts. 12 On several translations of inm suggested cf. Iversen 1984 507-10. 13 Blackman 1931 97-101; Černý 1952 no. 90 Pl. 25; Černý 1955 97-9; Goedicke 1962 14-25; Iversen 1984 507-19; PM Vol. 7 348. 14 Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 59-61. 15 For example, Horus, Sopdu and Thoth had got the epithet of ‘Lord of foreign countries’ already in the Old Kingdom: Goyon 1974 197; Strudwick 2005 85 C, D.

55

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT The minerals were part of an astral theology16 in which the Myth of the Eye of Horus played an important role.17 S. Aufrère appropriately summarized the Egyptian position on the mineral aetiology:18 “Les dieux suscitent l’apparition des minéraux, le font croître, prospérer au sein des entrailles de la terre, en assurent la garde”.19 The divine creation of minerals is primarily attested in late sources but this conception is already present in the Pyramid Texts: ‘Oh Great striding goddess, [who strews the green], malachite and turquoise of the stars!’.20 Many gods were linked to the desert economy, such as Neith21, Horus22 or Amon23, but no one could be compared to the goddess Hathor24. In her temple at Dendera she is held as the creator of all minerals and metals25 and the possessor of precious stones26. She owns the epithets of ‘Golden One’ (nbwt),27 ‘Lady of Silver’ (nbt HD),28 ‘Lady of precious stones’ (nbt aAwt),29 ‘Lady of Malachite’ (nbt Ssmt),30 ‘Lady of Turquoise’ (nbt mfkAt) in Sinai (Wadi Magharah and Serabit el-Khadim),31 ‘Lady of Galena’ (nbt msdmt) at Gebel el Zeit32 and ‘Lady of Amethyst’ (nbt Hsmnt) in Wadi el Hudi (Nubia)33. Hathor nbt mfkAt was worshipped in the copper mines of Timna (Sinai) as well.34 Internationally speaking Hathor was one of most important Egyptian deities.35 The vast influence of Hathor could depend in part by the location of her main cultic centre; Dendera was connected to the ports on the Red Sea shore through the Wadi Qena and the Wadi Hammamat. Hathor was also regarded as the patroness of

the shipmasters,36 and for this reason also the contact between Egypt and Canaan was felt under the patronage of this goddess:37 she was the ‘Lady of Byblos’ (nbt kpny) thanks to the identification with the local goddess Ba’alat Gebal.38 Furthermore, Hathor was connected with the Land of Punt as ‘Lady of Punt’ (nbt Pwnt).39 In addition, she was the owner of exotic products obtained from longdistance commercial exchanges: she was ‘Lady of Lapislazuli’ (nbt xsbD)40, ‘Lady of Incense’ (nbt snTr)41 and in the autobiography of Herkhuf all precious African wares that came from Yam were considered a gift of Hathor to the king.42 According to Egyptian thought, Hathor was the main deity linked to mining activities as well as to the long-distance trade with Nubia, Canaan and Punt. Although Hathor is considered as the undisputed owner of all minerals and metals, she is not the guardian of them43 contrarily to male divinities who can be both owners and protectors of mineral resources. For this reason, Hathor needs the support of some deities functioning as protector and prospector of the mineral resources. In Sinai for example, Sopdu44 must watch over her mineral domain and Min controls the eastern desert45 seeking metals or precious minerals by order of Hathor.46 The role of these male gods as guardians of Hathor’s properties is underlined by their connotation such as lords of the desert countries;47 Sopdu is often defined nb iAbtt ‘Lord of the East’48 and Min assumes the title of nb xAswt ‘Lord of the Highlands’.49 The presence of a specific god in peripheral areas probably depends by geographical reasons. The gods, who are worshipped in the cities set at the beginning of the trade routes or of the ways that lead to the mines and quarries, become rulers of that territory and owners or protectors of the desert’s products.50 For this reason, perhaps, Min turns out to be the most important male god connected to desert economy.51 His main cultic centre,

16

For the symbolic value of precious stone see Aufrère 1991 Vol. 2 463-587. 17 Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 213-303, 319-21. 18 Several scholars have already read up on the mineral creation and on the relation between the gods and the desert. On these topics and for related bibliography see Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 117-45, 307-21. 19 Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 309. 20 PT 350. For translation: Allen 2005 75, 164. 21 Neith is linked to the Tura quarry and to quarries in general: Daressy 1901 239, doc. 1055 b; El-Sayed 1982 Vol. 1 92; El-Sayed, 1982 Vol. 2, doc. 461; Sauneron 1962 111-3; Sauneron 1968 261-2, text 330. 22 Cf. Chassinat 1935 Vol. 4 251, 3-4. In the Pyramid Texts Horus had already been defined ‘Lord of Malachite’ (PT 301; Allen 2005 56, 206; Leitz 2002 Vol. 3 646). 23 Barucq and Doumas 1980 199. 24 Hathor has this strong association with the minerals because of her connotation such as lunar goddess and her link with the myth of the Eye of Horus. Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 133-6. 25 Chassinat 1935 152, 7-11; Chassinat and Daumas 1978 135, 5. 26 Mariette 1870 67a. 27 Hathor of Dendera is ‘Gold of the Gods, Silver of the Goddesses and Lapis-lazuli of the Ennead’. For related bibliography cf. Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 369-70, 382-4; Leitz 2002 Vol. 3 179-180; Leitz 2002 Vol. 3 180-182. 28 Newberry 1893 82. 29 Engelbach 1933 72, no. 11, Pl. 3, 3. 30 Černý 1952 no. 121; Leitz 2002 Vol. 4 144. 31 Černý 1952 nos. 93-5, 104, 107, 112, 118, 158; Leitz 2002 Vol. 4 623; Pinch 1993 48-58. Cf. Erichsen 1933 78, 6: ‘I despatched inspectors and overseers to the turquoise desert of my mother, the goddess Hathor, the Lady of the Turquoise’. 32 Castel et al. 1989; Castel and Soukiassian 1985 291, no. 559, Pl. 64; Leitz 2002 Vol. 4 67; Pinch 1993 71-7. 33 Fakhry 1952 nos. 16:3, 17:3, 20:3, 22:4-5, 24:4, 25:3; Sadek 1980 nos. 16:3, 17:3, 20:3, 22:4-5, 24:4, 25:3. 34 Giveon 1978b 61, 65-6; Pinch 1993 59-70; Rothenberg 1967 53-70; Rothenberg 1970 28-35; Rothenberg 1973. 35 Giveon 1978b 61; Stadelmann 1967 4.

36 Cf. CT 61: ‘Hathor, Lady of Byblos, will steer your boat’. Erman 1934 349; Morenz 1960 235. 37 Bleeker 1973 73. 38 Allam 1963 142; Espinel 2002. 39 Leitz 2002 Vol. 4 52-3. On the epithet nb Pwnt cf. Leitz 2002 Vol. 3 629-30. 40 Allam 1963 77; Černý 1952, no. 102; Leitz 2002 Vol. 4 121; Sandman-Holmberg 1946 192. 41 Leitz 2002 Vol. 4 130. 42 Lichtheim 1973 26. 43 Hathor was rarely called nbt xAswt: Černý 1952 no. 200, pl. 59 (18th Dynasty); Dümichen 1877 Pl. 52 (Ptolemaic Period). Cf. Leitz 2002 Vol. 4 115. 44 On Sopdu see Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 118-21; Giveon 1984 777-84; Pinch 2002 205; Schumacher 1998. He was ‘Lord of true minerals’ (Chassinat 1935 147-8). 45 Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 137-93. 46 Yoyotte 1952 125-37. 47 Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 10-1. 48 Leitz 2002 Vol. 3 571. This epithet is particular frequent in Sinai: Černý 1955 42-3. 49 On ephitet nb xAswt cf. Leitz 2002 Vol. 3 711. 50 For sample it’s probable that the presence of Sopdu in Sinai depends by the location of his city, Persopdu, as starting and ending point of expedition in Sinai (Goyon 1985 152-3). 51 Min has no epithet that connected him directly with the mineral world but the Bekhen stone was considered his propriety since it grows in his territory.

56

BARBARA GILLI: UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE GODS: THE DIVINE ROLE FOR THE GOOD OUTCOME OF TRADE Coptos, lies in a strategic position at the opening of the Wadi Hammamat; consequently, Min extends his sphere of influence as far as the Red Sea shore. Not only Min but also several gods are associated with the places of mining exploitation because of the nearness of their city with the routes to the quarries or mines. For instance, Horus of Edfu is connected to the gold mined in the Wadi Barramiya and he controls the access to the gold mines such as ity n xAswt iAbtt ‘Ruler of the eastern desert’.52 Also Amon of Karnak becomes the ruler on the mountain regions thanks to his association with Min and is worshipped in the Wadi Hammamat and in several mining zones. The desert defined as xAswt nt Imn ‘Highlands of Amon’ is a property of this god.53

(…)

dbnbn.in.f Hr xAst Hr wxA st irt Xnm ist grt nTr Hr sSm tw rf rdit sprt mr.n.f (…) Dd.in Hm.f m.k iry.n nTr sprt.i bsw n.i mw Hr Dww ‘Then he went in the desert seeking a place to make a watering station and also god was guiding him in order to grant the request that he desired (…) His majesty said: “Behold, god has granted my wish. He has made water came forth for me from the mountain”.’55

The divine role in the desert economy Due to religious beliefs, the desert economy is subjected to a particular theological structure: all precious goods coming from the desert are divine property given that the deities are the creators of minerals and the desert territories are their domains. This condition implies that the procurement of raw materials and long-distance trade must be integrated into a ceremonial scheme, in which the human beings and the deities have to interact: both of them play an important role in this economy.

But also in Wadi Hammamat, the god Min is especially benevolent by means of the “Rain miracle”:

wHm biAt irt Hw mAA xprw nw nTr pn dit bAw.f n rxyt irt xAst m nwy bst mw Hr nHA n inr gmt Xnmt m Hr-ib int ‘The wonder was repeated, rain was made and the forms of this god were displayed. His will was shown to men, the highland was made a lake. The water went to the roughness of the stone. A well was found in the midst of the valley.’56

spr(.f) r tA pn m Abd 3 prt sti n tr is pw n iwt r biA pn xtmw-nTr pn Dd.f xr srw iw.t(y).sn(y) r biA pn n tr pn im.Tn bdS.Tn Hr.s m.Tn dd st @wt-@r n wAs mAA.n.i r.i

Discovery of resource

‘(He) arrived at this country in the third month of winter, although this was not the time for coming to this quarry. This keeper of the god’s seal says to the officials who shall come to this quarry at this season: “Should not be discouraged for that reason. Behold, Hathor will turn it to luck. I myself have seen it”.’54

The gods can also favour the discovery of the resources sought. In Wadi el-Hudi, whose mines was exploited for the Amethyst, a stele of the reign of Sesostris I informs us that the desert products are given to the king by the gods as a divine gift:57

In the opinion of the ancient Egyptians, the gods can determine the fate of the expeditions and act in behalf of the good outcome of the expeditions in several ways. Water

tAw nbw Hr bAk n.f di.n n.f xAswt imt.sn m wD MnTw Hry-ib Iwn Imn nb nswt tAwy wnn mnn Dt

The gods can help the king or the members of the expeditions supplying them with water. The inscription carved in the Rock Temple at Kanais tells the divine aim given to Seti I when he decided to build a cistern in order to support his expeditions on the way to the gold mines of Wadi Miya:

‘All Lands are working for him, the highlands gave to him what is within them, by order of Montu, who is in Armant, and Amun, Lord of the Thrones of Two Land,

55

Gauthier 1920 1-38, Pls. 1-20; KRI Vol. 1 65-71, §§ 32-3; Schott 1961; Weigall 1908 71-84. 56 Couyat and Montet 1912 97 no. 191, Pl. 36. 57 This idea was further developed in Late Period sources: cf. Aufrére 1991 Vol. 1 318-9.

52

Černý 1952 Pls. 2/7, 5/8, 6/10, 8/16. Urk IV 319, 9; Ziegler 1981 125-32. 54 Černý 1952 no. 90 Pl. 25; Černý 1955 97-9; Iversen 1984 510. 53

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT who exist and rest for eternity.’58

help of a fighting god to defeat the Asiatics. It’s Thoth who accomplishes this task during the Old Kingdom:62 in Wadi Kharig, the god is defined “Lord of terror, who smashes Asia” on Sahure inscription;63 in Wadi Maghara Thoth compares in two scenes where he is on the side of the king (of Khufu in the first scene64 and of Niuserra on the second one65) smiting the Mentju.66 But even when the expeditions were sent in the bordering areas, the Egyptians considered necessary the divine protection. In a recording left in Wadi Hammamat during the reign of Amenemhat III, we can read:

More or less, we find the same situation in Wadi Hammamat, with the well-known miracles happened in reign of Mentuhotep IV59. In the “Gazelle’s miracle” it’s the god of that territory, Min, who provides the king with the sarcophagus lid:

in Hm n nTr pn nb xAswt rdi mAa n sA.f Nb-tAwy-Ra anx Dt n mrwt Aw ib.f

hA.n(.i) Hr xAst tn m Htp Hna mSa.i m bAw Mnw nb xAst

‘Now, it was the majesty of this august god, lord of the highlands, who gave the offering to his son Nebtauyra, living forever, in order that his heart might be joyful.’60

‘I came to this highland in safety with my army by the will of Min, Lord of the highlands.’67

Trade routes

The safety passage and voyage to near or far foreign countries was due to the divine will, as during the Hatschepsut’s expedition to Punt led under the protection of Amon68 and with the aid of Hathor:

Apart from assisting the troops that are in their territories, the gods can help the king suggesting the trade route to him. In the inscriptions of the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri, her expedition to Punt turns out to be the direct result of the Amon’s instruction.

sqdwt m wAD-wr Ssp tp-wAt nfrt r tA nTr wd r tA m Htp r xAst Pwnt in mSa n nb tAwy xft tpt-rA nb nTrw Imn ‘Sailing in the sea: beginning the goodly way toward God's-Land, arriving in peace to the land of Punt, by the army of the Lord of the Two Lands, according to the command of the Lord of Gods, Amon.’69 sDm wD m st-wrt nDwt-rA nt nTr Ds.f Dar wAwt r Pwnt wbA mTnw r xtjw-antjw sSm mSa Hr mw Hr tA r jnt bjAw m tA-nTr n nTr pn qmA nfrw.s jr.jn.tw mj wDt.n nbt Hm n nTr pn

(…) n @wt-@r nbt Pwnt (…) in.s nf

'A command were heard from the Great Throne, an oracle from the god himself: “Explore the ways to Punt, open the roads to the Myrrh-terraces and lead the army on water and on land to bring marvels from the God's Land to this god, the creator of her beauty”. It was done, according to everything that the majesty of this god had commanded.’ 61

‘To Hathor, Lady of Punt (…) that she may bring wind.’70 Until now it has been examined the role of the deities in the desert economy, but this economy is based on the interaction of two parts: the gods and the human beings.

Protection The gods can protect the troops that are outside the Nile Valley from the dangers. In earlier time of its mineral exploitation, the Sinai territory was not yet under stable control of Egyptian kings, consequently they need the

62 Subsequently, when Sinai falls under Egyptian control, Thoth changes role becoming patron of the expedition’s scribes. 63 Giveon 1977 75, no. 226. 64 Černý 1952 no. 7 (now destroyed but some fragments are in the Cairo Museum). 65 Černý 1952 no.10 (now in Cairo Museum JE 38570). 66 Cf. Giveon 1978a 68, 116-7. 67 Couyat and Montet 1912 48, no. 43, Pl. 13. 68 Amon protects the return voyage as well, cf. Naville 1989 Pl. 75. 69 Naville 1898 Pl. 72. 70 Naville 1898 Pl. 72.

58

Sadek 1980 Vol. 1 WH. no. 14, 12-4. Couyat and Montet 1912 77-8, no. 110, Pl. 29; Couyat and Montet 1912 97-8, no. 191, Pl. 36; Gundlach 1980 89-113; Schenkel 1965 2634, 267-8. 60 Couyat and Montet 1912 77-8, no. 110, Pl. 29. 61 Naville 1898 Pl. 84. 59

58

BARBARA GILLI: UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE GODS: THE DIVINE ROLE FOR THE GOOD OUTCOME OF TRADE The role of the human beings in desert economy Occasionally the gods spontaneously help the men but sometimes the men must acquire their help in order to solve a difficult situation. For example, during an expedition sent by Amenemhat I to Wadi Hammamat, the gods were invoked because no one was able to find the stone to bring to the king: in fact the divinities are the owners of the precious materials sought and they can decide to reveal but also hide them from the prospectors at will.

rdi.n(.i) Hknw n MnTw nb Hwt tn n nsw-bit %-Htp-ib-Ra ‘I gave praise to Montu Lord of this temple, for the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Sehetepibra.’75 The compensation to the gods can be given through prayers, votive offerings76 or building temples. The several expedition inscriptions left in the desert accomplish this task.77

wD Hm.f saHa wD pn n it.f mnw nb xAswt m Dw pn Sps pAwty nn nw rx sSAwt.s nn pH s(y) Dar s(y) aHa.n ir.n(.i) hrw 8 Hr Dar xAst tn n rx.n(.i) bw.s im

‘His majesty commanded to erect this stele to his father Min, lord of the highlands in this august, primeval mountain.’78

‘There was no prospector who knew its characteristics, none who reached it by searching it. I spent eight days searching this highland; I didn’t know its places here.’71

To commemorate the good outcome of the expeditions, the Egyptians carved on the rocks or steles their thanks to the divinities. On a stele found in Wadi Gasus there’s a scene where Amenemhat III is giving an offering to Min and Haroeris-Ra followed by a prayer:

Considering the failing search for the stone, the chief of the expedition was forced to plead the gods for help:

dwA-nTr rdit iAw n @r-wr-Ra n Mnw Gbtiw aHa.n di.n(.i) Hr Xt(.i) n Mnw n Mwt-Mnw Wrt-HkAw nTrw nbw xAst tn di(.i) n.sn sntr Hr sDt

‘Praise god: Given a prayer to Haroeris-Ra and Min of Coptos.’79

‘Then I put myself on my belly for Min, for Mut-Min, the Great-in-Magic and all the gods of this highland, giving to them incense upon the fire.’72

As clearly the subsequent text displays, this stele was created in order to thank the gods for the good conclusion of the expedition to Punt and for the safety landing in %Aww port. The thanks scenes or inscriptions are frequently accompanied by texts describing the reason that the record was carved. Several times, however, the inscriptions do not make mention of the motivation of the recording itself. The majority of the rock inscriptions left in the desert countries belong to this category, so one can merely suppose what was the occasion commemorated by the most of epigraphic sources.80 For example, on stele found in the Wadi Gawasis, there’s a prayer addressed to Osiris, Horus and Haroeris-Ra, but this inscription does not tell us why the gods were thanked:

The direct consequence of his prayer was the discovery of the stone:

aHa.n gm.n(.i) s r(m)T73 m Hb mSa r Dr.f Hr dwA rS 'Then I found it and people were in festivity and the whole troop was praying and rejoicing.’74 In the eyes of Egyptians, the good outcome of all activities carried out in the desert was due to the divine will. The deities can aid the people protecting them, favouring the discovery of the natural and mineral resources or indicating the commercial routes. This was the duty of the gods. But the human beings have to recompense the gods in order to keep this unstable system in balance. And this was the duty of men.

75 Couyat and Montet 1912 101, no. 199, Pl. 38. Notice that the thanks is given to Montu and not to the gods previously above mentioned. 76 On votive offerings to Hathor in peripheral regions cf. Pinch 1993. 77 I do not agree with Doxey’s position (Doxey 1998 18) on the aim of the expedition inscriptions. The purpose is certainly celebrative without historiographical intent. 78 Couyat and Montet 1912 98, no. 192, Pl. 37. 79 Sayed 1977 Pl. 8b. 80 For examples cf. Wadi el Hudi: Fakhry 1952 nos. 2:6, 16:3, 17:3, 20:3, 22:4-5, 24:4, 25:3, 143:A.4; Wadi Allaki: Černý 1947 52-8, nos. 14, 22, 24, 37, 38, 39; Hatnub: Anthes 1928, gr. 9, 11, 13, 17, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26.

71

Couyat and Montet 1912 101, no. 199, Pl. 38. Couyat and Montet 1912 101, no. 199, Pl. 38. 73 Read rmT and not inr, cf. Goedicke 1964 45. 74 Couyat and Montet 1912 101, no. 199, Pl. 38. 72

59

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT economy was deeply influenced by the divine will: the gods could determine the fate of commercial or mining expeditions. It’s possible to give an outline of the Egyptian view of desert economy as follows.

Htp dj nsw (n) Wsjr WAD-wr @r-wAD […] @r-wr-Ra ‘A Royal offering (to) Osiris of Uadj-Ur (to) Horus the Son, […] to Haroeris-Ra.’81

Gods can offer something90 to King/Men King/Men must compensate the Gods

The human beings could recompense the gods not only with offering, steles and rock inscriptions but also with the building of cultic places:82

Men give something to Gods Gods are not obligated to give something to Men

(…)

The desert economy is based on exchange made between two parts, the gods and king or men,91 this is not a normal swap of goods, there was no price and the human beings could not decide the laws of this special kind of exchange. The divinities are owners of the mineral resources and of the products from long-distance trade; they are rulers of desert territories and patrons of commercial ways. The gods must consequently be rewarded for the materials took away or the help given to human beings. In the first kind of exchange the gods could begin the transaction and king or men had to reply. Contrarily, if the men offered something to the gods in order to ensure the good outcome of the expeditions and obtain their benevolence, the deities were not obligated to answer. The gods can have an active or inactive part in these activities but the divinities anyway obtain a reward or an offering. The compensation could be given to the gods not only in the desert territories. In fact, the precious items extracted from the mountains or the exotic goods obtained from commerce have to be also presented to the deities in the Nile Valley, through the offering,92 of course, but also using them in the temples: for instance, the fine hard stone was employed in more sacred part of the holy places and the gold was laid on the decoration of the sanctuaries.93

iw.i r qd xnt m st tn Hr rn itw nTrw (…) ir.in.tw m SAd m Dw pn Hwt-nTr nn n nTrw Imn im.s Ra m Xnw.s PtH Wsir m Hwt-aAt.s @r Ast Mn-mAat-Ra psDt imt Hwt-nTr tn ‘I will build a sanctuary in this spot, bearing the great name of my fathers, the gods (…) By cutting into this mountain a temple was made for these gods: Amun is in it, Ra is within it, Ptah and Osiris are in its great hall and Horus, Isis, and Menmaatra; the Ennead that is in this temple.’83 This is the dedicatory text of Seti I written in the rock temple of Kanais84, in Wadi Miya. The king built this temple on the way that led to the gold mines in order to compensate the gods for the discovery of the water. But other temples were built in peripheral regions:85 for instance, in Sinai some temples were dedicated to Hathor86; at Gebel el Zeit it’s know a place of worship dedicated to Hathor, Horus and Min;87 in the Wadi Hammamat there were a Min shrine88 (Bir Umm Fawakhir, now destroyed) and a temple of Amon.89

The desert economy had been subdued to a theological system in which the king is not the heart of the system itself; outside the Nile Valley the gods were deemed the focal point of each activity.

Final remarks References

Thanks to the expedition inscriptions the Egyptians have given to us the opportunity to understand some laws that influence the economic and commercial activities outside the Nile Valley, revealing the importance of the role played by the gods. In the eyes of Egyptians, this

Allam, S. 1963. Beiträge zum Hathorkult (bis zum Ende des Mittleren Reiches). MÄS 4. Berlin. Allen, J. P. 2005. The ancient Egyptian pyramid texts. Writings from the Ancient World 23. Leiden, Boston. Anthes, R. 1928. Die Felseninschriften von Hatnub. Leipzig. Aufrère, S. H. 1991. L’univers minéral dans la pensée égyptienne. Le monde des déserts, des mines et des carrières. L'offrande des métaux et des pierres et le

81 Bard and Fattovich 2008 stele WG 28. Osiris was associated with the Sea, the Great Green, probably because of the green colour of the god’s skin. In ports of the Red Sea shore, Osiris was perhaps regarded a protector of the sea travellers. It’s possible that he had got more or less the same function as Hathor in the protection of the shipmasters. 82 Klemm 1988. 83 Lichtheim 1976 54; KRI Vol. 1 65-70, §§ 32-3. 84 Gauthier 1920 1-38; Schott 1961; Weigall 1908 71-84. 85 Gilli 2006 152-60; Giveon 1978b; Wimmer 1990. 86 Giveon 1978b 61-7. On the Hathor Temple at Timna cf. Rothenberg 1970 28-35; Rothenberg 1973. On the well-know temple of Hathor ‘Lady of Turquoise’ and Sopdu at Serbit el-Khadim cf. Valbelle and Bonnet 1996. 87 Castel et al. 1989; Castel and Soukiassian 1985. 88 Goyon 1957 carte. 89 Harrel and Brown 1992 97-9.

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Natural or mineral resource, protection, aid. In regard to this it must be underlined the prominent role of the nonroyal individuals in the expedition inscriptions. In these far territories, the private persons could sometimes experiment a direct interaction with the local gods of a nature that in the Nile Valley would normally only be found with the king. 92 Aufrère 1991 Vol. 1 161-212. 93 Cf. Aufrère 2001 158-160; Klemm and Klemm 1993; Schmitz 1985. 91

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BARBARA GILLI: UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE GODS: THE DIVINE ROLE FOR THE GOOD OUTCOME OF TRADE from Wadi Kharig (Sinai). BASOR 226, 61-3. Giveon, R. 1978a. The stones of Sinai speak. Tokyo. Giveon, R. 1978b. The impact of Egypt on Canaan: iconographical and related studies. OBO 20. Freiburg, Göttingen. Giveon, R. 1984. Soped in Sinai. In F. Junge (ed.), Studien zu Sprache und Religion Agyptens zu Ehren von Wolfhard Westendorf, 777-84. Göttingen. Goedicke, H. 1962. The inscription of @r-wr-ra (Sinai no. 90). MDAIK 18, 14-25. Goedicke, H. 1964. Some remarks on Stone Quarrying in the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (2060-1786 B.C.). JARCE 3, 43-50. Goyon, G. 1957. Nouvelles inscription rupestres du Wadi Hammamat. Paris. Goyon, J.-C. 1974. Textes et langages de l’Egypte pharaonique, Vol. 2. BdE 64. Cairo. Goyon, J.-C. 1985. Les dieux gardiens et la genèse des temples. BdE 93. Cairo. Gundlach, R. 1980. Mentuhotep IV und Min. Analyse der Inschriften M 110, M191 und M192a aus dem Wadi Hammamat. SAK 8, 89-114. Harrel, J. A. and Brown, V. M. 1992. The Oldest Surviving Topographical Map from Ancient Egypt: (Turin Papyri 1879, 1899 and 1969). JARCE 29, 81105. Iversen, E. 1984. The inscription of Herwerre at Serabital-Kadem. In F. Junge (ed.), Studien zu Sprache und Religion Ägyptens zu Ehren von Wolfhart Westendorf, Vol. 1, 507-19. Göttingen. Keimer, L. 1928. An Ancient Egyptian Knife in Modern Egypt. AE 1928, 65-6. Keimer, L. 1944. L'horreur des égyptiens pour les démons du désert. BIE 26, 135-47. Klemm, R. 1988. Vom Steinbruch zum Tempel. ZÄS 115, 41-5. Klemm, R. and Klemm, D. 1993. Steine und Steinbrüche im Alten Ägypten. Berlin. Leitz, C. (ed.) 2002. Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter und Götterbezeichnungen, Vols. 3-4. OLA 112-113. Leiden. Lichtheim, M. 1973. Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms. Berkeley. Lichtheim, M. 1976. Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume II: The New Kingdom. Berkeley. Mariette, A. 1870. Denderah. Description générale du Grand Temple de cette Ville, Vol. 1. Paris. Mariette, A. 1871. Les papyrus égyptiens du Musée de Boulaq, Vol. 1. Paris. Morenz, S. 1960. Ägyptische Religion. Stuttgart. Naville, E. 1898. The Temple of Deir el Bahari. Part III. Plates LVI-LXXXVI. End of northern half and southern half of the middle platform. EEF 14. London. Newberry, P. E. 1893. Beni Hasan, Vol. 1. London. Newberry, P. E. 1894. Beni Hasan, Vol. 2. London. Pinch, G. 1993. Votive offerings to Hathor. Oxford. Pinch, G. 2002. Egyptian mythology: a guide to the gods, goddesses, and traditions of Ancient Egypt. Oxford. Rothenberg, B. 1967. Excavations at Timna. Preliminary Report on the Excavations at Camp no. 2 in Wadi Timna, 1964-1966. Bulletin of Museum Haaretz

remplissage de l'Oeil-Oudjat. Les divinités de l'univers minéral dans la mentalité et la religion des anciens Egyptiens. BdE 105. Cairo. Aufrère, S. H. 2001. The Egyptian temple, substitute for the mineral universe. In W. V. Davies (ed.), Colour and Painting in Ancient Egypt, 158-63. London. Bard, K. and Fattovich, R. 2008. Mersa/Wadi Gawasis, Mission 2007-2008. http://www.archaeogate.org/ egittologia/article.php?id=974. Accessed on 30 December 2008. Barucq, A. and Doumas, F. 1980. Hymnes et prières de l’Egypte ancienne. Paris. Blackman, A. M. 1931. A new translation of the inscription of Herwerre at Serâbit el-Khâdim. BIFAO 30, 97-101. Bleeker, C. J. 1973. Hathor and Thoth: two key figures of the ancient Egyptian religion. Leiden. Blumenthal, E. 1977. Die Textgattung Expeditionsbericht in Ägypten. In J. Assmann et al. (eds.), Fragen an die altägyptische Literatur. Studien zum Gedenken an Eberhard Otto, 85-118. Wiesbaden. Castel, G. and Soukiassian, G. 1985. Dépôt de stèles dans le Sanctuaire du nouvel empire au Gebel el Zeit. BIFAO 85, 285-93. Castel, G. et al. 1989. Gebel El-Zeit, I: Les Mines de Galene (Egypte, IIe millenaire av. J.-C.). FIFAO 35. Cairo. Černý, J. 1947. Graffiti at the Wadi el-Allaki. JEA 33, 527. Černý, J. 1952. Inscription of Sinai, Vol. 1. London. Černý, J. 1955. Inscription of Sinai, Vol. 2. London. Chassinat, É. 1935. Le temple de Dendera, Vol. 4. Cairo. Chassinat, É. and Daumas, F. 1978. Le Temple de Dendara, Vol. 8. Cairo. Couyat, M. M. J. and Montet, P. 1912. Les inscriptions hiéroglyphiques et Hiératiques du Ouadi Hammamat. MIFAO 34. Cairo. Daressy, G. 1901. Rapport sur des fouilles à Sa el-Hagar. ASAE 2, 230-9. Doxey, D. M. 1998. Egyptian non-royal epithets in the Middle Kingdom: a social and historical analysis. Leiden. Dümichen, J. 1877. Baugeschichte des Dendera-Tempels. Strassburg. El-Sayed, R. 1982. La déesse Neith de Sais. BdE 86. Cairo. Engelbach, R. 1933. The Quarries of the Western Nubian Desert. ASAE 33, 65-74. Erichsen, W. 1933. Papyrus Harris I. BAe 5. Brussels. Erman, A. 1934. Die Religion der Agypter. Ihr Werden Und Vergehen in vier Jahrtausenden. Berlin, Leipzig. Espinel, A. D. 2002. The Role of the Temple of Ba'alat Gebal as Intermediary Between Egypt and Byblos During the Old Kingdom. SAK 30, 103-19. Fakhry, A. 1952. The Inscription of the Amethyst Quarries at Wadi el Hudi. Cairo. Gauthier H. 1920. Le Temple de l’Ouadi Miyah (El Knais). BIFAO 17, 1-38. Gilli, B. 2006. Templi e spazi sacri nelle zone di cave e miniere: forme di adattamento all’ambiente naturale. Aegyptus 85, 149-60. Giveon, R. 1977. Inscriptions of Sahure and Sesostris I 61

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Bulletin 9, 53-70. Rothenberg, B. 1970. An Egyptian Temple of Hathor discovered in the Southern of ‘Arabah (Israel). Bulletin of Museum Haaretz 12, 28-35. Rothenberg, B. 1973. Timna: Tal des biblischen Kupfers: Ausgrabungen im Timna-Tel (Israel): 1964-1972 durch die Arabah-Expedition. Bochum. Sadek, A. I. 1980. The Amethyst Mining Inscription of Wadi el Hudi. Vols. 1-2. Warminster. Sandman-Holmberg, M. 1946. The God Ptah. Lund. Sauneron, S. 1962. Les fêtes religieuses d'Esna: aux derniers siècles du paganisme. Cairo. Sauneron, S. 1968. Le temple d'Esna (nos. 194-398), Vol. 3. Cairo. Sayed, A. M. A. H. 1977. Discovery of the Site of the 12th Dynasty Port at Wadi Gawasis on the Red Sea Shore. RdE 29, 140-78. Schenkel, W. 1965. Memphis-Herakleopolis-Theben. Die Epigraphischen Zeugnisse der 7.-11. Dynastie Ägyptens. ÄA 12. Wiesbaden. Schmitz, B. 1985. Die Steine der Pharaonen: vom Steinbruch zum Kunstwerk. Lagerstätten, Materialien, Werkstücke Altägyptens. Hildesheim. Schott, S. 1961. Kanais. Der Tempel Sethos I. im Wadi Mia. NAWG 1.6. Göttingen. Schumacher, I. W. 1998. Der Gott Sopdu, der Herr der Fremdlander. OBO 79. Freiburg. Stadelmann, R. 1967. Syrisch-Palestinensische Gottheiten in Ägypten. PAe 5. Leiden. Strudwick, N. 2005. Texts from the Pyramid Age. Leiden. Te Velde, H. 1967. Seth, god of confusion: a study of his role in Egyptian mythology and religion. Leiden. Valbelle, D. and Bonnet, C. 1996. Le sanctuaire d'Hathor, maîtresse de la turquoise: Sérabit elKhadim au Moyen Empire. Paris. Weigall, A. E. P. 1908. A Report on the So-Called Temple of Redesiyeh. ASAE 9, 71-84. Wimmer, S. 1990. Egyptian Temples in Canaan and Sinai. In S. Israelit-Groll (ed.), Studies Egyptology Presented to Miriam Lichtheim, 1065-106. Jerusalem. Yoyotte, J. 1952. Une Épithète de Min comme explorateur des régions orientales. RdE 9, 125-37. Ziegler, C. 1981. Une faille de “grands des djebels de l’or” d’Amon. RdE 33, 125-32.

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On Egyptian Wine Marketing Maria Rosa Guasch* Introduction*

Labelling and presentation of wines

Wine in ancient Egypt was a prestige product consumed mainly by the upper classes and the royal family; it was offered to the gods in temples by the pharaoh and the priests, and used in medicine. Since the Predynastic Era, wine jars were placed in the Egyptian tombs as funerary offerings. But how was the wine made?

No documents similar to any kind of rules regarding labelling and bottling of wines have been found from ancient Egypt.2 However, they might have had some guidelines to control the production and the product. Egyptian wine-jars had to be transported to their final destination, generally from the Delta to the capital, well protected to preserve the valuable content and its quality for the consumer.

Viticulture and winemaking scenes were depicted in reliefs and paintings on the walls of Egyptian private tombs from the Old Kingdom through Graeco-Roman times. Thanks to these scenes, we have information about how the wine was made, the scenes showing the elaboration of wine reveal that the procedures are very similar to the traditional European method. A harvest scene from the tomb of Pepiankh at Meir (see Figure 1) of the Old Kingdom shows how the workers picked the grapes by hand and put them in baskets, the press was next to the vineyard where a group of standing men treaded the grapes. The baskets full of grapes were transported carefully to the press, as shown in the New Kingdom tomb of Paheri at el-Kab,1 because the time from picking a grape to pressing it was of utmost importance. A sack press was also used (Figure 1) and the remains of skin and stones were pressed to obtain a second extraction that would enable them to distinguish the quality of their wines. During the New Kingdom, the wine-jars were inscribed in black ink with details of the harvest.

Our aim is to compare an Egyptian wine-jar and a modern bottle of wine considering the modern European rules on the description, designation, presentation and protection of wine. They will be studied for the Egyptian wine-jars to unveil which important aspects were controlled for the quality of the product. According to the European Union legislation, wine labels must indicate certain characteristics to guarantee that consumers have information about the content of the product and its provenance.3 The definition of labelling includes any words, trademarks, brand names or symbols while presentation refers to any information conveyed to consumers by virtue of the packaging of the product including the form and type of bottle.4 The Egyptian wine-jars There are two types of wine-jars of the New Kingdom: amphorae and attenuated jars. The amphora typically is a wine-jar with two vertical handles. It has a hieratic inscription and a stamp as we can see in Figure 2. On the inscription of the amphorae we find the year, the qualification, the product and sweetness as well as the geographic origin, the property or estate and the name and title of the winemaker. The inscription is found on the widest part of the amphora as on a label of a modern wine bottle where the information is shown at first sight.5 Most of the wine-jars are of this shape, with two vertical handles. Moreover, there is a rare type of amphora where the two handles are horizontal rather than vertical. There is an example found in Tutankhamun’s tomb6 with the inscription: “Year 10, good wine from Iaty”,7 and the

This paper presents an investigation aiming to determine the importance of the data inscribed on the wine-jars bearing on the source, quality and prestige of wines in ancient Egypt. The inscriptions on the wine-jars will be compared with the labels of modern wines to determine common characteristics. Questions arising are: does the European legislation consider aspects already included in the Egyptian inscriptions? What are the main data that are still found in modern wine labels that are commonly used as criteria when selecting a wine? For achieving this, we will review the European Union guidelines to investigate what is described regarding the labels of wine bottles as well as the particularities of bottling that are both the most important guarantees for the quality of the product.

2 Readers will recall that we do not have any legal handbooks from ancient Egypt, and that in general Egyptian judicial documents do not cite laws or precedent, as noted among others by McDowell 1990. 3 EU Reg. 2002 L118/2. 4 EU Reg. 2008 L148/23. 5 EU Reg. 2002 L118/2 No. 6. According to the EU legislation the information of the label on a bottle of wine should be in a single visual field to protect the interests of consumers and producers. 6 It is object Carter no. 500 and JE 62300 at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Burton 2009 500, Photo p1322. 7 Černý 1965 3, no. 24.

*

This research is supported by a grant of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), of the Ministry of Science and Technology in Portugal. I would like to thank Professor D. Warburton for revising my English. 1 Guasch 2008 14, Fig. 4.6; Tylor and Griffith 1894 Pl. 4.

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Figure 1. Harvest and winemaking scene from the tomb of Pepiankh, Meir, 6th Dynasty (after: Blackaman and Apted 1953 Pl. 20) stamp: “dorw from the southern oases”.8 Two different products are indicated so the real content, whether wine or the unknown dorw, is still under discussion.

inscriptions are found on the attenuated jars but there is a stamp on the top of the mud stopper. Attenuated jars occur only in late 18th Dynasty contexts at el-Amarna, the palace of Malkata and Tutankhamun’s tomb in western Thebes.9 Being of fragile make, they were mostly found broken in Tutankhamun’s tomb.10 The short period of appearance, the different shape and the fact that they were not inscribed led some scholars to suggest they were of foreign origin and they were often

As regards the attenuated jar, it has one large handle only, a vertical loop handle attached to the neck and the shoulder, as we can see in Figure 3. The attenuated jar is slender and has a very narrow neck. No hieratic

8 Holthoer 1993 108, no. 28. The stamp has been translated as “Fruit/resin from the Southern oases”, although the meaning of the word dorw is unknown. Moreover, Iaty is an unknown locality.

9

Holthoer 1993 64. Carter 1933 149.

10

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MARIA ROSA GUASCH: ON EGYPTIAN WINE MARKETING wine, in the area of Lake Mariut near Alexandria, was “excellent, white and enjoyable, aromatic, easy to assimilate, fine and does not go to one’s head apart from also being diuretic”.14 Analytical research on residue samples from Egyptian amphorae through the method15 for wine makers in archaeology by using the liquid chromatography mass spectrometry in tandem [LC/MS/MS] technique, allows the identification of the colour of Egyptian wines. Tartaric acid as a grape marker and syringic acid derived from malvidin, which is present in young red wines, as a red grape marker, were investigated. Sampling of Tutankhamun’s amphorae was carried out at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt, and the results of analysing these residues uncovered that both red16 and white17 wines went under the name irep.

Figure 2. Inscribed and stamped amphorae from the Annexe chamber of the tomb of Tutankhamun, left: Carter no. 571, right: Carter no. 392 (Burton 2009 p1276, copyright of the Griffith Institute, University of Oxford) wrongly referred to as “Syrian”,11 but according to H. Carter, the impression of the stamps was similar to other wines so they may possibly have been of Egyptian origin.12 According to Lesko, the jars of this type from Tutankhamun’s tomb and their contents were both Egyptian as they had Egyptian seal impression on their stoppers, though no inked-on labels.13 Figure 3. Attenuated jars from the Annexe chamber of the tomb of Tutankhamun, left: Carter no. 502, right: Carter no. 431 (Burton 2009 p1262, copyright of the Griffith Institute, University of Oxford)

What kinds of wine were made in Egypt? According to the labels on the amphorae, two different products were made: irep, which is ‘wine’, and shedeh, the translation of which remains to be resolved. Inscriptions on the amphorae give detailed information about the harvest. However, it is curious that no mention was made concerning the colour of the wine – neither white nor red – on the inscriptions or in any other documents. Wine was related to the red colour, the colour of the Nile during the flood caused by muddy sediment coming from the Ethiopian Blue Nile and Atbara rivers. The first mention of white wine comes from the GraecoRoman period. Atheneus [I, 33 d-f] from Naucratis, who lived during the 3rd century BC, explained that Mareotis

Moreover, the botanical origin of the shedeh drink was investigated in a residue from an amphora found in the 14

Guasch 2008 24. Guasch et al. 2004. 16 Guasch et al. 2004, sample from amphora JE 62313, Carter no. 508. See also Guasch et al. 2006b, sample from amphora JE 62314, Carter no. 195, the inscription on this amphora indicates: “Year 9, wine of the Estate of Aten of the Western River, chief vintner Sennufe”. The results of the analysis of these samples revealed that tartaric acid and syringic acid, after an alkaline oxidation, were present in the samples. 17 Guasch et al. 2006b, sample from amphora JE 62316, Carter no. 180 having the inscription: “Year 5, wine from the Estate of Tutankhamun, Ruler of Southern-On, in the Western River, chief vintner Khaa”. Tartaric acid was identified but no syringic acid was present after alkaline oxidation of the sample. 15

11

Holthoer 1993 64. Carter 1933 149. 13 Lesko 1996 223. 12

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT burial chamber of Tutankhamun’s tomb.18 The origin and nature of the shedeh wine has been discussed for a century, with pomegranates19 and grapes20 having been proposed as a raw material for the shedeh. According to papyrus Salt 825 [BM 10051], shedeh was filtered and heated but, due to damage in this papyrus, the origin was unknown.21 The results of analysing the residue sample allowed the identification of tartaric and syringic acid, showing that shedeh was made from red grapes, so it was a red wine with a different preparation.22

we do not know the location of the vineyard – and no year or property, nor even the kind of product was indicated, probably because it was not necessary to add this information. The inscriptions from Deir el-Medina indicate: “Year 3, wine of the Estate of Djeser-Kheperu-Re Setepenre [Horemheb] from the vineyard in the Western River, chief vintner Ru”,30 and “Year 17, wine of the great vineyard of the Temple of Usermaat-Re Setepenre [Ramses II] of the Estate of Amun in the Estate of Usermaat-Re Setepenre, in the Waters of Re, chief vintner Amenmose”.31 The Waters of Re flowed through the Eastern Delta to the sea near Pelusium.32

The inscriptions on amphorae On the inscriptions from el-Amarna we find: “Year 12, wine of the Estate of the High Priest in the Western River, chief vintner Nakht-pa-aten”.23 Most New Kingdom wines came from the Western River, the ancient Canopic branch of the Nile located in the Western Delta. Another wine from the same area – but a royal estate – whose inscription reads: “Year 14, wine of the Estate of King Akhenaten, l.p.h., in the Western River, chief vintner Iny”,24 and there is also: “Year 17, good wine of the Temple of Aten from the vineyard of S3wh3t”, a wine from the oases.25

In a modern wine label, the same information is found: vintage, estate, origin, product and winemaker’s name. For example, a label of a prestigious Catalan wine indicates: “2007, L’Ermita, Priorat, Gran vino de Guarda by Alvaro Palacios”. Even the order of the data is the same. These are the parameters the consumer will have in consideration when choosing a bottle of wine. On the Egyptian amphorae, the harvest year is the regnal year, without the name of the pharaoh. The kind of product is mainly irep ‘wine’ or shedeh (the correct translation of which is uncertain). Without qualification, the wine is ordinary; ‘good’ (nfr) or ‘very good’ (nfr nfr) distinguish the better qualities. The property could be a royal or temple estate, or even a private vineyard. Interestingly, the geographical origin indicates the production area such as the Delta or the western oases, but could also designate a small town. For European wines, there are compulsory particulars such as indication of provenance and indication of the bottler,33 while optional particulars are vintage year, sugar content, traditional terms and terms referring to certain production methods, and a geographical unit smaller or larger than the designation of origin or geographical indication.34 Product type is from dry to sweet; ‘sweet’ being a wine with a quantity of sugar of at least 45g/l.35 Although we do not have concentrations of the sugar for ancient Egyptian wines, we know they qualified some wine as nDm (‘sweet’),36 and even possibly the grapes were considered to be sweet. For this reason, we can suppose the vine growers had “sensory indicators” to consider it as sweeter than the rest of grapes.

Inscriptions from Tutankhamun’s tomb indicate that most of the amphorae contained wine. One inscription, for example, indicates: “Year 5, wine of the Estate of Tutankhamun ruler-of-Southern-On, in the Western River by the chief vintner Khaa”.26 Four of the amphorae contained sweet wines, an example of inscription is: “Year 5, sweet wine of the Estate of Aten from Karet by the chief vintner Ramose”.27 Three of Tutankhamun’s amphorae contained shedeh, one has the inscription: “Year 4, very good shedeh of the Estate of Aten in the Western River by the chief vintner Khay”.28 Thanks to these inscriptions, we know that most of the wines selected for Tutankhamun’s royal tomb were harvested during year five and they came mainly from the Estate of Aten, but also from Tutankhamun’s Estate in the Western River. Interestingly, there was an amphora only inscribed “Vizier Pentu”.29 This is the only mention of Vizier Pentu that has been found, and it would have been a wine made from grapes growing in his private vineyard. However, 18 Guasch et al. 2006a, sample from amphora JE 62315, Carter no. 206, the inscription indicates: “Year 5, very good shedeh of the Estate of Aten of the Western River, chief vintner Rer”. 19 Helck 1977. 20 Tallet 1995 460-4, 472-6. 21 Guasch 2008 30, Fig. 6.1. 22 Guasch et al. 2006a. 23 Pendlebury 1951 Pl. 89, no. 117. 24 Pendlebury 1951 Pl. 85, no. 23. 25 Pendlebury 1951 Pl. 86, no. 51. ¤A-wAHt is the ancient name of the modern village of Mut in the Dakhla Oasis. 26 Černý 1965 3. Wine-jar inscription no. 17 in amphora Carter no. 570, JE 62323. 27 Černý 1965 2. Wine-jar inscription no. 12 in Carter no. 571, JE 62307. 28 Černý 1965 1. Wine-jar inscription no. 5 in Carter no. 392, JE 62305. 29 Černý 1965 4. Wine-jar inscription no. 26 in Carter no. 490, JE 62302. The stopper is not preserved so we do not know if it was stamped or not.

In the Theban tomb of Intef at Dra Abu el-Naga (TT 155) of the New Kingdom, there is a scene showing an old man tasting the grapes in the vineyard to ascertain the degree of the ripeness37 and, in another scene, a seating man tastes the wine and he says: “How sweet this

30

Koenig 1980 Pl. 34, no. 6299. Koenig 1980 Pl. 34, no. 6300. 32 Kitchen 1992 116-7. 33 EU Reg. 2008 L148/24 Article 59. 34 EU Reg. 2008 L148/24 Article 60. 35 EU Reg. 2002 L118/10 Article 16. 36 Černý 1965 2, nos. 8, 10, 12. 37 Guasch 2008 17, Fig. 4.13; Säve-Söderberg 1957 Pl. 14. 31

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MARIA ROSA GUASCH: ON EGYPTIAN WINE MARKETING worker’s wine is!”.38 These exceptional scenes show us how the ancient Egyptians controlled the quality of the harvest and the newly-made wine, as the oenologist does today.

On the shape of modern bottles of wine If we take a look at a modern bottle – of, for example, a red wine or a sherry – we instantly deduce that the products contained are different because of their shapes. The wine producers in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Germany follow the tradition of their local areas in choosing the shape of bottle most appropriate for their wines. The use of certain types of bottle for certain products is a long-established practice in the Community and third countries, and such bottles can evoke characteristics or origin of products in the minds of consumers due to their long-established use.44 Shapes of the Bordeaux bottles have straight sides and tall shoulders. Dark green glass is for the dry red wines, lighter green for the dry whites and clear glass is found for the sweet whites. Burgundies and Rhone wines have tall bottles with sloping shoulders.

The name of the winemaker is found on the Egyptian amphora at the end of the inscription. According to the European Union rules, the name of the bottler should be included on the wine label. They indicate that it should be compulsory to indicate the activity of those persons such as “wine-grower” or “harvested by”.39 Interestingly, this is the same information we find in the Egyptian inscriptions. The inscriptions do not inform us on the destination of the wine-jar, but we know the site where the wine-jar, or the ostracon, was found. However, we do not find this on modern wine labels. Of course this is not important for the bottler or the product although they should guarantee the quality and that the product arrives in good condition.

Fortified wines such as Port and Sherry are transported in quite sturdy bottles, shorter and wider than the Bordeauxstyle bottles. Would the attenuated jars have contained a different kind of wine distinguishable thanks to the shape of the jar?

Quality and ordinary wines Traditional specific terms applicable to European quality wines are Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée in France, Denominação de Origem Controlada (DOC) in Portugal or Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOCa) in Spain.40 Derogation from the obligation to use a traditional specific term, and marketed using that name only, exists41 as applies to Champagne in France, Madeira and Porto in Portugal or Cava and Jerez in Spain, for example. This could be the case of the shedeh, a wine with a different preparation. Interestingly, the shape of the amphora containing the shedeh is exactly the same as that for the irep-wine: a two-handled amphora. Designation of Origin (DO) means the name of a region and Geographical Indication (GI) means an indication referring to a region with a specific quality or reputation.42 Concerning the products, wine, liqueur, sparkling wine and the quality (indicated as “table wine” or “quality wine”) are distinguished.

Stoppers and seals Covering and firmly sealing amphorae for transport was very important because the wine had to travel from the Delta to Thebes or from the Western oases to the Nile valley. The actual cover of the wine-jar was protected with a sealing clay capsule or lid to prevent contamination of the contents. In a scene in the Theban tomb of Khaemwaset45 (TT 261), a man is sealing an amphora: first, he places a pottery lid over its mouth and, then, he seals the amphora with Nile mud. Two types of seals on the wine-jars have been found: cylindrical and cap seals. The stoppers on the amphorae have a cylindrical shape, which completely encloses the whole of the neck of the wine-jar, as Figure 2 shows, while the cap seals are found on top of the attenuated jars.46 In Figure 3 we can see traces of the cap seal.

Exemptions for the labelling of wine bottles in the EU rules are for quantities of wine not exceeding 30 litres per lot and not intended for sale, as well as quantities of wine intended for home consumption by producers and their employees.43 Many Egyptian amphorae were not inscribed, possibly because wine was both produced and consumed in the same place. These non-inscribed amphorae were like a table wine without today’s Origin Denomination (DO), or for private consumption.

Wine bottles are usually sealed with cork and a protective sleeve called a capsule covers the top of the bottle, which can be stamped. The stamps indicate the estate or winery and sometimes the product. Capsules were made of lead and they protected the cork from being damaged by rodents. Because of the presence of trace amounts of toxic lead that could remain on the lip of the bottle and mix with the wine, the use of lead-based capsules to cover the closing devices of containers is banned to avoid any risk, firstly, of contamination, in particular by accidental contact with such products and, secondly, of

38

Guasch 2008 20, Fig. 4.18; Säve-Söderberg 1957 Pl. 14. EU Reg. 2002 L118/2 No. 16. 40 EU Reg. 2002 L118/14-6 Article 29. 41 EU Reg. 2002 L118/16-7 Article 30. 42 EU Reg. 2008 L148/17-8 Article 34. 43 EU Reg. 2002 L118/5 Article 5. 39

44

EU Reg. 2002 L118/2 No. 13. Guasch 2008 21, Fig. 4.20; Hope 1993 94, Fig. 2a. 46 Hope 1993 92. 45

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT For the attenuated jar, only one stamp58 is documented from Tutankhamun’s tomb bearing the inscription: “Renenutet, Mistress of Provisions, good [wine]”.59

environmental pollution from waste containing lead from such capsules.47 Stamps

On the origin of the attenuated jars: el-Amarna wines?

The stamps on the amphorae generally indicate the kind of product, the property whence it come, and the quality. In the tomb of Parennefer (TT 188) a clay seal is stamped.48 The stamp is, in fact, a summary of the hieratic inscription containing the most important data about the harvest: product, quality and estate. One example is an intact sealed amphora from Tutankhamun’s tomb, see left amphora49 in Figure 2, the inscription indicates: “Year 4, very good shedeh of the Estate of Aten in the Western River by the chief vintner Khay” and the stamp repeats: “Very good shedeh of the Estate of Aten”. The stamped wine-jar sealings actually were far more numerous than those of any other type (meat, oil, etc.) because wine was not only much more valuable but was normally transported over much greater distances and therefore required greater protection against tampering and pilferage during the trip. 50

Unlike the amphorae, the attenuated types bear no hieratic inscriptions and this fact supported the hypothesis that they functioned exclusively as containers for imported wine produced in a district whose population was not Egyptian-speaking.60 However, no proofs of that foreign origin exist. They were sealed with a rush stopper covered with gypsum.61 This would probably be the reason why the stoppers are rarely preserved in situ. Significantly, we do not know what product they contained because no analysis of the contents has ever been carried out. Considering that the attenuated jars were found in a limited context related to the Amarna Period, their stoppers being made quickly, a limited production close to the area of production is possible. Could they have been produced in Akhetaten? Although many vineyards were represented in scenes of the royal palace at Amarna, the wine inscriptions do not reflect local production. Most of the wine produced during Akhenaten’s reign came from the Western River, an area near the Canopic branch of the Nile at Western Delta. Could the attenuated jars have contained wines produced at el-Amarna so that no inscriptions were needed as it would had been a short production of wine and not intended for storage?

According to Hayes, the inscriptions would have two main functions. Firstly to safeguard the contents of the jars by rendering it impossible to open them without noticeable damage to the seal. It was not easy to reproduce the sealing marks of royal or official authority. Secondly, the seals meant that the contents of the jars could be determined at a glance, even by illiterate or semi-literate persons unable to read the hieratic inscription.51 Moreover, the use of seals would allow the identity and/or origin of the contents of the jars to be inscribed with the utmost rapidity and clarity by men who need not necessarily have been able either to write or to read.52 However, the same idea is still used for the stamps on modern wine bottles as a mark by the winery or as a guarantee of quality.

Did a rush stopper suffice to close them because, unlike the amphorae, they were not meant to be transported over long distances? Conclusions

Nevertheless, most stamps from Malkata, but also the inscriptions on the Malkata ostraca, refer to the Sed festival: “Very good wine for the Sed festival”,53 and “Offering wine for the Sed festival”.54 In addition, there are stamps indicating: “Wine of the King’s Great Wife”,55 “Very good wine of the Oases”, 56 or “Very good wine of the Western River of the people of Lower Egypt”.57 They were all specially made for the royal jubilees of Amenhotep III.

Well-established rules regarding the presentation and labelling of wine existed already in ancient Egypt and they might be compared to our modern European Union guidelines. The inscriptions and stamps on the New Kingdom wine-jars reveal a strict quality control of labelling and presentation of wines. Summary information regarding the product and the producing institution was stamped on the seal by the winery as a mark. Moreover, the inscriptions on the wine-jars contained useful information about the grape harvest and winemaking: the vintage, the kind of product, the property, the geographical origin and the name and title of the winemaker. Importantly, there was a specific order of writing this information and it is exactly the same information we consider nowadays on a label when we choose a bottle of wine.

47

EU Reg. 2002 L118/2 No. 12. Guasch 2008 22, Fig. 4.22; Hope 1993 94, Fig. 2b. 49 Burton 2009 392, Photo p1276; Černý 1965 1, no. 5; Hope 1993 106, no. 24. 50 Hayes 1951 161. 51 Hayes 1951 162. 52 Hayes 1951 162. 53 Hayes 1951 Fig. 25A. 54 Hayes 1951 Fig. 25B. 55 Hayes 1951 Fig. 26O. 56 Hayes 1951 Fig. 25L. 57 Hayes 1951 Fig. 25H. 48

58

Hope 1993 116, no. 14. Hope 1993 100, 103, Fig. 15. Holthoer 1993 64. 61 Holthoer 1993 64. 59 60

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MARIA ROSA GUASCH: ON EGYPTIAN WINE MARKETING Pendlebury, J. 1951. The City of Akhenaten. Part III. London. Säve-Söderberg, T. 1957. Four Eighteenth Dynasty Tombs. PTT 1. Oxford. Tallet, P. 1995. Le shedeh, etude d’un procédé de vinification en Égypte ancienne. BIFAO 95, 459-92. Tylor J. J. and Griffith F. L. 1894. The tomb of Paheri at El Kab. EES-M 11. London.

References Blackman, A. M. and Apted, M. R. 1953. The Rock Tombs of Meir, Vol. 5. London. Burton, H. 2009. Tutankhamun, Anatomy of an Excavation. The Howard Carter Archives. http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/carter/ Accessed on 1 November 2009. Carter, H. 1933. The Tomb of Tut.ankh.Amen, Vol. 3. Reprinted by N. Reeves, The Tomb of Tut.ankh.Amen, Vol. 3.: The Annexe and Treasury. Bath. 2000. Černý, J. 1965. Hieratic Inscriptions from the Tomb of Tutankhamun. TTSO 2. Oxford. EU Reg. 2002. European Union Regulations, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 753/2002 of 29 April 2002 laying down certain rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 as regards the description, designation, presentation and protection of certain wine sector products, http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/consumers/pro duct_labelling_and_packaging/l21303_en.htm Accessed on 9 November 2009. EU Reg. 2008. European Union Regulations, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 479/2008 of 29 April 2008 on the common organization of the market in wine, http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/capreform/wine/index_ en.htm Accessed on 9 November 2009. Guasch, M. R. et al. 2004. Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry in tandem mode applied for the identification of wine markers in residues from ancient Egyptian vessels. Analytical Chemistry 76, 1672-7. Guasch, M. R. et al. 2006a. The origin of the ancient Egyptian drink shedeh revealed using LC/MS/MS. JAS 33, 98-101. Guasch, M. R. et al. 2006b. First evidence of white wine in ancient Egypt from Tutankhamun’s tomb. JAS 33, 1075-80. Guasch, M. R. 2008. Wine in Ancient Egypt, a Cultural and Analytical Study. BAR IS 1851. Oxford. Hayes, W. C. 1951. Inscriptions from the palace of Amenhotep III. JNES 10, 153-83. Helck, W. 1977. Getränke. LÄ 2, cols. 585-6. Wiesbaden. Holthoer, R. 1993. The Pottery. Stone Vessels, Pottery and Sealings from the Tomb of Tutankhamun. Oxford. Hope, C. 1993. The Jar Sealings. Stone Vessels, Pottery and Sealings from the Tomb of Tutankhamun. Oxford. Kitchen, K. A. 1992, The vintages of the Ramesseum. In A. Lloyd (ed.). Studies in Pharaonic Religion and Society in Honour of J. Gwyn Griffiths. EES-OP 8. 115-23. London. Koenig, Y. 1980. Catalogue des étiquettes de jarres hiératiques de Deir El-Médineh 2, Nr. 6242-6497. DFIFAO 21. Cairo. Lesko, L. H. 1996. Egyptian wine production during the New Kingdom. In P. E. McGovern et al. (eds.), The Origins and Ancient History of Wine, 215-30. Amsterdam. McDowell, A. 1990. Jurisdiction in the Workmen’s Community of Deir el-Medîna. EgUit 5. Leiden.

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High-Status Industries in the Capital and Royal Cities of the New Kingdom Anna Kathrin Hodgkinson Most of the New Kingdom vessels were core-formed, and the raw glass was probably produced from raw materials imported into Egypt. A distinction has been made between glass-making and glass-working: glass-makers producing the glass ingots from raw materials, which would later be worked and shaped into finished glass objects by glass-workers.7 The majority of sites, especially those of the 18th Dynasty have been known to reveal evidence of glass-working rather than glassproduction, although more recent findings from archaeological projects have revealed some potential for raw glass-production.8 Lighter shades of blue dominated the general colour scheme during the 18th Dynasty, although many other colours were produced and integrated into vessels and pieces of jewellery as bands of glass rods.9

Introduction This study forms part of my PhD research at the University of Liverpool and is the result of data collection and initial interpretation after my first year of research. I am examining those cities believed to have held capital status during the New Kingdom, namely Memphis, Thebes, Amarna and Piramesse. The term capital city in ancient Egyptian context can only be understood by considering the settlement as a whole, and by analysing the following aspects: the location of the settlement within the country and its natural surroundings, the time span of occupation, its internal layout and the presence of a defining range of features within the city.1 The main focus of this study is on the major, mass-producing industries, often linked to the manufacture of high-status goods evident within these sites, such as glass, faience, metal and textiles. In this article, evidence of production of glass and faience at the sites of the almost contemporary Malkata and Amarna will be presented, and also some new data from the 2009 field season at Gurob. The aim is to establish a connection between the evidence of industry within a settlement and its status as a capital city. High-status goods would have been mass-produced, for example, for festivals, during which the king would distribute glass and faience objects amongst his subjects, such as would have been the case at Malkata.

Malkata The palaces and most of the settlement at Malkata were erected under Amenhotep III and lie on the west bank of Thebes. The complex was built to provide the grounds for at least two sed-festivals of Amenhotep III and was inhabited at least until the reign of Horemheb, the archaeological works revealing several phases of rebuilding.10 The South Village, the main focus of this analysis, lies to the west of the Birket Habu, the harbour mounds, and to the south of the so-called Palace of the King or South Palace.11 Its interpretation as a workmen's settlement is backed through the multiple findings of half-finished and raw glass and faience products next to a large amount of production waste found in this area in addition to the evidence of other, small-scale industries.12 Many objects indicative of the production of glass were found during the Metropolitan Museum excavations, such as slag, fragments of crucibles with dark blue glass still attached, glass rods and some test droplets of glass.13 Furthermore, a small workshop was found in the centre of the palace area itself, indicating the purpose of the final products. Most finds classified as production waste were discarded during the Metropolitan Museum's excavations and only very few were actually added to the collection.14

Glass has been known and used in Egypt since the reign of Thutmosis III, and has been part of the archaeological record in a variety of contexts.2 This sudden development has been termed an innovation specific to New Kingdom Egypt, as the production of glass is previously unknown.3 Workshops for the production of glass objects from raw glass are known to have been in existence at Lisht, Amarna, Malkata and Gurob, whilst the production of glass from raw materials possibly took place at Amarna and also at the Ramessid glass-workshops at Piramesse.4 Glass vessels have been found in burials, especially those of a royal nature, such as the tombs of Thutmosis III and Amenhotep II, which contained a high number of these vessels.5 Some members of the elite were also privileged enough to include glass objects in their funerary equipment: the tomb of Kha, for instance, the contents of which are now on display in the Egyptian Museum in Turin, includes two glass vessels.6

7

Shortland 2007 262. Nicholson 2007; Shaw 2009b 18-20. 9 Nicholson 2007 6. 10 Kemp (in preparation); Nolte 1968 22. 11 Keller 1983 20; Kemp and O'Connor 1974. 12 Newberry 1920 156; Nolte 1968 23; Shaw 1998; Winlock 1912 187. 13 Keller 1982; Keller 1983 20; Nicholson 2007 21. 14 Keller 1983 21.

1

8

See also Franke 2003 1. 2 Nicholson 2007 1. 3 Shortland 2000 5; Shortland 2001 220. 4 Rehren and Pusch 1997 127, 140; Rehren and Pusch 2007 217-20; Pusch and Rehren 2008; Shortland 2007 263. 5 Nolte 1968 46-62; Shortland 2000 4. 6 Schiaparelli 1927 109.

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Figure 1. Glass rods (UC22910a and b, UC22926) and fragment of a cylindrical vessel, all from Amarna (courtesy of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology and the Egypt Exploration Society) Some of the most prestigious glass vessels that have been dated to the New Kingdom have been ascribed to the Malkata glass-workshops, sometimes despite their lack of precise archaeological providence. Nolte has established a stylistic grouping of workshops throughout the New Kingdom, which allows vessels to be assigned to the site they most probably came from.15 Research on the glassand faience-workshops supposedly located in the South Village, has proven rather problematic, as the standard and quantity of publication is very low. The site is only described in early excavation reports, which usually never devote more than a paragraph or two to it.16 There is still no publication that deals properly with the South Village, although I have been granted permission to use the unpublished material from Kemp and O'Connor's excavations at this site in the early 1970s, undertaken on behalf of the University Museum of Pennsylvania.17

had been abandoned, stands about one metre tall and has a diameter of just under a metre. During the excavations of the kilns, some beads and faience pieces were found, alongside much pottery, but this is no direct evidence for these kilns to have been part of a glass-industry. It is therefore necessary to further examine and evaluate the material related to glass-working from the Malkata South Village.

The South Village complex, now entitled Site J, consists of one cluster of buildings with a number of living units to the west and a number of working areas to the east. The latter were found to contain a total of four small kilns or ovens, but no purpose has been assigned to these as yet. Most kilns were preserved to a height of less than one meter and they were filled with ashy layers. Only one kiln, which was probably used until later, after the site

Petrie worked at Amarna during the 1890s and he discovered what he termed “three or four glass manufactories and two large glass works”, although he does not give any further information on their locations or whether they lay in the vicinity of each other.18 One plan19 from his publication describes an area of moulds, relating to the general area in the Main City in which he uncovered most of his evidence of faience- and glassworking. In fact, most finished goods, such as fragments of glass vessels, were found by Petrie in the Palace

Amarna This section discusses the evidence of glass- and faienceproduction in Amarna. This city, founded by Akhenaten in the later 18th Dynasty on the east bank of the Nile in Middle Egypt, near the modern Minia, revealed a great quantity of objects related to glass-manufacture.

15

Nolte 1968 65; Nolte 1971 170. See Tytus 1903 8, 25; Winlock 1912 185, 187. Kemp 1974; O'Connor 1972; I wish to express my thanks to Prof. Barry Kemp and Dr Ian Shaw for the permission to use this material. 16 17

18 19

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Petrie 1894 25; see also Shortland 2000 66. Petrie 1894, Pl. 35.

ANNA KATHRIN HODGKINSON: HIGH-STATUS INDUSTRIES IN THE CAPITAL AND ROYAL CITIES OF THE NEW KINGDOM

Figure 2. Kilns at Amarna Site O45.1 (Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society) The two larger kilns measure approximately 2.5ms and 2.9ms in diameter, in contrast to the other two smaller ones which measure 1.4 × 1.75ms and 1.4ms in diameter. The excavation of the large kilns revealed mud bricks with slags attached, and Nicholson has proved through the experimental building of a kiln based on one of the specimens that these were potentially able to produce temperatures high enough for the manufacture of raw glass. He states that this experiment does not validly prove that raw glass was produced at Amarna – but that the potential certainly existed.

Dumps. A large quantity of further evidence of this seems to come from the courtyards of houses that, at least in part, functioned as workshops. More recent surface finds from the Main City include crucible fragments with blue glass attached to them and some glass rods.20 The site O45.1 excavated by Nicholson in the 1990s, incorporates a workshop which is located on the southern edge of the Main City, to the South of the Small Aten Temple.21 It is surrounded by a series of mud-brick walls forming an open courtyard, which is a common phenomenon in New Kingdom Egypt.22 This workshop lies in the general area examined by Petrie and is located above an earlier cemetery, the exact dating of which is yet to be determined, although it appears to have been disturbed by the main industrial phase of the workshop.23 This cemetery may date to the Amarna Period, as the grave cuts resemble those currently being discovered at the Amarna Stone Village.24 This phase consists of four kilns, which were cut into sterile sand. According to the excavator, this workshop was initially used for the production of faience and glass, with a later phase, for which its layout was changed.

Most glass found at Amarna is blue in colour, matching the general colour-scheme described above. Simultaneously, the glass ingots from the Ulu Burun shipwreck which was discovered off the Turkish coast in the 1980s are also blue, and experiments have shown that most of these actually fit rather well into the cylindrical vessels found at Amarna,25 which strengthens the theory that raw glass was produced at the site. In addition to the material from the shipwreck as an indicator of trade, the Amarna Letters mention the use of glass as gifts between the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian kings.26

20

Nicholson 2007 91, Pl. 4.9; Nicholson 2007 124, Pl. 6.1. Nicholson 2007 28-30; for a short, but thorough description of this site see Hodgkinson (forthcoming). 22 Shaw 2004 16a. 23 Nicholson 2007 31. 24 Stevens and Dolling 2007. 21

25

Nicholson et al. 1997 147, Nicholson 2007 91; Rehren and Pusch 2007 231. 26 EA 25, 148, 235, 314, 323, 327, 331: Moran 1992, 72-84, 235, 293294, 347, 351-352, 355; Oppenheim 1973; Pusch and Rehren 2008 173; Shortland 2000 6; Shortland 2007 262.

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT evidence of a glass- or glazing- workshop.33 Brunton and Engelbach refer to a roughly rectangular structure, which is still visible from above and interpret it as a “fort”. This assumption was based on the fact that its walls had a thickness of six feet and on Brunton and Engelbach's reconstruction of some buttresses along the southern half of its eastern wall. This interpretation has since been questioned and it is now believed that this building did not fulfil this function, although its actual purpose remains unclear.34 Their very brief description of the glass-working area reads as follows: “At the back of this fort are the remains of another smaller square enclosure which we found very difficult to trace, as there had been a good deal of later building on top of it, such as glass factories and lime kilns. Its relation to the fort is not clear, but it is obvious that the peculiar re-entrant angle of the north-east corner of the outer enclosure wall of the temple was to avoid cutting into some earlier building or estates intimately connected with the fort.”35

The manufacture of faience goods stands in very close relation to the glass-industry at Amarna. A study undertaken by Shortland shows that some of the glass objects were found in the same context as faience moulds from baked clay in workshops throughout the city.27 The areas analysed by Shortland revealed clusters of houses with particularly high quantities of faience moulds in the Main City and North Suburb, although most houses seem to have had at least one or two moulds. Faience-works have also been found to have functioned in connection with other industries, such as jewellers or sculptors. The moulds appear more frequently in the outer courtyards of these houses, which were usually located to the south of these buildings, where kilns have been found.28 It can therefore be reconstructed that house-based workshops, in some cases family-run, would have undertaken their own production of faience and glass products, mainly beads and amulets, in the courtyards of their houses. It can be observed that at Amarna, large, high-status residences are often to be found amongst lower-status houses, which were organised in groups of industrial units. This matches the fact that the area around site O45.1 was described by Petrie as consisting of “low status dwellings”.29 In addition, the (undated) low-status cemetery in O45.1 may indicate the same, especially if it dates to the Amarna Period as suggested above.

This description is rather vague and the stratigraphy of the site is far from being completely comprehensible. Due to the lack of standing archaeological structures, it will prove difficult to determine the relationship between the “square enclosure” and the “fort”, although, as a result of pure observation of the two features' orientation and alignment to one another, it can be tentatively assumed that they are of roughly the same date. Brunton and Engelbach state that the temple's, meaning the palace's, enclosure wall, may have a rather noticeable bend in its north-eastern corner in order to avoid collision with any earlier buildings, such as that of the “fort”, thus assuming that these structures pre-date the palace, which is certainly plausible. They even go so far as to mention the possibility of an Old Kingdom or First Intermediate Period date for both “fort” and “square enclosure”, due to their proximity to a cemetery of the same date,36 although the actual date of the “fort” remains to be confirmed. The only information concerning the relationship between the smaller square building and the kilns is that the kilns are certainly later than both the “fort” building and the “small square enclosure”. Therefore, if the “fort” and “square enclosure” are earlier than the palace, the kilns, which would have been erected on top of the “square enclosure”, may well be contemporary with the palace.

Gurob Gurob (or Medinet el-Gurob) lies at the south-eastern end of the Faiyum region, near the modern Medinet elFaiyum. Settlement and burial activity had existed at Gurob since the Early Dynastic Period and continued until Ptolemaic times, although today the site is best known for the Harim Palace and settlement, probably established under Thutmosis III.30 It is possible that a cult dedicated to the Amarna household was in place during the later New Kingdom, as the famous wooden head of Queen Tiye was found at Gurob.31 Furthermore, elements of decoration very similar to those from Amarna have been found at this site. The palace was probably out of use by the end of the Ramessid Period.32 The site has suffered considerably through sebbakhin activities in the last hundred years and in the more recent past through military activities, such as the building of bunkers. The general use of the site as a route for lorries has caused a great deal of further damage.

If, on the other hand, the “fort” and “square enclosure” are contemporary with the palace, the kilns can only be later than the palace building and thus post-date Thutmosis III. All this, of course, is based on the assumption that Brunton and Engelbach's asserted relationship between the glass kilns and the “small square enclosure” is correct.

Guy Brunton and Reginald Engelbach, who excavated at the site after Petrie, described an area to the north-east of the palace area in which they claimed to have found 27

Shortland 2000. Shortland 2000 67-9. Petrie 1894 15-6. 30 Shaw 2009a 207. I had the privilege of participating in the 2009 fieldwork and survey season at Gurob and wish to express my gratitude to the director of the project, Dr Ian Shaw for his permission to use some of the material from the 2009 season in this paper. 31 Wildung 2001. 32 Shaw 2005 1. Further survey reports are available for download at http://www.gurob.org.uk. 28 29

33

Brunton and Engelbach 1927 3. Serpico 2008 29. Brunton and Engelbach 1927 3. 36 Shaw 2005 10. 34 35

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ANNA KATHRIN HODGKINSON: HIGH-STATUS INDUSTRIES IN THE CAPITAL AND ROYAL CITIES OF THE NEW KINGDOM

Figure 3. Faience tile found at Gurob in Spring 2009 and glass objects from Gurob: UC22848, UC22852, UC22846, UC51547 and fragment of glass vessel from 2009 (Copyright faience tile and glass vessel fragment: Ivor Pridden; Courtesy of the Gurob Harem Palace Project; other objects: Courtesy of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology)

Figure 4. Plan of Gurob taken from Brunton and Engelbach 1927 superimposed onto geophysical and survey data (Copyright Claire Malleson and Anna Hodgkinson; Courtesy of the Gurob Harem Palace Project) 75

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT

Figure 5. The kiln at Gurob as cleaned in Spring 2009 (copyright Anna Hodgkinson; courtesy of the Gurob Harem Palace Project) “fort” and “small square enclosure”, as identified through a correlation of Brunton and Engelbach's plan,41 an aerial photograph of the site and surveyed features, which were superimposed upon one another and tied together in the GIS plot of the site.42 This feature was located just to the west of the area described as the “small square enclosure”.43 During the surface examination a large number of slags were observed and collected along with pottery and pieces of fired mud brick for study.

During Petrie's and Brunton and Engelbach's excavations at Gurob, glass objects were – and are still being – discovered throughout the site, and many of these are contained within European collections.37 These objects are mostly pieces of finished glass vessels, which may have been discarded after breaking, and some amulets, but some finds relating to glass-working were also discovered, such as lumps of glass, which would have been discarded as waste or shaped and turned into finished glass objects.38 At the same time, numerous pieces of faience were and are still being discovered at Gurob.39

An area of burnt sand and mud brick corresponding to the anomaly observed in the same location on the geophysical plot was revealed. The cleaning of the surface was continued in order to determine the extent of this feature and revealed standing remains of burnt mud brick with in situ vitreous material partly attached to it. The result was the discovery of a circular structure, roughly three metres in diameter, which can most probably be interpreted as a kiln used in the production of materials that require high-temperature technologies. The second, adjacent structure, visible in the geophysical plot, has been located, but remains to be examined at a later date.

During the Gurob 2009 field season, Daniel Boatright and I examined the area described by Brunton and Engelbach. Due to the fact that the mission currently holds no concession to excavate, only surface sands could be shifted and general areas cleaned. It is hoped to obtain permission to excavate for future seasons. A circular anomaly, which showed up in the plot of the magnetometry survey undertaken in 2006 by Dr Tomasz Herbich, was taken into account.40 The geophysical examinations took place in both the palace area and the

The analysis of the structure showed that fired mud brick had collapsed into and out of it. The rather confusing orientation and position of the various slags resulted in

37

Objects from Gurob are, for instance, located in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London (see Fig. 3), the Garstang Museum, Liverpool and Brussels Museum Museum (e.g. glass objects: MRAH E.672). 38 Nicholson 2007 3, 18. 39 Shaw 2006. 40 Shaw 2006 3.

41

Brunton and Engelbach 1927 Pl. 1. I would like to thank Ms Claire Malleson for an excellent and very thorough survey of the site in the seasons prior to the hand-over in 2009. 43 Brunton and Engelbach 1927 3. 42

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ANNA KATHRIN HODGKINSON: HIGH-STATUS INDUSTRIES IN THE CAPITAL AND ROYAL CITIES OF THE NEW KINGDOM Site Amarna

Location within site Main City North Suburb

Malkata

Gurob

Workmen's settlement: South Village (Site J)

Organisation of production Usage of final products Control of production Used in settlement as high- Probably controlled by palace / Specialised workshops, status goods: archaeological elite, some evidence for possibly part of a national or potential household industries material from Palace, international network sculptors’ workshops Workshops could be integrated into living areas Production in semi-specialised workshops / industrial areas

Within South Palace Kiln, most likely used for Uncertain, but some quantities of production waste found glass-working located throughout site just outside the “small square enclosure”, northeast of Palace enclosure, but in direct proximity

Transported between Egypt and Mesopotamia Used on site as high-status goods within Palace and resident elite Used on site as high-status goods, probably in connection with Harem Palace and resident elite

Most likely controlled by palace / elite

Most likely controlled by palace / elite

Table 1. Summary of the evidence of glass- and faience-working (and –production) for Gurob, Amarna and Malkata. available, it can only be assumed – on the basis of the material discovered – that the settlement was more concerned with glass-working than raw glass-production. Furthermore, the evidence of other, small-scale industries, all within fairly small boundaries, suggests a somewhat non-specialised approach to the materials processed. Nolte has suggested that the workmen from Malkata may have migrated to Amarna when the latter was established, as glass objects from both places bear similarities in style and fabrication.47 Without textual evidence it is difficult to state whether or not this was actually the case. Should this have been the situation, then it may be possible to reconstruct a strict organisation of the industry which would have been closely attached to the royal court.

the initial difficulty in locating the in situ structure, but this was later overcome when a large mass of vitreous material was found along the inner kiln wall. Initial analysis of the pottery from the upper fills of the feature, conducted by the mission's ceramicists Virpi Perunka and Ashraf El-Senussi confirmed the pottery to date from the late 18th and the early 19th dynasties.44 Main vessel types included meat- and beer jars as well as some examples of decorated ware. Some figurines from burnt clay were also found. The date of the pottery may therefore overlap that of the palace, but it is very possible that the pottery is not representative of the kiln. It may have been collected from too close to the modern surface, having been windborne. Early and purely visual analysis of vitreous material has resulted in three different types of slag being classified by colour and appearance, some green, some red and some black. A more detailed analysis of the slags may reveal traces of iron, cobalt and copper, thus assigning to these a metalworking function, although this does not rule out this kiln's possible usage as a glass kiln, especially as copper and cobalt have been associated with the blue colouring of glass.45 The feature, slags, pottery and small finds have been recorded, surveyed and photographed and an opportunity to further examine the structure and related material is eagerly awaited.

It can be stated that the Gurob kiln, as far as cleaned in spring 2009, resembles the two larger specimens from Amarna site O45.1 at least in size and appearance. Whether the Gurob kiln was ever used for raw glassproduction is yet to be determined. Further examination and, hopefully, excavation will reveal the precise extent of these resemblances, but as long as no further evidence is available, the industrial area must be treated as a glassworking site. It is still possible that the kiln was mainly used for purposes other than glass-working or production, and the production or working of metal cannot be ruled out. The numerous faience objects found at Gurob were most probably produced on site, and if a situation similar to that at Amarna can be reconstructed and applied to the evidence from Gurob it can be assumed that the same kilns would have been used for the manufacture of both faience and glass objects.

Discussion If the distinction between glass-makers and glassworkers, as suggested by Shortland and described above, is to be followed, then the small, family-run workshops, as found in Amarna, especially in the Main City and North Suburb, can most probably be classified as glassworking sites.46 So far, only the evidence from site O45.1 has suggested the potential for actual glass-production in Amarna. Site J at Malkata has revealed a series of small kilns, but, due to lack of archaeological data and results

Conclusions The aim of this paper was to demonstrate the abundance of evidence of high-temperature technology on all the

44

Personal communications. Keller 1983 26. 46 Shortland 2007. 45

47

77

Nolte 1968 65.

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT concluded that high-status goods were produced mainly for royal and elite use in a local context. The evidence for the export of goods from these cities further enhances their status within the country's economic network in addition to their international role.

sites discussed for New Kingdom Egypt, in the form of vitreous materials or metal-working. Glass can be classified as a high-status ware, which, worked from raw materials in both Malkata and Amarna, was used in the decoration of the interior of major buildings, such as palaces and temples, having been produced in the form of inlays, amulets, beads and vessels.48 It can furthermore be found in the context of burials of both royal and elite persons. There is evidence for the finished products having been exported to and from Amarna, which exists in the Amarna letters and, quite probably in the finding of blue glass ingots from the Ulu Burun shipwreck.

References Brunton, G. and Engelbach, R. 1927. Gurob. BSAE 41. London. Franke, D. 2003. Theben und Memphis – Metropolen in Ägypten. Heidelberg. Hodgkinson, A. K. (forthcoming) Mass-Production in New Kingdom Egypt: The industries of Amarna and Piramesse, in D. Boatright et al. (eds.), Current Research in Egyptology X: Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Symposium. Oxford. Keller, C. A. 1982. The Excavation of the Palace of Amenhotep III (1910-1920): A Re-Evaluation. AJA 86, 272. Keller, C. A. 1983. Problems in Dating Glass Industries of the Egyptian New Kingdom: Examples from Malkata and Lisht. JGS 25, 19-28. Kemp, B. J. 1974. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania. Excavations at Malkata, NARCE 88, 13-8. Kemp, B J. (in preparation) Malkata III: The excavation of sites J, K and P (1971–1974). Kemp, B. J. and O'Connor, D. 1974. An Ancient Nile Harbour. University Museum Excavations at the 'Birket Habu'. IJNA 3, 101-136. Lacovara, P. 1997. The New Kingdom Royal City. SIE. London. Moran, W. L. 1992. The Amarna Letters. Baltimore, London. Newberry, P. E. 1920. A glass chalice of Thutmosis III. JEA 6, 154-60. Nicholson, P. 2007. Brilliant Things for Akhenaten: The Production of Glass, Vitreous Materials and Pottery at Amarna, Site O45.1. London. Nicholson, P. et al. 1997. The Ulu Burun glass ingots, cylindrical vessels and Egyptian glass. JEA 83, 143153. Nolte, B. 1968. Die Glasgefässe im alten Ägypten. MÄS 14. Berlin. Nolte, B. 1971. An Egyptian Glass Vessel. MMJ 4, 16771. O'Connor, D. 1972.The University Museum Excavations at Malkata, 1971: A Palace and Harbor of Amenhotep III, NARCE 83, 30. Oppenheim, A. L. 1973. Towards a history of glass in the ancient Near East. JAOS 93, 259–66. Petrie, W. M. F. 1894. Tell el–Amarna. London. Pusch, E. B. and Rehren, T. 2008. Hochtemperaturtechnologie in der Ramses-Stadt. Rubinglas für den Pharao. FoRa 6. Hildesheim. Rehren, T. and Pusch, E. B. 1997. New Kingdom GlassMelting Crucibles from Qantir-Piramesses. JEA 83, 127-42. Rehren, T. and Pusch, E. B. 2007. Glas für den Pharao – Glasherstellung in der Spätbronzezeit des Nahen

At Amarna the industrial sites are very well integrated into the city's main urban built up areas. The fact that most of Petrie's findings of glass-related objects came from the Palace Dumps suggests that the glass-industry was controlled by the nearby palace and temples,49 whilst household-level production may have benefited individual families.50 A very similar situation can be observed at Malkata, where the glass- and faienceworkshops are integrated into houses in the South Village, which in turn is situated close to the South Palace. A further integrated palace workshop or atelier is not unlikely – this may have been established in order to serve the sole purpose of furnishing the palace. At the same time glass-production waste may have been found within this building due to modern disturbances. The primary evidence from Gurob suggests the necessity of high-status materials, such as glass and faience being produced on-site, rather than their being transported to the site from elsewhere. It is uncertain which of the industrial areas described above can be definitely classified as glass-working or -making, but as far as can be observed, it is the context of the royal city,51 especially that of the palace and its community, that made the presence of workshops necessary. A distinction should be made between workshops that produced glass from raw materials and those that worked glass into finished objects. It is still not clear where this boundary should be drawn and whether it comprises levels of control of the industry. For this reason, further work, especially at the sites of Malkata and Gurob is necessary. Should this work reveal more evidence of glass-workshops at Gurob and Malkata, and should more parallels between the Gurob and the Amarna kilns be discovered, it is evident that Gurob, can be considered an important link in the chain of glass-workshops for New Kingdom Egypt. This study has hopefully demonstrated the importance of the three New Kingdom sites within the context of the ancient Egyptian glass- and faience-industry. It can be 48

Nicholson 2007 21, 24. Nicholson 2007 158; Shortland 2007 265. Shortland 2000 66. 51 Lacovara 1997. 49 50

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ANNA KATHRIN HODGKINSON: HIGH-STATUS INDUSTRIES IN THE CAPITAL AND ROYAL CITIES OF THE NEW KINGDOM Ostens. In G. Wagner (ed.), Fortschritte der Archäometrie, 215-35. Heidelberg. Schiaparelli, E. 1927. La tomba intatta dell'architeto Cha. In Relazione sui lavori della miassione archeologica Italiano in Egitto (Anno 1902-1920), Vol. 2. Turin. Serpico, M. 2008. Gurob. In J. Picton and I. Pridden (eds.), Unseen Images: Archive Photographs in the Petrie Museum, Volume 1: Gurob, Sedment, and Tarkhan. London. Shaw, I. 1998. Egyptian Patterns of Urbanism. A Comparison of Three New Kingdom Settlement Sites. In C. Eyre (ed.), Proceedings of the 7th International Congress of Egyptologists, 1049-60. Leuven. Shaw, I. 2004. Identity and occupation: how did individuals define themselves and their work in the Egyptian New Kingdom? In J. D. Bourriau and J. Phillips (eds.), Invention and Innovation: The Social Context of Technological Change 2, Egypt and the Near East, 1650–1550 BC, 12-24. Oxford. Shaw, I. 2005. The Gurob Harem Palace Project: Report to the SCA on archaeological survey undertaken at Gurob (31 March–7 April 2005). Report to the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Downloadable from: www.gurob.org.uk, Shaw, I. 2006. The Gurob Harem Palace Project: Report to the SCA on archaeological survey undertaken at Gurob (3–17 April 2006). Report to the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Downloadable from: www.gurob.org.uk. Shaw, I. 2009a. Seeking the Ramesside royal harem: new fieldwork at Medinet el-Gurob. In M. Collier and S. Snape (eds.), Ramessid Studies presented to Prof. Kenneth Kitchen, 207-17. Liverpool. Shaw, I. 2009b. Report to the SCA on archaeological survey undertaken at Medinet el-Gurob, (1–22 April 2009). Report to the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Downloadable from: www.gurob.org.uk. Shortland, A. 2000. Vitreous Materials at Amarna. BAR IS 827. Oxford. Shortland, A. 2001. Social influences on the development and spread of glass technology. In A. Shortland (ed.), The Social Context of Technological Change: Egypt and the Near East, 1650–1550 BC, 211-22. Oxford. Shortland, A. 2007. Who were the Glassmakers? Status, theory and method in mid-second millennium glass production. OJA 26(3), 261-74. Stevens, A. and Dolling, W. 2007. The Stone Village, In B. J. Kemp, Tell el-Amarna, JEA 93, 1–11. Tytus, R. de P. 1903. A Preliminary Report on the Reexcavation of the Palace of Amenhetep III, with a postscript and additional notes by Charles C. Van Siclen III. San Antonio. Wildung, D. 2001. Der Porträtkopf der Königin Teje. Berlin. Winlock, H. 1912. The Work of the Egyptian Expedition. BMMA 7, 185-9.

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The Early Egyptian Rulers in the Nile Delta: a View from the Necropolis at Tell el-Farkha Mariusz A. Jucha Awad,12 el-Tell el-Iswid (South),13 Kom el Khilgan,14 Tell el-Daba’a (el-Qanan),15 Tell el-Samara,16 Beni Amir,17 Ezbet el-Tell/Kufur Nigm,18 Minshat Ezzat,19 Tell el-Masha‛la,20 Tell Gabbara21), and surveys (The Amsterdam University Survey Expedition to the Northeastern Nile Delta,22 Munich East-Delta Expedition,23 The Italian Archeological Mission of the “Centro Studi e Richerche Ligabue” Venice to the Eastern Nile Delta,24 Polish Archaeological Expedition to the North-Eastern Nile Delta25). Inhabitants of those sites most probably participated in the commercial relations between Egypt and Canaan. The status of these sites increased significantly at the beginning of the Egyptian state. As the first Egyptian rulers found Canaan an increasingly attractive area, they must have been interested also in extending control to the Nile Delta sites which were situated directly on the road leading to Canaan. It was very important for those rulers to include the sites in the zone of their influence.

The Nile Delta – relations with Canaan During the period of state formation in Egypt the first Egyptian rulers took a growing interest in Canaan and then the relations between these areas increased significantly. It was a period – especially during the beginning of the 1st Dynasty – when the Egyptians did not restrict themselves only to commercial relations but also settled in South Canaan founding Egyptian factories.1 The peak of that “colonization” coincided with the rule of Narmer and the serekhs of that ruler occur in Canaan most frequently.2 Although the contacts between Egypt and Canaan are attested for the earlier periods,3 such involvement in Canaan, together with foundation of Egyptian factories controlled by the royal administration of the newly founded state, was observed mostly in the above mentioned period. Such relations are confirmed by the Egyptian finds on several Canaanite sites, among them: royal serekhs,4 Egyptian pottery (both imports from Egypt as well as vessels made of local clays but of Egyptian shape and made using the Egyptian production technique5), flint tools6 and Egyptian seal impressions.7 Moreover, the archaeological evidence collected during the research in that region prove that Egyptians lived here both in settlements where they were a prevailing group of inhabitants as well as in settlements where the group of local inhabitants was more or less predominant.8

Settlement pattern We can clearly see that a number of sites of that period occur in the North-Eastern Delta,26 which must be related to the role it played in relations with the Near East and increasing commercial links between Egypt and Canaan. At the time, as a result of continuous development of the Egyptian elite and emergence of the first Egyptian rulers, it becomes obvious that they had to acquire more prestige commodities also from abroad. The existence and

The Northern Sinai undoubtedly constituted the land bridge between Canaan and Egypt and the most important trade routes of the period led through that region. It was confirmed by the results of research in the North-Western Sinai, which yielded material of Canaanite and Egyptian origin.9

12

Brink 1992a; Haarlem 1998, 2000. Brink 1989; Tristant et al. 2008a. 14 Midant-Reynes et al. 2003; Tristant et al. 2008b. 15 El-Baghdadi 2008. 16 El-Baghdadi 2008. 17 Abd El-Moneim 1993a, 1993b, 1996a, 1996b. 18 Bakr 1988, 2003. 19 El-Baghdadi 2003. 20 Rampersad 2003, 2006. 21 Rampersad 2008. 22 Brink 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993. 23 Krzyżaniak 1989. 24 Chłodnicki et al. 1992. 25 Several sites were visited during the survey. Among them the site Tell el-Murrah where geophysical research and geological core drillings were done and pottery was collected from the surface. The team headed by Dr Mariusz A. Jucha included: Prof. Krzysztof Ciałowicz, Dr Marek Chłodnicki, Artur Buszek, Marcin Czarnowicz – archaeologists, and students from Institute of Archaeology in Cracow (Jagiellonian University). The work was carried on under the supervision of Abd ElSalam Mansour Abd El-Salam from Faqus SCA Inspectorate (Jucha forthcoming). 26 Brink 1987 20-4, Tabs. 1-2; Brink 1989 56, Fig. 1; Brink 1993 286, Fig. 4, 288-9, Fig. 5, 291-4, Figs. 6-7; Chłodnicki et al. 1992 46-53, Fig. 2, Tab. 1; Hendrickx and Brink 2002 348, Tab. 23.1, 366, Fig. 23.2, 370-1, Tab. 23.3; Levy and Brink 2002 15, Tab. 1.6. 13

The continuation of that trade route led directly to the Nile Delta and especially its north-eastern part, where the existence of several sites of that period (Figure 1) has been confirmed by archaeological research: excavations (i.e. Tell el-Farkha,10 Minshat Abu Omar,11 Tell Ibrahim 1

Brandl 1992; Gophna 1992; Gophna 2000; Miroschedji 2002 44-5; Porat 1992; Wilkinson 1999 152-60. 2 Brink 2001 57; Levy and Brink 2002 22, Tab. 1.9. 3 Gophna 1992 386, 392-3; Gophna 1996 311-4; Miroschedji 2002 3944; Wilkinson 1999 151. 4 Brandl 1992 447; Brink 1998 218-20, Figs. 1a-2b; Levy and Brink 2002 22, Tab. 1.9. 5 Brandl 1992 445-6; Brink 1998 216-8; Gophna 1992 388-91; Porat 1986-87; Porat 1992. 6 Brandl 1992 446; Brink 1998 218-9. 7 Brandl 1992 446-7; Brink 1998 218. 8 Brandl 1992; Brink 1998; Gophna 1995. 9 Oren 1973; Oren 1989; Oren and Gilead 1981. 10 Chłodnicki and Ciałowicz et al. 2002, 2004, 2006; Jucha 2005. 11 Kroeper and Wildung 1994; Kroeper and Wildung 2000.

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  Figure 1. North-Eastern Nile Delta (after: Hendrickx and Brink 2002 366 Fig. 23.2). situated alongside these lines,29 among them Tell elFarkha as well as Tell el-Murrah explored by the Polish archaeological expeditions. At the former, the oldest phase 1 is dated to the Lower Egyptian culture.30 At the latter one, among the pottery collected during the survey there were attested beside the Old Kingdom shapes also forms typical for the Early Dynastic Period. In that case geological core-drillings revealed (below the surface strata containing the Old Kingdom material) several layers with pottery material. That may indicate that there are some older occupation layers, presumably of the Early Dynastic and even Predynastic periods.31

prosperity of sites situated there may indicate increasing importance of the discussed region which was incorporated by these early rulers who, developing foreign trade, expanded into Canaan and exploited its resources in order to meet their own and the elite’s needs. At that moment, the sites situated there were included in the royal commercial network. Moreover, it should be stressed here that it is the part of the Delta through which the former Tanitic branch supposedly flowed. It is also the area situated to the west of the course of the yet another former Nile branch, the Pelusiac branch.27 It seems that during the period in question most of the sites were concentrated along the former one (the Tanitic branch) and its distributaries.28

The same refers to some other Nile Delta sites. Therefore, it seems that the Nile Delta used to be densely populated as early as the Predynastic Period and many of sites, which became important later, existed since that period.32 The research on the Nile Delta geomorphology confirms also that already in the Predynastic Period conditions here were favourable for settlement.33

The reconstruction of the settlement pattern of that part of the Delta during the Early Dynastic Period shows a number of sites situated alongside two lines: NE–SW axis which most probably corresponds with the abovementioned former Tanitic branch and E–W axis which most probably reflects the trading route leading from the Delta, through the Northern Sinai directly to Southern Canaan. Most of the sites in that area, localized during the surveys and dated to the discussed period, were

29

Brink 1993 290-7. Jucha 2001 39-40, Pl. 14, Fig. 1; Jucha 2003 262-3; Mączyńska 2003. 31 Jucha (forthcoming). 32 Tristant 2005. 33 Andres and Wunderlich 1992 163-4; Butzer 1976 22-5; Butzer 2002 91-2; Wesemael 1988 125-34; Wit 1993 316-8. 30

27 Bietak 1975 99-100, 106, Fig. 12; Butzer 2002 Fig. 4.5; Wesemaels 1988 128-9. 28 Brink 1993 294.

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MARIUSZ A. JUCHA: THE EARLY EGYPTIAN RULERS IN THE NILE DELTA protodynastic/beginnining of the Early Dynastic Period– phase 5).40

New excavation More new information has recently been gained from the surveys and excavation conducted in the eastern part of the Nile Delta on the sites dated to the period under consideration (state formation in Egypt) (Polish excavations at Tell el-Farkha, the survey of the Polish expedition in Ash-Sharqiyyah Governorate (Tell elMurrah), French excavations at Kom el-Khilgan, and Tell el-Iswid, as well as Egyptian excavations at several sites in that area).34 The results of this research prove some very important changes that took place in that part of the Delta and that the sites situated here were also important and had great significance not only in developing contacts between Egypt and Canaan but also in the process which finally led to the formation of the Egyptian state. This seems to be confirmed by both the type and size of architectural constructions and other finds uncovered at the Nile Delta, dated to the period before the traditional date of unification and comparable in character to objects coming from the south of Egypt.

Moreover, two golden figurines were found on the settlement (in the strata of the protodynastic date).41 Several objects also point to developed contacts between the inhabitants of Tell el-Farkha and other regions, especially Canaan as well as Upper Egypt. Among these objects there is the pottery of Canaanite42 and South Egyptian43 origin. The importance of the site was also confirmed by the presence of objects associated with the royal administration, including seals and seal impressions.44 Pot-marks Beside a number of seal impressions, a large number of “pot-marks” was also found. These marks were incised or grooved on the vessels and occur at a number of sites dated to the Protodynastic/beginning of the Early Dynastic periods. Their function and exact meaning is still not clear. They have often been interpreted as property marks, signs which may refer to the contents of the vessel or which may denote the destination of export trade.45

Tell el-Farkha The importance of the Nile Delta sites is confirmed especially by the recent finds at Tell el-Farkha, where the settlement from the Predynastic Period until the Old Kingdom has been explored since 1998. The research on the cemetery of the Protodynastic/Early Dynastic date has also been conducted here since 2001. The abovementioned site seems to be one of the most important settlements of the Eastern Nile Delta during the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods. The results of research at that site imply such an assumption.

Their occurrence may reflect the development of a system of collection and redistribution of commodities controlled by the royal administration and a growing interest of the early rulers in indicating the type of commodity, its destination and especially the royal ownership.

The most important architectural structures uncovered there include the following: the oldest breweries in the Nile Delta (Lower Egyptian culture/end of Naqada II),35 a residence of the Naqada Period (Naqada II/III),36 the administrative-cultic centre (end of Protodynastic/beginnining of the Early Dynastic Period – phase 5),37 monumental (sepulchral?) brick structure (protodynastic period).38

Pot-marks from Tell el-Farkha were found both on the settlement and cemetery, though most of the examples found on complete vessels come from the graves of the end of the Protodynastic/Early Dynastic date. These signs undoubtedly were related to the developing royal administration responsible for distribution of the goods. “Pot-marks” from Tell el-Farkha occurred mostly on tall jars with three attached rope bands (wine-jars),46 broadshouldered ovoid jars decorated with a single rope band on the shoulder,47 broad-shouldered ovoid jars with a flattened base48 and shouldered jars decorated with lightly impressed half-bows around the shoulder.49

Among the objects found the most impressive are figurines and rattles from one of the deposits uncovered at the temple area (end of the protodynastic/beginning of the Early Dynastic Period – phase 5)39 as well as miniature anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines, miniature vessels, miniature models of ships and other objects (altogether more than 60) from the yet another temple deposit found in a jar c. 23cm high (end of the

In most cases there was only a single “pot-mark” composed of a single sign, though a few examples with 40

Ciałowicz 2006a 929-32, Figs.8-13. Chłodnicki and Ciałowicz 2007. 42 Jucha 2008 65, Fig. 1, Fig.2:1-2. 43 Jucha 2005 55-6, 58-60. 44 Chłodnicki 2008 493-7, Figs. 1-5. 45 Brink 1992b 276, note 4. 46 Jucha 2006 97, Fig.15:1; Jucha 2008 134-5, Fig. 1:I.a, Tab. 3A:I.a. 47 Jucha 2006 98, Fig.15:13; Jucha 2008 136-7, Fig. 2:III.a, Tab. 3A:III.a. 48 Jucha 2008 136-7, Fig. 2:III.b, Tab. 3A:III.b. 49 Jucha 2004 68-9, Fig.15:1; Jucha 2008 136-8 Fig. 2:V, Tab. 3B:V. 41

34

For references see above. Ciałowicz 2006a 918-20; Cichowski 2008; Ciałowicz and Jucha 2003 30-1, Pl. 6:1. 36 Ciałowicz 2006a 920-4, Figs. 3-4; Ciałowicz and Jucha 2003 31-3, Pl. 6:1, Pls. 8-9. 37 Ciałowicz 2006a 924-33, Fig.6. 38 Ciałowicz 2006b; Ciałowicz 2008 506-11, Figs. 6-8, Tab. 1. 39 Ciałowicz 2006a 924-5. 35

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT “pot-marks” composed of two different signs were also found. Moreover, in several cases two “pot-marks” were inscribed on the same vessels yet in different parts of the vessel. The following occurred quite frequently: long narrow signs with the almost rounded, rectangular or triangular upper part50 and crosses.51 Other signs were attested less frequently, among them there were: plant like signs,52 snakes,53 Y-like signs,54 angles,55 and crisscrosses.56

These finds are of great importance, especially if we take into account the fact that according to our present state of knowledge the Delta was finally incorporated only during the reign of Narmer, one of Iry-Hor’s successors. Consequently, we face here several questions: Should we assume that Iry-Hor extended his influence also to the Nile Delta as far as Tell el-Farkha? That would mean that it had happened before Narmer (the king who, according to the tradition, unified the Upper and Lower Egypt) and even before his direct predecessors (Ka and Scorpion).

It is also worth mentioning that two other “pot-marks” were identified, composed of two different signs. The first one was consisted of a fish and a vertical sign57 and the other one showed a mouth and probably a bird (?).58 Yet another “pot-mark” resembled the “ka” sign.59 Moreover, the signs on pottery vessels include also royal names.

Have we found here a piece of evidence proving that in a certain period of time, before the traditional date of unification, the Upper and Lower Egypt (at least the north-eastern part of the Delta) constituted an unity under one ruler, i.e. Iry-Hor? That would mean that there had been rulers who had reigned over the whole Egypt before Narmer.

Royal names

Should we relate the results of this research to the occurrence in the Royal Annals (i.e. Palermo Stone) the representations of rulers with the crown of the Lower Egypt as well as the kings with the double crown before the kings of the 1st Dynasty?

Narmer (?) Among these signs the serekh with a royal name, probably of Narmer(?), was attested on a tall wine jar with three applied rope-bands found in one of the graves. The pottery assemblage of that grave includes vessels characteristic of the reign of Narmer. Jars showing affinity to forms recorded from Canaan were also found in that grave. That may be considered further evidence confirming relations between Tell el-Farkha and Canaan.

It is as well possible that these finds reflect simply commercial relations only between the South and the North during the reign of Iry-Hor. In that case, it would probably concern also the name of that ruler attested south of Egypt at Qustul in Nubia.63

Iry-Hor Unknown king There is also an example of a sign composed of a falcon surmounting a sign of an almost square shape which shows the same characteristics as other signs of that type related to the Abydene ruler, Iry-Hor (Dynasty 0). It was found on a tall jar with three applied rope bands.60 Another example of the type referring to Iry-Hor was found on a tall broad-shouldered ovoid jar. The pottery assemblage found in these graves is also similar to that dated to Narmer and the beginning of the 1st Dynasty. As pottery inscriptions referring to Iry-Hor derive mostly from Abydos61 and in one case from Zawiyet el-Aryan,62 we should point here to the presence of his name farther to the north in the Delta, at Tell el-Farkha.

After the season 2009, we faced some new questions concerning the early history of the Delta and the early rulers of the protodynastic period. In one grave, with pottery assemblage older than the assemblage from the grave with the name of Narmer and even older than the assemblage from two graves with the name of Iry-Hor, we found two pottery vessels, each one inscribed with different serekhs.64 One of the serekhs belongs to the type unknown before and the other one shows some affinity to examples known from Northern Egypt from Turah (two examples) and from an unknown place in the Eastern Nile Delta. The questions which arise concern: occurrence of different serekhs (names) in one grave which is unusual and also the existence of royal names and serekhs in the Nile Delta not only before Narmer but even before IryHor. The questions concern also the possibility of existence of local rulers in the Nile Delta prior to the final unification.

50

Jucha 2004 71, Fig. 16:11; Jucha 2008 145, Tab. 4B. Jucha 2004 71, Fig.16:3; Jucha 2006 100, Fig. 17; Jucha 2008 146, Tab. 4C. 52 Jucha 2002 99, Fig. 25:4; Jucha 2008 144, Tab. 4A. 53 Jucha 2004 71, Fig. 16:4; Jucha 2008 145, Tab. 4B. 54 Jucha 2004 71, Fig. 16:5; Jucha 2008 146, Tab. 4C. 55 Jucha 2008 146, Tab. 4C. 56 Jucha 2002 99, Fig. 25:5; Jucha 2008 146, Tab. 4C. 57 Jucha 2004 68-9, Fig. 15:9; Jucha 2008 Fig. 3:1, Tab. 3A (G5-1). 58 Jucha 2002 99, Fig. 25:15; Jucha 2008 Fig. 3:2, Tab. 3B (G3-7). 59 Jucha 2008 Fig. 3:3, Tab. 3B (G2-7). 60 Jucha 2008 Fig. 3:5, Tab. 3A (G2-1). 61 Brink 2001 46-51, Figs. 23-6, 30-45. 62 Brink 2001 47-8, Fig. 29. 51

63

Brink 2001 47, Fig. 46. The serekhs come from the last season (2009) and at the time of writing of this article the research on the pottery as well as the analysis of those royal names are still in progress. 64

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MARIUSZ A. JUCHA: THE EARLY EGYPTIAN RULERS IN THE NILE DELTA Brink (ed.), The Nile Delta in Transition; 4th-3rd Millenium BC, 157-66. Tel-Aviv. Bakr, M. I. 1988. The New Excavations at Ezbet el-Tell, Kufur Nigm; the First Season, 1984. In E. C. M. van den Brink (ed.), The archaeology of the Nile Delta. Problems and Priorities, 49-62. Amsterdam. Bakr, M. I. 2003. Excavations at Ezbet al-Tel, KufurNigm: The Third and Fourth Seasons (1988 - 1990), In Z. Hawass (ed), Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century. Proceedings of the Eight International Congress of Egyptologists, Cairo 2000, Vol. 1. 30-43. Cairo, New York. Bietak, M. 1975. Tell El-Dab’a II. Vienna. Brandl, B. 1992. Evidence for Egyptian Colonization in the Southern Coastal plain and Lowlands of Canaan during the EB I Period. In E. C. M. van den Brink (ed.), The Nile Delta in Transition; 4th-3rd Millenium BC, 441-77. Tel-Aviv. Brink, E. C. M. v. d. 1987. A Geo-Archeological Survey in the North-Eastern Nile Delta, Egypt; the First Two Seasons, a Preliminary Report. MDAIK 43, 7-31. Brink, E. C. M. v. d. 1988. The Amsterdam University Survey Expedition to the Northeastern Nile Delta (1984-1986). In E. C. M. van den Brink (ed.), The archaeology of the Nile Delta. Problems and Priorities, 65-110. Amsterdam. Brink, E. C. M. v. d. 1989. A Transitional Late Predynastic - Early Dynastic Settlement Site in the Northeastern Nile Delta, Egypt. MDAIK 45, 55-108. Brink, E. C. M. v. d. 1992a. Preliminary Report on the Excavations at Tell Ibrahim Awad, Seasons 19881990. In E. C. M. van den Brink (ed.), The Nile Delta in Transition; 4th-3rd Millenium BC, 43-69. Tel-Aviv. Brink, E. C. M. v. d. 1992b. Corpus and Numerical Evaluation of the “Thinite” Potmarks. In R. Friedman and B. Adams (eds.), The Followers of Horus. Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, 265-96. Oxford. Brink, E. C. M. v. d. 1993. Settlement patterns in the Northeastern Nile Delta during the fourth-second millennia B.C. In L. Krzyżaniak et al. (eds.), Environmental Change and Human Culture in the Nile Basin and Northern Africa until the Second Millenium B.C., 279-304. Poznań. Brink, E. C. M. v. d. 1998. Late Protodynastic - Early First Dynasty Egyptian Finds in Late Early Bronze Age I Canaan: An Update. In C. J. Eyre (ed.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, Cambridge, 3-9 September 1995, 21525. Leuven. Brink, E. C. M. v. d. 2001. The Pottery-Incised SerekhSigns of Dynasties 0-1 Part II: Fragments and additional Complete Vessels. Archéo-Nil 11, 23-100. Butzer, K. W. 1976. Early Hydraulic Civilization in Egypt. Chicago. Butzer, K. W. 2002. Geoarchaeological Implications of Recent Research in the Nile Delta. In E. C. M. van den Brink and T. H. Levy (eds.) Egypt and the Levant. Interrelations from the 4th through the Early 3rd Millenium BCE, 83-97. London, New York Chłodnicki, M. 2008. Trade and Exchange in the Predynastic and Early Dynastic Period in the Eastern Nile Delta. In B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant

Conclusion The above proves that the inhabitants of Tell el-Farkha did not stay aside but were in the centre of contemporary events and that their settlement was not situated out-ofthe-way but was strongly connected with the main trading routes of that time. Furthermore, the process of the state formation was evidently more complicated than it has been traditionally presented. The research does confirm such an assumption and reveals a new face of the Delta which at the time of unification was as important as the Upper Egypt. More new data come from the research conducted presently in that region at Tell el-Farkha, Tell el-Iswid and Tell el-Murrah, the site examined during the Polish archaeological survey which is situated also on the previously mentioned line leading from West to East towards Canaan and between the two sites mentioned above (i.e. Tell el-Farkha and Tell el-Iswid). All the above research improves our knowledge of that region and has shown that inhabitants of the Delta sites played an important role both in commercial relations with the Near East and in the process of the state formation in Egypt. It is even quite possible that some of the local rulers reigned here just before the final stage of unification. There still remain a lot of questions to be answered, yet only further research here may throw some more light on still vague early history of the Nile Delta. References Abd El-Moneim, M. A. M. 1993a. Der Spätvordynastische - Frühdynastische Tell von Beni Amir (Ost - Delta). Journal of Historical and Archaeological Researches 1, 1-29. Abd El-Moneim, M. A. M. 1993b. Late Predynastic Early Dynastic Cemetery of Beni Amir (Eastern Delta). Journal of Historical and Archaeological Researches 1, 78-96. Abd El-Moneim, M. A. M. 1996a. Late Predynastic Early Dynastic mound of Beni Amir (Eastern Delta). In L. Krzyżaniak et al. (eds.), Interregional Contacts in the Later Prehistory of Northeastern Africa, 25375. Poznań Abd El-Moneim, M. A. M. 1996b. Late Predynastic Early Dynastic cemetery of Beni Amir (Eastern Delta). In L. Krzyżaniak et al. (eds.), Interregional Contacts in the Later Prehistory of Northeastern Africa, 241-251. Poznań. Andres, W. and Wunderlich, J. 1992. Environmental Conditions for Early Settlement at Minshat Abu Omar, Eastern Nile Delta, Egypt. In E. C. M. van den

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 1151-5. Leuven. Gophna, R. 1992. The Contacts between ‘En Besor Oasis, Sothern Canaan, and Egypt during the Late Predynastic and the Threshold of the First Dynasty; a Further Assessment. In E. C. M. van den Brink (ed.), The Nile Delta in Transition; 4th-3rd Millenium BC, 385-94. Tel-Aviv. Gophna, R. 1995. Excavations at ‘En Besor. Tel Aviv. Gophna, R. 1996. Observations on the earliest phase of relations between Egypt and Canaan during the Early Bronze Age. In L. Krzyżaniak et al. (eds.), Interregional Contacts in the Later Prehistory of Northeastern Africa, 311-4. Poznań. Gophna, R. 2000. Egyptian Settlement and Trade in Canaan at the waning of the Early Bronze Age I: New Discoveries and Old Questions. In K. M. Ciałowicz and J. A. Ostrowki (eds.), Les Civilisations du Bassin Méditerranéen. Hommages à Joachim Śliwa, 99-104. Cracow. Haarlem, W. M. v. 1998. The Excavations at Tell Ibrahim Awad (Eastern Nile Delta): Recent Results. In C. J. Eyre (ed.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, Cambridge, 3-9 September 1995, 509-13. Leuven. Haarlem, W. M. v. 2000. An Introduction to the Site of Tell Ibrahim Awad. ÄUL 10, 13-6. Hendrickx, S. and Brink, E. C. M. v. d. 2002. Inventory of Predynastic and Early Dynastic Cemetery and Settlement Sites in the Egyptian Nile Valley. In E. C. M. van den Brink and T. E. Levy (eds.), Egypt and the Levant. Interrelations from the 4th through the Early 3rd Millennium BCE, 346-99. London, New York. Jucha, M. A. 2001. Initial results of research on Predynastic and Early Dynastic Pottery from Tell elFarkha (1998-1999). In J. Popielska-Grzybowska (ed.) Proceedings of the First Central European Conference of Young Egyptologists. Egypt 1999: Perspectives of Research. Warsaw 7 - 9 June 1999, 39-45. Warsaw. Jucha, M. A. 2002. Pottery from the Tombs nos. 1-3. In M. Chłodnicki and K. M. Ciałowicz, et al. Polish Excavations at Tell el-Farkha (Ghazala) in the Nile Delta. Preliminary Report 1998-2001. Archeologia 53, 99. Jucha, M. A. 2003. Tell el-Farkha 1998-1999: Pottery from Predynastic and Early Dynastic Strata. In Z. Hawass (ed.), Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twentyfirst Century. Proceedings of the Eight International Congress of Egyptologists. Cairo 2000, Vol. 1. 26271. Cairo, New York. Jucha, M. A. 2004. The pottery from the graves. In M. Chłodnicki and K. M. Ciałowicz.et al..Polish Excavations at Tell el-Farkha (Gazala) in the Nile Delta. Preliminary Report 2002-2003. Archeologia 55, 68-71. Jucha, M. A. 2005. Tell el-Farkha II. The Pottery of the Predynastic Settlement (Phases 2 to 5). Cracow, Poznań.

(eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 489-500. Leuven. Chłodnicki, M. and Ciałowicz, K. M. et al. 2002. Polish Excavations at Tell el-Farkha (Ghazala) in the Nile Delta. Preliminary Report 1998-2001. Archeologia 53, 63-119. Chłodnicki, M. and Ciałowicz, K. M. et al. 2004. Polish Excavations at Tell el-Farkha (Gazala) in the Nile Delta. Preliminary Report 2002-2003. Archeologia 55, 47-74. Chłodnicki, M. and Ciałowicz, K. M. et al. 2006. Polish Excavations at Tell el-Farkha (Ghazala) in the Nile Delta. Preliminary Report 2004-2005. Archeologia 57, 71-128. Chłodnicki, M. and Ciałowicz, K. M. 2007. Golden Figures from Tell el-Farkha. SAAC 10, 7-21. Chłodnicki, M. et al. 1992. The Italian Archaeological Mission of the C.S.R.L-Venice to the Eastern Nile Delta: A preliminary report of the 1987-1988 field seasons. CRIPEL 14, 45-62. Ciałowicz, K. M. 2006a. From Residence to early Temple: the case of Tell el-Farkha. In K. Kroeper et al. (eds.) Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa. In Memory of Lech Krzyżaniak, 917-34. Poznań. Ciałowicz, K. M. 2006b. The enigmatic building and the rests of settlement. In M. Chłodnicki and K. M. Ciałowicz et al. Polish Excavations at Tell el-Farkha (Ghazala) in the Nile Delta. Preliminary Report 20042005. Archeologia 57, 92-4. Ciałowicz, K. M. 2008. The Nature of the Relation between Lower and Upper Egypt in the Protodynastic Period. A view from Tell el-Farkha. In B. MidantReynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 501-13. Leuven. Ciałowicz, K. M. and Jucha, M. A. 2003. Tell el-Farkha 1998-2000. Stratigraphy and Chronology of the Western Kom. In J. Popielska-Grzybowska (ed.), Proceedings of the Second Central European Conference of Young Egyptologists. Egypt 2001: Perspectives of Research, Warsaw 5-7 March 2001, 29-35. Warsaw. Cichowski, K. 2008. The Brewery Complex from Tell elFarkha. Archaeological Aspects of the Discovery. In B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 33-40. Leuven. El-Baghdadi, S. G. 2003. Proto- and Early Dynastic Necropolis of Minshat Ezzat, Dakahlia Province, Northeast Delta. Archéo-Nil 13, 143-52. El-Baghdadi, S. G. 2008. The Protodynastic and Early Dynastic Necropolis of Tell el-Daba’a (el-Qanan) and Tell el-Samara (el-Dakahlia Province, Northeast Delta). In B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the 86

MARIUSZ A. JUCHA: THE EARLY EGYPTIAN RULERS IN THE NILE DELTA Porat, N. 1986-87. Local Industry of Egyptian Pottery in Southern Palestine during the Early Bronze I Period. BES 8, 109-29. Porat, N. 1992. An Egyptian Colony in Southern Palestine during the Late Predynastic – early Dynastic Period. In: E. C. M. van den Brink (ed.), The Nile Delta in Transition;4th-3rd Millenium BC. 433-40. TelAviv. Rampersad, S. R. 2003. Report of the First Field Season at tell el-Masha’la, Egypt 2002. JARCE 40, 171-86. Rampersad, S. R. 2006. Tell el-Masha’la: A Predynastic/Early Dynastic Site in the Eastern Nile Delta. In, K. Kroeper et al. (eds.), Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa. In Memory of Lech Krzyżaniak. 789-816. Poznań. Rampersad, S. R. 2008. Introducing Tell Gabbara: New Evidence for Early Dynastic Settlement in the Eastern Delta. JEA 94, 95-106. Tristant, Y. 2005. L’occupation humaine dans le delta du Nil aux 5e et 4e millénaires. Approache géoarchéologique à partir de la region de Samara (delta oriental). Vols. 1-3. Unpublished PhD thesis. University of Toulouse. Tristant, Y. et al. 2008a. Cultural and natural environment in the Eastern Nile Delta: a geoarchaeological project at Tell el-Iswid (Nile Delta). In, R. Friedman and L. McNamara (eds.), Abstracts of papers presented at The Third International Colloquium on Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt, London 2008. 171-3. London. Tristant, Y. et al. 2008b. Human Occupation of the Nile Delta during Pre- and Early Dynastic times. A view from Kom el-Khilgan. In B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 463-82. Leuven. Wesemael, B. v. 1988. The Relation between natural Landscape and Distribution of Archaeological Remains in the Northeastern Nile Delta. In E. C. M. van den Brink (ed.), The archaeology of the Nile Delta. Problems and Priorities, 125-34. Amsterdam. Wilkinson, T. A. 1999. Early Dynastic Egypt. London, New York. Wit, H. E. de 1993. The Evolution of the Eastern Nile Delta as a factor in the development of Human culture. In L. Krzyżaniak et al. (eds.), Environmental Change and Human Culture in the Nile Basin and Northern Africa until the Second Millenium B.C., 305-20. Poznań.

Jucha, M. A. 2006. Pottery from the graves. In M. Chłodnicki and K. M. Ciałowicz et al. Polish Excavations at Tell el-Farkha (Ghazala) in the Nile Delta. Preliminary Report 2004-2005. Archeologia 57, 97-101. Jucha, M. A. 2008. The Corpus of “Potmarks” from the Graves at Tell el-Farkha. In B. Midant-Reynes, Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse (France), 5th–8th September 2005. OLA 172. 133-49. Leuven. Jucha, M. A. (forhtcoming) North-Eastern Nile Delta – Perspectives of Research. Polish Archaeological Survey in the Governorate Ash-Sharqiyyah. In J. Popielska-Grzybowska and J. Iwaszczuk (eds.), Proceedings of Fifth Central European Conference of Egyptologist. Egypt 2009: Perspectives of Research (Pułtusk 22–24 June 2009). Acta Archaeologica Pultuskiensia 2. Kroeper, K. and Wildung, D. 1994. Minshat Abu Omar I. Ein vor- und frühgeschichtlicher Friedhof im Nildelta: Gräber 1-114. Mainz. Kroeper, K. and Wildung, D. 2000. Minshat Abu Omar II. Ein vor- und frühgeschichtlicher Friedhof im Nildelta: Gräber 115-204. Mainz. Krzyżaniak, L. 1989. Recent archaeological evidence on the earliest settlement in the eastern Nile Delta. In L. Krzyżaniak and M. Kobusiewicz (eds.), Late Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara, 267-85. Poznań. Levy, T. M. and Brink, E. C. M. v. d. 2002. Interaction Models, Egypt and the Canaanite Periphery. In E. C. M. van den Brink and T. E. Levy (eds.), Egypt and the Levant . Interrelations from the 4th through the Early 3rd Millennium BCE, 3-38. London, New York. Mączyńska, A. 2003. Lower Egyptian Culture from the Central Tell at Tell el-Farkha (Nile Delta). In L. Krzyżaniak et al. (eds.), Cultural markers in the Later Prehistory of Northeastern Africa and Recent Research, 213-25. Poznań. Midant-Reynes, B. et al. 2003. Kom el-Khilgan: un nouveau site prédynastique dans le Delta. Archéo-Nil 13, 55-64. Miroschedji, P. de 2002. The Socio-Political Dynamics of Egyptian-Canaanite Interaction in the Early Bronze Age. In E. C. M. van den Brink and T. E. Levy (eds.), Egypt and the Levant. Interrelations from the 4th through the Early 3rd Millennium BCE, 39-57. London, New York. Oren, E. D. 1973. The Overland Route Between Egypt and Canaan in the Early Bronze Age (Preliminary Report). IEJ 23, 198-205. Oren, E. D. 1989. Early Bronze Age Settlement in Northern Sinai: A model for Egypto-Canaanite Interactions. In P. de Miroschedji (ed.), L’urbanisation de la Palestine à l’âfe du bronze ancient. BAR 527. 389-405. Oxford. Oren, E. D. and Gilead, I. 1981. Chalcolitic Sites in Northeastern Sinai. Tel Aviv 8, 25-44.

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Two Egyptian Private-Law Documents of the Old Kingdom Evgeniya Kokina We do not know much about the legal system of the Old Kingdom. But law undoubtedly played an important role in the life of ancient Egyptian society. Most of the private-law documents, which have reached us from the Old Kingdom, come from tombs and are somehow connected with the tomb owner’s afterlife.

stones. The entrance is located in the east, with a small vestibule behind it, from which the southern opening leads to the serdab, where statues of Wepemnefret’s wife, ‘king’s daughter’ Meresankh were found. The western doorway opposite the entrance leads to the chapel of the tomb’s owner with two false doors; the northern doorway leads to the son’s chapel. Each chapel has a shaft.

The private-law inscriptions can be classified by groups.1 Such inscriptions as one of Wepemnefret from Giza2 (the reign of Djedkara3) and one of Idu (Seneni) from el-Qasr wa es-Saiyad4 (the reign of Pepi II5) can be united in one particular group. They speak of a transfer of a tomb chamber to one of the tomb owner’s relatives: in the case of Wepemnefret – transfer of a tomb chapel and a shaft to the owner’s son; in the case of Idu (Seneni) – transfer of a shaft to the owner’s wife Asenkai.

We should pay attention to the disparity in size between the father’s and the son’s chapels: the latter (9,12ms long, 1,98ms broad, 3,19ms high) is almost twice as big as the former (5,10ms long, 2,28ms broad, 2,37ms high). Furthermore the son’s chapel is much better decorated. In the father’s only two false doors were cased with fine white Turah limestone, while in the son’s– walls of the chapel, roof, part of the chapel’s door. All the images and inscriptions on the door’s lintels and jambs of the father’s chapel are carved immediately on the surface of the rock. Moreover inscriptions are limited to a list of titles and funerary formulae. The lintels of false-doors also bear only funerary formulae in the name of tomb owner. The son’s chapel represents quite a different example. Although the door’s inscriptions and images are in no way remarkable, in the chapel itself, besides the concerned law inscription with the images of Wepemnefret himself, his son Iby and 15 witnesses, four horizontal registers showing artists and craftsmen with a great number of captions are inscribed. Noteworthy is that only the southern part of the eastern wall in the chapel was decorated. The rest of the walls remained without any images or inscriptions although they were probably destined for decoration. Two false-doors on the west wall also seem to have been left unfinished.

Allocation of accommodation in a tomb for family members is a typical situation for ancient Egypt. The question is why these tomb owners needed to create an inscription, while most of such cases were not specified in the documents. The inscription of Wepemnefret is of great interest: it allows us to reconstruct the circumstances in which it was carved.6 Moreover this inscription is a major legal source of the Old Kingdom: this is the only private-law document, which reached us in such an excellent state; it is a very interesting source also from the formal point of view – the structure of the inscription is very precise. The principles of document creation of the epoch are reflected in it. Furthermore the inscription of Wepemnefret contains in the most complete form all important components of juridical texts: nominations of legal parties, date, title of the legal document, the transaction itself, list of witnesses, assurance in legal capacity of a person making up a document. This document was carved on the wall of the chapel, where Wepemnefret’s son Iby was buried.

What is the reason of such a disparity between the size and decoration of the father’s and son’s chapels? Explanation could be the following: father transferred to his son who died early the chapel and shaft destined for himself. We can observe evidence of such a situation in the tomb inscriptions. Wepemnefret himself was rather a high-rank person. He bore such titles as smr-watj ‘sole companion’,8 smr watj n mrwt ‘sole companion, possessor of love’,9 aD-mr _wA @r xntj pt ‘administrator of (the vineyard) ‘Praised is Horus Preeminent of Heaven’,10 aDmr _p ‘administrator of the people of Dep’,11 Hrj-sStA n pr-dwAt ‘one who is privy to the secret of the House of Morning’,12 xrp aH ‘inspector of the Palace’,13 Hrj-tp Nxb ‘overlord of El-Kab’,14 Hm-nTr @r Inpw Xntj pr Smswt

To reconstruct the situation in which the inscription was carved, we should examine the inner structure of the tomb.7 The tomb in its basis is almost an equilateral rectangle, turned by its sides approximately to the north, to the south, to the east and to the west. The tomb is partly cut in the rock and partly constructed from local 1

See e.g. Goedicke 1970 190-221; Lippert 2008 22-7. Goedicke 1970 Pl. 18; Hassan 1936 Fig. 219, Pl. 74-5. 3 Verner 2001 405. 4 Edel 1981 Fig. 4; Goedicke 1970 Pl. 4; Lepsius 1850 Pl. 114a; SäveSöderbergh 1994 Pl. 9. 5 Kanawati 1977 49. 6 Perepelkin 1988 13-8. 7 See Hassan 1936 179-201. 2

8

Jones 2000 892. Jones 2000 894. Jones 2000 358-9. 11 Jones 2000 365. 12 Jones 2000 620. 13 Jones 2000 707. 14 Jones 2000 648. 9

10

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Thus, the following picture is beginning to emerge: Wepemnefret had started to build a tomb, planning two chapels within it. One of these chapels, the northern one, had been intended for himself, to the decoration of which the masters set to work. The western chapel remained so far untouched. Its decoration should have been started after the owner’s chapel. Here the question arises as for whom the second chapel had been intended? Probably, for Iby. But we do not possess any evidence. In the text of the legal document it is stipulated, that n aj sn(=j) nb jr=s Hmt(=j) nb(t) msw(=j) nb jr=s ‘no brother (of mine), no wife (of mine), no child (of mine) shall have any rights in relation to it23’. So, possible claims could be expected from the relatives. We can suspect all persons mentioned in the inscription of interest in one of the tomb chapels. As noted above we do not have any other evidence. Any way Wepemnefret had to transfer to Iby his own chapel and shaft due to the unexpected death of his eldest son and to prepare the western chapel for himself. It remains to mention that by the time of Iby’s death Wepemnefret had not yet obtained the required sum to decorate the tomb at the level, at which it had been started. It is in these conditions, that the legal inscription was carved.

‘Hm-nTr-priest of Horus-Anubis who presides over the Suite’,15 Hrj wDb m Hwt-anx ‘he who is in charge of offerings in the House of Life’.16 Furthermore his wife was zAt njswt ‘king’s daughter’ Meresankh. The titles of Wepemnefret’s son Iby in the text of the law document and on the door lintel are quite ordinary and are beyond comparison with the father’s titles (Xrj-Hb ‘lector priest’,17 Hrj-sStA ‘one who is privy to the secret’,18 zS mDAt-nTr ‘scribe of the god’s book’).19 Considering this ordinariness of Iby’s titles it is logical to assume, that Iby died young and could not achieve high ranks. One more indication of Iby’s early death is the fact, that both the second Wepemnefret’s son Khura and Iby are named zA smsw ‘the eldest son’ in the tomb inscriptions. Such situation was possible just in case, when the eldest son Iby died young and Khura became the eldest son.20 There is another piece of evidence that casts light upon the situation in which the legal inscription was carved. The inscription itself, captions to the images of Wepemnefret, his son and witnesses, are carved in the other way as compared with captions to the adjacent scenes showing artists and craftsmen. The captions to the latter are made in relief, more laborious than incised hieroglyphs, in which the rest of inscriptions are made.21 Thus the situation could be reconstructed as follows: by the time of Iby’s death the chapel in his father’s tomb was wholly cased and was ready for carving the images and inscriptions. But before Iby’s death only four registers of scenes showing artists and craftsmen had been completed. When Iby died, his father transferred to him his unfinished chapel and placed on the southern part of the wall beside the scenes showing artists and craftsmen already depicted, the legal document, by which he provided his son’s rights to the chapel and shaft, firstly intended for Wepemnefret himself. At the same time Iby’s titles and funerary formulae were carved on the door lintels. And additions were obviously made in a rush, at least in a simplified way. It is Iby’s early death that explains the fact, that he did not have time to build his own tomb; this is why his father had to grant him his chapel and shaft. Noteworthy is that the two chapels had been planned from the very beginning, long before Iby’s death. The fact that the chapel and shaft are named “northern chapel” and “northern shaft” in the legal inscription proves this. By the time of Iby’s death the western chapel had not yet been ready. Was not this western chapel initially intended for Iby? Hereafter this chapel would not be completed. Its walls, not cased and without inscriptions, witness to this (only two false doors in the western wall were made).22

I would also like to draw the attention to the first lines of the inscription, in which the word Dt24 is mentioned: dj.n(=j) n zA(=j) smsw Xrj-Hb Jbjj Dt HAt mHt(j)t Hna jzt mHt(j)t nt prt-xrw ntt m jz(=j) n Dt n Xrt-nTr ‘(I) have granted to (my) eldest son, the lector priest Iby, Dt the northern shaft together with the northern chapel, which are for the invocation-offerings, that in (my) tomb of Dt in the necropolis’.25 What can the word Dt mean in the first case between the name of Wepemnefret’s son and the description of the tomb parts, transferred to Iby, and in the second after the word ‘tomb’? In the latest translations of the inscription, including the one by N. Strudwick, this passage is understood as follows: ‘I have granted for ever to my son, the lector priest Iby, the northern burial place (shaft) together with the northern tomb (chapel) together with the invocation offerings which will be in my tomb of eternity of the necropolis’.26 Thus the researchers perceive this Dt as ‘eternity’, ‘for ever’. But another interpretation of the word Dt seems to me more convincing. Let’s examine the first case. First of all if we accept the meaning ‘for ever’, it turns out, that the adverbial modifier of time stands before the direct object, while it should rather follow it. Secondly, the structure of the inscription indicates that the word Dt, carved in the beginning of the first vertical row relates to the direct object, in other words to the object of grant. Thus Dt is a designation of what the father transferred to his son: northern shaft and northern chapel. Such apprehension was already suggested by the publisher of Wepemnefret’s inscription.27 The conception of Russian Egyptologist Y. Perepelkin, who argued, that the word Dt

15

Jones 2000 553. Jones 2000 604. 17 Jones 2000 781. 18 Jones 2000 609. 19 Jones 2000 857. 20 Cf. Hassan 1936 179. 21 Hassan 1936 190. 22 Hassan 1936 187-9. 16

23

That is the northern shaft together with the northern chapel. Hannig 2003 1484-7; Wb V 503-10. 25 Translation by the author. 26 Strudwick 2005 203. 27 Hassan 1936 190; cf. Goedicke 1970 34-5. 24

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EVGENIYA KOKINA: TWO EGYPTIAN PRIVATE-LAW DOCUMENTS OF THE OLD KINGDOM here means property, seems to me the most approved.28 Thus the transcription and translation of this fragment could be the following: dj.n(=j) n zA(=j) smsw Xrj-Hb Jbjj Dt(=j) HAt mHt(j)t Hna jzt mHt(j)t nt prt-xrw ntt m jz(=j) n Dt(=j) n Xrt-nTr ‘(I) have granted to (my) eldest son, the lector priest Iby, (my) property: the northern shaft together with the northern chapel, which are for the invocation-offerings, that in (my) proper tomb29 in the necropolis’. Such understanding of this inscription wholly conforms to the reconstructed situation of its creation. Thereby Wepemnefret attested in the legal document the transfer of his property, his northern shaft and northern chapel, to his son Iby.

(me) (I) shall be judged with them by the Great God’. Such appeals are never mentioned in any other legal document of the Old Kingdom. But all this similarity with (auto)biographical texts should not make us doubt that the inscription of Idu (Seneni) belongs to legal documents. From the Lahun papyri of the Middle Kingdom we obtain one jmt-pr-document (UC 32058), which provides the tomb owner and his wife the right of use of the tomb chapel: ir tAy.i HAt qrs.tw.i im.s Hna tAy.i Hmt nn rdit DA rmT nbt tA r.s ‘as for the chapel at which I am buried with my wife, let no-one break ground over it’.33 A resemblance between this phrase and the inscription of Idu (Seneni) is evident. The document from the Middle Kingdom as well as the inscriptions of Wepemnefret and Idu (Seneni) from the Old Kingdom can once more witness to the existence of the particular type of private-law documents, which concern the right of use of tomb chambers.

In the case of the inscription of Idu (Seneni) we do not obtain such detailed information. The inscription itself is carved on the southern wall of tomb chamber. The shaft, which is the object of legal inscription, is situated under it.30 It is clear that the tomb owner tried to protect his wife against encroachments on the shaft transferred to her: jr HAt tn jrt.n(=j) [...] rdjt.n(=j) n Hmt(=j) mrjt a=s-nkA=j mAa[-xrw(=j)] r rmT nb jTj.t(j)=sn sj m-a a=s-n-kA=j tn ‘in respect of this shaft which (I) have made, [...] which (I) have given to (my) beloved wife Asenkai, (I) shall prevail against any man who shall take it from this Asenkai’.31

In spite of all similarity between inscriptions of Wepemnefret and Idu (Seneni) on the one hand and (auto)biographical ones on the other hand, the nature of their origin differs. While the latter appear in form of general threats, assurances, and they are the answers to the typical situations of the epoch, when the unimpeded performance of the funeral cult began to face difficulties, the private-law inscriptions are provoked by concrete family circumstances. It is clear in the example of the inscription of Wepemnefret. In the case of the inscription of Idu (Seneni) we cannot reconstruct the situation in which it was carved. Undoubtedly it was also provoked by some unusual conditions. Rather often husbands granted shafts in their tombs to their wives without any specification by inscriptions setting aside any legal document creation. Thus, the reason for the creation of the two private-law inscriptions of Wepemnefret and Idu (Seneni) must be connected with the unique circumstances. Otherwise a lot more of such inscriptions could have reached us. Anyway the goal of the two inscriptions is to legalize the rights of possession of tomb chambers. This is to assure, that Jby, the son of Wepemnefret, and Asenkai, the wife of Idu (Seneni) did not seize, but received them as grants from the tomb owners.

We should not forget that private-law documents on the tomb walls are rare and the logic of their creation is obscure. Taking into account the reconstructed conditions of creation of the legal inscription in Wepemnefret’s tomb, it becomes apparent, that the inscription of Idu (Seneni) also appeared in some extraordinary conditions. Noteworthy is that in the tomb of Idu (Seneni) there is another inscription, which protects the tomb against any encroachment. This inscription is the standard type of (auto)biographical texts, in which it is said that the tomb owner built it with his own funds, that he fully paid to the masters; in such texts owner’s rights on the tomb are proved – he led a just life and he got the tomb by fair means. Such (auto)biographical texts have much in common with the legal inscriptions of Wepemnefret and Idu (Seneni). They were most probably caused by precedents of tomb usurpations. In the case of the inscription of Idu (Seneni) connections with (auto)biographical texts are particularly evident. The inscription contains the same standard formulations as the (auto)biographical texts. These are such phrases as jw(=j) r jTjt T[z]=sn mj Apd ‘(I) shall seize their necks like a bird’s’; n Dd=s Tz Sna jb(=j) ‘she has not uttered a sentence which has repulsed (my) heart’; n jw=s rnp.t(j) m anx ‘she was not angry while she was youthful in life’.32 Appeal to the justice of the Great God is extremely significant: jr rmT nb jTj.t(j)=sn HAt tn m-a(=j) jw(=j) r wDa Hna=sn jn nTr aA ‘in respect of any person who shall take this shaft from

References Collier, M. and Quirke, S. 2004. The UCL Lahun Papyri: Religious, Literary, Legal, Mathematical and Medical. BAR 1209. Oxford. Edel, E. 1981. Hieroglyphische Inschriften des Alten Reiches. Abhandlungen der Rheinisch-Westfälischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 67. Opladen. Fitzenreiter, M. 2004. Zum Toteneigentum im Alten Reich. Achet Schriften zur Ägyptologie Reihe A 4. Berlin. Goedicke, H. 1970. Die privaten Rechtsinschriften aus dem Alten Reich. Beihefte zur Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 5. Vienna.

28

Fitzenreiter 2004 19-20; Perepelkin 1986; Perepelkin 1988 13-8. Literary ‘(my) tomb of (my) property’. 30 Säve-Söderbergh 1994 32. 31 Translation is based on the reconstraction of E. Edel: Edel 1981 20-1, Fig. 4. See also Strudwick 2005 188-9. 32 Edel 1981 20-5; cf. Goedicke 1970 186-9. 29

33

Transliteration and translation by S. Quirke: Collier and Quirke 2004 104-5.

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Hannig, R. 2003. Ägyptisches Wörterbuch I. Altes Reich und Erste Zwischenzeit. Mainz. Hassan, S. 1936. Excavations at Giza 1930-1931. Cairo. Jones, D. 2000. An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom, Vol 1. BAR IS 866. Oxford. Kanawati, N. 1977. Egyptian Administration in the Old Kingdom: Evidence on its Economic Decline. Warminster. Lippert, S. 2008. Einführung in die altägyptische Rechtsgeschichte. Berlin. Lepsius, R. 1850. Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien,Vol. 2. Berlin. Perepelkin, Y. 1986. Privateigentum in der Vorstellung der Ägypter des Alten Reichs. Tübingen. Perepelkin, Y. 1988. Hozjaystvo staroegipetskih velmozh. Moscow. Säve-Söderbergh, T. 1994. The Old Kingdom Cemetery at Hamra Dom (El-Qasr wa es-Saiyad). Stockholm. Strudwick, N. 2005. Texts from the Pyramid Age. Writings from the Ancient World 16. Atlanta. Verner, M. 2001. Archaeological Remarks on the 4th and 5th Dynasty Chronology. ArOr 69, 363-418.

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Storage in the Ancient Egyptian Palaces Giulia Pagliari majority of these representations show a parade tribute offered by foreign emissaries, who abase themselves as they are ushered into the royal presence by the deceased. The products received from African dependencies consist of slaves, cattle, gold and ships laden with the raw product of the area, including ivory, ebony and pelts. The tomb pictures of the southern tribute includes exotic animals as cheetahs, giraffes, apes, and ostriches, as well as the staple ebony, ivory, and gold. Such homage is unlikely to have been paid daily, and these scenes must commemorate a special occasion of great significance. On this occasion part of the tribute would presumably have been moved to royal warehouses. Another source that exemplifies this kind of transaction is the archive of the Amarna Letters, which reveals how every dispatch from the royal Asiatic correspondents was accompanied by a gift.7

Premise The archaeological excavations of palaces at Tell Basta, Tell el-Dab'a, Deir el-Ballas, Malkata, Amarna and Late Period sites have attested that almost all royal buildings in ancient Egypt were accompanied by magazines. These, usually recognizable by the elongated and narrow shape of the rooms, had a storage function completely different from that pursued by storehouses separated from the palace, used for a collective redistribution and probably managed by the temple rather than by the royal building. Also the great temples and shrines as well as funerary temples were equipped with warehouses with a specific role. Other rectangular warehouses or silos, whose size varies according to social membership of the owners, were attached to private houses and were used for the preservation of goods for immediate consumption of the population, but also for the conservation of luxury goods in the case of upper classes.

Philological sources Seal impressions and pottery inscriptions found in ancient Egyptian palaces, especially those recovered from the palace of Amenhotep III, provide an excellent idea of what kind of foodstuffs were stored in a royal residence: wine, most of which coming from vineyard in the Northern Delta and from the oases, honey and oil, meat, all luxury foodstuffs and rare pigments. Potsherds from the royal palaces are mainly of unusual ware with notable fineness or imported ware and not remains of big storagejars. Although preserved documentation is very limited, that available lets us assume that goods for redistribution as bread, sesame oil, beans, beer, garments and oxens were not stored in the palatial warehouses.

The system of redistribution An important concept of the ancient Egyptian socioeconomic system is that of inw, generally rendered as ‘gift’ or ‘tribute’ but difficult to translate.1 Inw is often associated with bAk, both expressing a flow of commodities from foreign territory into Egyptian hands.2 New Kingdom texts and especially the Annals of Thutmose III show that the clearest distinction between bAk and inw is that bAk is supplied by a region and inw is given by a person.3 The general formula used to introduce a list of inw is: inw n wr n [name of country].4 According to these texts the king receives the inw personally or through a representative who has the authority to act on the king’s behalf. So a number of commodities brought to the king by various foreign princes were to become part of royal property, and to be stored in royal warehouses. Generally, while all Egyptians were subjected to the system of redistribution by the temple, the king was able to exist outside this process because he had another source of income from a parallel socio-economic system, one of whose components was the inw.5

During the excavation at Malkata directed by the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts in 1910-20 and later in 1971-74 several heavy mud stoppers of the jars were found, bearing on their tops and sides big oval seal impressions.8 These inscriptions came from warehouses and rubbish heaps widely distributed over the palace area. Close parallels will be found among the numerous, more or less contemporary seals from Tell el-Amarna. Generally the stoppers bear the cartouches of the king, or the ovals containing the name and the provenance of the commodity; the jar labels, written in ink on the shoulders of amphorae, and the jar sealings contain several indications about commodities too. Jars contained wine (irp) and ale (srmt), honey and ben oil (bAq), fat (aD) and meat (iwf). The most numerous jar-sealings are from wine jars. Wine was not only more valuable than other

In several New Kingdom private tombs appears a scene which represents the pharaoh seated on a throne under an elaborate baldachin and presiding at a state function;6 the 1

Bleiberg 1984 155. Bleiberg 1981 107. 3 Bleiberg 1988 157. 4 BAk instead is listed after the simple formula ‘bAk n [name of country]’. Bleiberg 1981 107. 5 Bleiberg 1981 156. 6 The vast majority of these representations, which first make their appearance in the joint reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III and are popular towards throughout the 18th Dynasty, are found in the tombs at 2

Thebes, but there are examples also from Amarna, Deir Rifa and Saqqara. Aldred 1970 105. 7 Aldred 1970 111. 8 Hayes 1951 156. Leahy 1978 29-44.

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT owned by different members of the royal family and its entourage or used as an offering to gods, especially to Aten. The wine even in this case comes mostly from the oases and inscriptions often refer to people of Lower Egypt that produced it. Other inscriptions refer to oil, often for the House of the Aten too.22

products, but was normally transported over much greater distances and therefore required greater protection against being tampered with en route.9 The wine supplied to the Amenhotep III’s palace at Thebes for example came from vineyards in the Northern Delta and in the oases. The palace’s meat supply, on the other hand, appears to have been prepared in the vicinity of Thebes.10

Offerings to gods: - irp n PtH nTr(y) Htp: ‘Wine for the divine offerings of Ptah’, - irp n pr Ra: ‘Wine of the House of Re’, - irp nfr Itn pr: ‘Good wine of the House of the Aten’.

Several inscriptions attest the destination of wine to the celebration of sed-festival or to the offering to gods, such as irp nfr nfr n pA Hb-sd ‘very good wine for the sedfestival’;11 ir(w) irp n pA Hb-sd ‘offering wine for the sedfestival’;12 and irp n pA Hb-sd ‘wine for the sedfestival’.13

Property of Royal House: - irp n pr ImnHtp: ‘Wine of the house of Amenhotep’, - Itn Axn irp n […]: ‘Wine of [the house of] Akhenaten’, - sw-xmt wrt…: ‘[Wine of the house of] the great royal wife’, - irp pr sDAwty: ‘Wine of the chancellery’.

Also fresh fat, meat, honey and oil are often destined to the sed-festival (as: smrt n pA Hb-sd: ‘ale for the sedfestival’;14 sr n st n pA Hb-sd: ‘mutton fat for the Place brought for the sed-festival’;15 bit n pA Hb-sd: ‘honey for the sed-festival’16).

Provenance of wine: - irp n mHw: ‘Wine of Lower Egypt’, - xnt(y) itrw imn(w): ‘Wine of the western river of the house of Aten gleams’, - nbw mHw: ‘The people of Lower Egypt’.

Destination of wine, honey and meat to royal jubilee suggests that some commodities were stored in the palace in occasion of specific ceremonies and were used during them. Commodities often result from payment of a tribute, according to the concept of inw mentioned above: irp n inw ‘wine for tribute’;17 srmt n inw ‘ale for tribute’;18 irp nfr nfr n inw ‘very good wine for tribute’.19

Only few inscriptions specifically refer to the storehouses of the city: - irp mAa wDA n pA inw-pr: ‘Wine for offerings of the storehouse of tribute’, - irp mAa wDA wab: ‘Wine for offerings of the storehouse of the priests’, - irp nfr pA Itn-nfr-nfr: ‘Good-wine of the store-house of Neferneferuaten’.

Only a few inscriptions mention the royal warehouses (at, wDA). Other commodities are said to be destined generally to the House of Amenhotep III, the estate of King’s son, that of the Royal Wife, the estate of the inner Apartments or royal Harem, the temple properties of Amen (aD at n pr-nsw: ‘fat of the storeroom [at] of the House of the King’20).

Archaeological finds Several objects have been found in royal warehouses at Tell el-Amarna during the excavations directed by Frankfort and Pendlebury, those inserted in the complex of Royal Official Palace23 and those attached to the King’s Garden in the so called Royal Estate.24 Among objects registered in the publication there are items used for furnishing and interior decoration of the royal apartments made in precious materials and shards of imported pottery: plaques and tiles in blue faience, limestone carved block, faience amulets, fragments of faience and alabaster vases (bottles, bowls, dishes), fragments of glass vessels, parts of clay, sandstone and faience statuettes, shards of Late Helladic IIIA pottery, shards of Cypriote pottery, wooden kohl-sticks, bronze weights, bronze knives, tweezers, needles, fish-hooks and adzes, glazed steatite, faience scarabs, carnelian, lapislazuli and faience rings, faience pendants. Items listed above are intended for private use of the royal family and its entourage They are mostly furnishing accessories

Inscriptions on jar-sealings, small clay-sealings and jarstoppings from Amarna are another important source for the reconstruction of what was stored in ancient Egyptian palaces. Unlike those from Malkata, findings of Amarna were listed together, without the specific indication of their origin from a single point of the Central City and the Official Quarters.21 The impressions on jar-stoppers or fragments of stoppings are similar to that found at Malkata. The majority refers to jars containing wine 9

Hayes 1951 161. Hayes 1951 161. 11 Hayes 1951 157. Leahy 1978 33, no. 6. 12 Hayes 1951 157. Leahy 1978 33, no. 4. 13 Hayes 1951 157. Leahy 1978 33, no. 35. 14 Hayes 1951 158. 15 Leahy 1978 34, no. 41. 16 Hayes 1951 159. 17 Hayes 1951 158. 18 Hayes 1951 158. 19 Hayes 1951 158. 20 Hayes 1951 158. 21 The published inscriptions are the result of seven seasons of excavation and were registered with different methods. See Fairman 1951. 10

22

For the following inscriptions see Fariman 1951 147-9. Pendlebury 1951 46-9. 24 Pendlebury 1951 89-91. 23

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GIULIA PAGLIARI: STORAGE IN THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PALACES

Figure 1. Storage compartments on the sides of pools and courtyards in the palaces of Amarna. 1) Detail of the Northern Harem of the Official Palace. Source: Pendlebury 1951 Pl. 13 A,2. 2) Detail of the Southern Harem of the Official Palace. Source: Pendlebury 1951 Pl. 13 A,2. 3) Detail of the North Palace. Source: Whittemore 1926 Pl. 2. 4) The northern sector of King’s House Magazines. Source: Pendlebury 1951 Pl. 16.

Figure 2. Representation of a royal storage area in the tomb of MeryrēΚ. Source: Davies 1903. Pl. 6. in precious materials, bronze tools and pieces of jewelry. Pottery found in the site is mostly a fine and specialized production and imported from Western Asia. Missing among the ceramic finds are forms destined to collective storage that could have been used for conservation of great quantities of food, intended for distribution. Rations were probably distributed from the temple through public magazines located outside the royal palaces.

role in the redistributive process, especially at a special ceremony in which he used the Window of Appearances. In the Central City of Amarna great magazines are present between the Royal Estates and The Great Temple25 and at The King’s House itself where the window of appearances was probably located.26 Independent storehouses, separated from the palace, but included in the palatial complex have been found at Tell

These public storehouses were anyway close to the palaces, since the king was required to play an important

25 26

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Pendlebury 1951 106-12. Kemp 1976 87; Pendlebury 1951 87-91.

 

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT numerous pits of trees at the south. The architectural plan of this building seems to be reproduced in the representation depicted on the Tomb of MerirēΚ (Figure 2).34 The scene shows rows of warehouses facing towards two courts, separated by a cross-passage in which is a light pavilion. The court contains trees, and in front of the warehouses is a veranda with wooden or even stone columns. The warehouses on either side of the upper court contain valuables such as vases and ingots of precious materials, treasure chests and stuffs, and sealed wine jars. The rest contain provisions, corn, meat, fish and wine. The remaining stores in the city are owned by the temple, attached to the major shrines in the city.

el Dab’a in H/III and H/II sectors, near Platform F in H/I.27 Architectural features Another key aspect of the royal stores is their real position in the palace; some are closer to the central courtyard and the area of representation, likely to contain luxury goods that were used at particular official ceremonies, others are positioned near the entrance, some, such as Avaris, at street level, designed to contain goods for immediate consumption for the royal family and members of the court.28 In Amenhotep III’s Palace at Malkata, a series of magazines, originally interpreted as the apartments of women of the royal harem, is located along the central court that precedes the throne hall. These lateral complexes can be recognized as storerooms because of remains of low walls that let suppose the presence of shelves.29 The podium attached to the bottom walls of these complex of rooms should be used by the king in a particular ceremony – like the sed-festival often mentioned by texts – during which the precious goods stored here were carried out. In the Official Palace at Amarna several rooms opened on the central court that precedes the audience system should have the same function of warehouses.30 This complex, originally interpreted as Royal Harem thanks to the comparison with that at Malkata, would have served as storerooms for luxury goods used in particular ceremonies similarly to the one of Amenhotep III.31 At Malkata and Amarna, in addition to these small rooms attached to the sector of representation, there are whole sets of storehouses included in the royal palaces of the city, like those southwest of the Main Palace of Amenhotep III, those south of the Official Palace at Amarna and that attached to the King’s House of the same site.32

Conclusion In conclusion, the reconstruction of the process of storage in the royal palaces of ancient Egypt is based on rather poor archaeological records, because the finds from storehouses of Egyptian sites have often been overlooked in the past or listed without a specific indication of their provenance. Most of the finds derive from a limited period in Egyptian history, that of the New Kingdom, to which belong the best-preserved royal palaces. According to the preserved documentation the integration with the iconographic and textual sources some hypotheses can be attained. From a functional standpoint, the palaces were not intended for the collective storage of public goods, but rather to the maintenance of king’s property. Palatial property could be used for offerings to the gods, to support the royal family and retainers, to be exchanged as gifts with foreign princes, as well as personal source of income for the pharaoh. Items recovered at Amarna and Malkata, such as those listed on jar-sealings, are mostly “rich” food and beverage, furnishing accessories in precious materials and pieces of jewellery. Potsherds can be attributed mainly to fine and specialized productions or to imported ware and not to big storage-jars. Rations of bread, sesame oil, beans, garments and oxens were probably distributed from the temple through public magazines located outside the royal palace.

Regarding planimetric features, storage-sectors correspond to a recurring plan with a series of narrow, elongated rooms facing two sides of long corridors, with entrances on short sides (Figure 1). Royal warehouses near the audience sector, and probably with a ceremonial use, present a monumental elaboration of this basic plan: bigger spaces are added to the rows of store-rooms in the form of pillared-courts and garden-courts.

According to the textual documentation, many luxury goods stored in the royal palaces were to be used during special occasions and not daily; they could be received during the visit of foreign emissaries or pulled out on ceremonial occasions like the sed-festival.

The Royal Magazines in the King’s House are composed of two different courts on either side of which are several storerooms facing on a porch with columns.33 The northern court is characterized by traces of mud paving surrounding a deep depression at the north and by

The architectural analysis seems to confirm the presence of monumental stores, close to the audience device, which were probably used during these special occasions. Alongside these were stores, still inside the palace, but far from the throne hall and with direct access on the road, which were probably designed to contain goods for daily consumption for the royal family and members of the court.

27

Bietak et al. 2001 36-8. The eastern side of the complex G in the Thutmosid citadel of Tell elDab'a presents a series of small rooms with a probable function of warehouses located at ground level. These rooms had to be lower than the rest of the building, raised on its foundation-platform, and had to be directly accessible by the road. Bietak and Forstner-Müller 2005 73. 29 Arnold 2002 288-9. 30 Pendlebury 1951 38. 31 Arnold 2002 289. 32 Pendlebury 1951 49-50. 33 Pendlebury 1951 91. 28

34

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Davies 1903 Pl. 31.

GIULIA PAGLIARI: STORAGE IN THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PALACES References Aldred, C. 1970. The Foreign Gifts offered to Pharaoh. JEA 56, 105-16. Arnold, D. 2002 Il palazzo reale. Architettura, decorazione e arredi. In C. Ziegler (ed.) Faraoni, 27195. Venice. Bietak, M. et al. 2001. Ausgrabungen in dem Palastbezirk von Avaris, Vorbericht Tell el-Dab‘a/’Ezbet Helmi 1993-2000. ÄUL 11, 27-119. Bietak, M. and Forstner-Müller, I. 2005. Ausgrabung eines palastbezirkes der Tuthmosidenzeit bei 'Ezbet Helmi/Tell al Dab'a, vorbericht für Herbst 2004 und Frühjahr 2005. ÄUL 15, 65-100. Bleiberg, E. 1981. Commodity exchange in the Annals of Thutmose III. JSSEA 11, 107-10. Bleiberg, E. 1984. The King’s Privy Purse During the New Kingdom: An examination of inw. JARCE 21,155-67. Bleiberg, E. 1988. The Redistributive Economy in New Kingdom Egypt: An examination of bAk(t). JARCE 25, 157-68. Davies, N. de G. 1903. The Rock Tombs of El Amarna, Vol 1. London. Fairman, H. W. 1951. Inscriptions. In J. D. S. Pendlebury, The City of Akhenaten. Part III, 143-235. London. Hayes, W. C. 1951. Inscriptions from the Palace of Amenhotep III. JNES 10, 156-83. Kemp, B. J. 1976. The window of appearance at elAmarna and the basic structure of this city. JEA 62, 70-96. Leahy, M. A. 1978. Excavations at Malkata and the Birket Habu, 1971-1974/4. The inscriptions. Egyptology Today 2. Warminster. Pendlebury, J. D. S. 1951. The City of Akhenaten. Part III. London. Whittemore, T. 1926. The excavations at El-'Amarnah, season 1924-5. JEA 12, 3-12.

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Pottery as an Economic Indicator in Egypt’s Marginal Sites1 Virpi Perunka Introduction The main archaeological components at the site are the following: inscriptions on the mountain wall, metalworking areas, rock-cut storage galleries and remains of a settlement.4 The most impressive finds are boat remains, which thus provide material evidence for maritime connections. The boat remains have been found in two different galleries and it would appear that these two separate boats were dismantled between expeditions for storage. Both boats have been burned, which makes their identification somewhat difficult but preservation is probably better than it would have been otherwise. Initially, it was thought that the site was a copper mine, with additional functions such as metal working. Now, however, it seems more likely that the site was mainly used for other purposes and copper mining was a very limited activity, if it ever took place at all. The site is now seen more as a logistical centre, a transit point to and from Sinai which also served as an industrial centre for metal-working activities during the Middle Kingdom.

This article will focus on possible applications of pottery with regard to Egypt’s economy but while doing so, it will also discuss the pottery itself.1Studying pottery might not seem to all Egyptologists’ a fascinating topic in its own right, but studies on pottery distribution can provide important data for questions regarding trade and economy in the ancient world. Therefore, pottery has been used as a tool in archaeological studies relating to trade and distribution for a long time. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the usefulness of pottery as an indicator of both state-controlled and localised economic systems and in order to do so, I will present a case study on early Middle Kingdom storage jars from an ongoing excavation at Ayn Soukhna.2 Discussions on terminology can be unending and so, I will skip discussing what is periphery or a marginal area. I offer an interpretation in terms of this article; what I consider, in this article, to be marginal is a site which is located at least 100kms away from the Nile Valley. This article brings together elements of my MA dissertation at the University of Liverpool and some results of the fieldwork I have done within the past few years in Ayn Soukhna as a ceramicist.3

The site has temporary occupational and operational phases, dating from the Old Kingdom to the New Kingdom. Later on, the site was again occupied during the Roman Period as well as after the Arab invasion. The dating of the site was initially done with the help of the inscriptions, which were already published in 2002.5 These inscriptions are not only written in hieroglyphic script, but also in Greek, Coptic and Arabic. In total, there are 38 hieroglyphic inscriptions, mainly dating to the Middle Kingdom and a few to the early New Kingdom. Inscriptions found in peripheral areas are a valuable source of information regarding the ancient mining and quarrying expeditions and provide a great deal of information about dates and people involved in these activities.

Ayn Soukhna and its archaeological setting Ayn Soukhna is situated 75kms south of the city of Suez and about 120kms east of the Nile Valley by the Red Sea. Ayn Soukhna is named after its hot springs, and it is located at the foot of a mountain Gebel Galala elBahariya, which reaches 920ms in the vicinity of Ayn Soukhna. The site, and more specifically its inscriptions, were discovered by an Egyptian geological survey and consequently reported to the local university and SCA (Supreme Council of Antiquities) office in the 1990s. Ayn Soukhna is an area which is attracting much modern development (infrastructure, industrialization and tourism) and this modern expansion could possibly threaten the archaeological site and therefore, a joint French-Egyptian mission, under the direction of Professor Mahmoud Abd el-Raziq (University of Suez), Georges Castel (IFAO) and Dr Pierre Tallet (University of Paris-Sorbonne) began its work in Ayn Soukhna in 2001.

Inscriptions numbered 4a and 4b, in the publication entitled Les inscriptions d’Ayn Soukhna6 are, in fact, two different parts of an inscription which can be dated to the reign of the 11th Dynasty king Mentuhotep IV; the cartouche of the king also appears in the inscription. This particular king reigned from 1992 to 1985 BC.7 The lower part of the inscription, 4b, states that a royal expedition of 3000 men were sent on its way in order to fetch some mining products (turquoise, copper and all good products of the mining/mountain region).8 The reign

                                                            

                                                            

1 The participation of the author in the conference was funded by the Chancellor’s Travel Grant Fund from the University of Helsinki. The author wishes to thank the following: her fieldwork colleages at Ayn Soukhna, Dr Steven Snape and Dr Ian Shaw who both supervised her MA dissertation at the University of Liverpool as well as Janine Bourriau for her support and advice in pottery related questions. 2 For information about the site, see the following publications Abd elRaziq et al. 2002, 2004, 2006 and for a preliminary pottery report Defernez 2004. 3 Perunka 2007.

4 For discussion of settlements related to quarrying and mining activities and their main features, see Shaw 1994. A recent discussion regarding mining expeditions and their social aspects is offered by Bloxam 2006. 5 Abd el-Raziq et al. 2002. 6 Abd el-Raziq et al. 2002. 7 Shaw 2000 483. 8 “an 1: venue de la troupe du roi - nombre de cette troupe: 3000 hommes - pour rapporter de la turquoise, du cuivre et tous le bons produits du gebel” (Abd el-Raziq et al. 2002 40).

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT 13cms.17 Other pottery dating to the Old Kingdom has also been found annually since 2007 and previously excavated, but not recorded, pottery has been dated to the Old Kingdom. However, the storage jars are the most impressive pottery found from the Old Kingdom and those indicate a relatively significant undertaking by the state in order to send expeditions to exploit mineral sources, thus providing important socio-economic evidence from the period.

of this particular king is not well attested at all. In addition to this Ayn Soukhna inscription, there are only few other inscriptions from quarrying expeditions at Hatnub and at the Wadi Hammamat.9 There is a similar kind of inscription, number 5, which bears the name of the first 12th Dynasty king Amenemhat I and in this text, a greater number of men are involved (4000) in the expedition.10 There are a few other inscriptions from the 12th Dynasty which are interesting as they mention officials related to these expeditions, who are also attested from Sinai (Wadi Maghara and Serabit el-Khadim) during the same time period. For example, the scorpion charmer called Iti, whose name appears in Ayn Soukhna inscription 6, regnal year 2 of Amenemhat III, is also known from the Wadi Maghara inscriptions the very same year, inscriptions IS 23 and IS 24.11 The attestations of same officials in Sinai and in Ayn Soukhna can be proved in the case of four officials during the reign of Amenemhat I, for one official in Senwosret I’s reign and 10 officials during the reign of Amenemhat III.12 The expeditions to the Sinai were most frequent in the Middle Kingdom during the reign of Amenemhat III.13

The pottery and its origin Now I should like to turn to discussing the core evidence of case-study, the pottery. The question which puzzled me from the beginning of my work as a ceramicist at Ayn Soukhna was which pottery is local? In my approach, I was admittedly influenced by Janine Bourriau’s article about pottery work in Sinai, at Serabit el-Khadim.18 The question she asked regarding the Serabit el-Khadim pottery was “which pottery was locally made and which imported from the Nile Valley?” I will return to Janine Bourriau’s conclusions about the matter shortly. Regarding the Ayn Soukhna pottery, I can now, fairly certainly state that only the bread moulds were produced at the site, with the exception of functional pottery, the crucibles used in metal work. The obvious clue to this assumption is the clay used in the pottery manufacturing process. The local clay, from which the bread moulds were made, is extremely sandy, poorly sorted and very crumbly; therefore, this locally produced pottery does not survive terribly well. Occasionally, the sherds are just thick lumps and recognising the shape of the vessel is difficult. However, the sherds which survive better allow the identification of bread moulds. Both Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom bread mould rims, bases and body sherds have been found. However whether my assumption, that only bread moulds were produced at the site is right, is yet to be proved as the excavation is still ongoing and I am still in the process of working on the backlog of the pottery. The locally produced bread moulds survive less well than imported pottery from the Valley, which might, at first, give the impression that not much bread was baked and consumed at the site but this is misleading due to the poor preservation of the bread moulds.

The examples provided above suggest a connection between Ayn Soukhna and the mining sites in Sinai and also indicate that there was state driven activity at Ayn Soukhna during the Middle Kingdom. Sinai is known to have been explored by Egyptians since the fourth millennium onwards and the exploitation there was extensive during the Middle Kingdom.14 In Ayn Soukhna, during the excavation season of 2005, clay sealings of Khefren and Niuserra were found in front of Gallery 10, clearly indicating Old Kingdom activity at the site, thus filling the incomplete chronological picture created by the mountain inscriptions. Since 2006, the excavation of the settlement area has provided more evidence of Old Kingdom activity at the site and a new text, written in hieratic, was found in Gallery 6 this year towards the end of the excavation season in January. The text probably dates to the 6th Dynasty and it mentions kebenet boats at Ayn Soukhna.15 A stash of Old Kingdom storage jars was discovered in Gallery 5 in February 2008; the total number of the jars must have been around 20 to 25.16 Unfortunately, all of the storage jars had been, most likely deliberately, smashed. These storage jars, which would seem to date to the later part of the Old Kingdom, are mostly made of Marl A1 fabric, have ovoid bodies with wide shoulders and their diameters range from 10 to

What is the composition of the rest of Ayn Soukhna pottery? We have a range of fabrics present at the site and these are common, well-established fabrics included in the Vienna System, which is the framework for Egyptian pottery fabrics.19 The most common fabrics at the site are Nile B2 and Marl C, using the classification of the

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Callender 2000 145. Abd el-Raziq et al. 2002 42. The turquoise was probably fetched from Wadi Maghara and Serabit el-Khadim (Southern Sinai) the only sites established in connection with turquoise extraction, for more information, see Aston et al. 2000 62. 11 Abd el-Raziq et al. 2002 44; Gardiner et al. 1952 67. 12 Abd el-Raziq et al. 2002. 13 Shaw 1994 Figs. 3a-b. 14 Ogden 2000 150. 15 For this comment I thank Dr Pierre Tallet. 16 The reconstruction of these jars is ongoing and their analyses unfinished. 10

                                                             17

Nordström and Bourriau 1993. For description of Old Kingdom storage jars, see Wodzinska 2009 114, and an example of Old Kingdom jar, type 17, on page 122. As explained by Wodzinska during the Old Kingdom pottery produced around Egypt is fairly homogeneous, in contrast to Middle Kingdom pottery which displays more variation, depending whether the pottery is produced in Upper or Lower Egypt. 18 Bourriau 1996. 19 Nordström and Bourriau 1993.

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Figure 1. Table presenting the division of fabrics for diagnostic sherds from Wadi 2 in Ayn Soukhna. Marl C fabrics dominate the overall picture (after Perunka (forthcoming) Vienna System.20 Figure 1 shows the division of fabrics from one particular area, Wadi 2, one of the main industrial areas with several metal-working furnaces.21 According Figure 1 the largest share is of Marl C fabrics, Marl C1 and Marl C2. The third largest is of Nile B2, which is the most common pottery fabric throughout the Pharaonic Period in Egypt, so its frequency at Ayn Soukhna is hardly surprising. But the Marl C fabrics require further explanation. First, this is a fabric group which appears in the archaeological record only from the Old Kingdom to the 18th Dynasty.22 Thus, this fabric appears during a well-defined time span and is the fabric of Middle Kingdom storage jars.23 Dorothea Arnold first suggested, more than 25 year ago, that the clay source for Marl C fabric would be in the Memphis–Faiyum area, although more recently scholars have suggested that another source might have possibly been located further south.24 Altogether, the ceramic work carried out in Ayn Soukhna and my study have only strengthened the argument put forward by Arnold more than 25 years ago regarding the source of Marl C, as a great proportion of the pottery corpus of Ayn Soukhna is made out of Marl C fabrics. However, this does not overrule the possibility that a southern source could have been exploited as well.

largest group of imported pottery and were used as containers when brought to the site and then re-used. The storage type at Serabit el-Khadim is a well-known type, made of Marl C fabric, usually called “jar with corrugated or grooved neck”.25 This type of jar was very common throughout Egypt during the Middle Kingdom and was distributed in areas outside Egypt proper as well; examples have been found in Kerma cemeteries and in the Levant.26 The assumption is that these jars came from the Residence region and have been characterised by Dorothea Arnold as belonging to the Residence Style pottery.27 The hard Marl C easily recognisable sherds are present on most Middle Kingdom settlement sites; the corrugated jar seems to appear during mid-12th Dynasty and continue until the Second Intermediate Period.28 The excavation and pottery analysis at Tell el-Daba have produced a chronology for these storage jars and it is clear that the shape morphology of the jar type changes over the course of 12th and 13th dynasties.29 Any ceramicist working on a Middle Kingdom site would say the diagnostic storage jar of the period is the jar with corrugated neck or another common type made of Marl C fabric, usually known as the zir. Once more, the pottery work at Tell el-Daba has produced a chronology for the type.30 The distribution of this type, the zir, reached at least as far as Lower Nubia, as several intact vessels were discovered by Dr Ian Shaw’s team working at Khafre’s

Middle Kingdom storage jars Janine Bourriau’s pottery analysis revealed that the imported vessels at Serabit el-Khadim were offering stands, cooking pots and storage jars, which were the

20

25

Defernez 2004. Abd el-Raziq et al. (forthcoming). 22 For an up-to-date and thorough discussion on the fabric, see Bader 2001 and Bader 2002. The fabric is included in Giza’s clay classification, as GM3 for the system see Wodzinska 2009. 23 The frequency of Marl C during the Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period has been noted by scholars, see Bader 2002 33 and previously by Nordström and Bourriau 1993. 24 Arnold 1981.

See Bourriau 1996 23 and Fig. 4.11. For a discussion, see Bader 2002 41-2. For the information that the jars have also been found in the Levant, I thank Professor Bietak, who kindly pointed this out to me at the conference after my presentation. 27 Arnold 1988 Fig. 174 and page 146 for the description of the Residence Style. 28 Bader 2002 41-2. 29 First published by Bietak 1991 37, Fig. 8. 30 Again, published first by Bietak 1991 37, Fig. 9.

21

26

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Figure 2. Collection of Marl C jars with funnel necks from Ayn Soukhna (after: Defernez 2004 Fig. 5) diorite quarries at Gebel el-Asr, Toshka.31 At Gebel elAsr it is obvious that the zirs were brought to the site from elsewhere as a part of the state provisions, possibly

all the way from the Residence and hence being evidence for inter-site economy. The zirs are present in Ayn Soukhna’s pottery repertoire, and while not plentiful, they are not unattested either.32 A more uncommon find is the

31 The vessels and their pot-marks have been recently discussed by Shaw (forthcoming). Marcus et al. 2008 210 have also noted zirs from other marginal locations and outside Egypt.

32

The zir types found at Ayn Soukhna are Bietak’s (1991 37) types 1 and 2a, dating to the 12th Dynasty.

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VIRPI PERUNKA: POTTERY AS AN ECONOMIC INDICATOR IN EGYPT’S MARGINAL SITES conducted on the Markha Plain, Sinai, produced new information about the pottery situation there.36 Some vessels resembling the early Middle Kingdom jars were presented in an article but their descriptions were totally different from the Ayn Soukhna ones; the vessels’ fabrics were characterised as soft and crumbly even if their shapes resembled the jars found at Ayn Soukhna. One could suggest that it was the shape of Middle Kingdom funnel-necked jars copied in local fabrics, but there is no evidence to back this up. One of the problems with the archaeological sites in Sinai is that very little pottery work has taken place there, but this will hopefully change in the future. However, I am optimistic that examples of these jars with funnel necks will be found in Sinai and thus filling the gap that now exists in the distribution map and additionally, nicely fit the overall picture created by officials and boat remains already discussed above. Dorothea Arnold, a prominent figure in Egyptian ceramic studies, has recently admitted that it was only recently, after Czerny’s publication of early Middle Kingdom settlement pottery, that she realised that these early Middle Kingdom storage jars had been known to her from a few contexts but always remained as “odd pieces”. Arnold could, however, assign the examples known to her to the early 12th Dynasty, in accordance with the Tell el-Daba examples. A collection of jars from Arnold’s article 37 and Figure 2 present a range of jar rims of this type. What is striking about these funnel-necked jars is that there is considerable variation in the shape of the rim and neck; I say that because not many complete examples survive; one complete example from Ayn Soukhna is displayed here as Figure 4. These dissimilarities mean and demonstrate, in my opinion, that these jars were not produced in a state-run, centralised large pottery workshop(s) and are not yet part of the later established, homogeneous Residence Style. Instead, I think that they are still products of smaller pottery workshops, still in the tradition of First Intermediate Period, displaying local variations. It has been suggested that the prototypes for these funnel-necked jars came from Sedment and thus it would appear that these jars were nevertheless originating near the Faiyum.38 This funnel- necked jar seems to be the favoured storage vessel during the early Middle Kingdom, at least in the northern part of country; according to the inscriptions, there was a state-run expedition to Ayn Soukhna during the 1st regnal year of Mentuhotep IV and the next attested in the inscriptions is one from Amenemhat I’s 7th year, which in effect means a maximum of 14 years break in between these two expeditions. I would like to suggest that the funnelnecked jars would have already entered the site in the late 11th dynasty, during the reign of Mentuhotep IV and that their production would have continued until the reign of Amenemhat I – as demonstrated by the ceramic evidence elsewhere.

Figure 3. A funnel neck jar (AS 454) from Wadi 2 in Ayn Soukhna (photograph: Alan Lecler (IFAO)) jar with corrugated neck, although we do have examples of it, especially the earliest type, dating to late 12th Dynasty according to Bietak, but the later example, the 13th Dynasty type, I have encountered only in drawings. The most common storage vessel of the Middle Kingdom at Ayn Soukhna is another type of Marl C jar, which is less known in pottery studies. The frequency of this type, which we might call “a funnel-necked jar”, at Ayn Soukhna was already noted by Catherine Defernez who worked in Ayn Soukhna for few seasons and published a short pottery report on her work. Examples of these jars are presented as Figure 2 and Figure 3.33 Defernez noted that the only plausible possible comparanda for the Ayn Soukhna jars came from Tell el-Daba and were published by Ernst Czerny, who dated the jars to the very early Middle Kingdom. In my short pottery report, which will be a part of the next Ayn Soukhna publication, I have included 14 examples of this funnel-necked storage jar excavated from Wadi 2, alone. These 14 jars share common morphological features, but have, nevertheless, all slightly different rim profiles; others more triangular in section than others. All of the jars are made of Marl C fabrics, Marl C2 slightly dominating Marl C1 in this respect. The overall situation of Marl C fabrics in Wadi 2 is similar, as can be seen in Figure 1; Marl C2 is more frequent than Marl C1.34 This type of storage jar does not appear in the Serabit elKhadim article and I have double-checked this matter with Janine Bourriau, who kindly pointed out that the jar is not present at Serabit el-Khadim.35 A recent survey 33

The English term jar with a funnel neck has been established by Bader 2002 33-4. Defernez 2004 referred to the jars in French calling them Jarres-Bouteilles. 34 Description of Marl C1 and Marl C2 is found in Nordström and Bourriau 1993 180. 35 I am grateful to Janine Bourriau for this comment. She also pointed out that the jar is not part of the Memphis pottery repertoire, again being too early.

36

Mumford and Parcak 2003. Arnold 2006 Fig. 20. 38 Arnold 2006. 37

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT examination, it seems that the potters were very skilled, for example, in preparing the clay for the manufacturing of pottery. This kind of evidence is absent from Ayn Soukhna. Bourriau concludes that it is possible that the potters came from the region, or even from the workshops, of the Residence, where the expeditions were most likely equipped as well. It seems possible that the potters would have stayed at Serabit el-Khadim during the 12th and early 13th dynasties. There were not skilled potters in Ayn Soukhna at any stage; this seems fairly certain. However, why are there so many storage jars in Ayn Soukhna from the early Middle Kingdom and so few from the later Middle Kingdom? I believe that one of the possible explanations could be a different function of the site. Perhaps during the early Middle Kingdom, expeditions used Ayn Soukhna as a transit point but very much as an industrial site, for copper work. This would explain the early Middle Kingdom storage jars which appear very frequently at the site, if the number of workers were greater at the site then also the need for provisions was greater. This consequently affects the number of storage jar fragments at the site. Is it possible that the use of metal-working areas was less active during the later Middle Kingdom and so there is a lesser amount of evidence for other storage jar types? From a socioeconomical point of view, for me, the evidence suggests that Ayn Soukha was in heaviest use during the early Middle Kingdom, especially its main metal-working area in Wadi 2 and also, it seems plausible that the labour force for that work was possibly brought from elsewhere. However, this imported labour force did not include any skilled potters. This is just one of the ways in which pottery can prove to be useful evidence, providing insights and answers to issues concerning the workforce as well as economic and industrial aspects; all of which are important factors in economy.

Figure 4. A nearly complete, though reconstructed, jar with funnel neck from Wadi 2 in Ayn Soukhna (drawing: Georges Castel). Socio-economic implications

Conclusion

Let us consider some of the socio-economical factors related to the storage jar case study. Having established that there was some local pottery production at Ayn Soukhna, the next thing to question, logically, is “Did all the expeditions have skilled potters along, or was it to a certain degree, something that a handy, all-around ancient Egyptian workman could do?” Thus could “anyone” craft a bread mould or were one or two unlucky ones sent with expeditions to the desert to make these bread moulds? Janine Bourriau wrote in her Serabit el-Khadim article that there a group of skilled potters existed as there is plenty of evidence of use of local clays in different pottery types.39 The local production in Serabit elKhadim was tableware: medium-sized water jars, pot stands, cups, dishes, plates and bread moulds. Nevertheless, some of the table ware was imported, and therefore, one could assume that the locally produced tableware was copied after models brought from Memphis–Faiyum region. According to Janine Bourriau’s 39

The purpose of this article was to provide an insight into the ongoing pottery work at Ayn Soukhna through a casestudy. The case-study is based on early Middle Kingdom storage vessels, which have not been widely found at archaeological sites and therefore, not widely discussed in academic literature, even though the Middle Kingdom is the best studied period in terms of ceramic studies. It would appear that the jar with funnel neck has been occasionally overlooked because it is unfamiliar and a rare type, and it also might be misdated to other periods. 40

During the three seasons I have worked in Ayn Soukhna, altogether about three months, I have learned, first, that 40

After the Budapest conference further examples of this type have come to my attention; these are in museum collections and have been excavated about a century ago. It would appear that these pieces have been misdated. I am hoping to be able to analyse and publish them in future, having already received permission from the museums in question to do so.

Bourriau 1996.

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VIRPI PERUNKA: POTTERY AS AN ECONOMIC INDICATOR IN EGYPT’S MARGINAL SITES Serabit el-Khadim. CRIPEL 18, 19-32. Callender, G. 2000. Middle Kingdom Renaissance (c.2055–1650 BC). In I. Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, 137-71. Oxford. Defernez, C. 2004. La céramique d’Ayn Soukhna: observations preliminaries. CCE 7, 59-90. Gardiner, A. H. et al. 1952 The Inscriptions of Sinai, Vol. 1. London Marcus, E. S. et al. 2008. The Middle Kingdom Egyptian Pottery from Middle Bronze Age IIa Tel Ifshar. ÄUL 18, 203-20. Mumford, G. and Parcak, S. 2003. Pharaonic Ventures into South Sinai: El-Markha Plain 346. JEA 89, 83116. Nordström, H.-Å. and Bourriau, J. 1993. Ceramic Technology: Clays and Fabrics. In D. Arnold and J. Bourriau (eds.), An Introduction to Ancient Egyptian Pottery. SDAIK 17. Mainz. Ogden, J. 2000. Metals. In P. T. Nicholson and I. Shaw (eds.), Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, 148-76. Cambridge. Perunka, V. 2007. Funnel-necked Marl C bottles at Ayn Soukhna. Unpublished MA thesis, University of Liverpool. Perunka, V. (forthcoming) Selection of pottery from Wadi 2. In Abd el-Raziq, M. et al. (eds), Ayn Soukhna, Les ateliers métallurgiques du Moyen Empire. Shaw, I. 1994. Pharaonic Quarrying and Mining: Settlement and Procurement in Egypt’s Marginal Regions. Antiquity 68, 108-19. Shaw, I. (ed.) 2000. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford. Shaw, I. (forthcoming) Non-textual marks and the Twelfth-Dynasty dynamics of centre and periphery: a case-study of potmarks at the Gebel el-Asr gneiss quarries. In J. Budka et al. (eds.), Non-textual Marking Systems, Writing and Pseudo Script from Prehistory to Present Times. LinAeg - StudMon. Göttingen. Wodzinska, A. 2009. A Manual of Egyptian Pottery, Volume 2: Naqada III – Middle Kingdom. AERA Field Manual Series 1. Boston.

the site has a high proportion of Marl C pottery, a wellstudied fabric which is a good chronological tool when used in conjunction with established pottery typologies. Wadi 2, an area discussed above, displays this very well. Secondly, the examination of the pottery has shown that was little pottery produced at the site. The idea of group of professional potters in Ayn Soukhna does not seem likely; so far, the only local production is confirmed in terms of two pottery types, the crucibles and the bread moulds. Both of these pottery types are hand-made and I would not think their production needs highly skilled potters. The assessment of the ceramic material’s locality is based on fabric characteristics; the local fabric is extremely crumbly and easily recognisable from the other fabrics present at the site. The preparation of the clay for these two types of pots does not appear to be high quality, the paste is unevenly sorted. Finally I have learned that odd pieces can provide interesting insights, not only in terms of pottery typology, but also as indicators of distribution and thus socio-economic aspects, concerning workforce and provisions in Egypt’s marginal areas when used in conjunction with other archaeological evidence. References Abd el-Raziq, M. et al. 2002. Les inscriptions d’Ayn Soukhna. MIFAO 122. Cairo. Abd el-Raziq, M. et al. 2004. Dans le golfe de Suez, les mines de cuivre d’Ayn Soukhna. Archéologia 414, 10-21. Abd el-Raziq, M. et al. 2006. Ayn Soukhna el la Mer Rouge. Égypte, Afrique et Orient 41, 3-6 Abd el-Raziq, M. et al. (forthcoming) Ayn Soukhna, Les ateliers métallurgiques du Moyen Empire. Arnold, D. 1981. Ägyptische Mergeltone (”Wüstentone”) und die Herkunft einer Mergeltonware des” Mittleren Reiches aus der Gegend von Memphis. In D. Arnold (ed.), Studien zur altägyptischen Keramik, 167-91. Mainz. Arnold, D. 1988. , The South Cemeteries of Lisht 1., The Pyramid of Senwosret I. PMMA 22. New York. Arnold, D. 2006. The Architecture of Meketre’s Slaughterhouse and Other Early Twelfth Dynasty Wooden Models. In P. Jánosi (ed.), Structure and Significance: Thoughts on Ancient Egyptian Architecture. Denkschriften der Gesamtakademie 33; Untersuchungen der Zweigstelle Kairo des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts 25. 1-76. Vienna. Aston, B. G. et al. 2000. Stone. In P. T. Nicholson and I. Shaw (eds.), Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, 5-77. Cambridge. Bader, B. 2001. Tell el-Dab`a XIII. Typologie und chronologie der Mergel C-ton keramik. Vienna. Bader, B. 2002. A Concise Guide to Marl C Pottery. ÄUL 12, 29-54. Bietak, M. 1991. Egypt and Canaan during the Middle Bronze Age. BASOR 281, 27-72. Bloxam, E. 2006. Miners and mistresses. Middle Kingdom mining on the margins. JSA 6, 277-303. Bourriau, J. 1996. Observations on the Pottery from 105

The Grain Trade and the Importance of Egypt for the Economy of the Hellenistic-Roman World: Some Remarks Marco Rolandi The grain trade in the ancient Mediterranean was vital for its economy and for the relationships between the countries of this area: in particular Egypt, a great wheat producer, played a primary role.

such as Sicily of Hieron II, were indeed flourishing starting from the rule of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. The first contacts between Alexandria and Rome started in the early third century BC, in 273 BC, as Livy and other classical authors5 tell us. At that time Ptolemy II Philadelphus sent an embassy to the Romans and then a Roman embassy was sent to Alexandria, which was led by Q. Ogulnius, who was consul in year 269 BC. Details of this last exchange are lacking, but a huge numismatic question starts from that in considering Pliny’s wellknown statement; see NH, XXXIII, 44: argentum signatum anno urbis cccclxxxv, Q. Ogulnio C. Fabio cos., quinque annis ante primum Punicum bellum. Also Livy, Per. 15 reports it: tunc primum populus Romanus argento uti coepit. So, I cannot enter in the large numismatic discussion on the origins of the Roman silver coinage but in my opinion the fact that Romans adopted this kind of money to commerce with Egypt is more than a suggestion.6 Remaining in this early period, we can see how another Hellenistic kingdom, Sicily of Hieron II (265–215 BC), had commercial relationships with Egypt.7 The notice by Athenaeus (V, 209, a-b) about the greatest cargo ship of the ancient world, the famous Syrakosia-Alexandris, is to reconduct to the kingdom of Ptolemy III Euergetes:8

Not long after its foundation, the city of Alexandria began to rise as an essential part of the general political and economic framework beginning with Aegean trade, which is natural, considering the Greek origins of the city. The islands of Rhodes and Delos were the twin grain markets that served the Eastern Mediterranean and we first see the importance of Rhodes at around 330 BC; Cleomenes, whom Alexander left behind as ruler of Egypt, through some sharp practises drove up the international price of grain artificially, and Rhodes was the centre of his operations.1 When Poliorcetes besieged the island in 306/5 BC, Ptolemy I Soter, whose trade was mainly carried on through Rhodes, rushed in supplies of grain, as did Cassander and Lysimachus. Diodorus2 tells us that 300,000 artabs of grain were sent from Ptolemy, 10,000 medimni of barley were sent from Cassander, and 40,000 medimni of wheat and 40,000 of barley were sent from Lysimachus.3 Apart from this, other events were favourable to establish a real Egyptian pre-eminence on grain trade: the economic crisis that affected the Bosporus in the third century BC opened the Black Sea markets to Alexandria.4

—Onoma d'Ãn tÍ nhˆ Surakos…a: Óte d'aÙt¾n ™xšpempen `Išron, 'Alexandr…da aÙt¾n metwnÒmasen. ™fÒlkia d'Ãsan aÙtÍ tÕ me;n prîton kšrkouroj trisc…lia t£lanta dšcesqai dun£menoj: p©j d'Ãn oátoj ™p…kwpoj. meq'Ön c…lia pentakÒsia bast£zousai ¡li£dej te kaˆ sk£fai ple…ouj. Ôcloj d'Ãn oÙk ™l£ttwn . . . met¦ toÝj proeirhmšnouj ¥lloi te ˜xakÒsioi par¦ t¾n prùran ™pithroàntej t¦ paraggellÒmena. tîn de; kat¦ naàn ¢dikhm£twn dikast»rion kaqeist»kei naÚklhroj, kubern»thj kaˆ prJreÚj, o†per ™d…kazon kat¦ toÝj Surakos…wn nÒmouj. S…tou de; ™neb£llonto e„j t¾n naàn muri£daj ›x, tar…cwn de; Sikelikîn ker£mia mÚria, ™reîn t£lanta dismÚria, kaˆ ›tera de; fort…a dismÚria. cwrˆj de; toÚtwn Ð ™pisitismÕj Ãn tîn ™mpleÒntwn. Ð d' `Išrwn ™peˆ p£ntaj toÝj limšnaj ½kouen toÝj me;n æj oÙ dÚnato… e„si t¾n naàn dšcesqai, toÝj de; kaˆ ™pikindÚnouj Øp£rcein, dišgnw dîron aÙt¾n ¢poste‹lai Ptolema…J tù basile‹ e„j 'Alex£ndreian: kaˆ g¦r Ãn sp£nij s…tou kat¦ t¾n A‡gupton. kaˆ oÛtoj ™po…hse, kaˆ ¹ naàj

So, during the Hellenistic period, the Ptolemaic Dynasty made Egypt one of the main grain producers of the region. Outside the Greek eastern world, commercial relationships with Rome and the other Hellenistic reigns,

                                                             1

See Dem., Against Dionysodorus, 56, 7: Ãsan g£r, ð ¥ndrej dikasta…, †na mhde; toàto ¢gnoÁte, Øphrštai kaˆ sunergoˆ p£ntej oátoi Kleomšnouj toà ™n tÍ A„gÚptJ ¥rxantoj, Öj ™x oá t¾n ¢rc¾n paršlaben oÙk Ñl…ga kak¦ ºrg£sato t¾n pÒlin t¾n Ømetšran, m©llon de; kaˆ toÝj ¥llouj “Ellhnaj, paligkaphleÚwn kaˆ sunist¦j t¦j tim¦j toà s…tou kaˆ aÙtÕj kaˆ oátoi met'aÙtoà; Ps. Aristotle, Ecomomics, II, 1352 a: Kleomšnhj 'AlexandreÝj A„gÚptou satrapeÚwn, limoà genomšnon ™n me;n to‹j ¥lloij tÒpoij sfÒdra, ™n A„gÚptJ de; metr…wj, ¢pškleise t¾n ™xagwg¾n toà s…tou. tîn de; nomarcîn faskÒntwn oÙ dun»sesqai toÝj fÒrouj ¢podoànai tù m¾ ™x£gesqai tÕn s‹ton, ™xagwg¾n me;n ™po…hse, tšloj de; polÝ tù s…tJ ™pšbalen, éste sunšbainen aÙtù, e„ m¾..., ™xagomšnou Ñl…gou polÝ tšloj lamb£nein, aÙtoÚj te toÝj nom£rcaj pepaàsqai tÁj prof£sewj. 2 See Diod. XX, 96, 1: 'En de; ta‹j aÙta‹j ¹mšraij Ptolema‹oj Ð basileÝj ¢pšsteile to‹j `Rod…oij plo…wn plÁqoj tîn t¾n ¢gor¦n komizÒntwn, ™n oŒj Ãsan s…tou tri£konta muri£dej ¢rtabîn sÝn to‹j Ñspr…oij; 96, 3: œpemye de; to‹j `Rod…oij kaˆ K£sandroj kriqîn med…mnouj mur…ouj kaˆ Lus…macoj purîn med…mnouj tetrakismur…ouj kaˆ kriqîn toÝj ‡souj.

                                                             5

See Liv. Per. 14; Eutrop. II, 15; Dion. Cass. Fr. 41. Recent literature begins with the study of Thomsen 1961. Hiero’s taxation system, for instance, exhibits many parallels with the Revenue Laws of Ptolemy II; on this see: Walbank 1981 229; De Sensi Sestito 1975-76 206; Clarysse and Vandorpe 1998 5-42; Rolandi 2005 249-59. 8 See Berve 1959 70; De Sensi Sestito 1975-76 197.

3

6

Again, after the disastrous earthquake around the year 227/6 BC which overthrew the famous colossus, Hieron II, Seleucus II, Antigonus Doson and Ptolemy III Euergetes all sent over a million artabs of grain, more than 30,000 tons, the second largest single shipment recorded in antiquity: see Pol. V, 88-89. 4 Cf. Šurgaia 1973 51-9.

7

107

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT kat»cqh e„j ™newlk»qh.

t¾n

'Alex£ndreian,

œnqa

Early 57 BC Ptolemy XII Auletes, who had been removed from his throne by an Alexandrian mob, turned to Rome. He was immediately warmly welcomed by Pompey, who carried him off to his Alban villa, where he stayed as a guest. Shortly thereafter, a scarcity of grain came, and to solve the problem Pompey was given full control over Rome’s grain supply, with virtually unlimited power, for a period of five years.16 He sent his lieutenant Gabinius to put Auletes back on throne and, just to make sure that the king could not forget Rome’s interests in grain, he presented him with a Roman businessman to serve as Egypt’s finance minister.17

kaˆ

This passage, a piece of mirabilia, like many others in ancient literature, is important because it tells us about the quantity of goods that the largest ships could transport in the ancient world. In this case, Athenaeus’ report seems to be one of the more competent ones, as demonstrated by the data about the laden and the description of the auxiliary vessels, classified by type.9 In the second century BC Mediterranean became a sea controlled by Rome. This transformation and the increase in demand of goods from the eastern countries, led to the establishment of close commercial relations between Alexandria and Italia.

During the period of the civil wars, Egypt’s granary function was recorded by many classical authors.18 In 30 BC Egypt, which was de facto already under Roman control long before, now becomes officially part of the empire and becomes one of the key grain sources for the capital.

From 167/6 BC Rome made Delos a free port under Athenian control and it was during this period that the island became a great entrepôt, a truly international centre of trade.10

In early Roman times, under the emperor Augustus, Egypt provided Rome annually with such an enormous amount that, Josephus Flavius commented that it had fulfilled at one-third of the city’s needs19 or more.20 This required the services of a merchant fleet probably larger than any fleet existing before the nineteenth century.

One of the earliest and most striking testaments about the settlement of a group of Roman merchants in Alexandria is from 127 BC.11 Although individuals had surely been there long before that.12 In 123 BC the institution of the public distributions of grain (frumentationes)13 had certainly mounted Rome’s needs precipitously. In 80 BC Ptolemy XI Alexander II willed his reign to the Roman people and from that moment Egypt hovered on the brink of annexation.14 Yet one thing is certain: during the whole of this period ships continuously were leaving Alexandria to reach the shores of Italy.15

In the Roman age nevertheless, we cannot argue about a trade at all,21 because Romans created the Annona civile and Annona militare for their grain supply. The state, through the organization built around the office of praefectus annonae, assumed responsibility for the procuring the monthly five modii, distributed at a very low cost and, in special cases, free of charge to 200,000 families. This is the notorious dole that emperors inherited from the Republic and which they never dared to give up.22

                                                            

9 For a commentary about the entire Athenaeus passage (V, 206 d - 209 b), see Janni 1996 428-48; Casson 1971 185. In this circumstance, it is Egypt that suffered by a caresty, but starting from the notice about the name of the ship itself and especially about that of Alexandria’s harbor, we can see that it was the only one in the Mediterranean sea so big and equipped like that of Syracuse. 10 Just twelve years or so after Delos was declared a free port, a Rhodian embassy appealed to the Roman Senate: their harbour revenues had dropped from 1,000,000 to 150,000 drachmae a year. See Pol. XXX, 31, 10-12: TÕ de; mšgiston sÚmptoma tÁj pÒlewj: katalšlutai g¦r ¹

                                                             16

Cf. Cic., Ad Att. IV, 1, 6-7. See Gabba et al. 1999 149-50; Hölbl 2007 227-30. 18 In fact, to the Octavian conquest and reduction of Egypt to a provincia frumentaria, are to reconduce principally the speeches by Svet., Aug., 18, 2: Aegyptum in provinciae formam redactam ut feraciorem habilioremque annonae urbicae redderet; and Aur. Vict., Epit. de Caes., 1, 4-5: Regionem Aegypti…in provinciae formam redegit. Quam ut annonae urbis copiosam efficeret. Others (Tac., Ann., II, 59; Tac., Hist., I, 11; Dion. Cass., LI, 17, 1), also testify this. 19 Cf. Ios. Flav., Bell. Jud., II, 386: kaˆ tîn crhm£twn œxwqen tÍ `RèmV s‹ton mhnîn tess£rwn; Aur. Vict., Epit. de Caes., I, 6: Huius tempore ex Aegypto urbi annua ducenties centena milia frumenti inferebantur. For a discussion on these statements see Virlouvet 1994 17-8 and, for last, Erdkamp 2005 225-30. 20 It is very interesting the provocation launched by Erdkamp 2005 2267, speaking about Egypt in comparison of Africa. 21 On this see Rupprecht 1994 178. 22 It is universally agreed that the dole was five modii per month, even though the figure rests on but a single citation (Cf. Sallust., Hist. III, 48, 19: Nisi forte repentina ista frumentaria lege munia vostra pensantur; qua tamen quinis modiis libertatem omnium aestumavere, qui profecto non amplius possunt alimentis carceris), where he puts into the mouth of a tribune of the plebs a scornful reminder to Rome’s citizens that the grain law reckons their freedom at 5 modii. For the figure of 200,000 recipients, see Aug., Res Gestae 15: Consul tertium decimum sexagenos denarios plebei quae tum frumentum publicum accipiebat dedi; ea millia hominum paullo plura quam ducenta fuerunt; and Dion. Cass. LV, 10, 1: `O de; AÜgoustoj tÕ toà sitodotoumšnou plÁqoj 17

toà limšnoj prÒsodoj Ømîn, DÁlon me;n ¢telÁ pepoihkÒtwn, ¢fVrhmšnwn de; t¾n toà d»mou parrhs…an, di'Âj kaˆ (t¦) kat¦ tÕn limšna kaˆ t¥lla p£nta tÁj pÒlewj ™tÚgcane tÁj ¡rmozoÚshj prostas…aj. Óti de; toàt'œstin ¢lhqe;j oÙ duscere;j katamaqe‹n: toà g¦r ™llimen…ou kat¦ toÝj ¢nèteron crÒnouj eØr…skontoj ˜katÕn muri£daj dracmîn, nàn eØr»kate penteka…deka muri£daj. 11 Cf. Inscr. Délos, 1526 (OGIS 135): wma…wn oƒ eÙergethqšntej naÚklhroi | kaˆ œmporoi ™n tÁi genomšnhi katal»m | yei 'Alexandre…aj ØpÕ basilšwj | Ptolema…ou qeoà EÙergštou | LÒcon Kallim»dou, u, tÕn suggenÁ basi | lšwj Ptolema…ou kaˆ basil…sshj | Kleop£traj, ¢retÁj ›neken kaˆ | eÙerges…aj tÁj e„j ˜autoÚj, | 'ApÒllwni.

12 Cf. Fraser 1972 Vol. 1 155. Occasional people, like businessmen, mercenaries, farmers and so on, are mentioned in papyri at an earlier date, see for instance: P. Lond. Inv. 2243 (SB 10251); P. Petr. II, 32, 2a; BGU VI, 1305. One of the fullest list of foreigners in Egypt is that of Heichelheim 1963. 13 On this see Virlouvet 1994 11-30; Virlouvet 1995 165-85. 14 See Gruen 1984 Vol. 2 716; Hölbl 2007 207-14. About the matter of the testament Badian 1967 178-92, thinks to Ptolemy X Alexander I and puts the facts to 88 BC; on the development of the debate see Pedroni 1998 87-98. 15 Cf. Cic., Verr. V, 145, 157.

¢Òriston Ôn ™j e‡kosi muri£daj katškleise, kaˆ éj gš tinej lšgousi, kaq'›na ˜x»konta dracm¦j œdwke.

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MARCO ROLANDI: THE GRAIN TRADE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF EGYPT FOR THE ECONOMY indirectly to grain from Egypt.30 They demonstrate beyond a shadow of doubt that, at least by AD 37, the date of the first piece related to grain trade, individual private dealers were very much involved in the trade.

However, not every family living in Rome had the right to the dole; moreover, even those who did have a right, received from this source at best only half the sustenance they required.23 The rest of Rome’s needs were taken care of by the negotiatores or mercatores frumentarii, the private grain dealers, who frequently show up in inscriptions and literature.

A review of the evidence reveals that, during the mid-first century AD, the state’s interest in Rome’s grain extended only to fulfilling the needs of the dole and of government personnel; the rest was left to private dealers. The new documents from Pompeii show these dealers in action, handling large stocks, operating on credit, and gambling on the market. As a matter of fact, about ten tablets of Sulpicii archive bear witness directly to mercatores frumentarii from Puteoli and their involvement in Alexandrian grain trade.

In present times many scholars finally think that most of the grain which was imported in Rome was not the government’s at all but (also in my opinion) the object of private commerce.24 However, this conclusion is contrary to the first historical studies on the topic. For a very long time, historians believed that Rome’s entire grain trade was under tight government control.25

The first and most famous group of wax tablets with five documents in Latin, dated between AD 37 and 39, relate to a Puteolan mercator frumentarius, the libertus C. Novius Eunus. From TPSulp. 51 we know that on 18 or 28 June 37, that’s to say during the period in which Alexandrian grain ships arrived in Puteoli port, C. Novius Eunus contracted a 10,000 sesterces loan from one of Tiberius’ freedmen, Ti. Iulius Augusti libertus Euenus Primianus, who granted it through his slave and actor Hesychus. As collateral for the loan, there were 7000 modii of Alexandrian corn31 (approximately 47 tons) and other grains; this great quantity of grain was stored by Eunus in horrea Bassiana publica Puteolanorum, contracted by his patronus C. Novius Cypaerus. The guarantee value which was much higher than the sum on loan,32 allowed Eunus to obtain, after only a few days (2 July), an additional 3000 sesterces (TPSulp. 52).33

Rostovtzeff, who explored the question in detail in his article “frumentum” in the Real-Encyclopädie, was the first to go against Hirschfeld with the idea that the lion’s share of the trade was in the hands of private dealers.26 Following him, others began to share the same view. A long and detailed case for assigning a large share of the trade to private enterprise was made by Cardinali in his entry “Frumentatio” in the Dizionario Epigrafico.27 Most recently Rickman28, on the same basis, has argued for private participation on a sizable scale. I am convinced that private enterprise, especially in the first and second centuries AD, played a prime role, and that the state did not exercise tight control over the trade. I think it can be demonstrated without the usual recourse to estimates of Rome’s imports or its population. In 1959, during the construction of a highway near Murecine, an eastern suburb of Pompeii, the remains of a Roman building was discovered. Here a basket was recovered which, on the day of the disaster, had been left on a triclinium. In it was a precious find, 173 wax tablets with almost 232 inscribed surfaces (59 tablets have recto and verso), that can be divided into 127 single documents. These were business documents, mostly related to money lending carried out by three businessmen of the same family from Puteoli, C. Sulpicius Faustus, C. Sulpicius Cinnamus and C. Sulpicius Onirus.29 Many of these tablets refer directly or

On the same day, the ownership of mortgaged goods is conveyed to creditor Hesychus, for safety reasons, through document TPSulp. 45, a wonderful triptych which includes a cerograph of locatio horrei. In this document, the servant Diognetus hires the horreum duodecimum in horrea Bassiana media to Hesychus, where above-mentioned 7000 modii of Alexandrinian grain were stored,34 by order of his master C. Novius Cypareus, horrearius; everything was rented by Cypareus for a nominal sum of one sestertius per month. First of all, we can note that Cypareus, dominus of Diognetus, was also the patronus of Eunus, in addition to the symbolic location, you can probably imagine that Cypareus could have a definite interest in his libertus business, therefore taking it upon himself the real hire costs; after all even Cicero35 thought that the possession of granaries in Puteoli was a typical source of enrichment.

                                                             23

Cf. Casson 1980 22; Casson 1984 98 note 9. Cf. Habermann 1982 51; Harris 2000 717; Höbenreich 1997 325; Sirks 1991 13; Temin 2001 177, but this last in extreme ways. 25 Starting from Humbert’s lemma “Annona” 1873 Vol. 1 276-7 and Marquardt’s treatment 1876 123, also Hirshfeld in his fundamental study of the imperial administration 1905 235 dismissed the private dealers as being of scant consequence for the supplying of Rome; the state, he felt, basically, handled the grain trade. He pointed to a passage in Josephus (Ant. Jud. XV, 307) which, as he saw it, implied that all shipments of Egyptian grain were so carefully regulated by the prefect of Egypt that his permission was required for exports to any place other than Rome. 26 Rostovtzeff 1912 137 and 141. 27 Cardinali 1922 303. 28 Rickman 1971 173 and 307-11; Rickman 1980a 87-93; Rickman 1980b 261-77. 29 With the re-publication of the entire archive by G. Camodeca (1999), we have the entire corpus perfectly usable. 24

                                                             30

Cf. Camodeca 1994 103-28; Virlouvet 2000 131-49.  Cf. TPSulp. 51, Tab. 2, page 3, l. 1-2: tridici alxadrini modium | septe milia. 32 See Camodeca 1994 104. 33 Cf. TPSulp. 52, Tab. 1, page 2, lines 5-11. 34 Cf. TPSulp. 45, Tab. 1 page 2, lines 8-11: horreum XII | in horreis Bassianis puplicis Putiolano- | rum medis in quo repositu | est triticum alexandrini. 35 Cf. Cic., De Finib. II, 84. 31

109

 

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT But why loan? Eunus could sell his grain and get money in this way, even better he could gain much more money due to the fact that the Alexandrian grain had a price of at least three sesterces per modio!36 We can explain this behaviour thanks to Eunus business skilfulness: he thought it was not really advantageous to sell the grain during the month of July, precisely when grain ships came from Alexandria! Therefore our clever merchant wants other cash money in order to invest it in the purchase of other Alexandrian grain stocks; his business partner had to be of course his patron, C. Novius Cypareus, who placed the managed horrea publica in order to store all grain lots and consequently wait for the most profitable moment to sell, first of all the grain bought through the loan and, once the debt with Eunus was settled, the grain given as guarantee later on. Besides, the imperial libertus Euenus, through his slave Hesychus, invested the whole amount of 13,000 sesterces with no risk, well covered by victuals value, and it probably bore a good interest, not stated here, unfortunately.

businessmen in crisis moments; and some speeches by classic authors, like this by Suetonius, Claud., 18-19, are very enlightening: Nihil non excogitavit ad invehendos etiam tempore hiberno commeatus. Nam et negotiatoribus certa lucra proposuit suscepto in se damno, si cui quid per tempestates accidisset, et naves mercaturae causa fabricantibus magna commoda constituit pro condicione cuiusque: civi vacationem legis Papiae Poppeae, Latino ius Quiritum, feminis ius IIII liberorum; quae constituta hodieque servantur. With this purpose the emperor offered a kind of “insurance” to the negotiatores, and more, he promised bounties to the shipbuilders. Claudius’ second measure in the account of Suetonius is also mentioned in the Institutiones of the second-century jurist Gaius;39 he states more precisely that the ships should be suitable for the transport of at least 10,000 modii of grain and had to be employed in the grain supply of Rome for six years, which implies in advance a contract with the Annona.

Finally another document, TPSulp. (TP 141), which unfortunately is in very bad condition, dated to 22 December 57, talks about 18,000 modii (approximately 120 tons) of probable Alexandrian grain to auction, kept on a ship (the one charged with transport?) belonging to a peregrine navicularius, an Asiatic, a Phoenician maybe. Did the business go wrong or this merchant, probably due to bad weather or contrary winds,37 arrived late in Puteoli with his ship and therefore he was no longer able to sell his goods at a favourable price? Taking into consideration that supplies are still on board, we should be inclined to believe that the last assumption is the right one.

Romans were to obtain exemption from the Lex Papia Poppaea, Latins were to get the ius Quiritum, and women the ius quattuor liberorum. Nero later in AD 58 added that the ship of a negotiator serving Rome should not be rated with the rest of his taxable property but be exempt from tributum.40 It is a rather more surprising fact that, despite opposition, Claudius managed in AD 42 to get work started on a completely new harbour at Ostia just three kilometres north from the Tiber mouth; there was no doubt that it was necessary, and that it might helped to prevent a recurrence of the crisis at the end of Caligula’s reign.41 But in view of the size and cost of the undertaking, it is remarkable that the new emperor was able to get the project under way so quickly. That was also a political move to increase control over the supply of Rome and a great improvement on the unloading of goods into lighters at the mouth of the river. The famous octagonal inner basin created by the emperor Trajan was to be combined with the Claudian work to make a safe and comfortable station, even for the Egyptian grain ships.

To conclude, these documents allow us to take a closer look at the business and financial activities carried out by Puteolan mercatores frumentarii, horrearii, navicularii and bankers, a real microcosm existing around the Alexandrian grain trade, which seems to be entirely managed privately. This free trade, in any case, had nothing to do with fiscal grain necessary to imperial frumentationes; it concerned the remaining part of grain production or grain tax paid by Egypt, which had to be used as stocks and I guess for total requirements of the great centres in Campania. For example, the libertus Eunus, who received a loan of 13,000 sesterces from Tiberius, does not appear to be related to the organization of imperial food administration, which in any case does not intervene in the business. The Murecine tablets, through their eventful discovery, are up to now the only ones to mention what is cited above.

However, this did not damage the great importance of Puteoli. If there was a project to dig a canal from Lake Avernus to Ostia to simplify the shipment of cargoes from the eastern Mediterranean, which really began in AD 64,42 it would have reduced considerably the dangers of the stormy passage up the west coast of Italia.

Regarding the privileges38 awarded to merchants and shippers, we can observe that the important role that private corn merchants could play is obvious. In any case, it was actually the state that asked for the cooperation of

                                                            

39 Gaius, Instit., I, 32c: Item edicto Claudii Latini ius Quiritium consecuntur, si navem marinam aedificaverint, quae non minus quam decem milia modiorum frumenti capiat, ea que navis vel quae in eius locum substituta sit, sex annis frumentum Romani portaverit. 40 Cf. Tac., Ann., XIII, 51, 2: Temperata apud transmarinas provincias frumenti subvectio, et, ne censibus negotiatorum naves adscriberentur tributumque pro illis penderent, constitutum. 41 Cf. Sen., De brevit. vit., 18,5; Svet., Calig., 19. 42 Cf. Svet., Nero, 16, 1; Tac., Ann., XV, 42.

                                                             36

See Camodeca 1994 107. About this, a speech from Lucian., Navig., 5-9, informs us about the unlucky route of the grain ship “Isis”. 38 Cf. Dig. 50, 6, 6, 3-6; Dig. 50, 5, 3; Dig. 14, 1, 1, 18. 37

110

MARCO ROLANDI: THE GRAIN TRADE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF EGYPT FOR THE ECONOMY As we know from Seneca’s description, the arrival of the Alexandrian fleet was cause for public celebrations; see Sen., Ep. ad Lucil. IX, 77, 1:

Finally, the conclusion that Egypt provided the largest part of the corn consumed by Rome makes sense if we think of the amounts collected as tribute (tax-grain) by the Roman authorities in Egypt, or if we prefer the free and private commerce.

Subito nobis hodie Alexandrinae naves apparuerunt, quae praemitti solent et nuntiare secuturae classis adventum: tabellarias vocant. Gratus illarum Campaniae aspectus est: omnis in pilis Puteolorum turba consistit et ipso genere velorum Alexandrinas quamvis in magna turba navium intellegit; solis enim licet siparum intendere, quod in alto omnes habent naves.

Moreover, it does not seem accidental that, three out of four Trajanic praefecti annonae went on to become praefectus Aegypti.47 In general, Egypt undoubtedly played its important role in the corn supply of Hellenistic Mediterranean and imperial Rome on the basis of the taxation in kind levied by the king and after the authorities in the Roman province.48 If, as we saw, the authority left part of the surplus of Egyptian farmers in the hands of the peasants and landowners it could develop a considerable private trade that involved both internal and international grain market.

It is hardly surprising therefore that the sighting of the forerunners of the fleet, the naves tabellariae, at Puteoli in the mid-first century AD which indicated the start of the safe arrival of Egyptian corn, was greeted with excitement and relief. This fleet, like some think, could not be a state-owned fleet,43 but a large group of private ships requisitioned or put on hand by shipmen, and eventually escorted by the state’s navy war ships.

References Badian, E. 1967. The Testament of Ptolemy Alexander. RhM 110, 178-92. Berve, H. 1959. König Hieron II. Munich. Camodeca, G. 1994. Puteoli porto annonario e il commercio del grano in età imperiale. In Le ravitaillement en blé de Rome et des centres urbains des débuts de la République jusqu'au Haut-Empire, Actes du colloque international organisé par le Centre Jean Bérard et l'URA 994 du CNRS, Naples, 14-16 février 1991, 103-128. Rome, Naples. Camodeca, G. 1999. Tabulae Pompeianae Sulpiciorum. Edizione critica dell’archivio puteolano dei Sulpicii, Vols. 1-2. Rome. Cardinali, G. 1922. Frumentatio. In E. De Ruggiero (ed.), Dizionario epigrafico di antichità romana,Vol. 3, 225-315. Casson, L. 1971. Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World. Princeton. Casson, L. 1980. The Role of the State in Rome’s Grain Trade. MAAR 36, 21-32. Casson, L. 1984. Ancient Trade and Society. Detroit. Clarysse, W. and Vandorpe, K. 1998. The Ptolemaic Apomoira. StudHell 34, 5-42. De Sensi Sestito, G. 1975-76. Relazioni commerciali e politica finanziaria di Gerone II. Helikon 15/16, 187252. Erdkamp, P. 2005. The Grain Market in the Roman Empire. A social, political and economic study. Cambridge. Fraser, P. M. 1972. Ptolemaic Alexandria, Vols. 1-3. Oxford. Gabba, E. et al. 1999. Introduzione alla storia di Roma. Milan. Gruen, E. 1984. The Hellenistic World and the coming of Rome, Vols. 1-2. Berkeley, London, Los Angeles.

At the beginning of the second century AD, we can say with certainty that it was Trajan, who realized the potentialities of the collegiate organization, and therefore the first to license the corpora of navicularii.44 The independent trader was certainly not eliminated at all from the Rome’s grain market, but he features less predominant perhaps because more corn was coming from state-owned sources and was not simply being transported to Rome by hired shippers under contract to perform that limited task. So, originally the sources of corn were many, the methods of bringing it to Rome were various; gradually incentives were created, harbours built, and a system was forged. The final result of that evolution by the beginning of the fourth century AD was that shipping in general and the corn supply in particular became to the highest degree state-controlled.45 Hereditary navicularii, under permanent contract as members of a corporation chartered and supervised by the state, were unable either to retire or to alienate their wealth from the exercise of their designate profession. Shippers who served the supply system of the city, like other groups in the state, found themselves imprisoned in one of the closed departments of the Empire.46

                                                             43

Cf. Rougè 1966 266-7. For a rather cryptic rescript of Trajan about this, see Dig. 27, 1, 17, 6 (Callistratus, libro quarto De Cognitionibus): Domini navium non videntur haberi inter privilegia, ut a tutelis vacent, idque Divus Traianus rescripsit; anyway the recognition must have at about this time, because later in the second century AD we find collegia of navicularii and mercatores frumentarii well estabilished. 45 See Rickman 1980a 72-3. 46 Cf. for example CIL III, 14.165/8 = ILS 6987; this inscription contains a copy of a letter written by the praefectus annonae, Claudius Julianus, at the beginning of the third century AD, to a local procurator in response to complaints made by some navicularii marini. The details are not all entirely clear, but what is undoubt is that the five corpora of 44

                                                                                                 shippers had stood toghether and sent complaint to the praefectus annonae. 47 Cf. Erdkamp 2005 235; Herz 1988 117. 48 From Ptolemaic to Roman times, the tax rate varied considerably for the various categories of land. On this see Manning 2003 56-61; Rowlandson 1996 47 and 54.

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Virlouvet, C. 2000. Les dendrées alimentaires dans les archives des Sulpicii de Pozzuoles. CCG 11, 131-49. Walbank, F. W. 1981. The Hellenistic World. Brighton.

Habermann, W. 1982. Ostia - Getreidehandelshafen Roms. MBAH 1, 35-59. Harris, V. M. 2000. Trade, CAH Vol. 9, 710-40. Heichelheim, F. 1963. Auswärtige Bevölkerung im Ptolemäerreich. Aalen. Herz, P. 1988. Studien zur römischen Wirtschaftsgesetzgebung. Die Lebensmittelversorgung. Stuttgart. Hirshfeld, O. 1905. Die Kaiserlichen Verwaltungsbeamten. Berlin. Höbenreich, E. 1997. Annona. Juristische Aspekte der stadtrömischen Lebensmittelversorgung im Prinzipat. Graz. Hölbl, G. 2007. A History of the Ptolemaic Empire. New York. Humbert, G. 1873. Annona. In C. Daremberg and E. Saglio (eds.), Dictionnaire des Antiquites Greques et Romaines, Vol. 1, 276-7. Graz. Janni, P. 1996. Il Mare degli Antichi. Bari. Manning, J. G. 2003. Land and power in Ptolemaic Egypt. The Structure of Land Tenure. Cambridge. Marquardt, J. 1876. Römische Staatsverwaltung. Leipzig. Pedroni, L. 1998. L’Eredità di Tolomeo e le monete di Silla. Pomoerium 3, 87-98. Rickman, G. 1971. Roman Granaries and Store Buildings. Cambridge. Rickman, G. 1980a. The Corn Supply of Ancient Rome. Oxford. Rickman, G. 1980b. The Grain Trade under the Roman Empire. MAAR 36, 261-77. Rolandi, M. 2005. Rapporti fra Stato e Templi nell’Egitto tolemaico: alcuni esempi. Aegyptus 85, 249-59. Rostovtzeff, M. 1912. Frumentum. PW Vol. 7.1, 126-87. Rougè, J. 1966. Recherches sur l’organisation du commerce maritime en Mediterranée sous l’Empire Romain. Paris. Rowlandson, J. 1996. Landowners and tenants in Roman Egypt. The social relations of agriculture in the Oxyrhynchite nome. Oxford. Rupprecht, H. A. 1994. Kleine Einführung in die Papyruskunde. Darmstadt. Sirks, B. 1991. Food for Rome. The legal structure of the transportation and processing of supplies for the imperial distributions in Rome and in Constantinople. Amsterdam. Šurgaia, I. G. 1973. La concurrence entre l’Égypte et le Bosphore dans le commerce du blé en Mediterranée orientale au début de l’époque hellénistique. KrSoob 138, 51-9. Temin, P. 2001. A market economy in the early Roman empire. JRS 91, 169-81. Thomsen, R. 1961. Early Roman Coinage, Vols. 1-3. Aarhus. Virlouvet, C. 1994. Les lois frumentaires d'époque républicaine. In Le ravitaillement en blé de Rome et des centres urbains des débuts de la République jusqu'au Haut-Empire, Actes du colloque international  organisé par le Centre Jean Bérard et l'URA 994 du CNRS, Naples, 14-16 février 1991, 1130. Rome, Naples. Virlouvet, C. 1995. Tessera Frumentaria. Les procédures de la distribution du blé public à Rome. Rome.

 

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Inscribed Stone Vessels as Symbols of the Egypto-Achaemenid Economic Encounter Ian Shaw Basilica, Venice),6 from Hierapolis in Syria (CBS9208 at the University Museum, Philadelphia),7 from Sepphoris in Northern Israel,8 from the foot of the western staircase in the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (vessel GR1099 in the British Museum),9 and from Egypt itself (e.g. a vessel bearing the name of Darius currently in the Cabinet des Médailles, Paris, see Fig.1).10 In addition, there are a number of unprovenanced examples, including the vessel in the Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem inscribed with the name and titles of Darius in hieroglyphs, Old Persian, Elamite and Akkadian (BLMJ 1979).11

Abstract: This paper discusses economic contexts within which the Persian-period Egyptian stone vessels bearing multilingual inscriptions might be interpreted: the export of Egyptian stone vessels from at least the Early Bronze Age; the diplomatic exchange of gifts (best documented in the Late Bronze Age particularly via Amarna Letters and tribute scenes); and the particular circumstances of the Persians’ symbolism of their control over Egypt, such as the annual provision of Nile water. Introduction When Egypt was a satrapy in the Achaemenid empire of the 5th and 6th centuries BC, a particular form of multilingual inscribed stone vessel became common, not just in Egypt itself, but also in many other parts of the Persian empire. It is unclear whether this represents a simple vogue among the Persian élite for the acquisition of inscribed Egyptian stone vessels, or whether it perhaps instead constitutes a more deliberate governmental use of this archetypal Egyptian export as a way of expressing Egypt’s new position within a larger political and economic entity. This paper discusses the corpus of known vessels of this type, and their possible function. Examples of the vessels have been found in Persia, Syria, Babylonia and as far afield as the western staircase of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (Xerxes). Georges Posener identified 63 complete or fragmentary Egyptian stone vessels that dated to the first Persian period and were inscribed with hieroglyphic and demotic texts, and in many cases with two or three other scripts and languages, usually Old Persian, Elamite and Akkadian,1 as in the case of the example currently forming part of the Yale University collection (YBC2123/YAG1.7.1954).2 Other vessels of this type have been found since Posener’s work, including a quadrilingual vessel bearing the name of Artaxerxes I that was excavated in a Sarmatian funerary tumulus at Orsk in southern Russia in 1971 (Pushkin Museum, Moscow, N1 1A 7852).3

Figure 1. Line drawing of an Achaemenid Egyptian stone vessel inscribed with the name of Darius (Cabinet des Médailles, Paris). The standard form of these vessels generally speaking is the type identified as “alabastron” in Barbara Aston’s monograph on stone vessels, comprising a closed form narrower at the top than the base, with a rounded bottom and a thick everted rim (see Fig. 2)12 (although there are also some examples of open forms such as bowls). The purpose of these vessels, which rarely exceed 40cm in height, seems to have been primarily to contain such liquid or semi-liquid luxury products as oils, unguents and perfumes. Although new examples have emerged since Posener’s summary of the data, the statistics of his publication can be used as a general indication of the chronological pattern. The bar chart in Figure 3, based on

Many of the vessels described by Posener were excavated by William Kennett Loftus4 and Roland de Mecquenem5 at the site of the ancient Achaemenid royal city of Susa in Southwestern Iran, but there are also examples from Babylon (vessel CBS10 in the University Museum at Philadelphia), from Persepolis (vessel in St Mark’s

6

Posener 1936 147. Burchardt 1911 76; Posener 1936 147. 8 Stolper 1996. 9 Burchardt 1911 76, Tf. 9.1. 10 Burchardt 1911 75, Tf. 8.4; Posener 1936 143. 11 Goodnick Westenholz and Stolper 2002. 12 Aston 1994 166. 7

1

Posener 1936 137. Scott 1986 145. 3 Savelieva 1975; Schmitt 2001. 4 Loftus 1857 409-11. 5 de Mecquenem 1931. 2

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Posener’s publication, shows that over half of the vessels that he describes (35) are inscribed with the name of Xerxes, while six bear texts mentioning Darius, five refer to Artaxerxes,13 and the inscriptions on the other seventeen give no indication of any specific ruler. Some of the texts refer to specific regnal years of two of these rulers (years 33, 34 and 36 for Darius, and years 2 and 5 for Xerxes), but the rest give only the rulers’ names and titles. Goodnick Westenholz and Stolper point out that, although the general trend of the vessels might possibly suggest the reflection of some process of political change, in that those from the reign of Darius tend to have only Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions on them, the example from the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem, comprising a quadrilingual vessel of Darius, seems to buck this trend: “On its face, therefore, it appears to rule out a political explanation for the formal changes in the jar inscriptions.”14

Stone vessels as elements of the Late Bronze Age élite exchange network in the East Mediterranean from the Early Bronze Age onwards There are three cultural and historical contexts within which the Persian-period multilingual travertine vessels should be placed, in order to enhance our understanding of them: 1. the export of Egyptian stone vessels from at least the Early Bronze Age,15 2. the diplomatic exchange of gifts best documented in the Late Bronze Age particularly via Amarna Letters and tribute scenes,16 3. the particular circumstances of the Persians’ symbolism of their control over Egypt, e.g. annual provision of Nile water and other commodities.17 Non-Egyptian peoples’ appreciation of Egyptian excellence in the carving of stone vessels can be traced back to the Early Bronze Age,18 and instances of the diaspora of stone vessels outside Egypt range from the jar of Pepi I found on Crete, the vessels inscribed with the name of the Hyksos ruler Khian which were found at Boghazköy and Knossos, and the stone vessels excavated from the tombs of the rulers of Byblos in the Late Bronze Age (the latter proving extremely useful in the process of synchronizing the chronologies of Egypt and the Levant),19 as well as those from Ugarit and Qatna.20 Many of these “exported” vessels are decorated with inscriptions incorporating royal titularies and references to the heb-sed, or royal jubilee festival,21 while some later (Third Intermediate Period) examples are inscribed with “drinking songs” and appear to be distributed as far afield as the Western Mediterreanean, almost certainly through absorption into Phoenician trade routes.22 Elaborate vessels, often carved from travertine (“Egyptian alabaster” or calcite),23 seem to have played an important role in Egypt’s élite contacts with the outside world, either through straightforward commerce or, more often, through the diplomatic exchange of gifts between ruling families. The international economic influence of Egyptian travertine in particular can also be seen in the frequent use of this stone type for weights employed in the evaluation and exchange of commodities both within Egypt and beyond its borders. Lemaire and Vernus have pointed out that a roughly y-shaped sign that frequently appears on inscribed weights in Iron Age Israel, might have derived from the Egyptian hieroglyphic determinative frequently used to refer to travertine vessels.24

Figure 2. Line drawing of a typical example of the Achaemenid-period Egyptian inscribed stone alabastra from Susa (after: Burchardt 1911 Abb. 3).

15

Bevan 2003. Feldman 2006. 17 Bresciani 1985 514. 18 see, for instance, Sparks 2003. 19 Espinel 2002. 20 Ahrens 2006. 21 Minault-Gout 1997. 22 Jansen-Winkeln 1989; Morenz 2006; Padró 1987. 23 see Shaw 2010. 24 Lemaire and Vernus 1978.

Figure 3. Barchart showing the proportions of the Achaemenid inscribed Egyptian vessels published by Posener (1936 137-51) that can be assigned to the reigns of Darius, Xerxes and Artaxerxes.

13 14

16

e.g. Giron 1921. Goodnick Westenholz and Stolper 2002 10.

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IAN SHAW: INSCRIBED STONE VESSELS AS SYMBOLS OF THE EGYPTO-ACHAEMENID ECONOMIC ENCOUNTER It is interesting also to note the likely cultural effect of the many Egyptian travertine vessels exported to SyriaPalestine. Rachael Sparks, for instance, draws attention to the possible impact on local choice of materials: “Although Palestinian workshops exploited regional gypsum resources, there was no attempt to widen their repertoire to include other local materials such as limestone. Like their preference for purer white varieties of gypsum, this single-mindedness probably reflects a continued desire to select materials with a strong visual similarity to imported Egyptian calcite vessels. These imports provided the chief inspiration for the development of this industry, and continued to influence the style and shapes of Palestinian versions throughout the course of the Bronze Age. The fact that this influence does not extend to manufacturing techniques implies that Egyptian influence came via trade goods, rather than through the arrival of Egyptian stone vessel craftsmen to the region.”25

Stone vessels as part of Egypt’s tribute as a satrapy The primary likely cultural context for the Achaemenid stone vessels is as part of the long-term trend, from the Early Bronze Age onwards, for Egyptian stone vessels – both as containers for luxury products and as exotic artefacts in themselves – to play an important role in political and economic relations between Egypt and the wider world of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East. It is, however, also possible to explore the more immediate Achaemenid cultural and historical context of these vessels. As mentioned above, the presence of some specific year dates on the vessels, in the reigns of Darius and Xerxes, hints at the possibility that these inscribed jars played some role in the process of annual tribute, although they were evidently not included in the tribute processions depicted at Persepolis. Herodotus outlines the tribute that Egypt was supposed to have been obliged to give to the Great King:32

The travertine vessels imported by Minoans appear to belong to two specific phases: EMII–III (the Old Kingdom) and MMIII–LMIA (Second Intermediate Period–early 18th Dynasty). As Phillips points out, “The travertine alabastron was the ultimate Bronze Age container for oils, unguents and perfumes before the later invention of glass.”26 She also discusses two crucial questions relating to these imports: (1) whether they were imported primarily for themselves or for their contents, and (2) what influence they styles and shapes of Egyptian vessels might have had on locally made Minoan ones. She concludes that, since many are exotic, often “antique”, vessels they are highly likely to have been prized for themselves.27 As far as the second question is concerned, she lists their primary uses as religious and funerary offerings, but notes that some vessels were converted and embellished by Minoan craftsmen, with one example (an Egyptian “baggy” alabastron converted into a Minoan ewer) being imported, re-worked then reexported from Crete to Mycenae, where it was excavated from a Late Helladic IB shaft grave.28 Warren even argues that raw blocks of Egyptian travertine were exported to vessel-making workshops in Crete, on the basis of waste fragments found in the Knossos excavations of 1957–61,29 and elsewhere he specifically suggests that this imported travertine was being worked by Minoan craftsmen in part of the town-site at Knossos.30 However, Lilyquist argues that such stone might equally well have been imported from some closer part of the east Mediterranean, such as Cyprus.31

• • • • • •

Annual tribute of 700 talents Responsibility for maintaining Persian and nonPersian troops Provision of 120,000 measures of grain Provision of profits from fisheries of Lake Moeris in Faiyum Provision of salt and Nile water for the Persian king’s table (symbols of submission) City of Anthylla in the northern Delta obliged to provide shoes, girdles and needles for the Persian queen

Although Herodotus’ list is perhaps to some extent fanciful, it is nevertheless possible that the stone vessels became popular because they were used to hold the fifth category listed above, i.e. regular supplies of salt and Nile water for the Great King’s table. If, however, as seems more likely, the vessels were actually intended to hold cosmetics of various types, they may have simply been part of a presumably longer list of luxuries for which the Achaemenid court would have exploited Egypt. Sancisi-Weerdenburg and Goodnick Westenholz and Stolper, among others, have pointed out that reliefs decorating some of the door jambs of Darius at Persepolis portrayed attendants holding cosmetic jars and towels in such a way as to suggest that stone vessels of the type discussed in this paper might have been well integrated into the rituals and ceremonies of the court of the Great King.33 If it is important to see the vessels in the context of earlier forms of stone vessels exported from Egypt, it is surely also essential to view them in the context of one other category of Egypto-Achaemenid multilingual artefact: the so-called “canal stelae” from the Wadi

25

Sparks 2001 108. Phillips 2001 80. 27 Phillips 2001 80-1. 28 Phillips 2001 81-2. 29 Warren 1967 199; 1969 12. 30 Warren 1989 8. 31 Lilyquist 1996 140. 26

32

Bresciani 1985 514. Goodnick Westenholz and Stolper 2002 12-3; Sancisi-Weerdenburg 1989 133.

33

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Tumilat and Red Sea coast.34 The approximate line of the eastern end of a canal linking the Nile valley and Medierranean with the Red Sea is marked at intervals by free-standing granite stelae (c. 3.15m × 2.1m) carved on both sides and evidently set up by Darius. These are inscribed in hieroglyphics on one side and cuneiform on the other (the latter incorporating the three languages of the empire: Old Persian, Elamite and Akkadian), although crucially it is not known which side/script actually faced the canal. The surviving stelae were all found in the eastern stretch of the canal’s route, although there is no reason why there should not also have been stelae further to the west that have either not survived or not yet been identified. Tuplin discusses the “equipollence between native and foreign elements” in the quadrilingual stelae set up by Persian rulers along the route of the canal stretching through the Wadi Tumilat from Bubastis to the Suez region.35 This careful balance of Egyptian and non-Egyptian elements can equally well be applied to the multilingual texts on the travertine vessels.

source.38 More detailed analysis of the full corpus of such vessels will perhaps in future allow the economic and political roles of the Achaemenid examples to be interpreted in greater detail. References Ahrens, A. 2006. Journey's end - two Egyptian stone vessels with hieroglyphic inscriptions from the Royal Tomb at Tell Mishrife/Qatna. ÄUL 16, 15-36. Aston, B. G. 1994. Ancient Egyptian Stone Vessels: Materials and Forms. Heidelberg. Bevan, A. 2003. Reconstructing the role of Egyptian culture in the value regimes of the Bronze Age Aegean: stone vessels and their social contexts. In R. Matthews and C. Roemer (eds.), Ancient Perspectives on Egypt, 57-74. London. Burchardt, M. 1911. Datierte Denkmäler der Berliner Sammlung aus der Achämenidenzeit, ZÄS 49, 69-80. [Posener 49: vessel in Cabinet des Médailles, Paris; Posener 78: vessel Berlin 14463; Posener 79: Venice, St Mark’s Basilica; Posener 81: vessel Philadelphia, Univ.Mus. CBS9208] Bresciani, E. 1985. The Persian occupation of Egypt. In Ilya Gershevitch (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 2. 502-28. Cambridge. Espinel, A. D. 2002. The role of the temple of Ba’alat Gebal as an intermediary between Egypt and Byblos during the Old Kingdom. SAK 30, 103-19. Feldman, M. 2006. Diplomacy by design: luxury arts and an ‘international style’ in the ancient Near East. Chicago. Giron, N. 1921. Vase quadrilingue au nom d'Artaxerxès, RA 18, 143-5. [Posener 82: vessel priv.col. AiméGiron] Goodnick Westenholz, J. and Stolper, M. W. 2002. A stone jar with inscriptions of Darius I in four languages, Achaemenid Research on Texts and Archaeology 2002.005, 1-13. Hester, T.R. and Heizer, R. F. 1981. Making Stone Vases: Ethnoarchaeological Studies at an Alabaster Workshop in Upper Egypt. Monographic Journals of the Near East. Malibu. Jansen-Winkeln, K. 1989. Zu einigen „Trinksprüchen“ auf ägyptischen Gefäßen. ZÄS 116, 143-53. Lemaire, A. and Vernus, P. 1978. L’origine égyptienne du signe y des poids inscrits de l’époque royale Israélite, Semitica 28, 53-8. Lilyquist, C. 1996. Stone vessels at Kamid el-Loz: Egyptian, Egyptianizing, or non-Egyptian? A question at sites from the Sudan to Iraq to the Greek mainland. In Rolf Hachmann (ed.), Kamid el-Loz 16 – ‘Schatzhaus’-Studien. Saarbrücker Beiträge zur Altertumskunde 59. 133-73. Bonn. Loftus, W. 1857. Travels and Researches in Chaldaea and Susiana. London.

Discussion Like the building of stone masonry, the carving of stone vessels reached a comparatively early peak in ancient Egypt, and then became firmly embedded in pharaonic culture as one of the quintessential expressions of Egyptian civilization, with its origins stretching back deep into the Predynastic period. The appreciation of these artefacts by outsiders has lasted into modern times, when Egyptian stone vessels, especially those combining a purity of form with finely incised hieroglyphs, are highly prized, and replicas are produced on a virtually industrial scale for the tourist market.36 As the above discussion has indicated, the functions and cultural resonances of the exported Egyptian inscribed stone vessels of the Achaemenid period are no more easily encapsulated than those of other periods, and they should surely be understood as the products of interaction between, first, the specific historical economic requirements of Egypt as a satrapy, and secondly the long-established role played by Egyptian stone vessels in the exchange networks of the eastern Mediterranean and western Asiatic regions. A lesson to be learned perhaps from the Third Intermediate Period vessels bearing “drinking songs”,37 is that there may be more than one stage in the process (i.e. an initial role played by the vessels in direct Egyptian contact with foreign states, but then a secondary role beyond that, in more far-flung nonEgyptian exchange networks). Thus the Achaemenid vessels might well have taken on economic and symbolic roles beyond those originally intended for them at

34

Redmount 1995. Tuplin 1991 243 36 see Hester and Heizer 1981 37 Jansen Winkeln 1989 35

38 Compare Padró 1987 (for the Third Intermediate Period vessels’ nonEgyptian role) with Sancisi-Weerdenburg 1989 134, 142 (for the possibility of re-use and re-export of the Achaemenid vessels).

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IAN SHAW: INSCRIBED STONE VESSELS AS SYMBOLS OF THE EGYPTO-ACHAEMENID ECONOMIC ENCOUNTER Mecquenem, R. de 1931. Excavations at Susa (Persia) 1930-31. Antiquity 5/19, 330-43. Minault-Gout, A. 1997. Sur les vases jubilaires et leur diffusion. In C. Berger-El-Naggar and B. Matthieu (eds.), Études sur l'Ancien Empire et la nécropole de Saqqâra dédiées à Jean-Philippe Lauer, 305-14. Montpellier Morenz, L. 2006. “…wobei mehr Wein getrunken wird als im ganzen Jahre” Altägyptische Weingefässe im Licht Herodots kontextualisiert. CE 81, 45-61. Padró, J. 1987. Le rôle de l’Égypte dans les relations commerciales d’Orient et d’Occident au premier millénaire. ASAE 71 213-22. Phillips, J. 2001. Stone vessel production: new beginnings and new visions in New Palace Crete. In A. J. Shortland (ed.), The Social Context of Technological Change: Egypt and the Near East, 1650–1550 BC, 73-91. Oxford. Posener, G. 1936. La première domination perse en Égypte. Cairo. Ray, J. D. 1988. Egypt 525–404 BC. CAH Vol 4. 254-86. Redmount, C. A. 1995. The Wadi Tumilat and the “Canal of the Pharaohs”. JNES 54/2, 127-35. Sancisi-Weerdenburg, H. 1989. Gifts in the Persian empire. In P. Briant and C. Heerenschmidt (eds.), Le Tribut dans l’empire perse, 133. Paris. Savieleva, T. 1975. Vase égyptien quadrilingue trouvé près d’Orsk. In Actes XXIX Congrès des Orientalistes, 93-7. Paris. Schmitt, R. 2001. Eine weitere Alabaster-Vase mit Artaxerxes-Inschrift, Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran NF 33, 191-202. Scott III, G. D. 1986. Ancient Egyptian Art at Yale. New Haven. [Posener 53: vessel in Yale museum: YBC2123/YAG1.7.1954] Shaw, I. 2010. Hatnub: Quarrying Travertine in Ancient Egypt. London. Sparks, R. 2001. Stone vessel workshops in the Levant: luxury products of a cosmopolitan age. In A. J. Shortland (ed.) The Social Context of Technological Change: Egypt and the Near East, 1650–1550 BC, 93-112. Oxford. Sparks, R., 2003. Egyptian stone vessels and the politics of exchange (2617-1070 BC). In R. Matthews and C. Roemer (eds.) Ancient Perspectives on Egypt, 39-56. London. Stolper, M. W. 1996. Vase fragment. In R. M. Nagy et al. (eds.). Sepphoris in Galilee: Crosscurrents of Culture. 166-7. Raleigh. Tuplin, C. 1991. Darius’ Suez canal and Persian imperialism. In H. Sancisi-Weerdenburg and A. Kuhrt (eds.), Achaemenid History VI: Asia Minor and Egypt: Old Cultures in a New Empire, 237-83. Leiden. Warren, P. 1967. A stone vase-maker’s workshop in the palace at Knossos. Annual of the British School at Athens 62, 195-201. Warren, P. 1969. Minoan Stone Vases. Cambridge. Warren, P. 1989. Egyptian stone vessels from the city of Knossos: contributions towards Minoan economic and social structure. Ariadne 5, 1-9. 117

Customs Duty in the New Kingdom Birgit Schiller controlled at this place and then allowed to sail up the Nile to the final destination.

Introduction In the modern economic world customs duty is a well acknowledged way of participating in foreign trade and for securing the national industry. The Late Bronze Age Mediterranean world was broadly connected in terms of economic relations. Ships sailed along the Mediterranean Sea coasts or crossed the sea. Cities on the Mediterranean littoral were active in trade. Some of them, e.g. Ugarit, gained great wealth thereby. Did the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean world know the demand of a tax on imported goods? If so, New Kingdom Egypt with close commercial contact with Syro-Palastinian area and Cyprus must have recognized this practice. Was it then introduced in Egypt itself? This question will be discussed based on evidence from textual sources from Tell el-Amarna.

Harbours Where could and did ships actually anchor? From the Kamose stela it is known that foreign ships landed in Avaris. If there was no other harbour in the Delta region, the next possible station was Memphis, the harbour of prw-nfr.8 Pictorial evidence from the New Kingdom comes from a harbour scene in the tomb of Kenamun, who was jmj-rA pr wr m prw-nfr, ‘Overseer of the pr wr in Peru-nefer’. Kenamun was not only responsible for this harbour but as a HAty-a of Thebes for the Theban harbour as well. From this picture alone it is impossible to deduce where the Syrian ships actually landed in prw-nfr (Memphis/Avaris) or Thebes. The latter lies very far away in the south of Egypt, but a Cypriote anchor9 found in the Karnak area supports the suggestion of a landing of foreign ships in Thebes as well. Kenamun dates to the early 18th Dynasty. From the Amarna tablets it can be suggested that foreign ships landed in Amarna directly. Important harbours of Egypt in the 18th Dynasty were situated in Memphis (or Avaris), Amarna and as far south as Thebes. In the Ramessid Period, it is highly likely that the most important harbour was in Pi-Ramesse. That foreign ships were landing in the Delta is known from the Kamose stela. But was it possible for a ship sailing on the Mediterranean Sea to sail up the Nile? Three Bronze Age ships10 have been excavated until now. And it does not seem that they were too big to sail on the Nile.11

Foreign merchants In the New Kingdom, Egypt had direct economic relations with the Syrian trading city of Ugarit and to Alašiya, which is at least a part of Cyprus1 if not the whole island. Economic relations with Cyprus are established by finds of Cypriote pottery in Egypt2 and by the reference to merchants from Alašiya in Egypt in the Amarna Letters.3 Whereas no Cypriote merchant can be detected iconographically, Syrian merchants are well attested in Egypt through wall paintings. In the tomb of Kenamun (TT 162)4 Syrian ships were depicted lying in a harbour while Syrians were busy unloading their ships.5 Although there were items from the Aegean area in Egypt, e.g. Mycenaean pottery, no other direct economic contact can be traced.

Foreign trade

So at least Syrian and Cypriote ships came to Egypt.6 What happened when a foreign ship arrived on the Egyptian coast? The title of an jmj-rA pA xtm nb n pA wADwr7, ‘Overseer of every castle on the Great Green’, suggests a control of the coast. Perhaps the ships were

What do we know about the New Kingdom economy and the trading connections with the Eastern Mediterranean? Due to different environmental conditions less evidence is preserved in the Delta region. The bulk of economic texts comes from Deir el-Medina. Some tomb-paintings, like those from the tomb of Kenamun, show, that there were Syrian traders sailing to Egypt. But it does not tell us anything about the procedure. Furthermore, the pictorial sources are selective in their information and for this reason of very restricted value without accompanying texts. The textual sources preserved were collected by

1

This was confirmed by a Neutron Activation Analysis of the clay tablets from Tell el-Amarna, which where sent from the king of Alašiya to Egypt (Goren et al. 2002). 2 Merrillees 1968. He was analysing the Base-ring ware and the White Slip ware. Mycenaean pottery from Cyprus was recognized under the sherds from Qantir (Mountjoy and Mommsen 2001). 3 EA 39 and EA 40. 4 PM Vol. 1 275-6. 5 Davies and Faulkner 1947 Pl. 7. 6 There is no reference to an arrival of Aegeans in Egypt as suggested in Kemp and O’Connor 1974 102. 7 On the verso, line 9 of the Bilgai stela, published in Gardiner 1912. He dated it to the end of the 19th Dynasty as he believed the erased name would have been Tawosret and regarded the reference of Ramesses II as a terminus post quem.

8 Against the common assumption in Egyptology, this harbour was located by Habachi in the area of Avaris (Habachi 2001 106-7). For discussion of this location: Bietak 2006 126-30. 9 Frost 1985 282. 10 Two ships wrecked off the Turkish south coast in Kaş (Ulu Burun) and Kap Gelidonya (Bass 1967). A third was found near to Kap Iria, Greece (Phelps et al. 1999). 11 The estimated length of the ship of Ulu Burun is 15-16ms (Pulak 2005 89). On the measures of Bronze Age ships see Monroe 2007.

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Helck in a seminal volume.12 From these sources, textual and pictorial, different economic models were developed to describe the nature of Egyptian foreign trade.13 Central points are questions concerning ”market” and ”free trade” in the Late Bronze Age.

coming from Syria or Cyprus? Only the royal administration? It is known that the administration on behalf of the king was allocating goods to army troops and officials, thus providing for the state employees. Foreign objects were found among these groups.

Polanyi

If there was a social barrier24 for an Egyptian official to trade with a foreign merchant directly – provided the existence of a market –, this could be easily undertaken by a Swty who was busy with bartering on behalf of institutions as well as private persons. 25

A much discussed model is that of Karl Polanyi.14 Originally, he did not describe the Egyptian economy but his model was soon adopted by Egyptologists. The question of foreign trade, which is of interest here, is also discussed by Polanyi. It is described as a reciprocal trade. This model excludes profit making and is only thinkable as an exchange between two equal partners. The Amarna Letters were taken as such an evidence of reciprocal trade. In conclusion, only the kings of Egypt were able to barter foreign objects and it is stated that they had a monopoly on foreign trade.15

There is another interesting sentence concerning trade. It derives from Papyrus Turin 2008+2016 recto 2,14: m jrt ra n xArw ‘by making Syrian language’.26 This phrase was interpreted by Jacobus Janssen as ‘bargaining’.27 Unfortunately this text is unique and the phrase not mentioned in the context of trade with foreigners. Despite this fact, this gives an idea of how trading with foreign merchants may have functioned. It is known from the Amarna Letters that Akkadian was used as lingua franca. With this fact in mind, one can assume that the communication was done on behalf of an interpreter or the Swty.w were acting as interpreters as well.

Market A critical point in Polanyi’s model is the question of the market. He did not accept its existence in his economic model.16 He militates against a market in ancient societies and strengthens his opinion with fixed prices for fish in Larsa of the third millennium BC.17 This assumption was criticized by Morris Silver who pointed to the fact that fixed prices “would still acknowledge the forces of supply and demand”.18 This model, heavily critized by Assyriologists, was used to explain the Egyptian economic system. There is no market and no free trade therein.

Customs duty Definition of customs duty The amount of the tax depends on the actual value of the wares. This demand is made for protecting someone’s own industry (in modern states) and for participating on trade. The latter is more likely for the Bronze Age reality.

David Warburton proposes on the other hand a market economy19 by using the model of John Maynard Keynes. He was criticized because of using modern economic terms,20 especially the concept of the modern market economy.21

Customs duty in the Late Bronze Age: Ugarit While excavating in Ugarit, many texts concerning Syrian and foreign merchants, both living in Ugarit, and trade in the Late Bronze Age came to light. One of these is a letter of Ammištamru, king of Ugarit, to Sinaranu, who is known as being a merchant of Ugarit.28 Due to the given name of the king, the letter (RS 16238)29 can be dated to the second half of the 13th century BC. In lines 1-11 the king wrote: “His [grain], his beer, his (olive)-oil, [to] the palace he shall not deliver. His ship is exempt when it arrives from Crete. (Then) his presents to the king he has to bring. And the herald must not approach his ship.”30

So different and opposed models exist about the Egyptian economic system. Egyptian foreign trade Is foreign trade only a “targeted barter”22 for acquiring goods? Was the trading activity infamous for an Egyptian?23 Who could barter with these merchants 12

Helck 1961-1970; Helck 1975. After reviewing the existing sources, Malte Römer militates against all economic models, as they have to close too many gaps (Römer 2007a and 2007b). His very negative conclusion states that we do not know enough to make any models. 14 Polanyi et al. 1957; Polanyi 1963. 15 Janssen 1981. 16 Polanyi 1963 30. 17 Polanyi 1963 32. 18 Silver 1983 796. 19 Warburton 1991,1998. 20 Eichler 1992 28. 21 Römer 1989, 2000. 22 Bleiberg 1995 1379. 23 Cf. Allam 1998 18; Bleiberg 1997. 13

24

The anthropological aspect of trade is discussed in Adams 1992. Allam 1998; Reineke 1979; Römer 1992. Discussed also in Castle 1992. 26 Janssen 1961 73. 27 Janssen 1961 73. 28 It is still discussed whether he was a merchant of the king or a free merchant. Michal Heltzer considered him as being a merchant of the king (Heltzer 1988). 29 First published in Nougayrol 1955 107-8 “Son bateau est ‘pur’ quand, du pays de Caphtor, son bateau arrivera, son garde, auprès du roi, il fera entrer, mais l’Inspecteur, de sa maison, n’approchera pas, Sinaranu est à la dévotion du roi son maître.” 30 Heltzer 1988 12. 25

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BIRGIT SCHILLER: CUSTOMS DUTY IN THE NEW KINGDOM Trade relations between Egypt and Ugarit in the New Kingdom

Turin Tax list There is a lexicon entry in the Lexikon der Ägyptologie about Zoll37 by Wolfgang Helck. He was referring to an entry on the recto of the P. Turin 1874, the so-called ”Turin Tax list”. Although in a very fragmentary condition, he made a far reaching interpretation of three fragments he assigned to line 23 of column three. One can read on the first fragment, no. 78, smd.t nb n tA mnj[...] ‘any smd.t-staff of the harbour’38. After a lacuna, the next fragment, no. 76, shows a [...]- nfr dbn ‘Memphis39, deben’. After dbn follows a stroke. As there is a break immediately after the stroke meaning ‘one’, it is unclear if there was a higher amount of deben than one. It is equally to question which kind of metal was meant. After a greater lacuna Helck adds to this line a further fragment, no. 64. This shows the hieroglyphic sign for ‘ship’ followed by mry(.t), a group he interpreted as ‘ship of the harbour’. The addition of this last fragment is highly uncertain, as the verso, the Turin King Papyrus can not prove this position.40 On the contrary, Helck used this fragment to restore the verso assuming the fragment showing a ship hieroglyph with ‘harbour’ belongs to the same line of the Turin Tax list.

In a very fragmentary letter found in Ugarit (RS 18.31)31 the king of Tyre reported to the king of Ugarit that ships from Ugarit wrecked off the Syrian coast nearby Tyre. The ships were loaded with grain and Egypt is mentioned. Possibly, the ships got their grain from Egypt. There are two obscure papyri (probably from the Ramessid Period) concerning foreign trade with Syria. In Papyrus Bologna 1094, 5,5 is mentioned a Swty who was expected in Egypt coming back from Syria.32 The other is Papyrus Anastasi IV, 3,10, where there is the wish for safe return of a ship to Egypt from Syria.33 Neither have a direct connection with trading activities. The first is a (fictitious) letter and the second is more religious in character. It does not seem that the Egyptian palace administration is involved. The demand of a payment from ships coming from the outside with foreign wares was certainly known to the Egyptians. Textual sources from Egypt

As it is the same amount of deben per ship this seems to be rather a port-due provided that fragment no. 64 is part of the same line.

EA 39 and EA 40 The starting point of the following discussion is two letters from the king of Alašiya to the Egyptian king found in Tell el-Amarna. Concerning his merchants, the Cypriote king wrote in EA 39: “No one making claim in your name is to approach my merchants or my ship.”34 Unlike William Moran, Zipora Cochavi-Rainey translated the same lines of this letter as follows: “As for my merchant(s) (and) my ship, may your custom’s inspector not draw near to them.”35 The translation of CochaviRainey with ”customs inspector” is very much interpretative. So I prefer rather the circumscription of Moran.

Location of Payment Customs house The word mxA.wt41 was translated by Adolf Erman and Heinrich Grapow as ”Zollstationen(?)”. It is only mentioned in a text which comes from a tomb in Deir elBersheh, and dates to the Middle Kingdom. As it is the sole source for this word, the translation is highly unsure. Furthermore it is not attested in the New Kingdom either. In the northern edge of Tell el-Amarna,42, Thomas Whittemore excavated a building,43 which was later identified as a ”customs house”.44

The Akkadian formula is very unique, but can be compared with the text from Ugarit. The official, the “herald” or ”inspecteur”36 is thus forbidden to have a look at the wares of Sinaranu’s ship. So there is an exemption from payment. This could imply a similar meaning in EA 39.

Until now, there is neither a word for ”customs station” nor a building which can be safely identified as such.

37

Helck 1986. The last word can be surely interpreted as the beginning of mnj.t ‘harbour’. 39 Due to the determinatives of a pyramid and the town-symbol this nfr is surely the second part of Mn-nfr. 40 David Warburton, knowing the reconstruction of Helck, rejects the fragment no. 64 as belonging to this line (Warburton 1997 161, 3.22). 41 Wb II 131. 42 Dr Ian Shaw kindly called my attention to the “customs house” in Tell el-Amarna. 43 Whittemore 1926 10-2. 44 Frankfort and Pendlebury 1933 Pl. 1. 38

31

Nougayrol 1968 81. LEM 5,5-5,6. LEM 38,4. 34 EA 39, lines 17-20. Translation by Moran 1992 112. The German translation of Jǿrgen Knudtzon (Knudtzon 1915) “Gegen meine Geschäftsleute (und) mein Schiff soll der Mann, der für dich Anspruch erhebt, nicht herantreten“ is very much the same as the translation of Moran. 35 Cochavi-Rainey 2003 36. 36 See note 29. 32 33

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT tomb of Iniuia of the later 18th Dynasty.52 To the contrary to the scene in the tomb of Kenamun, the Egyptian official stands in the tomb of Iniuia directly on the gangway (Figure 1).53

On the Nile Rainer Hannig translated the term Sna as ‘Zöllner’ (tollkeeper).45 He examplifies this on the following text: r tm rd.t Sna=tw jm.w=sn Hr mw jn Sna nb, ‘to prevent, that someone stops their boats on the water by any Sna’. Although Hannig does not mention the source and the phrase Hr mw is missing in his quotation, it is very probable that he is referring to line 33 of the Nauri Decree of Seti I.46 In this special context there is no demand for payment or rather a prohibition to demand a payment by any Sna. As it is someone who may stop boats, he seems to be rather a ‘Polizist’47, a ‘patrol, detainer’48. It does not support Hannig’s translation and there is – until now – no word attested as meaning ‘tollkeeper’. Very commonly, holder of titles had different functions and could have served as tollkeeper without bearing an appropriate title. Such possible title holders will be presented in the following two sections on payment locations.

As I have already stated, I classify the amount of ”customs duty” as depending on the value of the goods. So it is necessary to count the goods and estimate their value. In both scenes a scribe is busy recording. From these limited pictorial sources alone, it is only cautiously suggested that the scribe of the harbour administration was responsible for demanding payments from foreign ships. This would imply furthermore that the harbour of capital cities or residence towns was the final destination of foreign ships.

Delta fortresses I have already mentioned the jmj-rA n pA xtm nb n pA wADwr in connection with a possible control of the Delta region. The title used in the New Kingdom implies that there were a couple of fortresses at the northern Egyptian border. So, this suggests that every fortress had an own jmj-rA n pA xtm n pA wAD-wr. Georges Posener pointed to the similarity of this title with another one from the Saite Period.49 Nakhthorheb, dating to the time of Amasis, stated in the inscription on his statue,50 that he was nominated as a jmj-rA aA.w xAs.wt wrwAD,51 ‘Overseer at the doors (of the) foreign lands and the Great Green’. He was a tollkeeper.

Figure 1. Tomb of Iniuia, Saqqara 18th-19th dynasties (after: Wachsmann 1987, Pl. 6A)

However, the simple similarity alone can not prove that the holder of the title in the New Kingdom was responsible for taxing foreign ships. From the suggested dating of the stele of Bilgai to the late 19th Dynasty to the time of Amasis, covering some 600 years, there can have been a substantial change in the meaning of the title.

Term for ‘customs duty’: SAy.t? This term was used as early as the 18th Dynasty54 and is attested in the Ramessid Period as well. Often it is connected with payments of the smd.t-staff as it is the case in the above mentioned Turin Tax list. In the Aramäisches Zollregister the derivative term of it written in Aramaic55 was used for payments from ships as well. A gap of some 600 years between the end of the New Kingdom and the suggested dating of this papyrus to the Persian Period makes it difficult to ascertain the earlier meaning56 of this term as ‘tax’ for foreign ships in this way (as ‘customs duty’) or another (as ‘port-dues’).

Harbours If the ships were not taxed in the Delta region, it is most likely to assume that the harbour administration of the residence cities was responsible for that. In the harbour scene from the tomb of Kenamun one can see the unloading of a Syrian ship in an Egyptian harbour. On the quay is an Egyptian official holding a tablet for recording. Another similar scene can be found in the 45

52

Hannig 2000 1575. Griffith 1927 Pl. 61, line 33. 47 Wb IV 506. Although the Wörterbuch is only referring to later sources from the Saite Period. 48 Lesko 2004 129. He is referring to the Nauri Decree. 49 Posener 1947 121, note 1. 50 Tresson 1931 (1933). 51 Tresson 1931 (1933) Pl. 9, col. 2. Note the inversion of wAD-wr.

PM Vol. 3 707. Only a preliminary report is published until now in Schneider et al. 1993. 53 The relief holds the Egyptian Museum Cairo (inv. no. 11935). For the publication with illustration see Landström 1974 Fig. 403. 54 Wb IV 403. 55 Müller-Wollermann 2007 97. 56 Renate Müller-Wollermann interpreted this term in context of “portdues“ (Müller-Wollermann 2007 97).

46

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BIRGIT SCHILLER: CUSTOMS DUTY IN THE NEW KINGDOM As we do not have any text from the New Kingdom which deals with payments of foreign ships, we can only assume that this term may have been used for this. The equivocality of the meaning of Egyptian terms is preventing real understanding. So any other term could have been used for it.

Allam, S. 1998. Vermittler im Handel zur Zeit des Neuen Reiches. SAK 26, 3-18. Bass, G. 1967. Cape Gelidonya: A Bronze Age Shipwreck. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 57.8. Philadelphia. Bietak, M. 2006. Nomads or mnmn.t-Shepherds in the Eastern Nile Delta in the New Kingdom. In A. M. Maeir and P. de Miroschedji (eds.), “I will speak the riddles of ancient times”: archaeological and historical studies in honor of Amihai Mazar on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday, 123-36. Winona Lake. Bleiberg, E. 1995. The Economy of Ancient Egypt. In J. M. Sasson (ed.), Civilzations of the Ancient Near East, Vol. 3, 1373-85. New York. Bleiberg, E. 1997. ”Economic Man“ and the ”Truly Silent One“: Cultural conditioning and the Economy in Ancient Egypt. Papers presented in Memory of Ronald J. Williams. JSSEA 24, 4-16. Castle, E. W. 1992. Shipping and Trade in Ramesside Egypt. JESHO 35, 239-77. Cochavi-Rainey, Z. 2003. The Alashia Texts from the 14th and 13th Centuries BC. A Textual and Linguistical Study. AOAT 289. Münster. Davies, N. de G. and Faulkner, R. O. 1947. A Syrian trading venture to Egypt. JEA 33, 40-6. Eichler, E. 1992. Polanyi – Keynes – Warburton. Zur Rekonstruktion des altägyptischen Wirtschaftssystems. GM 131, 25-31. Frankfort, H. and Pendlebury, J. D. S. 1933. The City of Akhenaten, Part II. The North Suburb and the Desert Altars. EES-M 40. London. Frost, H. 1985. The Kition Anchors. In V. Karageorghis and M. Demas et al. (eds.), Excavations at Kition V. The Pre-Phoenician Levels, Areas I and II, Vol. 1, 281-321. Nicosia. Gardiner, A. H. 1912. The Stele of Bilgai. ZÄS 50, 49-57. Goren, Y. et al. 2002. Petrographic investigation of the Amarna Tablets. NEA 65, 196-205. Griffith, F. L. 1927. The Abydos Decree of Seti I at Nauri. JEA 13, 193-208. Habachi, L. 2001. Tell el-Dab’a I. Tell el-Dab’a and Qantir: The Site and its connection with Avaris and Piramesse. Vienna. Hannig, R. 2000. Großes Handwörterbuch DeutschÄgyptisch (2800-950 v.Chr.). Kulturgeschichte der Antiken Welt 68. Mainz. Helck, W. 1961-1970. Materialien zur Wirtschaftsgeschichte, Vols. 1-4. Mainz. Helck, W. 1975. Wirtschaftsgeschichte des Alten Ägypten im 3. und 2. Jahrtausend vor Chr. HdO 1. Leiden. Helck, W. 1986. Zoll. LÄ 6, col. 1420. Heltzer, M. 1988. Sinaranu, Son of Siginu and Trade Relations Between Ugarit and Crete. Minos 23, 7-13. Janssen, J. J. 1961. Two Ancient Egyptian Ship’s Logs. Papyrus Leiden I 350 verso and Papyrus Turin 2008+2016. Leiden. Janssen, J. J. 1981. Die Struktur der pharaonischen Wirtschaft. GM 48, 59-77.

Summary No Egyptian text tells us how the process of trading with foreign merchants functioned. Which language was used? A Syrian language? If so, then an interpreter was needed. Was a Swty involved? Was there a person who could perhaps speak a foreign language as well? Still a matter of debate is the nature of the Egyptian economy and especially the nature of foreign trade. Did Egyptian kings control foreign trade totally? There are some – unfortunately obscure – papyri which mention Egyptian (private?) trading activities in Syria. In the light of the Amarna Letters it does not seem impossible that the Egyptian king took a payment from the ships. This practice was known from Ugarit, a city which had close contact with Egypt. Places of this payment could have been most likely in the harbours of the Delta region (prw-nfr) and of the residence cities as well. Problematic is the temporal distribution of the sources. The Amarna Letters and the pictorial evidence come from the 18th Dynasty and the papyri from the Ramessid Period. Beyond that the texts concerning a payment from ships (Ugarit and the Amarna Letters) are not contemporary. There are some 100 years in between. Due to the scattered information, possible alterations are not tangible. There are two aspects I did not mention before. That first is the case of smuggling. If there is a demand for paying taxes for imported goods, one might expect the existence of smuggling as well. Actually we do not have any Egyptian texts dealing with such a problem. But we do know from Assyrian sources that it was indeed known in the Bronze Age.57 If there was a market in Egypt and foreign ships had to pay a tax, this would have made the remaining goods more expensive. But this can not be proved due to lacking sources. Likewise we do not know the Egyptian export goods (gold? papyrus? grain?). A market provided, what could an Egyptian or his Swty have given to a foreign merchant? References Adams, R. McC. 1992. Anthropological Perspectives on Ancient Trade. Current Anthropology 33, 141-60. 57

Veenhof 1972 305-36.

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Silver, M. 1983. Karl Polanyi and Markets in the Ancient Near East: The Challenge of the Evidence. JESHO 43, 795-829. Tresson, P. 1931 (1933). Sur deux monuments égyptiens inédits de l’époque d’Amasis et de Nectanébo Ier. Kêmi 4, 126-50. Veenhof, K. R. 1972. Aspects of Old Assyrian Trade and its Terminology. Leiden. Wachsmann, S. 1987. Aegeans in the Theban Tombs. OLA 20. Leuven. Warburton, D. A. 1991. Keynes’sche Überlegungen zur altägyptischen Wirtschaft. ZÄS 118, 76-85. Warburton, D. A. 1997. State and Economy in Ancient Egypt: Fiscal Vocabulary of the New Kingdom. OBO 151. Fribourg. Warburton, D. A. 1998. Economic Thinking in Egyptology. SAK 26, 143-70. Whittemore, T. 1926. The Excavations at El-‘Amarnah, Season 1924-5. JEA 12, 3-12.

Kemp, B. J. and O’Connor, D. 1974. An ancient Nile harbour. University Museum excavations at the ‘Birket Habu’. IJNA 3 101-36. Knudtzon, J. A. 1915. Die El-Amarna-Tafeln. Leipzig. Landström, B. 1974. Die Schiffe der Pharaonen: Altägyptische Schiffsbaukunst von 4000 bis 600 v.Chr. Munich. Lesko, L. H. 2004. A Dictionary of Late Egyptian. Vol. 2. Providence. Merrillees, R. S. 1968. The Cypriote Bronze Age Pottery found in Egypt. SIMA 18. Lund. Monroe, C. 2007. Vessel Volumetrics and the Myth of the Cyclopean Bronze Age Ship. JESHO 50, 1-18. Moran, W. M. 1992. The Amarna Letters. Baltimore, London. Mountjoy, P. A. and Mommsen, H. 2001. Mycenaean pottery from Qantir-Piramesse, Egypt. BSA 96, 12355. Müller-Wollermann, R. 2007. Steuern, Zölle und Tribute in der Spätzeit. In H. Klinkott et al. (eds.), Geschenke und Steuern, Zölle und Tribute: Antike Abgabenformen in Anspruch und Wirklichkeit. CHANE 29. 98-106. Leiden. Nougayrol, J. 1955. Le Palais royale d’Ugarit III. Textes accadiens et hurrites des archives est, ouest et centrales. Paris. Nougayrol, J. 1968. Nouveaux textes accadiens, hourrites et ugaritiques des archives et bibliothèques privées d’Ugarit : commentaires des textes historiques. Paris. Phelps, W. et al. (eds.) 1999. The Point Iria Wreck: Interconnections in the Mediterranean ca. 1200 B.C. Proceedings of the International Conference, Island of Spetses, 19th September 1998. Athen. Polanyi, K. et al. (eds.) 1957. Trade and Market in the Early Empires: Economies in History and Theory. Glencoe. Polanyi, K. 1963. Ports of Trade in Early Societies. JESHO 23, 30-45. Posener, G. 1947. Les douanes de la Méditerranée dans l’Égypte saite. Revue de Philologie 21, 117-31. Pulak, C. 2005. Das Schiffswrack von Uluburun. In Ü. Yalçın et al. (eds.), Das Schiff von Uluburun : Welthandel vor 3000 Jahren, 55-102. Bochum. Reineke, W. F. 1979. Waren die Swtjw wirklich Kaufleute? AoF 6, 5-14. Römer, M. 1989. Einige Anmerkungen zur Diskussion über die Ökonomie im Alten Ägypten. GM 108, 7-20. Römer, M. 1992. Der Handel und die Kaufleute im Alten Ägypten. SAK 19, 257-84. Römer, M. 2000. Staat und Wirtschaft im Alten Ägypten. Orientalia 69, 407-29. Römer, M. 2007a. Die Aussagekraft der Quellen für das Studium ägyptischer Wirtschaft und Verwaltung (1. Teil). ZÄS 134, 66-81. Römer, M. 2007b. Die Aussagekraft der Quellen für das Studium ägyptischer Wirtschaft und Verwaltung (2. Teil). ZÄS 134, 83-106. Schneider, H. D. et al. 1993. The Tomb of Iniuia: Preliminary Report on the Saqqara Excavations. JEA 79, 1-9.

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Food and Luxury Goods – Animal Remains as an Indicator for Trade Connections Based on the Example of Faunal Material from Ancient Syene/Aswan, Egypt Johanna Sigl by experts.7 My own research hence focuses on the faunal material from Aswan which predominantly consists of common Egyptian domestic livestock: cattle, sheep and goat, pig, dog, cat and donkey. Remains of horses – a species which was first imported in the Second Intermediate Period –8 as well as domestic chickens and camels, which became important to the Egyptian economy after either the Persian or Greek/Roman conquest respectively – though both were known and depicted a lot earlier –,9 were found in the corresponding layers in Aswan. Extensive Nile-fishing as well as the capturing of fowl can be attested throughout the whole existence of the town. Feral and foreign animals are scarce in the material, but will nonetheless be the focus of this article.

The ancient Egyptian town Syene is situated underneath the southern part of the centre of modern Aswan. While Ramessid texts mention swnw as early as the 12th century BC,1archaeological evidence only increases from the Late Period onwards. 2 The Egyptian-Islamic author Maqrizi reported that the town ceased existing in 1402/03 due to a plague claiming many peoples’ lives and local riots against the ruling Mameluk dynasty. Only a small village remained in existence in the northern part of the ancient settlement area until the 19th century.3 As southernmost town of Egypt, Syene functioned – together with its twin-town Elephantine – as military outpost, frontier garrison and trade centre throughout the Egyptian history. Nowadays Aswan faces, like many other Egyptian cities located on ancient sites, the “conflict between the needs of a modern town and the obligation of preserving its historical roots.”4 The ancient strata are threatened by the extension of the modern town. Only a few sites have been granted the status of National Heritage. Many archaeological sites are currently used as dumping place for waste and will sooner or later be destroyed, if no excavation and preservation work is undertaken.5

“The animal world was an extremely important and pervasive element in the lives of the ancient Egyptians. Amid the wide range of daily contact with animals, some creatures served the Egyptians as invaluable sources of food, others were harnessed as beast of burden for tillage, cartage, and as pack animals.”10 They were worshipped as representatives of gods, feared as predators and hunted as prey. The donkey for example is known from many tomb paintings and texts as one of the most important beasts of burden in ancient Egypt. It particularly helped to open the surrounding deserts to Egyptian trade. 11 Nevertheless, as item of trade animals and animal products are hard to prove. The researcher has to keep in mind that

Based on these thoughts and due to the fact that hardly any serious archaeological work had been done in Aswan, the Swiss Institute of Architectural and Archaeological Research on ancient Egypt, Cairo, and the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Aswan, started a joint archaeological project in the old part of the town in October 2000. 6 As yet, rescue excavations have been carried out in more than 50 areas during the course of this project. In addition to architectural remains of the Egyptian, Persian, Ptolemaic, Roman, Christian and Islamic periods, small finds such as pottery, glass, stone, different metals, animal and human remains are studied

1) the wild fauna which is nowadays present in Egypt does not resemble the one of the previous millennia and 7 Further published data concerning the animal remains from Aswan will have to await the finalization of my PhD thesis at the Institute of Egyptology, LMU, Munich. 8 Prof. M. Bietak provided the audience during the conference with most recent information from Tell el-Daba where the so far oldest (16001580 BC) Equus caballus has been excavated (Bietak and ForstnerMüller [forthcoming]). A short note in EA 4 (Anonymus 1994 28) mentions horse skeletons found in Tell el-Kebir from 1750 BC, but as no further publication gives proof of their identification, this note cannot be taken as evidence. The horse finds from Buhen must be excluded from this discussion, too, because of their impeached dating (Braunstein-Silvestre 1984 272-3; Clutton-Brock 1974; Schulman 1980 109-10; etc.). M. Bibby published a theory for the introduction of the horse into Egypt by trade rather than warfare (Bibby 2003 13-8). 9 Chicken: Boessneck 1988 90-1; Darby et al. 1977 297-309; Zorn 2004 20-2. Camel: Boessneck 1988 83; Darby et al. 1977 254-6; Kuhrt 1999 179-84. 10 Houlihan 1996 ix. 11 E.g. the expedition of ¡r-Xwj.f used 300 donkeys to travel to the land of JmA (JAm), 6th Dynasty: Urk I 126, 17; translation: Lichtheim 1973 26; cf. also Boessneck 1988 78-9; Lorenz 2000 73-4.

1

Pilgrim et al. 2004 121. Jaritz and Rodziewicz 1996 238. Unfortunately the dating of the material by means of pottery and coins has not progressed far yet. Therefore, the chronology I am dealing with is a very rough one based on information provided by the former chief excavator K.-C. Bruhn (2000-2004, at present University of Mainz, Germany) and the current chief excavator W. Müller (since 2004, Swiss Institute, Cairo, Egypt), the pottery specialists J. Wininger and S. Martin-Kilcher (University of Bern, Switzerland) as well as M. Hepa (University of Cologne, Germany), who is studying parts of the coin material. In the strata excavated since the beginning of the works of the Swiss Mission a concentration of material from the Late Antique/Roman and Islamic periods is noticeable. 3 Pilgrim et al. 2004 120-1. 4 Pilgrim et al. 2004 119. 5 Pilgrim et al. 2004 119-21. 6 Preliminary reports: Pilgrim et al. 2004 119-48; Pilgrim et al. 2006 215-78; Pilgrim et al.(forthcoming). 2

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animal part fragment of egg shell

no.

area 1

3

prel. dating

human alterations

7th-10th c. AD*

hole drilled through middle

Vertebra cervicalis 4 (neck vertebra) 3rd c AD** Os hyoideum 1 13 (tongue-bone)? Tarsometatarsus 1 end of 4th c. AD* butchery marks at both ends (lower leg bone) fragment of egg shell 1 23 7th-10th c. AD?** * Dating taken from the general preliminary dating of the area. ** Dating by coins, information provided by M. Hepa (University of Cologne, Germany), 2009.

Table 1. Remains of Struthio camelus from Syene/Aswan shown on ancient depictions as an item of prey and tribute, in some cases they are presented to the tomb owner by Nubians.16 Texts mention the land of Punt as their origin. 17 From this evidence a certain amount of imported ostriches, ostrich-eggs and -feathers can be assumed. But can archaeological finds of the bird’s remains consequently be attributed to a Nubian-Egyptian exchange of goods?

2) ancient depictions of animals as well as textual sources are not necessarily evidence for the presence or absence of certain beasts in the Egyptian livestock, environment and trade; 12 the presence of an animal, proven by the archaeological context, does vice versa not automatically result in its depiction or mentioning.13 At the dawn of the Pharaonic civilization Egypt was a land replete with indigenous animal life – similar to modern Ethiopia. But “the large species of game animals such as African Elephant and Giraffe were more than likely completely eradicated north of Aswan by the close of the Early Dynastic period: their demise from the Egyptian landscape was predominantly the result of human disturbances, particularly intensive hunting pressures, … [and] the increasing desiccation of Egypt from the time of the First Dynasty, the result of continuing climate change.”14

In Aswan bones and remains of eggs of Struthio camelus were found in Roman-byzantine context (Table 1). As mentioned above, the ostrich was still present in the Egyptian deserts at that time. W. J. Darby even states that there had been special farms throughout Egypt where the bird was raised. 18 Unfortunately, neither depictions nor textual evidence for the hunting or trade of Struthio nor an ostrich-farm have been found in late Antique Syene. It is hence rather difficult to classify the bird’s remains from the excavations as local or imported goods. Without further proof, such as the analysis of the stable isotopes in the bones, their origin cannot be ascertained. Thus, the ostrich remains from Aswan cannot be attributed to either class yet. The same accounts for most of the other wild species identified in the material such as various gazelles and antelopes, a hyena and a huge bat, rodents, hippos, turtles, crocodiles, fish and fowl.

Some species like the ostrich (Struthio camelus) remained resident in the Egyptian Nile valley. Rare sightings are reported until the 20th century AD. 15 Nevertheless, the bird is generally classified as extinct in modern Egypt. The ostrich itself as well as its feathers and eggs are

How then to prove trading of goods by means of animal remains? W. van Neer from Belgium defines: “Former trade connections or other contacts among distant areas can be illustrated by means of animal remains belonging to species that did not occur in the vicinity of an archaeological site. Such allochthonous species can be imported at a site as living animals, as curiosities, as status symbols or tributes, as fresh or preserved food items, as raw materials for the production of objects, as finished objects, or as items with a symbolic, religious or pecuniary value. Raw materials, such as antler or ivory, or objects made from skeletal parts, can arrive at a site as a result of complex and indirect trade or exchange

12

E.g. various foreign species depicted in the so-called botanical garden of Thutmose III. at Karnak or the domestic chicken and camel mentioned above. 13 E.g. clams and snail: the Nile oyster (Etheria elliptica), the river clam (Aspatharia rubens) and other sweet water shellfish were major food items (Boessneck 1988 145; Darby et al. 1977 415-6); for further examples of their use see below; from a few texts the terms jnr n rA (mw), literally ‘stone of the water’s edge’(jnr n r with the given translation in Andrews 1990 65 without reference; jnr n rA without translation in Wb I 97 referring to pEbers 68,10 and 95, 17; without full transcription, translated with ’sea-shell‘ in Faulkner 1962 23 referring to Ebbell 1929 49-50, where the phrase is discussed at length with the above given translations; jnr n rA mw translated with “*Muschelstückchen; *Schneckenhaus” in Hannig 1995 77 without reference), or jnr n sp.t(j) mw, literally ‘stone of the shore’ (jnr n spt mw with the given translation in Andrews 1990 65 without reference; discussed at length in Ebbell 1929 49-50; not in Wb and Faulkner 1962; jnr n sptj mw translated as “*Muschelstückchen; *Schneckenhaus” in Hannig 1995 77) are known but apart from that, textual evidence for molluscs occurs first in the Ptolemaic Period in the Deipnosophistae written by Athenaeus (Athenaeus: Deipnosophistae 3.85 E-F, 3.87 F and 3.90 C-D); as jewellery/amulets on statues: Andrews 1981 93: J and M; two dimensional depictions are missing entirely – for any further references to these I would be grateful! 14 Houlihan 1996 41. 15 Boessneck 1988 30-1; Houlihan 1996 166.

16

Houlihan 1996 167 and Fig. 30; e.g. the tomb of Baqt III. (no. 15), Beni Hassan, Middle Kingdom (Newberry 1893 Pl. 4); in a New Kingdom tomb in Thebes (Wilkinson 1878 282, Fig. 96); etc. 17 Houlihan 1996 167, 199, 203-4 and 208; e.g. the tomb of Rekhmire (TT 100), Thebes, New Kingdom (Davies 1943 Pls. 17 and 19); etc. 18 Darby et al. 1977 317 following Johnson and West 1949 42 and 211: they mention only one farm for various fowl including ostriches in Armant!

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JOHANNA SIGL: FOOD AND LUXURY GOODS – ANIMAL REMAINS AS AN INDICATOR FOR TRADE CONNECTIONS The Nile Valley itself was one of the main links between Syene and the Mediterranean. 27 Two roads are known, running alongside the river that connected the region of Memphis with the southernmost point of the Egyptian mainland: one on the eastern and one on the western side of the river. Both roads already existed in Pharaonic times and have been verified archaeologically in parts; however, they were first mentioned in the Roman Period.28

processes and the same caveats usually apply to molluscs.”19 Following this definition, a definite trade connection of the ancient town with places further afield cannot be proven for most of the mammal, fish, bird and reptile remains 20 found in Aswan: the household and wild Mammalia as well as the Reptilia are resident in the relevant periods; the identified Aves are either native or still migrating via Egypt; the species of Pisces are nearly exclusively local. Isotopic analyses of the faunal remains could deliver a more distinct result, especially for wild species such as hyena or ivory either from hippos or African elephants. However, a laboratory facility for this purpose has unfortunately not yet been established in Egypt. Bones are therefore shipped to Europe for such analyses. Yet, this is only allowed under very specific circumstances and with the explicit permission of the SCA. In the field as well as for publication the archaeozoologist mostly has to rely on the manual study of the faunal material following the above mentioned criteria to distinguish between imported and local goods.

The remains of marine animals found in the excavations in Aswan were probably brought to the town by merchants or travellers passing through or being resident in the ancient settlements in the area of the first Nile cataract. The vertebra of a shark29 and the dental bone of a parrot fish30 indicate a connection with the Red Sea and the desert trade but cannot provide further information. However, 126 specimens of marine molluscs are more suitable sources for further research. In total 61 shells of 16 different species of clams and snails from the Mediterranean and 69 individuals of 19 species from the Red Sea were identified in the faunal material in Aswan. 31 Six further fragments can be attributed to marine molluscs but have to remain unclassified (Table 2). Because of the early state of my research in this field and the limits of this publication only a short overview over origin and use of some exemplary species will be given.32

There are only two groups of animal remains from Aswan which do indicate trade between Syene and the Mediterranean on one hand as well as the Red Sea on the other hand: the marine molluscs and fish. Caravan routes between the Egyptian Nile valley and the Red Sea existed since the Old Kingdom. 21 They were used for the exploitation of the Eastern Desert for stone and metals and for the voyage to Punt.22 Traffic increased considerably in Greek, Roman and Byzantine times due to additional trade to and with Arabia and India. 23 The shortest and therefore preferred roads started at the Nile valley in Qena, Koptos and Edfu and led to harbours like Abu Shar, Quseir el-Qadim and Berenike troglodytike.24 However, from the current state of research no direct link seems to have connected Aswan with the Red Sea. 25 Trade and traffic rather seems to have followed the Nile northwards towards the mentioned desert tracks or maybe also southwards into Nubia, via Wadi Allaqi or El Kab and Tabot.26

An important sign of royalty in the ancient world was the colour purple. It was produced from purple snails of the family of Muricidae, preferably Trunculariopsis trunculus and Murex brandaris, both residents of the Mediterranean Sea. 33 Aristotle and Pliny the Elder describe the catching of these snails in fish or oyster traps near the coast with baits of carrion or clams, which are their primary food source.34 The extraction of the dye’s base element, a liquid produced in the hypobrachial gland of the snail, is a difficult procedure which has been discussed by many scholars: to achieve 1.4gs of dye 12,000 snails 35 had to be crushed or their hypobrachial glands removed through a small opening of their housing. As sunlight activates the chemical reaction resulting in and permanently fixing the purple-red (Murex brandaris) or purple-blue (Trunculariopsis trunculus) colour, 36 the

19

27

Reese et al. 1986 79-84; Reese 1991 159-96; Neer et al. 2004 101-2. Due to the limits of this article I am not considering bone objects with signs of foreign craftsmanship but am concentrating on the actual animals/species or animal-parts! 21 Sidebotham et al. 2008 153. 22 Graeff 2005 127 and 151-4; Sidebotham et al. 2008 155-6. 23 Hölbl 2005 9; Sidebotham and Wendrich 1996 15-8; Sidebotham et al. 2008 156-8; for a description of the known routes till Roman times: Graeff 2005 127-84. 24 Graeff 2005 127-84; Hölbl 2005 8, Fig. 5; Sidebotham et al. 2008 329-43. 25 Nowadays the Halaieb-Aswan-Road connects Aswan with the Red Sea emerging more or less directly at Berenike, which is on the same latitude as Aswan. A putative road through Wadi al-Hudi and via Abraq is denoted in Sidebotham et al. 2008 331, Fig. 14.2. There is no study of this stretch of the eastern desert but a survey is planned by S. Sidebotham (e-mail correspondence, October 2009). 26 Graeff 2005 183-4; Hikade 2001 69-71; Magid 2004 165-8.

For a discussion on its importance as trade route in Pharaonic times see: Graeff 2005 195-9. 28 Graeff 2005 185-93. 29 Approx. first millennium AD (dating by stratigraphy and pottery; information provided by W. Müller [Swiss Institute, Cairo, Egypt], 2007). 30 Approx. 4th-5th century (dating by coins, information provided by M. Hepa [University of Cologne, Germany], 2009). 31 There are different kinds of small Cypraeidae resident in both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. As the majority of the identifiable species found in Aswan came from subtropical waters, the Cypraeidae will be counted as examples for Red Sea origin in total in this article. 32 The article is a work in progress and not yet exhaustive! 33 Melzer et al. 2001 32-3. 34 Aristoteles: Historia Animalium V.13.6; Plinius: Naturalis Historia IX.61.132; cf. Melzer et al. 2001 35. 35 Friedländer 1909 765-70. 36 Cooksey 2001 754-5; Melzer et al. 2001 33.

20

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT

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JOHANNA SIGL: FOOD AND LUXURY GOODS – ANIMAL REMAINS AS AN INDICATOR FOR TRADE CONNECTIONS work had to be done in a darkened environment until the cloth, ready to be crimsoned, had been soaked in the salted, cooked and filtered remains of the snails. 37 Because of this complicated procedure, purple was highly priced and restricted to the aristocracy. Its price has not changed much since, even though it is seldom used for colouring nowadays.38 First archaeological evidence for the production of purple dye has been found in Coppa Nevigata, Apulia, dating to the 18th/19th century BC.39 The height of the trade of the colorant came with the Phoenicians, who also produced the famous Tyrian or imperial purple, named after its main production centre at Tyros.40 In Roman times purple production was often connected to the manufacture of fish-sauce and pickled fish due to the similarities in their respective processing mechanisms.41 Along the Egyptian northern coast shells of Muricidae are still found nowadays in great numbers around Graeco-Roman settlements such as Pelusium.42

Table 2. Marine molluscs from Syene\Aswan

In Aswan specimen of both Murex brandaris and Trunculariopsis trunculus were found (table 2). All are more or less complete and show no signs of opening for the removal of the hypobrachial gland. Moreover, as they would have had to be alive for the production of purple dye, these specimens were most probably not used in this way. It could be assumed that they were traded as sea food. 43 However, to keep meat from decaying during long-distance transport in a hot climate, it has to be processed by salting, drying or smoking beforehand. 44 The snail would have had to be removed from its shell for this procedure and the housing subsequently thrown away. The empty shells of these Muricidae found at Aswan were most probably taken to the south merely out of curiosity and because of their decorative value. The dog cockle or comb shell (Glycymeris sp.) lives in sandy grounds in a depth of 10m and more all throughout the Mediterranean.45 Its clams are often found along the drift line of the sea. In some areas in Egypt they can also be found eroded out of quaternary sandstones. 46 The shells’ meat is very tough without further processing. In modern France and Portugal it is salted for several hours before cooking, making the meat durable and soft enough to eat.47

37

Melzer et al. 2001 34; cf. also Cooksey 2001 736-96. Melzer et al. 2001 31-2. 39 Minniti 2005 72; cf. also Forstenpointner et al. 2007 145; a concentration of Muricidae from the Early Helladic period from Greek Aegina Kolonna has inadvertently been treated as the first evidence for purple-production but they are more likely remains of food (Forstenpointner et al. 2007 145; Driesch and Boessneck 1983 660). 40 Melzer et al. 2001 31. 41 Curtis 1991 65 and 128. 42 Own observation in spring 2009. 43 It is the main use of Muricidae nowadays: Melzer et al. 2001 32; cf. also von den Driesch and Boessneck 1983 660. 44 Ikram 2000 656-71. 45 Falkner 1982 158. 46 Falkner 1982 158. 47 Batista et al. 1999 31-3. 38

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT as jewellery, too. On the other hand, however, a connotation as means of defence against evil cannot be attested without further proof.

Salting meat as a means to prolonging its edibility has been a common way to preserve food in ancient Egypt, too. 48 In the Greek, Roman and Byzantine cuisine fish was pickled – called salsamenta – or fermented to achieve fish-sauce. 49 Especially the latter was an important food-item and sold in a wide variety of qualities – called garum, liquamen, haimaton and allec/muria.50 In Egypt fish-sauce is not reported before the Roman conquest and only became popular from the 3rd century AD onwards. 51 Production centres in the northern countries surrounding the Mediterranean preferred tuna and mackerel to produce it. 52 In places where this kind of fish was not available, however, the recipe was slightly altered to fit the local resources: while it was made of shell-fish in some cases, 53 it has been proven that it was made from Nile fish in Egypt.54 So far the southernmost point where the remains of Egyptian fish-sauce were found is Shanhur, north of Luxor.55 The excavators at Aswan brought further proof to light: they unearthed an amphora of Egyptian origin in house 9 of the Late Antique settlement area south of the temple of Isis.56

There are many different species of cowries (Cypraea sp.) native in tropical and subtropical seas such as the Indo-Pacific and the Red Sea. 61 Their habitat 62 in flat water areas between stones and vegetation makes them easy to collect. They do not seem to have been an item of food, but, following O. Schneider’s interpretation, they were “das nach Zeit und Raum am weitesten verbreitete …, auch heute noch gebrauchte Muschelgeld der Erde”63. The small Cypraea moneta was used as a currency especially in Asia and Eastern Africa.64 But there is no proof that cowries were utilized in this way in ancient Egypt.65 In Pharaonic times Cypraea annulus, Cypraea moneta and other such specimen were favoured items on necklaces, bracelets and especially on girdles. 66 For beading they were either punctured on both ends67 or the backs of the shells were completely removed, so that they formed a low oval ring which narrowed to a slit (=aperture) on one side. 68 E. d’Amicone mentions that “… folk culture attributed a strong value of fecundity to cowry-shells”69 because of its resemblance to the female genitalia70 “and it is probably for that reason that they are represented encircling the hips of Egyptian female figurines, …” 71 . Sir W. Flinders Petrie bases his interpretation of their relevance as protection from the evil eye and witchery on the same reasons. 72 The importance the cowry had due to these attributes was probably also the motivation for the copying of true shells in noble metals like gold and silver.73

Had the Glycymeridae once been used as a base for fish sauce, too? In their respective context no further evidence is pointing towards this interpretation. 13 of the shells had been smoothed naturally or artificially. Six further clams had been punctured at the umbo, the part where the lock of the shells is located. One of these specimens was blackened on the inside. In the archaeological excavations at the Nubian Middle Kingdom cemetery El-Kubanieh various molluscs, including a Glycymeris sp., containing remains of a grey paste, were found in context with cosmetic utensils. They were interpreted as vessels for make-up.57 The blackened Glycymeris glycymeris from Aswan could hence have had a similar use before it was pierced. The smoothened shells had either been shaped for holding make-up or similar substances or they were kept for their decorative value.

Their popularity brought the snails’ shells far into the Western Desert: finds from Neolithic as well as RomanoByzantine sites prove a long established trade connection. 74 In Aswan 22 specimen of mostly small Cypraeidae were found. Another 11 pieces were identified as Tiger-cowries (Cypraea cf. tigris)75, which

Sir W. Flinders Petrie mentions that Glycymeridae and other species of shells were worn as amulets against witchcraft and the evil eye.58 He published a Glycymeris violascens that had been pierced at the umbo for use as pendant on a necklace. 59 Similarly worked shells are known from many excavations. 60 The six punctured specimens from Aswan can consequently be interpreted

61

Poutiers 1998 491-506; cf. note 31 of this article! Falkner 1981 141. 63 Schneider 1905 101. 64 Boessneck 1988 147. 65 Falkner 1981 141. 66 Andrews 1981 94: M, Pls. 25: 274 and 32: 414; Boessneck 1988 1467. 67 Andrews 1981 Pl. 1: third row, left. 68 Falkner 1981 141. 69 D’Amicone 1984-85 65. 70 Andrews 1990 173. 71 D’Amicone 1984-85 65; e.g. Andrews 1990 Fig. 156; they seem not to have been found in male burials in contrary to other species of molluscs (e.g. Andrews 1981 87), which underlines their female connotation. (This was noted while preparing the article at hand; further studies have to verify the suggestion!) 72 Petrie 1914 27, no. 107. 73 Andrews 1990 65 and Figs. 1 and 39. 74 Churcher 1993 2. 75 Cypraea pantherina looks very similar to Cypraea tigris but in agreement with A. von den Driesch (emeritus, Institute for Palaeoanatomy, Munich) the shells from Aswan were identified as mentioned. 62

48

Ikram 2000 663-8; Lehner 1997 237; Sarhage 1998 126-7. Curtis 1991 10-3. Curtis 1991 6-8 and 14. 51 Drexhage 1993 54; Sidebotham et al. 2008 185. 52 Curtis 1991 11-4; cf. e.g. Geoponica: 20.46.1-6. 53 Curtis 1991 14. 54 Neer et al. 2006; Neer et al. 2007; etc. 55 Neer and Depraetere 2005 162-166. 56 Sigl (forthcoming). 57 Junker 1920 83-4, 119, 146, 166 and Pl. 14, lower left edge. 58 Petrie 1914 27, nos. 107, 111 and 114. 59 Petrie 1914 27, no. 114 and sentence in brackets above the description, Pl. 14. 60 E.g. Andrews 1981 Pl. 2: petunculus; Petrie 1914 Pl. 14, no. 111; etc. 49 50

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JOHANNA SIGL: FOOD AND LUXURY GOODS – ANIMAL REMAINS AS AN INDICATOR FOR TRADE CONNECTIONS can reach a length of up to 15cms and have a solid shell.76 These specimens were parts of jewellery77 or, thanks to their strong housing, served as raw material for it. Two of the Tiger-cowries and eight of the small individuals had been worked to beads as described above.78 The find of a further specimen, of which only the back part is preserved, indicates the way cowry-beads were produced: the shells were not rasped flat but sawn neatly in half.

valuable metals (with inlays of glass and stone) 85 had been jewellery items of women. 86 Some shells or their reproductions were decorated with the names of kings of the 12th Dynasty. 87 The oyster-necklace-pedants88 could hence mostly be dated to the reigns of Senusret I-III respectively.89 Few examples and depictions prove their use until the New Kingdom.90 K. Butterweck-Abdel-Rahim follows C. Aldred’s interpretation91, who assumes that the introduction of the pearl-oyster to Egypt happened when Nubian soldiers, who wore them as protective amulets, doubling the effect by adding the name of the ruling king, were integrated into the Egyptian army during the 11th Dynasty.92 With the integration they abandoned their amulets in favour of Egyptian ones. However, E. D’Amicone argues that the appearance of the shells and the above mentioned cowries is connected with the expansion of the Egyptian empire to the east and the re-established travels to Punt after the First Intermediate Period: the shells had been insignia of participants in the royal commercial expeditions. 93 Nevertheless, the oyster became female jewellery at the latest from the 12th Dynasty onwards. 94 Its amuletcharacter stayed, proven by its ancient Egyptian name wDA, ‘sound, whole, healthy’.95

The dating of two of these worked molluscs should be mentioned: one came from an early first century AD layer, the other from an Islamic stratum (Table 2). 79 Moreover, these beads are still used today, showing the continuation of a jewellery item well into modern times. It can only be assumed that the cowry was still used as a symbol for female fecundity and protection against the evil eye in the Islamic Middle Ages in Egypt. Nowadays it is used as oracle in Africa or, based on incidents during the times of the slave trade, seen as a symbol for personal luck.80 One of the largest species of molluscs identified in the material from Aswan is the pearl-oyster (Pinctada margaritifera). It is widespread throughout the Pacific and also native in the Red Sea. The shell’s maximum height is 25cms. Its dark pearls are highly prized and its thick clams deliver a vast amount of white to reddish or greenish-black mother-of-pearl.81

So far none of the four Pinctadae margaritiferae from Aswan can be dated but the areas they were found in contained layers from the Late Period to the Islamic Middle Ages. Neither of them was punctured nor bore a royal name. The outmost layer of the shell was still intact in all cases. One Pinctada was slightly abraded at the inner rim, maybe to smooth and round it. Apart from that no signs of human alteration were visible. They were most probably brought to the Nile valley solely for decorative reasons or as raw material for smaller jewellery items. It might be questionable if the mother-ofpearl from pearl-oysters was similarly high in value as the pearls themselves, but trade in these shells can nonetheless be assumed to have been profitable.

In Nubia pearl-oysters (Pinctada sp.) were used as rawmaterials for jewellery as well as jewellery items from earliest times onwards. Various small objects worked from its mother-of-pearl were found in pan-grave dating contexts and well into Roman and early Christian times.82 Most Egyptian examples of whole pearl-oyster shells or their copies in noble metal came from Dashur, Lahun and Lisht.83 Unfortunately the find contexts of most of these pieces are lost. Only three examples could be retraced to the burials of persons of probably military rank 84 but especially the plain Pinctadae made from shell and

In summary: from the nearly identical number of molluscs and species from both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea no tendency towards a stronger relation to

76

Poutiers 1998 495. E.g. of one specimen only a part of the aperture was found, which had been polished flat and decorated with small concentric ring motives. 78 Cf. the Cypraea pantherina in: Petrie 1914 Pl. 14: 107a. 79 It seems that cowries used during the earliest phases of the Egyptian culture were more likely punctured at each end for the cord (e.g. Petrie 1914 Pl. 14: 107b) while the removal of the back of the shell started in the Middle Kingdom (e.g. in Falkner 1981 141; Petrie 1914 Pls. 14: 107c, 18 and 19). An exception would be an as Cypraea pantherina identified specimen (Petrie 1914 Pl. 14: 107a) from prehistoric Naqada: in the publication it looks as if the back part of the shell had been removed, but this could be due to editorial reasons as well. (This was noted while preparing the article at hand; further studies have to verify the suggestion!). 80 Qurban and Engels 2007 2, note 2; Signer 2000 46-8. 81 Poutiers 1998 185. The legendary pearls from the bet between Cleopatra and Mark Antony, in which the queen boasted she would have a meal worth 10 million sestertii (Plinius: Naturalis Historia IX.58.119-121), could have been from Pinctada margaritifera (Engels 2007). 82 Lucas and Harris 1962 38. 83 Andrews 1990 Fig. 154; D’Amicone 1984-85 63-5 with Figs. 1-2 and note 2; David 2002 42; etc. 84 Butterweck-Abdel-Rahim 2002 51: a shell bought by H. Winlock and one excavated by Lady W. Cecil – both contexts are very vague; the third object was found together with a male mummy: David 2002 37-48. 77

85

Andrews 1981 Pl. 32: 407; Andrews 1990 Figs. 157: c, 154 and 166. Andrews 1981 93: J; Butterweck-Abdel-Rahim 2002 51. Andrews 1981 93: H and Pl. 32: 406; Arkell 1944 74; D’Amicone 1984-85 66 and Fig. 1; David 2002 41-2; etc. 88 D’Amicone 1984-85 65-6. 89 Butterweck-Abdel-Rahim 2002 50; David 1984-85 66. 90 Andrews 1981 93: J; Andrews 1990 180; Butterweck-Abdel-Rahim 2002 51. 91 Aldred 1952 131-2. 92 Butterweck-Abdel-Rahim 2002 51. 93 D’Amicone 1984-85 67-70; she also announced a study in work on the connection between the origin of the bearers and the actual find spots of the Pinctada-amulets. As far as I know such a study has never been published. 94 Andrews 1990 180; Butterweck-Abdel-Rahim 2002 51-2. 95 Andrews 1990 180 without reference; wDAw as name of any kind of amulet or spell for protection in Wb I 401 with a long list of references; wDA “pectoral (?)” in Faulkner 1962 75 referring to Urk IV 871,9; 873,8; 870,16; Urk IV 1859, 12 and 1880,10; wDAw “*Muschel-Halskette” in Hannig 1995 232 without reference. 86 87

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT either origin can be attested.96 The mentioned fish-sauce of Greco-roman origin can be interpreted as additional evidence for a specific link with the Mediterranean area, while the two marine fish-bones clearly point towards a connection with the Red Sea.

D’Amicone, E. 1984-85. Cowry-Shells and PearlOysters. BSEG 9/10, 63-70. Darby, W. J. et al. 1977. Food. The Gift of Osiris I. London, New York, San Francisco. David, R. 2002. The Riqqeh Pectoral in the Manchester Museum. In H. Győry (ed.), Mélanges offerts à Edith Varga. Bulletin du Musée Hongrois des Beaux-Arts Suppl. 37-48. Budapest. Davies, N. de G. 1943. The Tomb of Rekh-mi-rē´ At Thebes, Vol. 2. PMMA 11. New York. Drexhage, H.-J. 1993. Garum und Garumhandel im römischen und spätantiken Ägypten. Münstersche Beiträge zur antiken Handelsgeschichte 12, 27-55. Driesch, A. v. d. and Boessneck, J. 1983. Schneckengehäuse und Muschelschalen aus Didyma. AA 1983, 653-72. Ebbell, B. 1929. Die ägyptischen Drogennamen. ZÄS 64, 48-54. Engels, A. 2007. Perlmuscheln. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perlmuscheln. Accessed on 3 November 2009. Falkner, G. 1981. Mollusca. In T. G. H. James (ed.), The Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqara. EEF 50. 140-4. London. Falkner, G. 1982. Molluskenfunde aus Ausgrabungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Kairo im Satettempel auf Elephantine. In J. Boessneck and A. v. d. Driesch (eds.), Studien an subfossilen Tierknochen aus Ägypten. MÄS 40. 152-66. Berlin, Munich. Faulkner, R. O. 1962. A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian. Reprinted 1991. Oxford. Forstenpointner, G. et al. 2007. Saitenspiel und Purpurschimmer – archäozoologische Ehrengaben aus dem späthelladischen Ägina Kolonna. In E. AlramStern and G. Nightingale (eds.), Keimelion. Elitenbildung und elitärer Konsum von der mykenischen Palastzeit bis zur homerischen Epoche, 141-50. Vienna. Friedländer, P. 1909. Über den Farbstoff des antiken Purpurs aus Murex brandaris. Berichte der Deutschen Chemische Gesellschaft 42, 765-70. Graeff, J.-P. 2005. Die Straßen Ägyptens. Berlin. Hannig, R. 1995. Großes Handwörterbuch ÄgyptischDeutsch. Mainz. Hikade, T. 2001. Das Expeditionswesen im Ägyptischen Neuen Reich: ein Beitrag zu Rohstoffversorgung und Außenhandel. SAGA 21. Heidelberg. Hölbl, G. 2005. Altägypten im Römischen Reich. Der römische Pharao und seine Tempel III. Mainz. Houlihan, P. F. 1996. The Animal World of the Pharaohs. Cairo. Ikram, S. 2000. Meat processing. In P. T. Nicholson and I. Shaw (eds.), Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. 656-71. Cambridge. Jaritz, H. and Rodziewicz, M. 1996. Syene: Investigation of the Urban Remains in the Vicinity of the Temple of Isis 2. MDAIK 52, 233-49. Johnson, A. C. and West, L. C. 1949. Byzantine Egypt: Economic Studies. Princeton. Junker, H. 1920. Bericht über die Grabungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien auf den

The four species of molluscs described above had all been used as items of jewellery or raw materials for the production of jewellery; the same accounts for most of the here unmentioned species. The various values of the shells as amulets of certain connotations show their importance as items of trade. Due to the still missing dating of most of the areas a chronological classification of the finds cannot be presented yet. Although further studies have to be awaited, Syene’s importance as a point of trade and entrepôt from Pharaonic times till Islamic Egypt is further underlined by these few pieces of evidence. References Aldred, C. 1952. A pearl shell disk of Ammenemes II. JEA 38, 130-2. Andrews, C. A. R. 1981. Catalogue of Egyptian Antiquities in the British Museum IV. Jewellery I. London. Andrews, C. A. R. 1990. Ancient Egyptian Jewellery. London. Anonymus 1994. Hyksos horse. EA 4, 28. Arkell, A. J. 1944. A Mother-of-pearl Shell Disk of Senwosret III. JEA 40, 74. Batista, I. et al. 1999. Tenderisation of the dog cockle (Glycymeris glycymeris) meat by polyphosphates. European Food Research and Technology 210, 31-3. Bibby, M. 2003. The Arrival of the Horse in Egypt: New Approaches and a Hypothesis. In R. Ives et al. (eds.), Current Research in Egyptology III, 13-8. Oxford. Bietak, M. and Forstner-Müller, I. (forthcoming) Der Hyksospalast bei Tell el-Dab'a. Zweite und Dritte Grabungskampagne. ÄUL 19. Boessneck, J. 1988. Die Tierwelt des Alten Ägypten. Munich. Braunstein-Silvestre, F. 1984. Quand le cheval arrive-t-il en Egypte? In L. Krzyzaniak and M. Kobusiewicz (eds.), Origin and early development of foodproducing Cultures in North-Eastern Africa, 21775. Poznań. Butterweck-Abdel-Rahim, K. 2002. Untersuchungen zur Ehrung verdienter Beamter. Aegyptiaca Monasteriensia 3. Aachen. Churcher, C. S. 1993. Romano-Byzantine and Neolithic Diets in Dakhleh Oasis. BCIMS 13.2, 1-2. Clutton-Brock, J. 1974. The Buhen Horse. JAS 1, 89-100. Cooksey, C. J. 2001. Tyrian Purple: 6,6´-Dibromindigo and Related Compounds. Molecules 6, 736-69. Curtis, R. I. 1991. Garum und Salsamenta. Cologne, Leiden, New York, Kopenhagen.

96

In contrary to Falkner 1982 152; cf. also Katzmann 1990 110.

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JOHANNA SIGL: FOOD AND LUXURY GOODS – ANIMAL REMAINS AS AN INDICATOR FOR TRADE CONNECTIONS Friedhöfen von El-Kubanieh-Nord. Winter 19101911. Denkschriften der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien 64.3. Vienna. Katzmann. L. 1990. Tierknochenfunde aus Elephantine in Oberägypten. Vögel, Fische, Reptilien und Mollusken. Munich. Kuhrt, A. 1999. The Exploitation of the Camel in the Neo-Assyrian Empire. In A. Leahy and J. Tait (eds.), Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honour of H. S. Smith. EES-OP 13. 179-84. London. Lehner, M. 1997. Geheimnis der Pyramiden. Berlin. Lichtheim, M. 1973. Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms. Berkeley. Lorenz, G. 2000. Tiere im Leben der alten Kulturen. Alltag und Kultur im Altertum 5. Cologne, Vienna, Weimar. Lucas, A. and Harris, J. R. 1962. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries. London. Magid, A. 2004. The Site of Tabot: An Old Waystation in the Southern Red Sea Hills, Sudan. Meroitica 21, 155-72. Melzer, R. R. et al. 2001. Farben aus dem Meer. Biologie in unserer Zeit 31.1 30-9. Minniti, C. 2005. Shells at the Bronze Age Settlement of Coppa Nevigata (Apulia, Italy). In D. Bar-Yosef Mayer (ed.), Archaeomalacology, 71-81. Oxford. Neer, W. v. and Depraetere, D. 2005. Pickled fish from the Egyptian Nile: osteological evidence from a Byzantine (Coptic) context at Shanhûr. Revue de Paléobiologie Vol. spéc. 10, 159-70. Neer, W. v. et al. 2004. Fish Remains from Archaeological Sites as Indicators of Former trade Connections in the Eastern Mediterranean. Paléorient 30.1, 101-47. Neer, W. v. et al. 2006. The Roman trade in salted Nilotic fish products: some examples from Egypt. Documenta Archaeobiologiae 4, 173-88. Neer, W. v. et al. 2007. Salted fish products from the Coptic monastery at Bawit, Egypt: evidence from bones and texts. In H. Hüster Plogmann (ed.), The role of fish in ancient time. Proceedings of the 13th Meeting of the ICAZ Fish Remains Working Group in October 4th – 9th, Basel, August 2005, 147-59. Rahden. Newberry, P. E. 1893. Beni Hasan, Vol. 1. London. Petrie, W. F. M. 1914. Amulets. London. Pilgrim, C. v. et al. 2004. The Town of Syene. Preliminary Report on the 1st and 2nd Season in Aswan. MDAIK 60, 121-48. Pilgrim, C. v. et al. 2006. The Town of Syene. Preliminary Report on the 3rd and 4th Season in Aswan. MDAIK 62, 215-78. Pilgrim, C. v. et al. (forthcoming). The Town of Syene. Preliminary Report on the 5th and 6th Season in Aswan. MDAIK 64. Poutiers, J. M. 1998. Bivalves. Gastropods. In K. E. Carpenter and V. E. Niem (eds.), The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific 1, 123-648. Rome. Qurban, Q. and Engels, J. N. 2007. Der Sieg der KauriMuscheln.

http://www.fes.de/in_afrika/documents/SB_Benin_Pa rl_wahl_07.pdf. Accessed on 5 November 2009. Reese, D. 1991. The trade of Indo-Pacific shells from the Mediterranean basin and Europe. OJA 10, 159-96. Reese, D. et al. 1986. On the trade of shells and fish from the Nile River. BASOR 264, 79-84. Sarhage, D. 1998. Fischfang und Fischkult im Alten Ägypten. Kulturgeschichte der Antiken Welt 70. Mainz. Schneider, O. 1905. Muschelgeld-Studien. Dresden. Schulman, A. R. 1980. Chariots, Chariotry, and the Hyksos. JSSEA 10, 263-71. Sidebotham, S. and Wendrich, W. 1996. Berenike: Roman Egypt’s maritime gateway to Arabia and India. EA 8, 15-8. Sidebotham, S. et al. 2008. The Red Land. Cairo, New York. Sigl, J. (forthcoming) More than just Fish and Fowl – The Animal bones from Ancient Syene/ Aswan, Egypt. In Organización de Jóvenes en Investigación Arqueológica (eds.), Actas de las II Jornandas de Jóvenes en Investigación Arqueológica, Madrid, 6-8 de Mayo de 2009. Signer, D. 2000. “Wer steckt dahinter?” – Hexerei in Afrika. Magazin der Universität Zürich 4/2000, 46-8. Wilkinson, J. G. W. 1878. Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, Vol. 1. London. Zorn, O. 2004. Hahn im Korb: Ein memphitisches Grabrelief. Amun 6.20 20-2.

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Maritime Study on North- and Southbound Trade: the Red Sea Harbours Alessandra Siragusa main areas (Figure 1): a northern, a central and a southern one.4

This paper briefly discusses some key evidence of the extensive trade taking place in the Red Sea. The emphasis is on the importance of maritime links between the North and South, in relation to commercial activities from mainland to the coasts, and in the coastal range.

Firstly in the northern area, during most of the year, the prevailing wind blows in from the north, from June to September. During this period, the wind is at its strongest in comparison to the rest of the year, while it loses strength during the autumn months, from October to December, and then regains its strength from January through March.

Economic and commercial activities in the Red Sea are established for all phases of Egyptian history but the focus of this analysis is primarily on the period from the Predynastic to the early Roman times, making references to the Red Sea routes southward, especially those leading to and from the Land of Punt.

Secondly, the central area shows more mixed conditions, characterised by a northern wind during the summer and a southern wind in winter; on average the wind in this area is less strong than in the Northern area.

Some iconographic data suggest that maritime routes existed in the Red Sea from very early times onwards. Rock carvings, in the Eastern Desert, for instance, depict oared boats of the Predynastic Naqada II (c. 3500-3100 BC), most probably recording the seafaring expeditions of this period.1

Finally, the southern area is characterised by northerly winds in summer, which are most intense in September. While during winter, when the condition is reversed (i.e. with prevailing southerly winds), the wind blows with high strength from October to December and moderates from January to March.

The Red Sea develops an important role in trade connections with the Mediterranean, Indian and Asian coastlines. The study of the trade and exchange systems across the Red Sea involves not only an understanding of the sailing techniques and related knowhow, but also the nature of the materials and items transported. The procuring and controlling of certain raw materials led to the growth of commercial exchanges between empires, as well as increasing their power.

In the Gulf of Aden, there is a prevailing wind blowing in through the Gulf (from the Indian Ocean) during the winter and out through the Gulf in summer. The presence of persistent northerly winds certainly created difficulties for northward sailing on the Red Sea. For this reason trade routes were utilised when the winds in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean were most favourable.

Frankincense and myrrh were considered essential Egyptian supplies.2 In fact, there is well-established evidence that the expeditions to Punt, were related to the procurement of myrrh, aromatics and other goods.3

Pliny5 tells that the ships sailing from India to Egypt “after entering the Red Sea” continued their voyages with a south-west or south wind. This means that the navigation was impacted by the effect of the Indian monsoon. From October to March/April, in fact, a southerly wind blows in the southern half of the Red Sea (at the latitude of Jeddah and Aydhab).6

Seafaring and navigation on the Red Sea depended on many factors such as its own geographical morphology, the nature of winds and of sea currents the vessels encountered. The prevailing wind direction in the Red Sea area is an important factor in understanding the decisions the Egyptians took concerning the use of specific sailing vessels and mooring ports. In this regard, consideration must be made for the intensity of the wind during the seasons. By examining the wind patterns prevailing over the Red Sea (taking into consideration force and direction), it is possible to divide the Red Sea in three

Sailing northward had to be far from simple and it would have required great seamanship and special local knowledge about weather and winds in the different seasons, in order to be able to navigate a secure coastal route (one which allowed ships to sail against the wind direction).

                                                            

4 Source of the data on Red Sea wind are from Davies and Morgan 1995 29-30. 5 Plinius Secundus Gaius, Naturalis Historia VI 106: “Ex India renavigant mense Aegyptio Tybi incipiente, nostro Decembri, aut utique Mechiris Aegyptii intra diem sextum, quod fit intra idus Ianuarias nostras: ita evenit ut eodem anno remeent. Navigant autem ex India Vento volturno et, cum intravere Rubrum mare, Africo Vel austro. Nunc revertemur ad propositum.” 6 Royal Navy UK 1980.

1

Krzyzaniak 1977; Wilkinson 2003; Zarins 1996. 2 They were used in religion, medicine and magic, cosmetics and other activities of the daily life, see Plisson 2005. 3 The Napata Stela of Thutmose III says (Urk I 1227-43): “The foreign land extracts for me everything good that is in it, which it had hidden from other kings. It spread them out [...] all kinds of sweet-smelling herbs that grow in Punt, and everything good from the southern land”, translation after Cumming 1982.

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Figure. 1 Wind regime

Figure. 2 Seasonal current variations

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ALESSANDRA SIRAGUSA: MARITIME STUDY ON NORTH- AND SOUTHBOUND TRADE: THE RED SEA HARBOURS The locations of maritime halts or ports can be explained by the Red Sea’s natural condition but also keeping in mind the journey’s final destination. Sailors had to resort to natural mooring grounds offered by coastal bays (mersa).

The navigation of sailing vessels was mainly dependent on the winds and the dominant currents in the Red Sea which, as mentioned before, are characterised by remarkable seasonal alterations7. Ships coming up from the south, at the latitude of Berenice, encountered contrary winds and currents.8 While sailing along the Arabian coastline, it was possible to come quite close to the entrance of the Gulf of Aqaba, but returning from there to Egypt was a complicated matter. Winds and currents in the Gulf of Suez from the north to the south made it extremely difficult and dangerous to sail back to the head of the Gulf.9 However, an alternating current, supported by the wind, forced ships from the Arabian to the Egyptian coast and brought them into the vicinity of Mersa Gawasis and Quseir (Figure 2).

A main literary source for Red Sea trade is The Periplus Mari Erythraei, a sort of anonymous merchant’s guide dating to the 1st century AD, which reveals a picture of inland states actively engaged in maritime trade.12 The work lists ports, markets and commodities, and classifies the marts or trading-places as emporia. Unfortunately, we don’t have a similar kind of seafaring guide for Pharaonic times. If we consider the geographical situation of the Egyptian maritime stations on the Red Sea, we can see that Mersa Gawasis and Quseir are placed in the north, very close to each other (30 miles), while Berenice is about 200 miles to the South. What was the purpose of building the two harbours at such a close distance? It is reasonable to think that it was mainly due to the choice of the journey’s destination, as well as the uncertain geographical and environmental conditions, plus the need for an easier and safer connection to the final inland destination. After all these considerations, the importance of the link between stations on the seashore and the Nile Valley becomes obvious.

Detailed data on the Red Sea currents are lacking, partially because these currents are weak and variable both spatially and temporally; this characteristic is mainly due to the fact that the currents are all governed by the wind.10 In summer North-West winds drive the surface water to south, for approximately four months, at a speed of 15 to 20 cm/s, but in winter, the flow is reversed, which means that the water now flows from the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea. Another important consideration about sailing in the Red Sea is the presence of coral reefs along the coastline. These reefs further complicate the possibility of smooth navigation and mooring.

In his study regarding the sailing capability of Roman ships in the Red Sea, J. Whitewright13 identifies three potential routes from the Red Sea to the Nile, based on the known locations of ports and road systems in the area. His study offers some indications about the length of time needed for a journey:

The rich coral reef extends along the coastline for about 2000kms. It is a particular kind of coral reef, typical of the Tropics, called a Fringing reef. It is located in the proximity of the shoreline. It grows as a thin strip along the seashore at a rate of about 2 to 7mm per year. It is from 5000 to 7000 years old and is largely formed by stony acropora and porites corals.

1. From Berenice to Coptos transport by land took 12 days. 2. From Berenice to Coptos via Quseir arranging a sea transport along the coast from Berenice to Quseir for a distance of 200 miles took five days (1,9-2,5 knots) and from here a transport by land took seven days. In total the journey took about 12 days.

Due to the Red Seas’ natural foundation, vessels sailed only during the day, putting in toward nightfall at the nearest available anchorage. K. Kitchen11 locates 130 potential anchorages on the West Coast of Red Sea, but only 50-60 on the eastern one. He divides the Sea into seven main zones and inside each zone the anchorages are established at regular-short distances (c. 10-15 miles) from each to the other, apart from a few rare exceptions.

3. From Quseir to Coptos transport by land took about seven days. Hence, a focus point is the Red Sea connection with the Egyptian interior and above all with the main routes to Nile Valley from the seashore. Canals had a paramount role in the diffusion and good functioning of the economic life linked to the Sea.

His study lists possible inlets and coves suitable for harbouring boats and ships. He identifies every location as an inlet, shore, bay, cove or anchorage, depending on their geographical and environmental features.

The connection in the eastern desert areas comprises trails that leave the Nile Valley and extend to the Red Sea Coast. The main east–west routes to the sea were (Figure 3) the followings.

7

Facey 2004 7-18. The geographic position of Berenice was eminently suitable since it was a natural harbour, protected against the prevailing northern winds by a large peninsula, see Murray 1967 24-33. 9 Starkey 2005 173-84. 10 Fabre 2005 39-42. 11 Kitchen 2007 131-42. 8

12 13

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Casson 1989 55-65. Whitewright 2007.

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT

Figure. 3 General west–east trails to the coast 1. Wadi Hammamat:14 located about half way between Coptos and Quseir.

2. Wadi Araba, at the same latitude as Fayum, ran to the sea after a journey of 145kms.

2. Wadi Gasus: the trail from Qena to Philoteras.

3. Wadi Tumilat,17 a route between the Nile and the Isthmus of Suez.

3. The trail through the Wadi Atalla and the Wadi Gawasis to the harbour of Mersa Gawasis

Wadi Tumilat ran from West to East between the Eastern side of the Upper Delta and the Lake of Timsa. This 58km strip of land situated between Saft el-Henna and Ismailia was cut across by the freshwater canal and the old road joining Heliopolis to the Suez Canal.

4. The trail from the region of Coptos to Berenice. 5. The trail through the Wadi Barramiya, near Edfu, reached the coast around Mersa Tundaba.

In ancient times the Nile was said to have seven mouths. According to Herodotus two of them were artificial.18 The easternmost of the seven arms of the Nile used to flow into the Red Sea, through the depression of Wadi Tumilat, into the area taken up by the Bitter Lakes and from there to the southern Red Sea.19 This gave a direct naval link to East Africa, Arabia and possibly even India. The Tumilat canal seems to have become repeatedly obstructed and reconnected.

6. The trail through the Wadi Qena, the Roman road of the Mons Porphirites. It crossed that of the Mons Claudianus and reached the coast around Mersa Abu Mokhadig.15 Moving to the north, it is possible to identify two main routes from inland to the sea through the Sinai Peninsula. 1. The trail from the region of Memphis to Ayn Soukhna.16

17 Ramses II undertook major works in Wadi Tumilat but it is highly improbable that this canal then could be extended till the sea. When the canal was open, it couldn’t probably be navigable except for the period of high-water floods. Papyrus Harris offers some details on the expedition of Ramses III to Punt giving the clue that the Gulf of Suez could be, in that period, a point of departure propitious to distant expedition; Grandet 1994 255-60. 18 Herodotus Histories II 17: “the Bolbitine and Bucolic mouths are not natural channels but have been excavated”, see Sélincourt 1954 108. 19 Winnicki 1991 161.

14

The canal had great economical importance, enabling the transport of blocks of granite and obelisks downriver by ship. In the proximity of canal were found many Pharaonic graffiti, more than 200 hieroglyphic tablets adorning the quarries of the "bekhen" stone. 15 The path from Quseir to Abu Shaar was the only alternative route. 16 Abd el-Raziq et al. 2006 3-6.

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ALESSANDRA SIRAGUSA: MARITIME STUDY ON NORTH- AND SOUTHBOUND TRADE: THE RED SEA HARBOURS By the inscriptions, we can trace many of the routes to Punt.20 During the Old Kingdom, these routes crossed the eastern part of the Memphis desert to the Gulf of Suez, or they started from the Sinai.

stretch of field, for I gave a leathern bottle, a carrying pole, 2 jars of water and 20 loaves to each one among them every day. The asses were laden with sandals […]”28

The oldest surviving record of a journey to Punt is inscribed on a Palermo stone’s fragments dated to the 5th Dynasty.21 At the beginning of Old Kingdom some textual and iconographic evidences suggest the existence of trade contacts in the Red Sea linking Sinai and Punt.22

Boats were prefabricated on the wharfs of Coptos and their components were then transported to the Red Sea Coast, where they were assembled.29 The assembling of the ships occurred in a place where it was easy to obtain supplies, drinking water and wood.

During the Middle Kingdom and afterwards, the Red Sea journey to Punt usually originated from Coptos via Mersa Gawasis or via Wadi Hammamat and Quseir. An 11thDynasty record reveals that Mentuhotep III ordered no fewer than 3000 men to sail to this “source of plenty”. So Henenu, the leader of this expedition, left Coptos with the soldiers and an unknown number of donkeys.23 After crossing the arid wastes he arrived near the Great Green (the Red Sea).24 He then constructed some kbnyt-boats that left for Punt.25

On the return journey the cargo was unloaded along the coast not far from the Nile region and from here taken by caravan and brought back to the Valley.30 If we analyse the area between Quseir and Mersa Gawasis, it is clear that due to its aridness and isolation it required the presence of a troop of men. The 3000-man expedition did not all go to Punt, just the number of men necessary to crew the ships. A small number of them remained, most probably, at Mersa Gawasis awaiting the return of the expedition while the bulk of the troops made only a short stopover, just enough time to assemble the ships.

They transported material for building ships to the coast of the Red Sea, through Wadi Hammamat:26 "Then I went forth from Koptos upon the road, which his majesty commanded me. There was with me an army of the South from – of the Oxyrrhyncus nome, the beginning thereof as far as Gebelen; the end thereof as far as […]; every office of the king’s house, those who were in town and field, united, came after me. The army […] cleared the way before, overthrowing those hostile toward the king, the hunters and the children of the highlands were posted as the protection of my limbs. Every official body of his majesty was placed under my authority. They reported messengers to me, as one alone commanding, to whom many hearken."27

Unfortunately, while the practice of transporting dismantled ships is well known, there are few archaeological traces of it. However, one of these few traces was found during an excavation at the site of Mersa Gawasis. Pieces of wood (cedar wood) including one planed down with mortises, as well as fragments of copper chisels, suggest and confirm that ships were dismantled and reassembled there.31 The site at Mersa Gawasis has yielded many examples of the materials typically used in the arduous but wellorganised procedure necessary for the journey to Punt. The site was of the greatest importance in the Middle Kingdom.32 From 2001, the University of Naples and the Italian Institute for Africa and the Orient in collaboration with Boston University began a systematic investigation of the site under the direction of R. Fattovich and K. Bard in order to improve our understanding of the organisation of seafaring expeditions in Pharaonic times. Mersa Gawasis is located on the northern end of the Wadi Gawasis, c. 25kms south of Safaga and 50kms north of Quseir. It occupies a surface of ca. 550 × 250ms with an

In order to transport the material to build their ships, donkeys were used: “I went forth with an army of 3000 men. I made the road a river and the Red Land (desert) a 20 We know of trading missions bound to Punt by the Egyptians dated from at least Egypt's 5th Dynasty, while our latest definite record of a Punt expedition comes from the 20th Dynasty reign of Ramesses III; Breasted 1906 433; Kitchen 1971 190; Tyldesley 1996 145; Wicker 1998 155-67. 21 Expedition to Punt organized by Pharaoh Sahure. It based on the text, 80,000 units of myrrh had been brought from Punt in his 12th year as king, with electrum and other goods. However, whether Sahura had sent an expedition to Punt, is not clarified by the text; Breasted 1906 108; Shaw 2000 101. 22 Kitchen 1971. 23 Couyat and Montet 1912 81-4, Pl. 31. 24 Here to mark the success of this first stage of his journey he made an offering of bovines and gazelles that probably he captured in situ. 25 The kbnyt-boats are usually translated as “ships of Byblos”, Frankfort 1926 83. These boats are often mentioned in relation to Egyptian expedition to Punt; Bradbury 1996; Kitchen 1971 191; Shaw 2000 463. 26 Henenu left an inscription on his tomb at Thebes that seems to refer to the same journey; Hayes 1949 43-9. 27 Breasted 1906 §429 208.

28

Breasted 1906 §430 210. The stele of vizier Antefoqer and Ameny (reign of Senusret I) found at Mersa Gawasis describe two phases of construction: one along the river in the naval dockyard of Coptos and another on the shore of the Wadj Wer. An expedition to Punt during the reign of Ramses III seems to illustrate this practice supposing the existence of moorings on the Egyptian coast of the Red Sea; Grandet 1994. 30 Though there are many representations of boats unloading or taking on cargo, the best preserved pictorial representation of an entire harbour is a tomb painting of the port of Akhetaten. Here are visible all the activities that must have been associated with riverboats: the loading and discharging of cargo, the repair of equipment, and storage of spare parts like masts and oars. 31 Fattovich and Bard 2006 1-3; Frost 1996 882-3. 32 Fattovich 2005 15-22; Fattovich and Bard 2007; Sayed 1977. 29

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT least 4-6 months of the year. Moreover the mud deposited in this area could have provided the raw material for making pottery and mud-bricks helpful for the functioning of some activities in that site. Finally, the presence of mangroves in the area, could have provided wood for shelters and fuel for the furnaces to smelt copper.

area of c. 14ha and is delimited by the seashore to the east, the valley of Wadi Gawasis to the south, and a playa to the west. Archaeological remains are visible both at the top and base of the coral terrace. Part of the site has been destroyed by the construction of the coastal road and a railroad. The Middle Kingdom settlement is located along the southern edge and at the base of the second coral terrace. Fieldwork identified three main areas:33 a settlement area with small semi-subterranean huts in the western sector of the site; a ceremonial area with votive shrines close to the seashore; and a functional area with kilns for copper working along the western slope of the terrace.

Recently, an Egyptian–French mission in Ayn Soukhna area has revealed the existence of another important logistical settlement, which served a variety of functions. It seems to be very similar to the site of Mersa Gawasis. The excavations have carried out the discovery of an analogous complex of galleries and warehouses, as well as the evidence of a dismantled ship, also dated to the Middle Kingdom.

The marina was easily accessible from the sea through a canal cut through the coral reef to the coast.34

During their first archaeological season in 1999, they stumbled upon a large number of hieroglyphic inscriptions engraved on the face of the rock, which bear the names of Middle Kingdom rulers and indicate that the site was occupied during the second millennium. Afterwards, a number of pottery vessels and jars reporting the names of 4th- and 5th-Dynasty kings were also found: this suggests how old this installation was and its use as a warehouse stocked with large jars.37

Along the south-western edge of the fossilised coral terrace there are entrances to five man-made caves. Caves 2, 3, 4 and 5 were mapped and surveyed.35 They are located near each other with a northeast-southwest orientation. The cave was about 20-25ms long and 4ms wide. Ship breaking was apparently the main activity outside caves 2, 3 and 4. Inside the caves, work areas were identified by extensive deposits of chipped and gribbled wood fragments, as well as fastenings, which were cut and broken with tools. The occurrence of about fifty coils of rope inside cave 5 suggests that the caves were also used for the storage of ship equipment.

In 2001, the excavations led to a better understanding of the site and its function in antiquity as an important multifunctional and logistical centre. According to G. Castel,38 head of the French team, the location of the site is exceptional as it lies at the end of the shortest distance that linked Memphis to the Red Sea. The site seems to have been occupied regularly by expeditions on their way to more distant destinations. The oasis permitted the establishment of a relay station, by land or by sea, on the way to Sinai, exploited by Egyptians as early as the 3rd Dynasty.39

12 niches were cut in the wall of the fossil coral terrace to the east and above the entrance of cave 2, four of which still bore limestone stelae.36 At present the evidence for the existence of Red Sea harbours, dating to Pharaonic times, seems to indicate that the site of Mersa Gawasis was a suitable anchorage spot for Egyptian ships. The bay was easily accessible from the sea; it was closed and offered a better shelter to boats than other larger bays such as Mersa Gasus. Its closeness to Wadi Gasus, crossing the Red Sea Hills, offered a direct route towards the Nile Valley. The playa next to the site could have supplied fresh water for at

Then, some recent excavation works have revealed the presence of nine galleries, probably nine storage areas, and three narrow alleyways enclosed within a 600sqm rectangular building with a single room.40 P. Tallet,41 the French field director, thinks that two other galleries served as warehouses for boats used to cross the Gulf of Suez over to Sinai, where turquoise and copper mines were well used in ancient times. There was also evidence of a large ship that had been disassembled and carefully stored. It consists mostly of large cedar planks a few metres long that still show traces of assembly.

33 Different areas of the site were used for different functions and the range of the ceramic material found at different areas of the site attests these various functions. Fattovich states that surely the site was supplied by different workshops allied to the state and pharaoh, but a particular rim form found at Mersa Gawasis (common in this area), it’s rare elsewhere, suggesting that it may be the product of one specific workshop. However, the range of rims found suggests that this would not have been the only source of supply. The presence of some pieces of large low fired platters in a friable buff clay support once more his theory that some ceramic material was certainly produced locally. 34 Today the coral reef is only approx. 80cms below water during high tide, but in 4000 years ago it might have increased as much as 10ms in height only. Thus, the marina could have been more easily accessible than now. 35 Fattovich and Bard 2006. 36 The inscriptions of Wadi Gasus or Mersa Gawasis are engraved on steles and not on rocks, so it is supposed that they could be brought there from elsewhere. The main point is to understand if Mersa Gawasis was either a departure point or an arrival point and alternatively a transit point. Fattovich 2005 19; Kitchen 1993 590; Sayed 1978.

Moreover, the presence of furnaces in the site suggests that Ayn Soukhna was densely occupied by a complex of metallurgic workshops. 37

Abd el-Raziq et al. 2002. Castel et al. 2007 61-8. 39 The rock inscriptions at the turquoise and copper mines of Wadi Maghara in the Sinai peninsula attest the names of Djoser, Sekhemkhet, Snefru and Khufu; Shaw 2000 96. 40 Abd el-Raziq explains that a relatively narrow entrance, opening on the east side, gave access to that structure. 41 Tallet 2006 10-31. 38

140

ALESSANDRA SIRAGUSA: MARITIME STUDY ON NORTH- AND SOUTHBOUND TRADE: THE RED SEA HARBOURS Hayes, W. C. 1949. Career of the Great Steward Henenu under Nebhepetnk Mentuhotpe. JEA 35, 43-9. Kitchen, K. A. 1971. Punt and How to Get There. Orientalia 40, 184-207. Kitchen, K. A. 1993. The Land of Punt, in T. Shaw et al (eds.), The Archaeology of Africa: food, metals and towns, 587-608. London, New York. Kitchen, K. A. 2007. Red Sea Harbours, Hinterlands and Relationships in Preclassical Antiquity. In J. C. M. Starkey et al. (eds.), Natural Resources and Cultural Connections of the Red Sea, 131-7. Oxford. Kryzaniak, L. 1977. Early Farming Cultures on the Lower Nile: the Predynastic period in Egypt. Travaux du Centre d’Archéologie Méditerranée de L’Académie Polonaise des Sciences 21. Warsaw. Murray, G. W. 1967. Trogodytica: The Red Sea Littoral in Ptolemaic Times. GJ 133, 24-33. Plisson, G. 2005. Some Thoughts on Exchange Systems in the Red Sea Region and Indian Ocean. In J. C. M. Starkey (ed.), People of the Red Sea, Proceedings of Red Sea Project II. BAR IS 1395. 67-74. Oxford. Royal Navy UK 198012. Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Pilot. Taunton. Sayed, A. M. A. H. 1977. Discovery of the Site of the 12th Dynasty Port at Wadi Gawasis on the Red Sea Shore. RdE 29, 140-78. Sayed, A. M. A. H. 1978. The Recently Discovered Port on the Red Sea Shore. JEA 64, 69-71. Sélincourt, A. de 1954. Herodotus: the Histories. Baltimore. Shaw, I. (ed.) 2000. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford. Starkey, J. C. M. (ed.) 2005. People of the Red Sea: Proceeding of Red Sea Project II. BAR IS 1395. Oxford. Tallet, P. 2006 Six campagnes archéologiques sur le site d'Ayn Soukhna, golfe de Suez = Six Archaeological Campaigns in the Site of Ayn-Sukhna, Gulf of Suez. BSFE 165, 10-31. Tyldesley, J. 1996. Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh. London. Whitewright, J. 2007. How Fast is Fast? Technology, Trade and Speed under Sail in the Roman Red Sea. In J. C. M. Starkey et al. (eds.), Natural Resources and Cultural Connections of the Red Sea, 77-88. London. Wicker, F. D. P. 1998. The Road to Punt. GJ 164.2, 15567. Wilkinson, T. A. 2003. Genesis of the Pharaohs. London. Winnicki, J. K. 1991. Militäroperationen von Ptolemaios I. und Seleukos I. in Syrien in den Jahren 312-311 v. Chr. (II). Ancient Society 22, 147-201. Zarins, J. 1996. Obsidian in the Larger Context of Predynastic/Archaic Egyptian Red Sea Trade. In J. Reade (ed.), The Indian Ocean in Antiquity, 89-106. London.

Finally, after a detailed investigation of the Red Sea coastline, it is possible conclude that the location of ports along the shoreline was dependent on many factors. It was the result of an array of environmental and anthropic conditions. All of this evidence provides a new insight into the organisation of seafaring expeditions to the southern Red Sea region and the extent of the trading network. We hope that the present study, which has analysed the sea trade and the inland connection with the Nile Valley, could be a starting point to delve, even more deeply, into the matters discussed and reported so far. The aim is to offer an accurate reconstruction and description of Egypt’s economic and social links with the Red Sea during the Pharaonic Era. References Abd el-Raziq, M. et al. 2002. Les Inscriptions d’Ayn Soukhna. MIFAO 122. Cairo. Abd el-Raziq, M. et al. 2006. Ayn Soukhna et la Mer Rouge. Égypte Afrique et Orient 41, 3-6. Bradbury, L. 1996. Kpn-boats, Punt Trade and Lost Emporium. JARCE 33, 37-60. Breasted, J. H. 1906. Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol. 1. Chicago. Casson, L. 1989. The Periplus Maris Erythraei. Princeton. Castel, M. et al. 2007 L’exploration archéologique du site d’Ayn Soukhna (2001-2004) in J.-C. Goyon and C. Cardin (eds.), Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists. OLA 150. 61-8. Louvain. Couyat, M. M. J. and Montet, P. 1912. Les Inscriptions Hiéroglyphiques et Hiératiques du Ouadi Hammamat. Cairo. Cumming, B. 1982. Egyptian Historical Records of the Later Eighteenth Dynasty, Vol. 1. Warminster. Davies, S. and Morgan, E. 1995. Red Sea Pilot. St. Ives. Fabre, D. 2005. Seafaring in Ancient Egypt. London. Facey, W. 2004. The Red Sea: The wind regime and Location of Ports. In P. Lunde and A. Porter (eds.), Trade and Travel in the Red Sea Region, Proceedings of Red Sea Project I, 7-18. London. Fattovich, R. 2005. Marsa Gawasis: A Pharaonic Coastal Settlement by the Red Sea in Egypt. In J. C. M. Starkey (ed.), People of the Red Sea, Proceedings of Red Sea Project II. BAR IS 1395. 15-22. Oxford. Fattovich, R. and Bard, K. 2006. A la recherche de Pount, Mersa Gaouasis et la navigation ègyptienne dans la mer Rouge. Égypte Afrique et Orient 41, 7-56. Fattovich, R. and Bard, K. 2007. Harbor of the Pharaohs to the Land of Punt. Archaeological investigations at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis, Egypt, 2001-2005. Naples. Frankfort, H. 1926. Egypt and Syria in the First Intermediate Period. JEA 12, 80-99. Frost, H. 1996. Ports,cairns and anchors. A Pharaonic outlet on the Red Sea. Topoi Orient-Occident 6, 869902. Grandet, P. 1994. Le Papyrus Harris I, Vol. 2. BdE 109. Cairo. 141

Gifts Exchange and Tribute in the Amarna Correspondence Hanadah Tarawneh applicable to these societies. The main issue of debate is the existence of the market in the economic history of these ancient societies.

Introduction This paper deals with economic references in the Amarna Letters. These economic references are reflected in the letters in two shades: exchange of gifts amongst great powers and tributes from the Egyptian vassals in the Levant. There are two separate questions related to the two aspects. In the case of great powers’ gift exchange, the question is the extent to which economic motives were behind these activities. In the second case, concerning Levantine vassals providing for Egypt, to what extent did Egyptian economic interest reside in the Levant? These are the two aspects that will be discussed in the course of this paper.

The socialist approach inspired by Marxian theory, sees land ownership evolving from communal to private ownership.5 This notion can not be easily proved in ancient Near Eastern societies, and the two systems of landownership sometimes, coexisted. The Marxian theory was modified by Karl Polanyi to accommodate ancient Near Eastern societies and the context of their cultures.6 Polanyi postulate that the role of the market in ancient Near Eastern societies was minimal and it was conceived by the system of exchange with two patterns: reciprocity and redistributive. Polanyi’s work The great transformation published originally in 1944 concluded that market and market prices were behind the Fascism of the 20th century and that market is an invention of the 19th century which was the background that may explain his ideas. He determined that trade in Babylonia and Assyria was based on non-market exchange, and there was no market places or functioning market.7 He even postulated that Assyrian merchants in Karum/ Kanish were not living off the profit they made and were probably appointed to do their trade by the palace.8 M. Liverani, influenced by the work of Polanyi, applied his theory of the patterns of accessing goods to ancient Near Eastern materials, particularly, on the Amarna Letters. In reciprocal system one can see balanced rates of exchange or mirror-like pattern which is governed by brotherhood and increased the prestige of the sender as Liverani described.9 This pattern was reflected in the great powers correspondence. Whereas in the distributive pattern, one can see unbalanced rates of exchange or so called tributary which increases the prestige of the receiver.10 This pattern according to Liverani is presented in the letters between the Canaanite vassals and Egypt. At the visible level these two patterns are well attested in the letters and may explain the empirical data. However, these patterns are ignoring a proportion of the text where one can not apply these outlines. The reciprocal pattern focuses on equality and prestige more than the commercial goals of theses activities. The redistributive system emphasizes the role of the central administration in channeling the received products and neglects the facts that most of the received commodities were serving instant commercial goals, such as the providing for the Egyptian campaigns in the Levant and sometimes, the Egyptians themselves were providing for the city states.

The text and the archive1 The Amarna archive2 was found in 1887 in the city of Tell el-Amarna (Akhetaten) about 320kms south of ancient Memphis and modern Cairo and almost 400kms north of ancient Thebes. Akhetaten, “Horizon of the Sun Disc” was established by Amenophis IV who changed his name to Akhenaten and moved to the new capital during the 18th Dynasty. The Amarna archive consists of 382 cuneiform tablets most of which are political letters between Egypt and other contemporary powers such as Babylonia, Assyria, Mittani, Hatti and Alashiya, as well as Egypt and its vassals in the Levant. A small group of the tablets (32 tablets) the so-called scholarly tablets3 were school texts used for learning and teaching Akkadian in the ancient city of Tell el-Amarna. The language of the letters was predominantly Akkadian (Middle Babylonian) the lingua franca of that period. The Amarna archive forms one of the most significant collection of correspondence in the ancient Near East and there are number of reasons for its importance. It provides us with valuable information regarding the Egyptian involvement in the Levant and how the economic system operated. The archive also provides valuable data regarding the Egyptian interaction with other contemporary powers, and the diplomatic relationships of that age.4 Theoretical background Modern scholars of the ancient Near East, particularly economists are in debate on which modern theory may be 1 The translation and transliteration of the text in the present work, are drawn from the two major scholarly work by G. Knudtzon and W. L. Moran. However, the researcher has attempted to make minor changes to the text to improve the reading. 2 Knudtzon 1915; Moran 1992. 3 Izre’el 1997. 4 Redford 1992; Waterhouse 1931.

5

McLellan 1980 78-80. Polanyi 1977. 7 Polanyi 1971 16. 8 Polanyi 1971 20. 9 Liverani 1990 214. 10 Liverani 1990 214. 6

143

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Commodities sent to Egypt

Old supplies/ future demand from Egypt

Asyyria

EA 15: beautiful chariots, 2 horses, date-stone of genuine lapis lazuli EA 16: a beautiful royal chariots out fitted for me; one chariot not out fitted for me; one seal of genuine lapis lazuli.

EA 16:Gold is dirt in your country, why you are sparing it, send me as much gold as needed; when Aššur-nadin-aΪΪa my ancestor , wrote to Egypt for 20 talent of gold, was sent to him; same was sent to the king of Hanigalbat, I am the equal of Haniglabat but you sent me… of gold and it is not enough for the pay of my messengers on the journey to and back.

Babylon

EA 2: 20 wood; 120 shekel, lapis lazuli for my sister EA 3: 25 men, 25 women; 10 chariots of wood; 10 horses. EA 7: 4 minas of lapis lazuli; 5 horses, EA 8: 1 minas of lapis lazuli. EA 9:3 minas of lapis lazuli; 5 span of horses; 5 wooden chariots. EA 10: 2 minas of lapis lazuli for your daughter; 10 lump of lapis lazuli; 20 seal rings of lapis lazuli; EA 13: list of dowry objects; precious stones.

EA 3: 30 minas of gold sent by Egypt but they look like silver. EA 4: send the gold I have written for, I need 3000 talents of gold or will not send my daughter. EA 7: 40 minas of gold, I need quality gold, you need to check it. EA 9: Egypt sent 2 minas of gold; send as your father if gold is plenty, if scarce send half, if you love me do not do any business (ši-ma-a-ti) with the Assyrian. EA 10: the 20 minas of gold you send when put in the furnace made 5 minas.

Egypt

EA 5: to Babylon: furniture overlaid with gold weighing 7 minas and 9 shekel; silver is 1 mina and 8 shekel and half others overlaid with gold weighing? mina and 10 shekel and 7 shekel of gold EA 14 to Babylon: objects overlaid with gold: total gold:1200 minas of gold; total of silver:293 minas and 3 shekel; total of gold and silver 1500 minas 46 and one and half shekel total of bronze: 301 pieces and weighs 860 minas and 20 shekel Total of cloths (kitu) is 1092 and one and half. Total of empty vessels is 163 and 117 of whetstones; 8 of ? of ebony inlaid with ivory; 2 of ? of ebony inlaid with ivory; total ivory objects is in the broken part

Alishia

EA 33: 200 talents of copper EA 34: 100 talents of copper EA 35: 500 talents of copper (apology for little copper); wood was taken before, my brother should pay (šîmê) for it EA 36: 80 talents of copper (is little mi-i-iṣ); will send ships of copper. EA 40 from minister: 5 talents of copper; 5 talents of good copper; one elephant tusk; one wooden box; one ship of wood; the inspector should not approach the ship.

EA 34: oil and kitu EA 35: send me a great quantity of silver (twice); 2 bowls of oil; EA 37: received from Egypt 5 talents ? and 5 span of horses, pure silver EA 39: my merchants, my ships let the inspector not approach them

Hattie

EA 41: 1 bibro of silver weighs 5 minas; 1 bibro of silver; pûḫilu weighs 3 minas; 2 gaggaru of silver weighs 10 minas; 2 great nikiptu. EA 44: 16 people

EA 41: demanding 2 statues of gold (one standing; one sitting) 2 statues of women in silver; one great laps lazuli. EA 44: I desire gold

Mittani

EA 17: one chariot, 2 horses, one boy, one girl, 5 chariots, 5 span horses, (gold earring, breast adornment, stone bottle of oil for my sister)1 gold goblet inlaid with lapis lazuli, necklace, 20 pieces of lapis lazuli, 19 pieces of gold 42 ḫulalu stone, 40 pieces of gold, 10 teams of horses, 10 wooden chariots, 30 women and men EA 20: robe-lock, genuine beads of ḫulalu stone set in gold EA 21: 1 necklace of lapis lazuli EA 22(wedding gifts): 4 horses, many items with more than 1000 shekels used on them. EA 25: ḫulalu stones, lapis lazuli EA 26: 2 scent container with sweet oil, 1 set of stones set in gold EA 27: Hurian style clothes, container of sweet oil, 1 set of stone for my sister EA 29: gold comb, ḫulalu- mace, garments, 3 bow laid with gold, 90 arrows of bronze, (2 garment and earring for Teya you mother and 4 garment and earring for Tadu-Ḫeba.

EA 19: demanded great amount of gold, gold as a bride price, EA 20: asking for good quality gold EA 24 in hurian: asking for shipment of gold EA 27: asked for the promised 2 pure golden statues, much gold. Ea 29: Egyptian king gave my messenger 1 ingot of gold value 1000 shekel, send much gold

Table 1. Occurrence of exchange activities 144

HANADAH TARAWNEH: GIFTS EXCHANGE AND TRIBUTE IN THE AMARNA CORRESPONDENCE and good terms (if) there is plenty of stones, plenty of silver, plenty of gold”.19

The application of Polanyi’s and Liverani’s patterns In the application of this theory, most of the empirical data is explained as a manifestation of partnership and mirror like relationship where parties are equal. The Amarna Letters of the great powers can be used as illustrations for this notion. This concept of equality is illustrated in the text in many instances. Equality started from the mental and emotional state and reached its maximum in practical state. The king of Mittani expresses that in EA 20:75-76 “forever, what my brother has in his heart I will do, and let my brother do what I have in my heart”11 and again in EA 19: 64-66 “let my brother not to be troubled in his heart and let my brother not trouble my heart”.12 This attitude was also shown in the Alashiyan letters in EA 35: 46-48 “whatever word let my brother accomplish and as for you whatever word you will say to me I shall accomplish”.13 The concept of equality, needs and desires were expressed by the Babylonian kings in EA 6:3-1614; 7:61-6215; 9: 17-1816 “whatever you desire in my land write to me and they will bring it to you, and whatever I desire in your land, I will write to you and they will bring it to me”.

Observations on great powers’ accounts The first note is that Egypt was the sole supplier of gold; therefore other great powers sent all supplies and precious materials to acquire gold. The Assyrian and the Babylonian provided Egypt with chariots, lapis lazuli, horses and slaves from Babylonia. Despite the fact that we have only two tablets from Assyria one can still conclude that they sent less presents than Babylonia. The same goods were sent from Mittani in addition to slaves, precious stones and clothes. In the Alashiya accounts one can distinguish the commercial motives behind the activities; first by the large amount of copper sent from the king of Alashiya and the reference to payment in one letter. At the same time, in the letter from a high official in Alashiya to a high official in Egypt the small amount of copper show the personal level of the activity as a mere gift. These gifts exchange had commercial goals. That is obvious from the practice of the kings in keeping track of the value and quality of the goods they received. Hence, they complained if the value of the “gift” is not as expected as in EA 16: 29-31 “what you sent me is not enough to cover my messengers expenses for their trip to and from…we are distant lands, should our messengers keep running to and from like this”.20 In a message from Alashiya, Egypt was expected to pay for a previous shipment of wood in EA 35:27-29 “the people of my land protest because of the timber that the king of Egypt took from me, (therefore), my brother, give me its price”.21 The Alashiyan account shows that they supplied Egypt with great quantity of copper and demanded pure silver. The two letters from Egypt to Babylon EA 5, 15 do not show great amount of gold or other materials transported to Babylon for other than gifts to the palace of the Babylonian king. However, in EA 15 there was a detailed account of how much gold or silver was used on items.

This concept of delivering the desire of one partner by another has a parallel in the Bible; King 10:13 “and the king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired whatever she asked besides what she was given by the bounty of king Solomon, so she turned and went back to her land, with her servants”. The movements of goods Table 1 shows segments of the letters where these exchange activities occur. The reference to the number of the letter (tablet) is provided before each exchange; however, the number of the line is not given as the references are in various parts in the letter where exchange was expressed. The partners themselves saw this exchange of gifts (transactions) as fulfillment of the establishment of good terms amongst partners; in the beginning of establishing a partnership,17 or to confirm an old partnership. The Hittite king writes to the Egyptian king in EA 41:16-20 “now my brother, you succeed your father’s throne as your father and my self we desired gifts/peace (šulmanu) the one from the other likewise we will be in good terms the one with the other”.18 The Babylonian king reflects on the issue of significance of gifts exchange in EA 11:rs 2223 “Between kings there is brotherhood friendship, peace

Other commercial activities references In addition to the previous accounts of gifts exchange, the letters hint to some side commercial activities. The letters show, to some extent, other types of economic interaction and that may be demonstrated by tracking a few words in the text (tamkaru: merchants, šīmūtu: purchase, gerru: caravans). These expressions may be found in two groups of letters: The Babylonian letters Messengers/merchants and Caravans: In the Babylonian letters the messenger and the merchant may be one. In one refernce in EA 7:73 “with regard to Сalmu my messenger, whom I sent (you), his caravans (gi-ir-ra-šu) has been plundered twice; …when my messenger comes

11

Knudtzon 1915 150; Moran 1992 48. Knudtzon 1915 142; Moran 1992 44. 13 Knudtzon 1915 286; Moran 1992 107. 14 Knudtzon 1915 78; Moran 1992 12. 15 Knudtzon 1915 82; Moran 1992 13. 16 Knudtzon 1915 88; Moran 1992 18. 17 Artzi 1978 25-41. 18 Knudtzon 1915 300; Moran 1992 114. 12

19

Knudtzon 1915 98 22. Knudtzon 1915 128; Moran 1992 39. 21 Knudtzon 1915 284; Moran 1992 107. 20

145

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT They do not belong to the pharaoh, who needs only to authorize the selling to the king of Alashiya.

in my brother’s presence, let Сalmu come before my brother; let them return his ransom and make good his loss”.22 The messenger of the Babylonian king had his caravans with his own goods which were robbed twice in Canaan. This may lead to an inference to the fact that merchant conducting commercial business in his way to deliver the tablet to the Egyptian court.

The previous examples may be used as an evidence for the existence of commercial activities conducted by messengers or merchants for their own benefits. Otherwise said, there were other commercial interactions co-existing with the exchange pattern. Our documents here, the Amarna Letters, do not offer a full picture due to the text being a political exchange. The other limitation is that we do not have the complete dialogue between these powers, especially Egyptian letters which presumably were filed at their final destination.

Another case of the Babylonian merchant (tamkaru) doing business (ši-ma-ti), is EA 8:13-22 “Now, my merchants who were in their way with AΪu-Γabu were detained in Canaan on business…Šumadu the son of Balumme and Šaratum of Akko having sent their men, killed my merchants, took their money…bring them into account and make compensation for the money that they took away”.23 The messengers are probably conducting private deals, perhaps in their way to Egypt in the land of Canaan.

The presentation of goods movements in the Egyptian sources The picture is completely different in the Egyptian sources. The texts are focused on how much Egypt received from foreign countries and not on what had been sent from Egypt.31 The incoming goods are shown to symbolize power and prosperity. Thus, Egyptian texts help us in the understanding of the Egyptian ideology rather than the economical reality as the texts overlook the economic motivations of expeditions and campaigns.32 This situation is not unusual, political powers modern and ancient, aim to give most economics activities, especially with foreigners, a moral aspect, manifested in ideology such as the war on Iraq or the war on terror in recent days.

The Babylonian king uses the expression purchase or business in another letter to describe the purpose of the Assyrian venture in Egypt in EA 9:31-35 “Now, as for the Assyrians, my subjects, have I not written to you about the situation, why have they come into you land, if you love me, they should not do any business”.24 The Alashiyan Letters The Alashiya letters show similar connection between royal messengers and merchants.25 The King of Alashiya speaks of the messengers and tradesmen as equivalent terms for the same people in EA 39: 10-13 “My brother, my messengers, very quickly send them, so that I may hear of your good health”26 the message defines these people as the merchants of the king in EA 39:14-20 “ these people are my merchants, my brother, send them very quickly, my merchants, my ships, let the inspector not approach them”.27

In the Karnak Stela of Amenophis II: “every land comes to him bowed down, their princes loaded with their deliveries, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt…the princes of Mittani come to him their goods on their backs in order to request peace with his majesty and return for his sweet breath of life”.33 Other texts speak of large amount of gifts/tribute, horses, silver, copper and ivory as in the Luxor inscription of Amenophis III “All the lands and the foreign countries are coming with their gifts with their sons with their horses, silver, and copper in large amount, pure ivory, without an end to be known for these foreign countries”.34 The Egyptian text speaks of offering life to these nations in return for their goods. Hence, no economics obligation was presented in the text on the Egyptian side.

Another aspect related to our discussion is the trade connection between Egypt and Alashiya. The Alashiyan trade with Egypt can be traced before the Amarna Letters even to the Middle kingdom in the Mit-Rahineh inscription.28 An Ugaritic letter, from pre-Amarna period, was found in room 77 in the main palace of Ugarit29 addressed to Nebmare Amenophis III by an Egyptian official with possible title “seal bearer”30 who wrote the letter after his return from a commercial visit to Alashiya. The Ugaritic letter speaks of twenty Egyptian shipbuilders or owners and the merchants of the king of Alashiya who are seeking to buy ships. The reference in the letter is to “their ships” thus not the pharaoh’s ships.

As we do not have many letters sent from Egypt to other great powers, one cannot decide on the Egyptian side of the deals. The first tablet (EA 4) sent to Babylon describes what were clearly furniture items for the Babylonian palace. The second tablet to Babylon is of special interest as it presented large varieties of objects with details of weigh of gold and silver used on these items. Tablet EA 14 offers details of the total of each group of items; bronze, ivory and vessels. The possibility

22

Knudtzon 1915 84; Moran 1992 14. Kundtzon 1915 86; Moran 1992 16. 24 Knudtzon 1915 90; Moran 1992 18. 25 Holmes 1975 379-380. 26 Knudtzon 1915 295; Moran 1992 112. 27 Knudtzon 1915 296; Moran 1992 112. 28 Malek and Quirke1992 13. 29 Virolleaus 1965 no. 8. 30 Lipińsky 1977 214. 23

31

Breasted 1906. Bleiberg 1995 1378. Urk IV 1325, 10-3. 34 Urk IV 1693, 8-10. 32 33

146

HANADAH TARAWNEH: GIFTS EXCHANGE AND TRIBUTE IN THE AMARNA CORRESPONDENCE These supplies were dealt with in details in the letters of Widya of Ašqalun (EA 324-325). The inhabitants of some centers were liable to corvèe the granaries of the Egyptian administration in Canaan as the case of Jaffa in EA 294. These contribution or preparations are: bread, wine, beer, olive oil, honey, goats, straw’, this is similar to what was mentioned in Thutmose III inscription as he collected bread, olive oil, incense, wine, honey, fruit. These contributions were consumed by the Egyptian archers during their march in the Levant and were not sent to Egypt. Hence, their economic contribution was indisputable as a relief for Egyptian administration from this huge burden.

of these items being some kind of trade activities is very relevant. The second part: the vassals’ tribute The second part of this paper will examine economics activities between Egypt and the Levant in the Amarna Letters. Both parties (senders and receivers) may view tribute differently as gift in one side and tribute by the other side. The related question to this part of the discussion is the economics factors behind the Egyptian existence in Canaan. Previous scholars debated the question if there was an economic interest in the Egyptian conquest of Canaan. Albright offered the explanation that the decrease of wealth in the Late Bronze towns in the Levant was due to the Egyptian tribute “the regular tribute alone must have been a terrific burden”35 and in an earlier work he stated that: “the wealth of Canaan decreased under the foreign misrule”.36 In 1978 the question was revisited by Ahituv who organized the commodities under their prices in Egypt, his result was “it was indeed probable that there was no economics interest in the Egyptian conquest of Canaan and if such an interest existed it was very limited”.37

The yearly tribute The Amarna Letters occasionally mentioned the yearly tribute by some vassals to stress the fact of their loyalty to the Egyptian king. There is no doubt that the vassals were obliged to pay their yearly tribute, however, the recording of this topic is not the major issue in the Amarna Letters. The vassals rarely classify their tributes and mostly named these contributions as gifts. The outgoing letters from Egypt to the vassals in Canaan are: (EA 99,367,379,370). The letter to Widya of Ašqalun (EA 370) is broken on the part where the king is expected to make his demands from the vassal. However, they all speak of demands made from the pharaoh to his vassals in Canaan to make preparation in anticipation of the arrival of the Egyptian archers as in the letter to Intaruta of Akšapu, EA 367: 16-17 “prepare…plenty of food…plenty of wine and every thing”.41 In another tablet to Amiya, these demands may be the dowry of the daughter of the prince, EA 99:10-20 “prepare your daughter for the king your lord, and prepare the audiencegift (tamāratu), 20 good slaves, silver coated chariots, good horses, so may your lord say to you: this is good”.42 The word that was used by the scribe of the Egyptian king to designate this type of contribution is tamāratu, which means audience-giving.43 The pharaoh in the tablet to Milkilu of Gazri lists the items that are demanded from the vassal and gives its total weigh in EA 369:7-13 “every thing to take, beautiful women cupbearers, silver, gold, garments, carnelian, all stones a total of 160 dbn, and 40 women…to your life”.44 The Egyptian letters in the Amarna archive speak in the same tone as the other Egyptian texts of explaining the motives behind these activities as ideological, receiving the gift of life from the king or his approval of “saying this is good”.

Two decades ago, Nadev Na’aman discussed the same matter, where he showed that there was a significant economic interest in Canaan.38 The argument over Egyptian needs in the economic exploitation of the Southern Levant continued to be addressed by archeologists such as Bienkowski and Knapp. These two scholars disagree on the size of the tribute paid to Egypt by the vassals of the southern part of the Levant. Knapp presents his disagreement with Bienkowski where the later observes that the tribute paid by the Syrians to the Hittites or the Assyrians and suggests that Egyptian taxation was heavy and their appropriation of Levantine resources was the cause of the decline in some areas in Canaan, an opinion that was not supported by Knapp.39 One needs to note here that the Amarna Letters do not record all vassals’ contributions. Tribute is mentioned only when the vassals wished to emphasize their loyalty. These contributions took various forms: The vassal’s preparations for the Egyptian archers One big contribution was the intensive preparation by the vassals in Asia for the Egyptian campaigns and relieving Egypt from such a burden. The preparation for the archers of the king was mentioned in almost 22 letters from Canaan. It has been suggested by N. Na’aman that theses messages reflected a planned campaign by the pharaoh to Canaan.40

The second word for gifts is gīštu45 (used by the vassals in north Syria in the Amarna Letters). In a letter from Qatna (EA 53:51) “let the chief men of my lord determine what (should be) their gifts and they will give

35

Albright 1975 106 Albright 1975 101. 37 Ahitov 1978 104. 38 Na’aman 1981 184. 39 Knapp 1989 65. 40 Na’aman 1990 397. 36

41

Rainey 1970 33. Knudtzon 1915 448; Moran 1992 171. 43 Black et al. 2000 396. 44 Rainey 1970 37. 45 Black et al. 2000 125. 42

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT (them)”.46 The same word was used in the letter from the people of Irqata in EA 100:33 “let the king our lord listen to the words of his loyal servant and give present”.47 It seems, from the last two examples for the usage of the word gift, that the designation is clearly to an actual gift either to the chief men of the pharaoh or from the pharaoh himself; hence, these references could be mere gifts with no economic intention. Provision, tribute: ‘bilΓu’ The expression bilΓu ‘tribute’ was used only in few letters. In two letters of Abdi-Ϊeba of Jerusalem in EA 288:12 “and I am the tribute bearer”, who later in the letter list the items he sent to the king and called them gifts, despite the fact that he described himself earlier as the tribute bearer in EA 288:22 “21 maidens and 80 prisoner I gave into the hand of Šûta as present for the king my lord”.48 In a letter from the land of Amurru Aziru asked the king to send his messenger to collect the tribute in EA 160:44 “O king my lord, your messenger with my messenger you send quickly, and the tribute of the king he will bring back”.49 The tribute of the sun ‘bilat Šamaš’ was used by Widya of Ašqalun in EA 325:21 “I prepare the tribute of the sun according to the command of the king my lord”.50 One peculiar phenomenon is that many letters from Byblos ask the king to provide for the city or to send grain. Rib-addi of Byblos complained in more than one letter that the king sent provision to his companion but not to him and there are other references to the king providing for the vassal (in EA 112:51;113:48;116:46; 118:22; 122:16125:16; 126:15. Rib-addi asks also for horses and chariots in EA 107:40. It was noted by Warburton that Byblos, the most important trading centre was not on the list of Thutmose III in delivering tribute51 which may explain why Rib-addi asked the pharaoh to provide for the city.

Goods

Amount

EA no.

Sender/region

Silver

5000 shekels 1400 shekels 100 shekels requested to pay 2000 shekels ordered to pay 20 shekels

287: 54 313: 7-11 309: 21 270

Abdi-ḫeba/ Jerusalem Southern Palestine southern Palestine Milkilu/ Gezer

Copper and Bronze

5 talents ? taken from Byblos

151: 47 77: 7-8

Abi-Milki/ Tyre Rib-addi/ Byblos

Glass

30 50 100

323: 16 327: 10 148: 8

southern Palestine southern Palestine Tyre

Wood

8 ships loaded promised amount unknown kind of wood

160: 14-9 161: 55-6 151: 48

Aziru/ Amurru Aziru/ Amurru Abi-milki/Tyre

Cattles

500 30

301: 19 242: 11

Shubandu/south Pals. Biridya/ Megiddo

Slaves

10 46 maidservants,10 young slaves and 5 ? ? asiru, ?+8 caravan escort 21 maidservants, 10 slaves, 80 asiru 20 girls 10 maidservants,10 slaves 20 slaves-were ordered by Egypt. 40 cupbearers

64: 20-3 268: 15-20

Abdi-ashtrati/ Milkilu/Gezer

287: 54-5 288: 16-22

Abdi-ḫeba/ Jerusalem Abdi-ḫeba/ Jerusalem

Chariot whip vessels Chariots and horsesdemanded by Egypt-

266: 20-33 151: 48 168: 9-10 99

Other goods

Finally we arrive at the list of commodities which were supplied or demanded from the vassals. The table below shows the goods, their amounts and their references in the letters.

99

From Pharaoh to Ammyia

301: 20 309: 19-24 99 369

Shubandu/southern Pales. ?/ southern Pales. Egypt Egypt to Milkilu of Gezer

Tagu/ Gath-karmel Abi-Milki/Tyre Aziru/Amurru Egypt

Table 2. Commodities supplied by the vassals

Examining this table, one may say that the amount of goods and commodities mentioned in the letters were not that numerous. Silver and slaves were the most common commodity transferred from the Levant to Egypt. Hence, the economic factor for the Egyptian presence in the Levant was not significant. In another word, the expenses of campaigns might be greater than profits. However, trade routes may have been under Egyptian control.

Conclusion The Amarna Letters are not economic or commercial documents, hence, the exchange of goods between Egypt and other super powers or with its vassals, is a side topic which did not take a major portion of the letters. However, from the references gathered in the previous part, one may say that Egypt had some commercial activities with other great powers with some understanding to the concepts of value, availability and quality. In the case of the vassals’ contribution to the Economy of Egypt, again the numbers are not large enough to be significant in the economics of ancient Egypt.

46

Knudtzon 1915 326; Moran 1992 125. Knudtzon 1915 452; Moran 1992 172. 48 Knudtzon 1915 870; Moran 1992 331. 49 Knudtzon 1915 650; Moran 1992 246. 50 Knudtzon 1915 934; Moran 1992 353. 51 Warburton 2001 145. 47

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HANADAH TARAWNEH: GIFTS EXCHANGE AND TRIBUTE IN THE AMARNA CORRESPONDENCE References Ahitov, S. 1978. Economic Factors in the Egyptian Conquest of Canaan. IEJ 28, 93-105. Albright, W. F. 1975. The Amarna Letters from Palestine. CAH Vol. 2/2A, 98-116. Artzi, P. 1978. The Rise of Middle Assyrian kingdom According to El Amarna letters 15 and 16. In P. Artzi (ed.), Bar-Ilan Studies of History, 25-41. Ramat Gan. Black, J. et al. 20002. A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian. Wiesbaden. Bleiberg, E. 1995. The Economy of Ancient Egypt. In J. Sasson (ed.) Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, Vol. 3, 1373-85. New York. Breasted, J. H. 1906. Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol. 2. Chicago. Holmes, Y. L. 1975. The Messengers of The Amarna Letters. JAOS 95, 376-81. Izre’el, S. 1997. The Amarna Scholarly Tablets. Groningen. Knapp, B. 1989. Response, Independence, Imperialism, and the Egyptian Factor. BASOR 275, 64-8. Knudtzon, J. 1915. Die El-Amarna Tafeln. Aalen. Lipiński, E. 1977. An Ugartic Letter to Amonphis III concerning trade with Alašiya. Iraq 39.2, 213-7. Liverani, M. 1990. Prestige and Interest. International Relations in Ancient Near East ca. 1600-1100 B.C. Padova. Malek, J. and Quirke, S. 1992. Memphis, 1991: Epigraphy. JEA 78, 13-8. McLellan, D 1980. Marx’s Grundrisse. London. Moran, W. L. 1992. The Amarna letters. Baltimore, London. Na’aman, N. 1981. Ecnomic Aspects of the Egyptian Occupation of Canaan. IEJ 31, 171-85. Na’aman, N. 1990. Praises to the Pharaoh in Response to his plans for a campaign to Canaan. In T. Abusch et al. (eds.), Lingering over Words, 397-405. Atlanta. Polanyi, K. 1971. Marketless trading in Hammurabi’s Time in Trade and market. In K. Polanyi et al. (eds.), Early Empires, 12-26. Chicago. Polanyi, K. 1977. The Livelihood of Man. New York. Rainey, A. 1970. El Amarna Tablets 359-379. Vluyn. Redford, D. B. 1992. Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times. Princeton. Virolleaus, C. 1965. Le Palais Royal d’ Ugarit V. Mission de Ras Shamra 9.8. Paris. Warburton, D. A. 2001. Egypt and the Near East: Politics in the Bronze Age. Paris. Waterhouse, S. D. 1931. Syria in the Amarna Age: A Border between Conflicting Empires. Michigan.

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Commercial Routes in Upper Egypt from Naqada II to the Protodynastic: Defining Patterns of Interaction Elena Valtorta Introduction

not only in terms of economic development but also in terms of cultural, technological and social change.

The Predynastic Landscape Predynastic Egypt represents a very articulated context, constituted by several environments, cultures and groups. These distinctions have been evident since very early times when several centres of activity were distributed along the Valley, in the North of Sudan1 and in the Western Desert2. This complexity increased along the fourth millennium. The country was then divided into two macro-regions displaying very distinctive cultures: the Delta with the Maadi culture and the south with the Naqada culture. Within these regions, however, it is possible to detect regional variations, such as in the pottery production and in the lithic industries.3 In addition to this there were other groups interacting with these cultures, which were related to them through relationships based on cultural and commercial exchange. These subjects established different patterns of interaction amongst each others and created a network of contacts that cannot be viewed as a linear development, but as a multi-linear process.4 In these situations the interactions amongst the different groups at a regional and interregional level are not clear. Because of this it is very difficult to understand the pattern of interactions from the archaeological evidence (for instance, it is difficult to appreciate if an area displaying a complex material culture is to be interpreted as a mixed population area, regional variation or the result of commercial interactions). Consequently, looking closely at the distinctive traits of each group and at the contact they had with each other is very important. In addition to this the process leading to the unification is still not clear. Many views have been discussed, putting forward different factors such as war and conquest, control of the commercial routes and necessity to manage the scanty resource in a high competitive environment.5 This paper will present the issue of the trading connections by giving particular emphasis on the relevance they held in the unification process, focusing on the contribution given to the progressive creation of a cultural substratum preparatory to the political unification. In this multifaceted context, in fact, exchange and trading routes played an important role as a means of connection,

                                                             1

Nordström 1972. Darnell and Darnell 2002; Rice 1990; Wengrow 2006. 3 Holmes 1989. 4 Guyot 2008 707, 740; Hartung 2008 484, 488. 5 Campagno (forthcoming); Trigger et al. 1983 45, 50. 2

Starting from this perspective, the paper will focus on Upper Egypt, with particular emphasis from Naqada II onwards. In this crucial period, the increasing social and political complexity results in the centralized control of resources and commerce exerted by the emerging elites, whose demand for exogenous commodities caused the intensification of trading contacts. Trading connections in Predynastic Egypt: three levels of commercial interaction International trade routes Mesopotamia The connections with this area are still highly debated because of the lack of clear evidence of a direct contact between the Euphrates region and the Nile Valley.6 In fact, the existence of trading is testified by Mesopotamian findings in Egypt rather than by the detecting of the trading routes connecting the two areas. Moreover, the lack of Egyptian products in Mesopotamia suggests that this exchange happened only along a one way direction or was based on the exchange of Egyptian raw materials. Contacts are best represented by imported goods, such as seals and ivory.7 The interconnection, however, must have been well established because the Mesopotamian influence is evident not only in goods provided by trade, but also by the diffusion of artistic motifs used in ritual context, decorations and by the local imitation of seals and Mesopotamian pottery shapes.8 Indeed the Mesopotamian objects are sometimes prototypes which are imitated by the local production: the seals, which are sometimes imitated badly because of the ignorance of the foreign language, and three types of pottery, which become widespread in the Naqada sites but which appear to be from Mesopotamian originals. The long distance trade, thus resulted in some change in the local production.9 In addition, the presence of lapis lazuli at Naqada sites suggests a contact with the region of Afghanistan, likely mediated through Mesopotamia and the Middle Euphrates region where that material was in use before it appeared in Egypt. This trade, therefore, may have reached Egypt along the same route connecting the Nile

                                                             6

Mark 1997 3, 22. Kantor 1942 173, 213 Kantor 1952 239, 250; Mark 1997 22, 30. 9 Trigger et al. 1983 40, 60. 7 8

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  Valley and Mesopotamia rather than through a direct link with Afghanistan, suggesting a trade of raw materials strictly linked to the production of specific and elitist goods.10

Levant This area is in close connection with the area of Delta and, through that, with the rest of the Nile Valley. However, it is also an important area in which many routes were encountering, making it a joint in the near eastern commercial network. As anticipated, this area was playing a vital role in connecting Egypt with the Near East and Euphrates region. Moreover, this area was in connection with the cultures flourished in the Delta form the very beginning of the Egyptian Predynastic Period.13 However, from Naqada II Palestinian pottery prototypes started being present also in the Upper Egyptian sites, and pottery from A-Group settled in the Nubian region was found in Levant sites, suggesting an active link which, along the course of the Nile, acted as a North–South vector.14

The debate on the routes connecting these areas is still controversial and two main hypothesises were put forward.11 The first possibility is the path through Arabia and Red Sea. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that some prototypes of seals and figurines found in Egypt seem closer to Susian originals rather than Mesopotamian, suggesting a direct link between Elam and Egypt. Moreover, the influence of Elam seems stronger in Upper Egypt, suggesting as well a direct contact between the Nile Valley and Elam without passing through the North of Egypt. This, moreover, would also be explained by the rock art graffiti found in the Wadi Hammamat, which would have linked the sites in the Valley with the Red Sea and, from here, to Arabia after crossing the sea. This hypothesis, consequently, would support the idea of a direct and independent contact between Upper Egypt and the Euphrates region, particularly with Elam.

Interregional trade routes Northern Egypt: Maadi This area consisted of an important entrepôt, which handled the trade between the Nile Valley, the Sinai peninsula and Palestine. From Naqada II, Gerzean pottery and stone artefacts, and increasing presence of the Naqadian material culture shows that the Delta was receptive of southern products.15 The massive influence from the south may have started through commercial routes and trade contacts, accompanied by the increasing movement of people.16 Moreover, the development of the Delta region was in this period linked to the trade, especially for what concern the site in the eastern part of it: local activity related not only to the trade but also to the travellers who passes by the area and needed facilities in general.17

The second hypothesis suggests that the contact between Egypt and Mesopotamia took place through an indirect route starting from the middle Euphrates, shifting northwards across the northern colonies of Mesopotamia such as Habuba Kabira and then through the Syrian region.12 From here, through Levant and Palestine, the route passed through the Delta and then, along the Nile, reached the sites of Upper Egypt. This possibility, consequently, supports the idea of an indirect contact between Mesopotamia and Egypt, mediated by the Syria connection and by the Ghassulian culture flourished in Palestine during the fourth millennium. This hypothesis, again, is not supported by the detecting of a route thanks to specific archaeological evidence, but by the finding of archaeological evidence testifying the connection involving the region of Syria, Mesopotamia and Levant with Egypt. For example, the discoid mace heads widespread in Egypt were substituted by pear shaped mace heads originated in the Euphrates region and appeared in the Ghassulian culture in the fourth millennium, and finally widespread in the Naqada sites during Naqada II. This example shows how a specific trait of the material culture can be tracked down across the Middle East, suggesting an interconnection linking these areas. Again, ceramic nails resembling the architectural cones from Mesopotamia were found in Buto and then in Hierakonpolis, and the pottery typologies originated in Mesopotamia started being widespread in the Naqada sites, such as Gerza, during Naqada II.

Gerza From Naqada II pottery types of Mesopotamian influence appear, as well as types from Palestine and Amuq area. This underlines the presence not only of a well developed trade, but also the capacity of reproducing them locally.18 The imitation of foreign pottery becomes quite common in this stage, alongside the diffusion of standardised typologies and forms. Western Desert From Predynastic times, the Nile Valley is connected also with the Western Desert, and in particular with the Kharga Oasis; after these times, evidence of contact with the Nile Valley will start again from the Second Intermediate Period. Assemblages comprising both Nubian (early A-group) and Egyptian (from Badari through Naqada II) types have been found in clear

                                                             13

Guyot 2008 707, 740; Mark 1997. Mark 1997 3, 5. 15 Kohler 2008 520, 534. 16 Stevenson 2006. 17 Cichowski 2008 33-8. 18 Mark 1997; Trigger et al. 1983. 14

                                                             10

Mark 1997 31, 44. Mark 1997; Rice 1990 34, 40 12 Mark 1997. 11

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ELENA VALTORTA: COMMERCIAL ROUTES IN UPPER EGYPT FROM NAQADA II TO THE PROTODYNASTIC association in sites of the oasis, western sites and as well along the desert routes.19 For example, at Rayayna, at the cave of the Wooden Pegs, a Predynastic deposit has been found. Moreover, in the assemblages, the same pottery forms made of both Nile silt and Western Desert/oasis fabrics have been discovered.20 In particular, the critical basin for this interaction was the area of the Nile Valley around the Qena bend and from there to the Kharga Oasis. From the Qena bend, in fact, there was easy access to such centre as Adaima, Hierakonpolis and Abydos, which were gaining increasing importance from Naqada II onwards. Internal market and domestic exchange At the internal level, exchange is not only carried out in terms of goods and luxury items, but also in trade of basics raw materials among developing centres. For example, the clay used for the local pottery production now is not only the one from the very local area, but is imported from other Egyptian centres such as Qena, elBallas and other sites in Middle Egypt, whose type of clay is distinctive and of good quality.21 In addition to this finished products entered the local exchange system as prestige goods, such as the cross-lined pottery produced in Abydos and recognisable for the characteristic decoration, found in Hammamiya, Matmar, Gebelein and Naqada.22 Additionally, it has been observed that in Upper Egyptian sites the pottery found in the settlements is different from the pottery found in the cemeteries. This could have been a further stimulus for the production, constituting an important part of the demand. From this perspective, the funerary customs of Upper Egypt may have contributed to the development of the division of labour and the development of increasing social complexity. It has been argued, in fact, that the funerary pottery was not the same as the pottery used in daily activities, so that it constituted an important branch in the production and specialization.23 Another important indicator is the production of the lithic industries. For example, in Adaima two different categories of objects were found. The first one consisted of objects fully worked, whose process of production was fully attested on site (in terms of waste, flakes and evidence of manufacturing) while the second one shown objects which were not fully worked on site, but went through only a part of the process of production in loco and which were, as a consequence, completed in other sites specialised in that kind of production.24

                                                             19

Riemer 2008 565-6. 20 Darnell (forthcoming). 21 Trigger et al. 1983. 22 Navajas Jimenez (forthcoming). 23 Trigger et al. 1983, Hikade (forthcoming). 24 Briois and Midant-Reynes 2008.

Focus on the Valley: the centre of Hierakonpolis Hierakonpolis provides an insight in a developing centre of regional relevance, which became increasingly important during Naqada II until becoming a proto-state which played a fundamental role in the dynamics leading to the unification of the country.25 This centre held a network of contacts which connecting it with other areas at an interregional26 and international level, since the increasing social complexity resulted in the elites demanding of exogenous goods fundamental in displaying prestige and high social status. For example, in the area HK6, the elites cemetery dating to Naqada II AB, contained evidence of Palestinian loophandled jars derived from trading connections (e.g. HK6 Tomb 26).27 This anticipates the evidence of contact with Levant, which becomes much more common in Naqada II CD and Naqada II at Abydos. Similar jars have been fund at Maadi as well. Moreover, the discovery of fragments of a small jar made of Delta fibre-ware suggests a connection with Maadi during Naqada II AB. In addition, some ivory plaques with motifs from Euphrates region were found in the centre.28 Hierakonpolis was connected to the Red Sea through the Wadi Barramiya, to the southern regions of Atbai-Wadi Allaqi, to the Kharga Oasis through desert tracks and south from there, and to Nubia both through desert and valley routes. Nubian pottery has been found at many localities at Hierakonpolis (including the HK29a temple area, HK6 and HK43 cemeteries and the HK64 petroglyph site).29 This suggests the centre was deeply embedded in a network connecting it with the rest of the country and beyond. A further group interacting with Hierakonpolis is represented by the Nubian A-group. A-group was located both in the area of the first cataract and in the southern region of Dakka, presenting a majority of Egyptian pottery, while in the south A-group pottery is the most represented. However, in most cases they were both present. The A-group pottery, consequently, was not imported by the elites as exotic goods, but was used in daily life. In this case, however, it is difficult to speak about proper commercial contacts, since the A-group seems to have been present in the region suggesting early phase of mixed population or, as suggested more recently, they represent a distinct cultural variation of the culture surrounding the first cataract.30

                                                             25

Hoffman 1982. Campagno (forthcoming). 27 Friedman 2006 11. 28 Rice 1990. 29 Hoffman 1982. 30 Gatto 2003 15, Gatto (forthcoming). 26

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT

  In fact, wider markets boost the crafts specialisation which serves both elites and non elites, and the developing trade created also the necessity to develop system of controls and management especially in regard of long distance and international trade. From this perspective, the expansion of Naqada northwards may be explained with the interest for the control of the trading routes going eastwards, in the attempt to secure the rare commodities. In the period in which the elites are emerging and structuring in a hierarchical system which needs symbols of representation, prestige and legitimacy, this concern become more pressing and may become also a elite and royal concern which is well visible in the early dynastic times.37 Following these dynamics, from the end of Naqada II we assist to the infiltration of the southern culture into the North. Tell el-Farkha provides a good example of this process which seems to be not linear and unitary but at waves.38 With the interregional contacts, moreover, not only raw materials and goods are exchanged, but also innovations and technologies such as mud-brick architecture northwards and the truncated blades southwards.

Discussion In particular, three patterns of interaction have been discussed: intra-regional, interregional and international trade. Whilst the first two patterns are especially related to the creation of an increasingly homogeneous and notelitist market, the third is particularly involved with the imports of luxury goods which served the newly created need of the elite to display their power and become distinctive status indicators. The regional level is fundamental to appreciate the dynamics of interaction and connections: the local variations and productions are fundamental in the dialectics for the consolidation of a common cultural milieu (e.g. exports from Abydos, circulation of pottery and raw material to produce it), which had been already expressed in the funerary customs from Naqada I onwards. During Naqada II, moreover, in some centre along the Nile Valley a mass production started being implemented with the result of the diffusion of standardised pottery typologies on a large scale, which were absorbed by the continuous demand of a more and more homogeneous market.31 Evidence of mass production mode, moreover, is provided by firing installations found at Hierakonpolis which suggest an industrial scale for food32 and pottery33 production. In this perspective, the formation and development of a non elitist market crossing the boundaries of the region and interacting with other player at an interregional level (or ”national”) is a powerful vector of cultural export and diffusion of materials and is crucial in the creation of a common market.

This cultural expansion which followed the directory of trading, exchange and production can be traced through three main steps. An early phase, characterised by neighbouring contacts, which are multidirectional but are not organised, random and based upon inter-community relationship. A second phase, when the necessity of control the interaction arisen. In this stage, the leaders linked themselves to the means of production and control the inter-community exchange and exogenous import, which were fed by the new demand for extra utilitarian goods. Finally, a third phase in which the diffusion of the Naqadian production mode and extension of the interregional exchange was implemented, along with the increase of social differentiation and specialisation, including imitation and borrowing of foreign prototypes.39

This articulated network contributing to the progressive development of a common substratum was the result of commercial interactions but also of other dynamics, such as the movements of people resulting in phenomenon such as migration and mixed population areas.34 This makes the landscape of interactions more difficult to understand, but suggests a long process of preparation of an increasingly extended and homogeneous market which resulted in the progressive cultural unification of the country which predated the political unification.35

Conclusion: the issue of market in Predynastic Egypt The Predynastic Period is sometimes considered a condition of diffused poverty, referring to that as an example of “equilibrium” which is actually synonym of stagnation.

The existence of this substratum implemented by the articulated network implies from the one side the trading connections and on the other side the local production and imitation of foreign prototypes which supported the local and interregional market.36 From this perspective, consequently, trade and production are the two sides of the same coins, since they are both linked to the development of social stratification, labour diversification and foreign goods provision.

However, the situation in the Predynastic is far from being fully clear, due to the lack of written sources and the quantity of documentation which is quite scanty if compared with the dynastic times. If scholars detect in the tax system the main vector put in action by the state to create the demand and to boost the market, we should admit this aspect is not easy to investigate for Predynastic times. Being the central power known in Dynastic times still to be put in action, we can quite safely state that if any taxation was enacted by the emerging elites, the

                                                             31

Trigger et al. 1983 Fahmy (forthcoming). 33 Baba (forthcoming). 34 Gatto 2003; Stevenson 2006. 35 Kohler 2008. 36 Takamiya 2008 200, 205; Trigger et al. 1983. 32

                                                             37

Friedman 2006 11-2; Hendrickx 2008 80-6; Hoffman 1982. Cichowski 2008 33, 40. 39 Guyot 2008 707, 740. 38

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ELENA VALTORTA: COMMERCIAL ROUTES IN UPPER EGYPT FROM NAQADA II TO THE PROTODYNASTIC system was obviously less complex and extended than that discussed for Dynastic times. However, although the Predynastic documentation delivers a less impressive evidence of wealth and complexity than Dynastic times, it is difficult to consider this period just a time of poverty and stagnation, dominated by autarky as suggested by several authors.40 In Upper Egypt, from Naqada II we have evidence of the development of different regional products which travel in an intraregional commerce, showing that the trade was not boosted only by elites but was carried out also at a very local level and involved objects used in daily activities, such as pottery. On the other hand, the existence of the foreign trade, also over long distance, show that there was a demand of luxury commodities which resulted also in some local production which try to imitate them. Finally, from Naqada II there is the development of a mass production mode which can exist if there is a demand supporting the shift to this mode. Consequently, if the market has to be considered through the encounter between the demand and the supply, we see that this dynamic was existent in Predynastic times and was supporting both trade and production, influencing the mode of production and the development of a multi level trade network. Moreover, if the Naqada expansion, among the several factors, presents also the trade as important vector, it may be assumed that the system of exchange was flourishing between areas that were not part of a unified state. Consequently, even though the elites were trying to control the trade, this was not managed by a central power in its entirety, but was put in action by several units interacting between each other until the complete diffusion of the Naqada culture. This is another aspect that suggests the existence of a market, rather than the existence of a mere autarkic system of subsistence. The commercial vector is fundamental for the development of Naqada III, on the one side contributes to the creation of a common milieu, more homogeneous, and to develop a more articulated labour organisation and resources exploitation. On the other side, it provides the elitist goods necessary to communicate and legitimate the power of the emerging elites, which need to create a system for displaying their power. These two levels reflect and support an increasing social, cultural and economic complexity which is a necessary factor for the development of the state. References Baba, M. (forthcoming) Pottery Production at Hierakonpolis during the Naqada II Period. In Egypt at its Origins 3. Conference Proceedings of the Third International Colloquium on Predynastic and early Dynastic Egypt, The British Museum, July 27th–1st August 2008, London.

                                                             40

Briois, F. and Midant-Reynes, B. 2008. Lithic Industries from Adaima. Between Farmers and Craftsmen. In. B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 21-32. Leuven. Campagno, M. (forthcoming) Kinship, Concentration of Population and the Emergence of the State in the Nile Valley. In Egypt at its Origins 3. Conference Proceedings of the Third International Colloquium on Predynastic and early Dynastic Egypt, The British Museum, July 27th–1st August 2008, London. Cichowski, K. 2008. The Brewery Complex from Tell elFarkha. Archaeological Aspects of the Discovery. In B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 33-40. Leuven. Darnell, C. 2002. Opening the Narrow Doors of the Desert: Discoveries of the Theban Desert Road Survey. In R. Friedman (ed.), Egypt and Nubia, gifts of the Desert, 132-55. London. Darnell, D. (forthcoming) The Rayayna Crossroads: Life, Death and the Divine in the Upper Egyptian Desert. In Egypt at its Origins 3. Conference Proceedings of the Third International Colloquium on Predynastic and early Dynastic Egypt, The British Museum, July 27th–1st August 2008, London. Fahmy, A. G. (forthcoming) Archaeobotaby of Food Production at Predynastic Hierakonpolis. In Egypt at its Origins 3. Conference Proceedings of the Third International Colloquium on Predynastic and early Dynastic Egypt, The British Museum, July 27th–1st August 2008, London. Friedman, R. 2006. New Tombs and New Thoughts at HK6. Nekhen News 17, 11-2. Gatto, M. C. 2003. Hunting the Elusive Nubian A-Group. Nekhen News 15, 14-5. Gatto, M. C. (forthcoming) Egypt and Nubia in the 5th4th Millennia BC: A view from the First Cataract and Surroundings. In Egypt at its Origin 3. Conference Proceedings of the Third International Colloquium on Predynastic and early Dynastic Egypt, The British Museum, July 27th–1st August 2008, London. Guyot, F. 2008. The Origins of the “Naqada Expansion” and the Interregional Exchange Mechanism between Lower Nubia, Upper and Lower Egypt, the South Levant and North Syria during the First Half of the IV Millennium B.C. In B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 707-40. Leuven. Hartung, U. 2008. Interactions between Upper and Lower Egypt. Introduction. In. B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse

Warburton 1997.

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  (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 484-8. Leuven. Hendrickx, S. 2008. Rough Ware as an Element of Symbolism and Craft Specialisation at Hierakonpolis’ Elite Cemetery HK6. In. B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 61-86. Leuven. Hikade, T. (forthcoming) Origins of Monumental Architecture: Recent Excavations at Hierakonpolis HK29B and HK25. In Egypt at its Origins 3. Conference Proceedings of the Third International Colloquium on Predynastic and early Dynastic Egypt, The British Museum, July 27th–1st August 2008, London. Hoffman, M. A. 1982. The Predynastic at Hierakonpolis: an Interim Report. Oxford. Holmes, D. 1989. The predynastic lithic industries of Upper Egypt: a comparative study of the lithic traditions of Badari, Nagada and Hierakonpolis. Oxford. Kantor, H. 1942. The Early Relations of Egypt with Asia. JNES 1, 174-213. Kantor, H. 1952 Further Evidence for Early Mesopotamian Relations with Egypt. JNES 2, 239-50. Kohler, E. C. 2008. The Interaction between and the Roles of Upper and Lower Egypt in the Formation of the Egyptian State. In B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 515-44. Leuven. Mark, S. 1997. From Egypt to Mesopotamia. A Study of Predynastic Trade Routes. Texas. Navajas Jimenez, A. I. (forthcoming) Pottery Production in the Naqada I-II Period from the ‘Influence Area of Abydos’: Some New Iconographic Considerations. In Egypt at its Origins 3. Conference Proceedings of the Third International Colloquium on Predynastic and early Dynastic Egypt, The British Museum, July 27th– 1st August 2008, London. Nordström, H.-Å. 1972. Neolithic and A-Groups Sites. Uppsala. Rice, M. 1990. Egypt’s Making. The Origins of Ancient Egypt 5000-2000 BC. London. Riemer, H. 2008. Interaction between the Desert and the Nile Valley. In B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 565-8. Leuven. Stevenson, A. 2006. Gerzeh, an Egyptian Cemetery shortly before History. London. Takamiya, I. H. 2008. Firing Installations and Specialization: A view from Recent Excavations at Hierakonpolis Locality 11C. In B. Midant-Reynes and Y. Tristant (eds.), Egypt at its Origins 2. Proceedings of the International Conference “Origins of the State.

Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” Toulouse (France), 5th-8th September 2005. OLA 172. 187-202. Leuven. Trigger, B. G. et al. 1983. Ancient Egypt. A Social History. Cambridge. Warburton, D. A. 1997. State and Economy in Ancient Egypt: Fiscal Vocabulary of the New Kingdom. OBO 151. Fribourg. Wengrow, D. 2006. The Archaeology of Early Egypt. Social Transformations in North-East Africa, 10000 to 2650 BC. Cambridge. 

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Lead Weights and Ingots from Heracleion-Thonis: an Illustration of Egyptian Trade Relations with the Aegean Elsbeth van der Wilt*

Figure 1. North-western Delta, Egypt, square indicating Abuqir Bay (courtesy of J. Mckenzie) This article explores Egypt’s trade relations with the Aegean by looking at two categories of objects made of lead.∗In this article I will give a preliminary overview of a selection of the lead weights and ingots found in the harbour town of Heracleion-Thonis, objects that are able to illustrate the trade relations between Egypt and the Aegean. The article is divided into several sections: first an introduction to the site and the lead objects found there. This is followed by a discussion of the lead weights and more specifically of the dating of a small group of them. The third part is a presentation of the lead ingots also found in Heracleion-Thonis and how they relate to finds of other ingots found in shipwrecks around the Mediterranean.

antiquities lay underwater in this area.2 With the help of geophysical techniques it was possible for the first time to produce a geological and geochemical map of Abuqir Bay.3 The survey identified two important sites with extensive remains, which have since been identified with East-Canopus towards the west in the bay, and Heracleion-Thonis more towards the eastern edge of the surveyed area.4 Detailed maps and a discussion of the first results appeared in the first and second volumes of the newly established series by the Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology (OCMA).5 This Centre was set up in 2003 to publish all the material from the excavations in Abuqir Bay and collaborates with the Institut Européen d’Archéologie Sous Marine led by Franck Goddio.6

Heracleion-Thonis

In 2001 Goddio and his team started with prospection dives and partial excavations in order to expand the knowledge of the site. Heracleion-Thonis, the subject of this paper, lay at the mouth of the Canopic branch of the

Prospection of the 110km2 area of Abuqir Bay, the bay which contains the submerged landscape including Heracleion-Thonis, started in 1996.1 From previous work by Prince Omar Tousson it was already clear that ∗

I would like to thank J. H. Kroll, B. P. Muhs and D. Robinson for reading previous versions of this paper, I have benefitted greatly from their suggestions. I would also like to thank J. H. Kroll who provided me with several crucial references. 1 For a description of the work, see Goddio 2007.

2

Goddio 2007 5. Goddio 2007 11-5, 19. 4 See Figure 1; on this map Menouthis should in fact be identified with East-Canopus. 5 Goddio 2007; Stanley et al. 2007; Bomhard 2008; and for the publication of the stela, see Thiers 2009. 6 A large exhibition called ”Egypt’s Sunken Treasures” about the excavations is currently touring around the world presenting a large selection of objects to the public; see Goddio and Fabre 2008. 3

157 

 

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT excavators.13 To the west of Heracleion-Thonis more water basins were detected. It is clear that travel by water would have been the dominant means of transport, just like elsewhere in Egypt. At present no domestic areas or cemeteries have been identified. The pottery at Heracleion-Thonis suggests that the town was founded around the end of the seventh century or the beginning of the sixth century BCE; it flourished until sometime in the Ptolemaic Period with a total absence of Roman pottery.14

Nile, north of Naucratis. It will take further study to redefine the relationship of Heracleion-Thonis and Naucratis, since Möller’s important work on the latter city was published before the former was discovered.7 Since 2001, nearly a 1000 lead objects have been recovered from the sea. Most of these are from the prospection dives and therefore have no context apart from coordinates. My doctoral project in Oxford consists of preparing these objects for publication by cataloguing, dating, and comparing them to other lead objects. The ultimate goal is to put these little studied objects into a broader social and economic context. The corpus needed to be reduced to make a feasible DPhil project, so the lead statuettes from the site will be discussed by Sanda Heinz, who will also publish the smaller statuettes and votives made of other materials. I also decided to exclude the lead anchor stocks, which will bring the total amount of objects down to approximately 800. In Table 1 there is a list of the categories of lead objects as compiled from the database records. The numbering is preliminary since I have only studied a quarter of the material. 8

miscellaneous containers weights seals and tokens miniature vessels other rings than fingerrings ingots oil lamps fingerings slingshots/Balls crosses ladles sounding leads spoons

Heracleion-Thonis and its trade relations Its geographical location on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt at the mouth of the Canopic branch of the Nile and downstream from Naucratis, already suggests that this town would have extensive contact with the surrounding lands. This picture is reinforced by the pottery record showing interaction with the wider Mediterranean including the Aegean, Cyprus and the Levant, as well as local pottery.15 There is other evidence for economic relations between the Aegean and Egypt through the grain import to Athens.16 Although the chronology and the size of the grain imports are debated,17 it is clear that during the fourth century there was grain being transported from Egypt to Athens.18 There is also epigraphic evidence in the form of an inscription dated to 333/2 BCE that tells us about the sanctuary for the worship of Isis in Piraeus founded by the Egyptians merchants there.19 In the commentary to the text this is interpreted as a privilege granted to Egyptian traders and the privilege is directly related by the editors to the Egyptian supply of grain to Athens.20 In return for the export of grain, Athens was able to supply Egypt with silver, which was sought after but not present in large quantities in Egypt.21 It is highly likely that HeracleionThonis played a role in the grain trade since it is located so strategically on the coast. At this point it is also interesting to note that silver and lead are often found together in galena ores and consequently that the mining of silver is closely related to the mining of lead.22

259 205 176 51 20 20 19 18 13 9 4 3 3 2

Table 1. Overview of lead objects in Heracleion-Thonis The objects were found underwater in the remains of the harbour town Heracleion-Thonis, which submerged at the latest by the eighth century CE9 and currently it lies at a depth of five to eight meters underwater.10

The lead weights and ingots were chosen here because of their potential for dating by establishing the original

To the east of the town, near the Canopic branch of the Nile, harbour basins with related constructions have been identified as well as numerous shipwrecks.11 Many limestone blocks were found in the central peninsula of the town, where the temple of Amun Gereb and his son Khons was located.12 Directly to the north of the temple structure and transecting the peninsula was a canal running east–west, called the ”Grand Canal” by the

13

Goddio 2007 102-11. For an overview of pottery from Heracleion-Thonis, see Goddio and Fabre2008: 344-50, cat. nos. 375-418; and for a discussion about the pottery and related dates, see Grataloup (forthcoming). 15 Goddio and Fabre 2008 344-50, cat. nos. 375-418. 16 Moreno is the author of the most recent monograph on the subject of grain imports to Athens, arguing that Athens and many other poleis were dependant on the import of grain from possibly the sixth century onwards; Moreno 2007 309-15. 17 For a minimalist approach with regard to the dependence of Athens on imported grain, see Garnsey 1988. 18 See below, and note 38. 19 Rhodes and Osborne 2003 462-6, no. 91, esp. p. 465. 20 Rhodes and Osborne 2003 465. 21 The grain for silver pattern is described by Milne, although the article in general is outdated; see Milne 1939 178-9. Although galena ores are present in the Eastern Desert (see ‘lead’ in Ogden 2000 168-9), it is generally thought that most of the silver found is imported when its use increases in the New Kingdom, see Hill 2007 23, note 2. 22 Eiseman 1980 41. 14

7

Möller 2000. In this category I collected all objects I cannot identify with any certainty at present. 9 Goddio 2007. 10 See Stanley et al. 2007 46-57, and Fig. 3.24. 11 Goddio 2007 102-17, esp. Figs 3.69, 3.71, 3.82, and 3.83. 12 Fragments of the naos were already known since 1771; for the identification of Herakles and Khons, see Fabre 2008 72-3; and Yoyotte 2004 36-8. 8

158

ELSBETH VAN DER WILT: LEAD WEIGHTS AND INGOTS FROM HERACLEION-THONIS 1801 are bronze, 60 are lead, and two of iron.30 Surprisingly, after counting all the lead weights listed in her corpus I found there to be 166 lead weights. The vast majority of these, namely 156, are in the collection of the Petrie Museum of University College London. The collection of the Oriental Institute in Chicago houses nine lead weights. The location of one weight is unknown; its provenance is supposed to be Amarna.31 The corpus from Heracleion-Thonis thus doubles the number of lead weights known from Egypt, although lead features less prominently in the corpus than bronze. Aegean weights, however, are typically made of lead32 and this is important when it comes to dated parallels for the weights discussed here.33

weight standard and possibly their provenance. A vast amount of scholarship is available on the topic of ancient weights, providing the necessary comparanda for the material from Heracleion-Thonis and a framework for dating. It was anticipated beforehand that there would be weights representing different weight standards since Heracleion-Thonis was a harbour town, where trade activities involving different measuring standards were taking place. In this way, through the different weight systems, the lead weights could indicate evidence for trade networks separate to evidence from ceramics. Likewise, the ingots will link in to the trade networks highlighting the trade in raw lead. I will discuss the lead weights from Heracleion-Thonis in a general context, before proceeding to refine the date of a few that were already published in the catalogue.23 The remaining weights, the majority uninscribed, cannot be included in the present discussion, since I have currently only studied a third of the total. The inscribed weights allow us to assign them to a weight system and standard with relative certainty and consequently it will hopefully be easier to identify weight systems in the uninscribed specimens.

As for the distribution of these weights in Egypt, the (lead) weights in Egypt described by Cour-Marty are almost exclusively from the north of Egypt: numerous examples from Alexandria, probably Ptolemaic or Roman, one instance from Memphis, Riqqa, Gurob, and Qus, and seven from Amarna, probably dating to the New Kingdom, including the one in an unknown location. From the weights in Chicago, seven are from Naucratis, and one from Nebesheh, both sites dating to the Late Period.

Lead weights Nearly 190 weights in total, of which the overwhelming majority is made of lead, were found in HeracleionThonis. The corpus of lead weights consists of 176 examples. There are another 13 that were provisionally identified as weights from this site made of other material than lead: two silver, five bronze, and six stone weights.24 Since the weight (mass) of the majority of the weights is still at present unknown, I will concentrate here on the inscribed weights of which I do know the weight. I will show that these weights have Athenian denomination symbols on them and that they fit into the larger picture of trade between Athens and Egypt as identified through other sources.

Cour-Marty goes on to note that most of the lead weights found in Egypt are small denominations: only 14 per cent weigh more than 200gs, 83 per cent of the total of metal weights weigh less than 20gs, 77 per cent less than 10gs, and 61 per cent less than 3gs.34 The weights discussed here are heavy in comparison to the pattern discerned by Cour-Marty. After one season of work in the storerooms I saw roughly a third of the weights from Heracleion-Thonis. Since work on them is still very much work in progress, I shall concentrate here on the inscribed market weights already published in the catalogue of the exhibition Egypt’s Sunken Treasures, by attributing them to a weight standard and refining their dating.35 Six weights are made of lead, one, catalogue no. 358, of bronze. The analysis of the inscribed weights will provide a good point of departure for research on the uninscribed weights, which forms the majority of the corpus.

Regarding weights in Egypt, Petrie was the first to describe these in detail.25 M.-A. Cour-Marty wrote her doctoral thesis on Egyptian weights: in an early article she first estimated the total number of weights at 6000.26 In her final thesis she discussed 7314 weights27 dating from the Predynastic to the Ptolemaic Period. However, later in her thesis Cour-Marty mentions the problems related to this collection of weights: in a quarter of the cases the provenance of the weight is unknown and consequently also the dating.28 More than 95 per cent of the weights are uninscribed making the identification of the weight standards difficult.29 According to Cour-Marty, the number of metal weights in her corpus is 1863, or 25 per cent of her total, of which

The market weights in Table 2 all have Athenian symbols36 – the tortoise and the spokes of the wheel – on them and parallels to these weights can be found in Lang’s publication of the Athenian Agora weights. Their

30

Cour-Marty 1989 Vol. 1 60-1. Cour-Marty 1989 Vol. 3 101, no. 8006. 32 Hitzl 1996 43, no. 330; Lang and Crosby 1964 5; and Pernice 1894 5. 33 See Table 2. 34 The percentages are Cour-Marty’s own, see Cour-Marty 1989 Vol. 1 60-1. 35 Photographs were published in Goddio and Fabre2008 342-3. 36 Petrie lists more weights with Athenian symbols, see Petrie 1926 Pls. 50 and 51.

23

31

Goddio and Fabre2008. 24 The identification needs to be treated with caution, since for example, silver weights are virtually unknown. 25 Petrie 1926. 26 Cour-Marty 1991 139. 27 Cour-Marty 1989 Vol. 1 2. 28 Cour-Marty 1989 Vol. 1 64. 29 Cour-Marty 1991 142.

159

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Egypt’s Sunken Treasures Cat. No. (measurements in cm) 358 (5x5x0.8) 359 (5x4x?) 360 (8.8x8.7x2.2) 361 (8.8x8.7x3.2)

Weight

Symbol

Restored mina

238gs

tortoise

119gs 1920gs 2920gs

% weight loss

Denomination

476gs

Standard 110/112 dr per 1 mina 480.26/483.84

1% / 1.6%

Half of a mina

halftortoise 4 spokes of wheel

476gs

480.26/483.84

1% / 1.6%

Quarter of a 3 mina

480gs

480.26/483.84

0% / 0.8%

Four mina. or 6 double stater

4 spokes of wheel

483gs

480.26/483.84

-0.6% /0.2%

Three stater

Inscription

2

ΔHMO 4

ΔEHMO 5 and TE ΔHMO ΔHMO

1

The 110 drachmas (4,37gs) per mina follows Hitzl 1996 113; the 112 drachmas (4,32 gs) per mina follows J. H. Kroll (personal communication) who proposes for a slightly heavier standard. 2 Parallel: Lang and Crosby 1964 LW 34-44, Pl. 7. 3 Parallel: Lang and Crosby 1964 LW 45-8, Pl. 8. 4 The Ionic H must date to the fourth century. 5 For TETPA 6 Parallel: Lang and Crosby 1964: LW 1, pl. 2; for all other known comparanda, see Empereur 1981 540 no. 5, Fig. 5 and note 6.

Table 2. Athenian weights and weight standard

Egypt’s Sunken Treasures Cat. No.

Weight

Symbol

362

174gs

Halfamphora

363 364

292gs 375gs

Amphora Amphora

Restored mina 522gs 438gs 526.5gs

Standard?

Denomination

Inscription

-

% weight loss -

Third of a mina

-

-

-

Third of a stater Third of a stater

-

Table 3. Amphora weights in an unknown weight standard 4.32gs),41 this would solve the problem since all weights would fit into the weight loss allowed for attribution into a standard.42

weight fits into the Late Classical system as defined by Hitzl.37 However, his dating of this system was modified slightly in a review by Johnston, who proposes that this particular system should come into use in the fourth century BCE instead of around 420, at the end of the fifth century.38

In accordance with the modified dating of the Late Classical standard, these weights belong to the fourth century BCE, and probably to the second half of it, in the decades before and after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great.43 At this time Athens was importing grain from Egypt and the Black Sea.44 The raising of the standard from 105 to 110/112 drachmas per mina could be explained by it facilitating the conversion to the Cyzicene mina45 – presumably the dominant standard in the Black Sea region – where grain was coming from too.

The inscription ΔEHMO and ΔHMO, ‘public’, also indicates an Athenian origin for these weights. They fit into the Late Classical system, which is an Attic system.39 The individual weights fit very tightly into Hitzl’s 110 drachmas per mina (110 × 3.37gs = 480.26gs); it hardly allows for the expected weight loss during its use, deposition and post depositional processes, such as cleaning.40 One weight (cat. no. 361) would in fact be too heavy for the Late Classical system. Weights are expected to lose weight, not gain it significantly over time, and consequently it would not fit in this particular weight system. However, if we accept the presence of a standard of 112 drachmas per mina standard (112 ×

There are weights with Athenian style amphora symbols on them that elude designation to any weight standard at present and I will discuss these shortly. They have the 41

Contra Hitzl 1996 109; Kroll will argue in favour of this in a forthcoming publication (personal communication), Lang already suspected this standard, but Hitzl dismisses this, again see Hitzl 1996 109. 42 See note 35. 43 This section owes much to discussions with J. H. Kroll. 44 Garnsey 1988 151-2, 157, 161-2. 45 The 110/112 drachma is (nearly) identical to the Cyzicene standard, see Hitzl 1996 110.

37

Hitzl 1996 113. I thank J. H. Kroll for drawing my attention to this review, Johnston 1998 252-3; for the dating, see p. 253. 39 Hitzl 1996 105-9. 40 As aptly described by Hitzl, see Hitzl 1996 47-8. 38

160

ELSBETH VAN DER WILT: LEAD WEIGHTS AND INGOTS FROM HERACLEION-THONIS usual Athenian denomination symbols; however, they do not have any inscriptions to support the Athenian identification. It is clear, however, that there is an allusion to Athenian weights in the amphora symbol. As mentioned above, there is evidence for the presence of Egyptians in Athens and the import of Egyptian grain. The presence of Athenian weights and Athenian style weights in Egypt documents contact between Egypt and Athens and the inclusion of Heracleion-Thonis in this trade network. However, the weights must reflect smaller transactions than the import of bulk items, since the absolute weight (mass) of the weights, in accordance with their denomination, is relatively low.

Fig. 2. Ingots from top to bottom: no. 5944 (top and section) and 9137 (top, side and section)

Another group of artefacts that may tie in with the network between Egypt and the Aegean are the lead ingots, which I will discuss next.

I will focus on the ingots I can identify with certainty: the so-called loaf ingots. Being large and bulky they bear a resemblance to a bread loaf. There are 11 ingots of this kind known from Heracleion-Thonis.

Ingots

All of the ingots were found during prospection and not during excavations, which means that there is no context available except coordinates.49 This is unfortunate, since it leaves no possibility to check a date suggested by parallels in other (shipwreck) sites against the evidence from Heracleion-Thonis.

In her book on copper and lead ingots F. LaubenheimerLeenhardt uses the following definition of an ingot: “Nous appelons lingot une masse de métal obtenue à partir d’une certaine quantité de minerai en fusion, coulée dans une moule de forme variable. L’objet n’a d’autre destination que de permettre un transport commode du metal. Il convient de négliger les morceaux de minerais non traités et tous les déchets de fabrication informes, parfois appelés impropement lingots: le lingot se définit comme une matière élaborée et il porte, le plus souvent, une inscription.”46

In order to discuss the ingots found during prospection in Abuqir Bay it is helpful to look at any other lead ingots found in the Mediterranean. The main source for this discussion is Parker’s publication on shipwrecks,50 in which he has collected reports from 1189 sites. This is probably just a fraction of the wrecked ships in this region.51 As Parker notes himself, the quality of the documentation of the wrecks in general leaves much to be desired.52

This definition will be used in the discussion below. An ingot is an amount of lead that has been run into a mould, in order to facilitate transport in (large) quantities of raw material. This thus excludes lumps of lead that are relatively small, of which the purpose is presumably not bulk transport of lead for further handling elsewhere.

The field of underwater archaeology developed rapidly with the use of scuba equipment, which made it possible to dive at greater depth and for a longer period of time. Although much progress has been made in recent years, still a relatively small number of shipwrecks have been scientifically excavated compared to known wrecks sites.53 Also, there are areas in the Mediterranean that are more frequently visited by divers than other areas. Consequently a higher number of wrecks are discovered near for example southern France than on the coast of Northern Africa, a difference that most probably does not reflect the real distribution of shipwrecks.

Lead ingots, dating to before the Roman Period are relatively uncommon, contrasting to the large numbers known from the later period.47 This makes the material from Heracleion-Thonis very interesting, since it is thought that the town was functioning between the sixth and second centuries BCE.48 Any ingots found here would be expected to date from this time span. Comparative material from shipwrecks elsewhere in the Mediterranean may also provide the ingots from Heracleion-Thonis with a framework for dating.

Parallels for the ingots from Heracleion-Thonis are in fact very limited. The best parallel comes from a ship wrecked near Sicily. The Porticello wreck carried a

46 “We call ingot a mass of metal obtained through extraction from a specific mass of fused minerals, poured into a mould of variable form. The object has no other purpose but permitting the ease of transport of the metal. Untreated pieces of minerals and all shapeless waste from the fabrication process, sometimes inappropriately called ingots, should be omitted from this definition: an ingot is defined as processed material and, most often, carries an inscription.” (Translation by the author). See also Laubenheimer-Leenhardt 1973 1. 47 Eiseman 1980 43. 48 See note 9.

49

Except for nos. 5944 and 10708; they do not have coordinates registered for them in the database. 50 Parker 1992. 51 Parker 1992 3. 52 Parker 1992 3-4. 53 Parker 1992 6.

161

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT No. 5943

Measurements (cm) 47 x 11 x 16.5

5944

51.0 x 10.5 x 6.0

23.000gs

Stamps 4 stamps, repeated in pairs, ‘T’ and ‘IA’,and representations of flute player and 1 acrobat 2 Partial stamp

6128

46.2 x 11.3 x 6.0

17.470gs

-

6789

53.0 x 9.5 x 6.5

16.800gs

-

9137

48.7 x 11.0 x 6.0

17.230gs

-

9519

46.2 x 9.9 x 3.0

5.990gs

-

9731

57.0 x 8.0 x 4.0

13.129gs

-

9999

43.0 x 7.0 x 2.5

3.630gs

-

10000 I

48.2 x 12.0 x 6.0

22.000gs

-

10000 II

47.1 x 11.9 x 6.0-6.7

20.100gs

-

10000 III

48.1 x 11.2 x 6.0

20.900gs

-

1 2

Weights 23.000gs

Preservation Very good, complete

Comment Egypt’s Sunken Treasures cat. no. 357

Very good, complete Smooth surface, complete Corroded rough surface, complete Smooth surface, complete Eroded remains of ingot, incomplete Remains of marine encrustations, complete Very worn and very rough, incomplete Severely corroded with many shells Severely corroded with many shells Smooth surface, complete

No photograph is available, for description see Goddio and Fabre 2008 342. See Figure 2.

Table 4. Ingots from Heracleion-Thonis were sold as scrap; all but two of the 15 lead ingots were destroyed. They apparently all contained stamps and would have provided much information on the metal trade at this time.56 One partial ingot was found in situ; another complete ingot was collected from the looters on the boat when they were arrested.57 Unfortunately, no original surface from the partial ingot is preserved. The complete ingot is a loaf shaped ingot with six stamps on its back. Of these six stamps only two are ”clear and complete, and these were made from the same matrix”.58

Figure 3. Sections of selected ingots, from left to right, top: no. 10000 III, 6789, 9999; middle: 9515; bottom: 6128, 9731

Isotope analysis has shown that these two ingots from Porticello fit in the ratios known from Laurion.59 In Laurion mineworkers in the nineteenth century found an ingot in the mines, allegedly of the same shape, however, no picture of it survives.60

famous cargo of bronze statuary when it sank.54 Unfortunately when the site was discovered in 1969 it was looted by its discoverer and other locals before this came to the attention of the police later the same year. In 1970 the excavation of wreck began by a team from the University of Pennsylvania. The date of the wreck is not wholly fixed: the excavators themselves argue for a date between 415 and 385 BC, Parker dates it slightly earlier.55 The lead anchor stocks found by the looters

Other examples from shipwrecks are less informative. For example, the Bon Porte A wreck, dated to the sixth century (550-525 BC) produced one ingot.61 It is made of 99 per cent lead; however, no isotope analysis was 56

As is emphasised by Eiseman, see Eiseman 1980 41-7. Eiseman and Ridgway 1987 53. Eiseman and Ridgway 1987 57. 59 Eiseman and Ridgway 1987 57, 107; also Eiseman 1980 42. 60 Eiseman 1980 43; Eiseman and Ridgway 1987 55. 61 Jongcheray 1976 21-23, photographs nos. 2-3; Parker 1992 74-5, no. 106. 57

54

58

Parker 1992 332-4, no. 879, is dated to 425-400 BC with a question mark, see also map 11. The wreck and its contents were published in 1987, see Eiseman and Ridgway 1987. For a discussion on the parallels for the ingots from Porticello, see Eiseman and Ridgway 1987 55-7. 55 Parker 1992 333; see also Gill 1987 31-3, esp. page 31.

162

ELSBETH VAN DER WILT: LEAD WEIGHTS AND INGOTS FROM HERACLEION-THONIS the Observation of the Sky to Mythology and Astrology. OCMA Monograph 3. Oxford. Cour-Marty, M.-A. 1989. Les poids dans l’Égypte ancienne, Vols. 1-3 [microform]. Paris. Cour-Marty, M.-A. 1991. Weights in Ancient Egypt: A Method of Study. In S. Schoske (ed.), Geschichte, Verwaltungsund Wirtschaftsgeschichte, Rechtsgeschichte, Nachbarkulturen. Akten des vierten Internationalen Ägyptologen Kongresses, München, 1985. SAK Bh 4.137-43. Hamburg. Eiseman, C. J. 1980. Greek Lead. Expedition 25, 41-8. Eiseman, C. J. and Ridgeway, B. S. 1987. The Porticello Shipwreck: A Mediterranean Merchant Vessel of 415385 B.C. Nautical Archaeology Series 2. Austin. Empereur, Y. 1981. Collection Paul Canellopoulos (XVII): Petits objets inscrits. Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 105, 537-68. Fabre, D. 20082. Myths and Legends In F. Goddio and M. Claus (eds.), Egypt’s Sunken Treasures, 58-73. Munich. Garnsey, P. 1988. Famine and the Food Supply in the Graeco-Roman Period: Responses to Risk and Crisis. Cambridge. Gill, D. W. J. 1987. The Date of the Porticello Shipwreck: Some Observations on the Attic Bolsals. IJNA 16, 31-3. Goddio, F. 2007. The Topography and Excavation of Heracleion-Thonis and East-Canopus (1997-2006). OCMA Monograph 1. Oxford. Goddio, F. and Fabre, D. (eds.) 20082. Egypt’s Sunken Treasures. Munich. Grataloup, C. (forthcoming) Occupation and Trade at Heracleion-Thonis: The Evidence from the Pottery. In D. Robinson and A. Wilson (eds.), Alexandria and the North-Western Delta: Joint Conference Proceedings of Alexandria: City and Harbour (Oxford 2004) and The Trade and Topography of Egypt’s North-West Delta: 8th century BCE to 8thth century CE (Berlin 2006). OCMA Monograph 5. Oxford. Hill, M. (ed.) 2007. Gifts for the Gods: Images from Ancient Egyptian Temples. London. Hitzl, K. 1996. Die Gewichte griechischer Zeit aus Olympia. Berlin. Johnston, A. 1998. Review of Hitzl, Die Gewichte griechischer Zeit aus Olympia. JHS 118, 252-3. Jongcheray, J. P. 1976. L’épave grecque, ou étrusque, de Bon-Porté. Cahiers d’archéologie subaquatique 5, 536. Lang, M. L. and Crosby, M. 1964. Weights, measures and tokens. Athenian Agora 10. Princeton. Laubenheimer-Leenhardt, F. 1973. Recherches sur les lingots de cuivre en de plomb d’époque romaine dans les regions de Languedoc-Roussillon et de ProvenceCorse. Revue Archéologique de Narbonnaise Supplément 3. Paris. Milne, J. G. 1939. Trade between Greece and Egypt before Alexander the Great. JEA 25, 177-83. Moreno, A. 2007. Feeding the Democracy: The Athenian Grain supply in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries BC. Oxford.

performed, so the origin of the lead is unknown. The shape of the ingot, being rectangular and pointed, is not similar to the rounded loaf shape found in HeracleionThonis. The ingot from the Porticello wreck is the best match with the ingots from Heracleion-Thonis in terms of shape, form and stamps with Greek letters.62 However, since it is only one example, it is difficult to draw any conclusions from it for the ingots from Heracleion-Thonis, apart from drawing attention to the dating and provenance supplied by the Porticello wreck.63 Concluding remarks In this paper I have demonstrated the presence of an Egyptian and Greek network with the help of a small sample of the lead weights from Heracleion-Thonis. Although it is difficult to make general claims on the basis of such a small sample of material and other explanations can be conceived to explain the presence of the Athenian weights in Heracleion-Thonis,64 the location of the town make trade the most likely option. The cheapness of lead makes weights made of this material ideal for transport and use for merchants. It is clear from epigraphic evidence that there were Egyptian traders in the Piraeus. The Athenian weights serve to indicate the contours of the other end – the Egyptian end – of the network. The possibility of the ingots coming from Laurion in Greece would be tempting in light of the previous discussion on weights. The lead isotope analysis of the ingot from Porticello, the best parallel to the discussed ingots from Egypt, shows that it was made from lead from Laurion. Apart from the location of few galena ores in the Eastern Desert,65 little is known about the mining of lead in Egypt. There is evidence from the New Kingdom that lead was already coming from the Levant into Egypt.66 Also, the presence of stamps with Greek letters on two ingots, support a non-Egyptian origin. Combining this, I am suggesting the possibility that the ingots from Heracleion-Thonis also came from Laurion. All together this is consistent and reinforces the picture gleaned from the pottery that includes many Greek imports.67 The material described above helps to build a picture of networks between Egypt and Greece not solely relying on the evidence provided by the pottery. References Bomhard, A.-S. v. 2008. The Naos of the Decades: From 62 For a description of the stamps, see Eiseman and Ridgway 1987 54, 57-8. 63 As Eiseman notes “there is no way to know how typical the Porticello examples are.” Eiseman 1980 43. 64 For a discussion on the difficulties of making inferences from objects found during excavations, see Morris 2005 98. 65 Ogden 2000 168-9. 66 Wachsmann and Raveh 1984 173-4. 67 See note 9 above.

163

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Morris, I. 2005. The Aegean. In J. G. Mannind and I. Morris (eds.), The Ancient Economy: Evidence and Models, 91-126. Stanford. Möller, A. 2000. Naukratis: Trade in Archaic Greece. Oxford. Ogden, J. 2000. Metals. In P. T. Nicholson and I. Shaw (eds.), Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, 148-76. Cambridge. Parker, A. J. 1992. Ancient Shipwrecks of the Mediterranean & the Roman Provinces. Oxford. Pernice, E. 1894. Griechische Gewichte. Berlin. Petrie, W. M. F. 1926. Ancient Weights and Measures Illustrated by the Egyptian Collection in University College, London. London. Rhodes, P. J. and Osborne, R. 2003. Greek Historical Inscriptions 404-323 BC. Oxford. Stanley J.-D. et al. 2007. Geoarchaeology. OCMA Monograph 2. Oxford. Thiers, C. 2009. La stèle de Ptolémée VIII Euergète II à Heracleion. OCMA Monograph 4. Oxford. Yoyotte, J. 2004. Les trouvailles épigraphiques de l’Institut européen d’archéologie sous-marine dans la baie d’Abû Qîr. BSFE 159, 29-40. Wachsmann, S. and Raveh, K. 1984, Concerning a lead ingot fragment from ha-Hotrim, Israel. IJNA 13, 16975

164

The Egyptian Economy: Sources, Models and History David A. Warburton     Introduction

should be taking a look at markets, in order to see if one can really dismiss the markets.

Here I can only briefly cover a couple of points about the nature of the Egyptian economy, the laws of economics, the role of economic history and economic theory – and the debate. It will hardly be surprising to anyone that I will come to the conclusion that my model is the best means of understanding economics – Egyptian and modern.

According to the MIT Dictionary of Economics a market is “any context in which the sale and purchase of goods takes place”, adding “There need be no physical entity corresponding to market”.6 According to the International Dictionary of Finance, a market is “business or trade in any commodity”.7 Neither Altenmüller nor Bleiberg who reject the application of market theory to the economy of ancient Egypt could possibly quibble with the relevance of these definitions to the ancient Egypt: we need no money, prices or actual market-place to define a market; the market is there when exchange takes place.8 Thus Egyptologists recognize these markets – and yet deny them.

Markets My first point concerns the markets, as this issue has somehow come to dominate the discussion in a fashion which can only be described as an aberration. P. Vernus states that the Egyptians used barter since they did not know money.1 W. Helck suggested that there was no significant commerce in Egypt and that even foreign trade was of little significance as this took place via gift exchange and produced only “useless cylinder seals” of lapis lazuli.2 B. Menu claims that lapis lazuli and other precious stones are never recorded as having a price in metal.3

The copper deben was the basic unit of value used in Egypt, and prices for agricultural goods produced in Egypt were calculated in copper.9 Janssen and Bleiberg stress that the prices were usually round. This means that the prices of ordinary Egyptian commodities produced in Egypt were not based merely on an appraisal of the value of the commodities, but also actually determined by the values interpreted in terms of “money”. Were the prices based on some system of utility value independent of the money values (i.e., those derived from metal), one would constantly encounter fractions. Since the prices generally fall into units of 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, etc., it follows that the monetary value was decisive.

Yet a few pages earlier on, before suggesting that the Egyptians did not know money and practiced barter, Vernus had actually translated a text describing a transaction where land was allegedly purchased for gold.4 Vernus knows perfectly well that the Egyptian had words for ‘to buy’ (jnj) and ‘to sell’ (rdj) – meaning by definition that they distinguished their transactions as market transactions – and that the word for ‘price’ was actually ‘silver’ (HD), meaning that they understood ‘money’. And, in fact – along with the cylinder seals – the treasure of Tod includes a couple of blocks of raw lapis lazuli each weighing more than 25 times the weight of the heaviest cylinder seals – and lapis lazuli prices in silver are known in Egypt.5 Thus, there can be no doubt that on the simple level of facts, Egyptologists have made strange statements – statements bearing no relationship to the facts.

The importance of this monetary role in price definition only grows when it is recalled that the payments at Deir el-Medina were ordinarily performed in commodities, which were evaluated in the same fashion. Thus, the market and monetary features of the transactions are by no means incompatible with market values. This has further aspects. Firstly, for the modern era, economists try to claim that “money is but a veil” (originally claimed by J. B. Say, almost two centuries ago), and that the values of the commodities are decisive. Were this the case, there would be no trace of monetary values at Deir el-Medina (where means of payments were commodities and thus money completely superfluous). Thus, obviously, the use of silver, copper and grain as units of account facilitated exchange – in a community where silver itself was virtually unknown. Secondly, in anthropological theory, it has been observed that the prices in “peasant economies” are ultimately market

The only means of understanding this is to postulate that for some reason, the concept of the market has been utterly removed from Egyptological discourse – to the extent that even straightforward facts are not recognized. I argue that such distortions of the facts correspond to an approach dismissing markets. Thus our first concern

                                                             1

Vernus 1993 59. Helck 1977. Menu 2004. 4 Vernus 1993 56. 5 For the blocks, cf. Warburton 2008 222, note 44, and for the prices, cf. Warburton 2008 221, note 35 – to which Urk IV 732, 16 and P. Harris I, 14a, 2 should be added. 2

                                                            

3

6

Pearce 1997, s.v. market. Bannock and Manser 1999, s.v. market. Altenmüller 1980, 2001; Bleiberg 2001. 9 Janssen 1975. 7 8

165

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT prices, corresponding to – and changing with – demand and supply.10

Again his approach is a naively positivistic one whereby he fails to appreciate the nature of his own theoretical bias and suspects that additional material will confirm the approach he advocates. Yet, like Römer, he realizes that the material does not support his approach – and likewise declines to assume that this might be significant.

What is the problem? Why do (any) Egyptologists object to the concept of markets? One reason may be that most scholars have the impression that these markets did not seem to function like markets – or at least as they believe that markets should behave. Stressing the incredible difference, Römer dismisses my work by simply stating that anyone who understands modern economic theory should realize that it cannot be applied to Antiquity, where the interaction was completely different.11

Another approach is based on the contention that people’s behavior differed fundamentally: the argument here is that because of the behavior patterns of some individuals, one can argue that the market did not function (Bleiberg and Janssen).15 Obviously, such scholars fail to distinguish between the behavior of entrepreneurs and consumers, and the different strategies used by entrepreneurs depending upon whether they are aiming at high margins and low turnover or low margins and high turnover. If Bleiberg contends that economic transactions in Deir el-Medina were slow and social, the Miscellanies inform us that the merchants were “as busy as brass”.16

I contend that one should try to distinguish the criteria separating the two economies, rather than merely stating that they differ. And one should aim at finding some means of accounting for the differences in historical and theoretical terms. In fact, Römer does propose that economics are about production – which would mean that they are comparable. Yet he does not face the reality of the impact of overproduction and unemployment on the prices of agricultural products and agricultural labour. Instead, he stresses technological change. Thus he neglects the economics of the most important part of the economy, and stresses a feature which was effectively irrelevant.

Thus, I stress that none of these explanations are persuasive – and Römer and Bleiberg implicitly admit with their statements that the sources are insufficient to support a model.17 We will go into these issues in an instant, but first of all will turn to a central issue of the Bronze Age.

In this fashion, he creates a contrast which does not illuminate, but instead obscures the issue. I argue that technological change follows from an economic basis, whereas he seems to believe that the technology changes the economics. Furthermore, he necessarily neglects demand since his concern is supply. Under the circumstances, it follows that he stresses that we need more documentation as the sources are not adequate to allow us to understand the economy as he defines economics.12 He does not seem to realize that the material might actually demonstrate that his assumptions are mistaken – and that another approach is necessary.

The price of copper Without copper, there would not have been a Bronze Age, and in fact for roughly the first millennium of the Bronze Age, Egypt mainly used copper. Thus copper was a vital commodity. The silver:copper ratios are known from the New Kingdom, where the rate lay at c. 1:100 at the start, falling to 1:60 at the end of the New Kingdom. For Egypt, earlier data are more hypothetical than useful. However, we have much better data from the Near East, revealing that a rate of around 1:90 or 1:100 prevailed for the later part of the third millennium and the early second millennium.18 The rate then fell to 1:140 or 1:135 and remained there. From documents of the First Dynasty of Babylon, we have the last dated references to copper from Oman (Magan) and the first dated references to copper from Cyprus.19 Regardless of chronological debate, there is an interval of perhaps two decades separating the two sources. We know from the stratigraphic accumulations in Oman that there is little evidence of copper production in Oman in the second millennium BC. The third millennium deposits are easily accessible and apparently operations were abandoned and never resumed on a large scale. Thus we can surmise that once Cyprus began exporting copper in the late Middle Cypriot period, Omani copper production ground to an abrupt halt.

Another approach which claims to deal with a comprehensible theoretical alternative is the frequently encountered idea that there was a “redistribution” or “supply” system of a “provider state” which was the dominant form of the economy: it is assumed that the existence of such a dominant form of economy prevented the market from functioning (the approach taken by Renger for the Mesopotamian economies).13 As I have discussed elsewhere, there is simply no evidence for this approach. It is not surprising that Bleiberg defends this approach, but then responds to criticism by suggesting that we need additional data.14

                                                            

                                                                                                

Cf. Warburton 1997 103. 11 Römer 2007 99. 12 Römer 2007 104. 13 Renger 1994. For criticism of Renger, with literature cf. Goddeeris 2007; Koppen 2007. 14 It is worth noting that Bleiberg (2007) fails to recognize that in terms of philology and sources, both Quack (1998) and Hallmann (2006 250) are persuaded that his version is convincingly refuted. He has in any

case not responded, merely treating his views as acceptable (although, cf. text with note 17 below). 15 Bleiberg, Janssen, discussions during the Congress. 16 Caminos 1954 384. 17 Both, coincidentally, in 2007: Bleiberg 2007 184; Römer 2007 104. 18 Reiter 1997 132*-7*. 19 Warburton 2003 59-60, with note 34.

10

166

DAVID A. WARBURTON: THE EGYPTIAN ECONOMY: SOURCES, MODELS AND HISTORY We can relate this to a shift in prices, as the lower rate appeared when Cypriot copper came on line. Fortunately, from Old Assyrian sources, we can also confirm that Anatolia continued to produce copper, even after Mesopotamia shifted to Omani copper early in the third millennium. Thus, when Mesopotamia was importing Omani copper during the Old Assyrian Period (the zenith of which came before the reign of Hammurabi and the Old Babylonian Period) Assyrian traders in Anatolia purchased and sold Anatolian copper. However, they sold it in Anatolia and were unable to export copper from Anatolia to Assur because it was not profitable.20

the state only used the market for the disposal of surplus textiles (which are the assumptions of those opposing the market approach). The same is true of copper. There is no evidence whatsoever that the Egyptian state controlled copper production during the New Kingdom. Yet, nevertheless, Hikade has invented an entire completely undocumented bureaucracy to oversee the archaeologically undocumented Egyptian production of copper in the New Kingdom.22 In fact, however, Hikade only posits this for the end of the New Kingdom. Yet even this hypothetical production had no effect on the price, as the price of copper rose at the end of the New Kingdom. Had the state production had a benign influence on the market – and state interference in the market is usually understood in these terms – one would expect the price to fall. And, there is no evidence whatsoever that the state offered any copper to the workers at Deir el-Medina – although the abundant documentation from Deir el-Medina corresponds to precisely that moment when Hikade was speculating about hypothetical state copper production.

We also know that copper was exported in the Uruk period from Anatolia to Mesopotamia, and that Anatolian copper would still be purchased by the Egyptians and the Syrians in the early second millennium BC. Thus, we can postulate that Omani copper undercut the price of Anatolian copper at the start of the third millennium, and that Cypriot copper then undercut the price of Omani copper – but only for Mesopotamia. I note that in AD 2000, the price of copper was virtually identical to the level established in the Late Bronze Age (1:135). The price fluctuated substantially in the following years. In spring 2009, it was at 1:140, but in fall 2009, it was at 1:92. Thus the fluctuations of the price of copper in the third millennium AD are more or less in accord with the prices from the second millennium BC. As the ancient prices are roughly in the same band as the modern prices, I assume that the ancient and modern prices are market prices. And I argue that these prices had an impact on production.

Yet the workers at Deir el-Medina did have copper and textiles. And they acquired these from the market. This demands that the market was responsible for the distribution of copper and textiles – goods which the state must have had. By contrast, the state actually used the market to acquire silver and gold from the people.23 Those allegedly following the Polanyi paradigm have several difficulties when faced with this evidence. One is that according to the supposed “redistribution” model, the state “collected all goods” and either directed these back to the people, as Altenmüller suggests,24 or to social classes, as Bleiberg suggests.25 In either case, there would be nothing left to trade on the markets (since everything was collected). Significantly, Bleiberg specifically states that the materials the workers at Deir el-Medina purchased were those the state did not provide. Thus, one cannot claim that the temples were off-loading surplus goods onto the market since there must have been surplus textiles and offering a few to the Gang at Deir el-Medina would hardly have represented an inordinate expense given the limited number of workers. The absence of such deliveries discredits both “redistribution” and the concept of the sale of “surplus” goods.

Copper and textiles The evidence would imply that one would expect the state to have played a role in the production of textiles. This is well-known for Mesopotamia. In fact, despite the absence of one shred of evidence, Bleiberg even goes so far – in violation of all scholarly and philological principles – to propose that Heqanakhte’s production of textiles might have been outsourced by the state. It is also interesting that in a peculiar variant of the Polanyi model, Grandet proposed that the state facilitated the alleged “redistribution” system by having producers offer garments directly to the consumers (for which there is likewise no evidence).21

Thus, neither the assumption of “collecting all goods” nor of redistribution nor of retailing “surplus goods” could possibly be viewed as a plausible view of understanding the sources we have. Furthermore, since the copper reached the workers and their families through the private market, one must abandon the idea of a state monopoly on foreign imports, and the idea of a “provider state” – and adopt a market economy.

Yet, despite the implication that textiles would be one of those items which the Egyptian state should have had in abundance, the workers at Deir el-Medina did not receive textiles from the state on a routine basis. Thus, this state which supposedly controlled the entire economy did not even choose to dispose of “surplus” textiles in Deir elMedina. Considering that the workers and their families were an insignificant fraction of the total population of Egypt, this is remarkable if the state controlled all production of textiles and if redistribution existed, and if

                                                             22

Hikade 2001. KRI Vol. 2 333, 1-2. Altenmüller 1980, 2001. 25 Bleiberg 1995, 2001, 2007.

                                                             20 21

23 24

Dercksen 1996; Veenhof 2008. Grandet 1994 Vol. 2 58-66.

167

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Wages, income, titles and “redistribution”

Furthermore, in the absence of evidence, not every shutytrader can be linked to a state institution; certainly many people who appear in the texts cannot be linked to state institutions. And not everyone with a title can be linked to the state institutions: the only title Heqanakhte had was not a state title and there is no evidence that he had any income except that produced by his own family. To suggest that his textile work was state outsourcing – as Bleiberg does – is incompatible with Heqanakhte’s own instructions that a textile which he had ordered be used to pay the rent on a piece of land. The belief that all the people of Egypt were integrated into the state institutions is a figment of Egyptological imagination.29

And, of course, the case of the workers at Deir el-Medina serves as an example of state employees who were paid for their labour in the Valley of the Kings; they used their grain wages to purchase what the state did not provide. Deir el-Medina serves as a demonstrated case of wage labour in ancient Egypt and cannot be used to argue in favour of “redistribution” since the payments and the expectation of work in the Valley of the Kings are documented. By contrast, there is very little evidence that ordinary people received anything from the state. On the contrary, what evidence we have suggests that they paid taxes – as in P. Wilbour, or in P. Valençay I – but it does not suggest that they received anything. Quack hints that officials had to subscribe to the temple to take advantage of feasts.26

According to Bleiberg, the transactions of the Brooklyn administrative/commercial papyrus are unidentifiable.30 However, whatever they record nevertheless represents a series of transactions involving individuals who have no titles of any kind. Needless to say it would be quite remarkable for a state document to omit the titles if the people had any. In itself, the absence of titles should suggest what would normally arise from the documentation: that these were not people integrated into a state institution (which is important in itself) and that it is a document recording either private transactions, or commercial transactions between state representatives and unaffiliated private people. The fact that there was no need to record the motive of the transactions, and that it was not necessary to record the titles of the people involved suggests the “cash nexus” may be the explanation.

Thus rather than a state-wide “redistribution” system, temple offerings can be understood as part of the income of the temple workers and priests where the kings and ordinary officials made their respective contributions. This would explain why there is no persuasive explanation of how “redistribution” functioned in ancient Egypt. I have noted several times that although Bleiberg was allegedly responsible for the economic entries in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, there is no entry on redistribution; and the only relevant entry in the Encyclopedia refers to items which are not relevant to ancient Egypt.27

Production and Value Bleiberg mentions Hatshepsut’s mission to Punt and P. Harris I as being examples of “redistribution”. In fact the products brought back from Punt are only of real interest to the gods and the King in her search for legitimacy, and most of the material in P. Harris is only of interest to the temple. Thus this is simply activity in support of state institutions and not an indicator of overall control of the economy. I have repeatedly noted that the grain totals would provide for no more than an insignificant proportion of the population.28

There is virtually no question but that Egypt was basically an agrarian economy, comparable to most other agrarian (as opposed to hunter-gatherer or commercial) economies before the Industrial Revolution. It is now relatively clear that the work of less than 200,000 field workers could have produced enough for the entire country of several million people to live.31 Data from Mesopotamia32 suggests that the work of a few tens of thousands of workers will have sufficed to produce far more garments than the Egyptian population could ever have used (by several orders of magnitude). The construction of pyramids will have required a few tens of thousands more.

In fact, however, the argument against Polanyi and his dependents goes much further. Bleiberg seems to suggest in his paper that one can basically project state control of the economy into any document which does not demonstrate the contrary. Yet Bleiberg fails to perceive that if Ramesses II sends merchants to the Egyptian countryside to acquire silver and gold and copper from the people, it means that the people actually possessed silver and gold and copper and that the state could expect to acquire this from the people via the market. Thus, the state documents confirm the existence of the private market.

                                                             29

Warburton 2007 186-94. Bleiberg 2007; Condon 1984. 31 Warburton 2007 194 with note 68. Similar figures are offered by Hikade 2006 and Spalinger 2006. It is worth noting that economists frequently stress the need for seed-corn. According to my estimates, the efforts of 300,000 workers could have produced enough grain for far more than ten million people. Since the population of Egypt was probably never more than five to eight million (possibly in the Roman era – when in any case hundreds of thousands of tons of grain were still being sent to Rome), the sheer productive capacity of the land meant that the cultivators could have easily wasted considerable quantities of seed-corn – and they probably did on state estates. On private holdings, people will have been more rational. That they could have produced more than they required remains a fact. However, being human, most of the time they will have kept their efforts to a minimum. 32 Waetzoldt 1972, 1987. 30

                                                             26 27

Quack 1994 91, with notes. Warburton 2003 158-60; Warburton 2007 184-6; Warburton 2009 67-

9. 28

Warburton 1997, 2003, etc. (esp. Warburton 2000 70-4 with notes).

168

DAVID A. WARBURTON: THE EGYPTIAN ECONOMY: SOURCES, MODELS AND HISTORY Thus, I suggest that the economies of Egypt and Mesopotamia will have been characterized by vast underemployment. This will have had two negative effects on economic activity. Firstly, any attempts by any farmers to produce grain for the market will have been futile: overproduction would only lead to falling prices and in any case, the institutions had the capacity to inundate the market with grain. Secondly, wages measured in grain will have been maintained at a relatively low level – and there will not really have been any kind of possibility for a labour market, since there was little demand outside the agricultural sector (which was adequately served).

officials could engage others to work “their” fields for them, allowing those who actually cultivated the fields part of the harvest, assigning part to the state – and retaining the remainder as their net salary. This increased production and allowed the emergence of a leisure class of lettered civil servants who could run the state bureaucracy. They could assure that the peasants paid their taxes and performed their corvée duties for the state. Obviously, with the revenues (in kind and in metals, etc.), the state was able to engage in international trade on a massive scale. Thus, the simple matter of taxation increased demand and transformed the economy. Thus, there was no “redistribution” – only those taxes which are documented.

The result will have been that most households will have aimed at producing enough grain for their own subsistence requirements (plus taxes and/or rents), but little more. The state institutions may have required significant numbers of “involuntary” workers to work the fields – but these will have been an insignificant proportion of the population.

I contend that these taxes (and labour obligations, etc.) – which grew after the establishment of the state – were responsible for all the economic growth in the early part of the Bronze Age. They contributed to the emergence of markets – but only after several centuries of bureaucratic domination. Subsequently, the market had an impact in stimulating growth in the periphery – and in rendering the peasants of the core economies far more compliant.

The consequences will have been underemployment with little motivation to work, and little private interest in overproduction of grain – i.e., economic stagnation resulting from saturated markets and high unemployment. This is compatible with the data available.

However, the limits of the economic organization of the time meant that deficit spending and inflationary policies were impossible, as there were no powerful bankers from whom to borrow money and no currency to debase. Thus the impact – however great it may have been in comparison to the Neolithic – does not bear comparison with the changes of the Industrial Revolution.

From Mesopotamia, we can confirm that the institutions and large property holders exploited the market specifically to further reduce their dependence on wage labour, by offering loans to peasants who could not repay. Steinkeller persuasively argues that the peasants were then forced to perform labour for free for the creditor for years (until they repaid their debts) – and probably never repaid their debts.33 The result was that the institutions could avoid engaging casual labour; since their dependents were paid rations at a lower rate and corvée obligations also guaranteed labour, the market value of unskilled labour was reduced to virtually nil. Even if the prospective wages may have lain well above the rations of the institutions, there was little prospect of employment and this was invariably short-term. We can unfortunately assume that the system will not have been radically different in Egypt.

It is extremely important to note that technologically, there was virtually no difference between the economies of the fourth and fifth millennia, and those of the second and third millennia. Yet the difference between a Neolithic subsistence economy and the Bronze Age urban economies is nothing less than that characterized by the emergence of civilization. I thus stress that this was a social difference with extraordinary economic implications. It was the social change of the organization of society which transformed a useless potential surplus into wealth; it was not a technological change which improved productive capacity. Whatever market elements may have been present in the fifth millennium did not contribute to the transformation: it was the activities of the state which allowed the markets to flourish. However, it was the demand of the states which determined the transformation. Thus, the economies of the third and second millennia cannot be understood in either market or administrative terms alone – and neither can be understood in technological terms.

Demand stimulus Yet as a whole Egypt was enormously rich, and the standard of living was enviable by the standards of the rest of the world of the day. My argument has been that the “expenses” of building pyramids and temples were virtually insignificant in terms of labour. And in fact, the arrangements whereby the state assessed taxes (or rent) for fields resulted in a form of the recognition of property which meant that the interests of the state and the subjects were matched. Furthermore, the concept of assigning fields to soldiers, priests and other state employees allowed them to perform their services in the temples or the army, etc. while producing their own salary from the fields allotted to them. Scribes and other better off

My version is in accord with the givens. Many have disputed the concepts, but no one has demonstrated any other convincing explanation for the way the economy functioned. In fact, both Bleiberg and Römer – realizing that their own versions do not work – allege that the documentation does not suffice to allow us to build a model. My contention is that my model makes sense and that it corresponds to the givens.

                                                             33

Steinkeller 2002.

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT My own argument is that a similar economic cause can be discovered for the Industrial Revolution – and we will return to this in an instant. For the moment, we will return to the debate.

(etc.). One of the markets visited is probably that of Deir el-Medina (mry.t tA-wHy.t-pA-xr), where we know that deals were made involving coffins, grain, sandals, and virtually every other ordinary commodity one could expect to find in ancient Egypt.37

Markets, Prices and Theory

Thus, even the fragmentary evidence from ancient Egypt confirms interlocking markets where prices resulting from general equilibrium were inevitable. The fact that the copper and silver appearing in these transactions (both as units of account and as means of payment) were themselves parts of the international market economy brings in the additional feature of international equilibrium prices – which is precisely the value of the copper prices dismissed by the economists as anecdotal.

I should note that professional economists have not even begun to discuss my understanding of tax-based demand.34 They have, however, criticised my arguments about the markets – and significantly, in a different fashion than the approaches used by the Egyptologists. In my arguments with the Egyptologists, I can usually rely on the evidence from ancient Egypt to refute the claims (as done above). However, the arguments of the economists are quite different.

Of greater significance in the overall argument is the fact that documents from Mesopotamia confirm what cannot be demonstrated beyond doubt for Egypt – that palaces were involved on a massive scale in market operations of all kinds: buying and selling grain, renting land, purchasing preciosities, renting boats, lending money, etc. Thus, the different aspects of the market converged here, with silver as the defining measure of value.38

One approach pursued by the economists is to simply dismiss prices as evidence of markets in a summary fashion; another is to remark that the case of copper can be saved for television, but that it is not an argument. This leads to the question of just what evidence would satisfy the economists.35 A more serious criticism (on the part of the economists) is therefore that which stresses that there does not seem to be substantial evidence of converging markets in the existing discussions. The implication here is that the markets were not integrated, and thus that there was no possibility of a general equilibrium. Here, however, the Heqanakhte archive offers evidence of one single gentleman farmer who was a part-time entrepreneur. Heqanakhte was involved in letting and renting fields; money-lending; issuing rations and paying labourers, artisans, and employees; producing wheat, barley and flax; manufacturing textiles; accepting and making payments in cereals, oil, copper and textiles. Thus, his entire enterprise depended upon a mastery of production costs and market prices. He was not aiming at autarchy, although he did aim at producing the grain required by his family.36

Demonstrating the market type behaviour of the bureaucrats was the paramount reason I published a version of a letter from the Old Babylonian Palace at Mari in which a bureaucrat detailed his concerns about transporting grain.39 Quite aside from detailing casual wage labour and the renting of boats, the official also betrayed details of bureaucratic thinking. In the letter, he revealed two different exchange rates for silver-barley. It is immaterial whether the difference is explained as reflecting (a) the difference in price between Emar and Mari (Vargyas), (b) a discount offered to merchants (Durand), (c) the fall in the price after the harvest (Powell), or (d) a difference between the rates used to convert grain in terms of administrative value and in terms of expenses for wages measured in silver (Warburton). Of central importance is that the letter indicates that the author and the recipient were palatial officials and that their thinking was moulded in terms of costs and benefits and values in silver. The fact that these same officials will have been involved in transactions involving virtually every type of labour and every type of commodity known in Antiquity means (a) that the palaces demonstrate the results of equilibrium and (b) that the palaces could not dictate prices.

The Brooklyn papyri make this same point in that the logbook of the boat records visits to markets along the Nile, and the deals include transactions in copper, silver, textiles, honey, yarn, grapes, baked goods, and vegetables

                                                            

34 It might be amusing to realize that Hudson (2005) does not even recognize this central argument, as he denies that I account for how the state transformed society. 35 I note that the criticism of my use of the copper prices was made by Prof. R. Tortajada (personal communication November 2009) whereas in a recent article on “capitalism” in an encyclopaedia, the author specifically stated the failure of prices to adjust was characteristic of economies before the modern era (Verley 2009 7-8). Obviously, the same author also cited Polanyi, and specifically stated that the production of textiles did not adjust to price in traditional economies. In reality, of course, the industrial production of textiles in ancient Mesopotamia was based on precisely such considerations – and led to exports based on lower prices (McMahon 2008; Waetzoldt 1972, 1987). Thus, in this case, the theoretical analysis contradicted the facts – and the economists change the arguments to deny the markets when confronted with the facts. 36 Allen 2002.

Thus, this argument that the markets did not converge appears to be quite weak.

                                                             37

Condon 1984; Černý 2001 92, 94-6; Janssen 1975; Kemp 2006 30225. 38 It is not insignificant that Verley (2009 7) suggests that in Antiquity preciosities and textiles appeared in two separate markets, whereas in reality, the documentation from Mari (e.g., Durand 2000 7-68) clearly demonstrates that grain, textiles, oil, metals, animals, slaves, wood, wine, and preciosities (etc.) were all part of the same market. 39 Warburton 2003 54-7.

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DAVID A. WARBURTON: THE EGYPTIAN ECONOMY: SOURCES, MODELS AND HISTORY Yet the economists usually add in one additional argument: namely that they find Polanyi useful and also find it difficult to understand how Polanyi’s theory became so widely accepted if it has no value (as I claim). The assumption of the validity of the theory seems to suffice for them. Firstly, I repeat that Polanyi stressed that wage-labour and land-rent are the criteria of the market and the emergence of their existence means that the market will inevitably eliminate all other forms of economic activity.40 That the phenomena existed is not disputed – yet Römer correctly contends that this economy was quite different from our own. This means that the market as defined by Polanyi did not change the economy, as Polanyi suggested was inevitable. In this fashion, Polanyi’s theory is revealed not only to be without foundations, since wage-labour and land-rent are known since the third millennium BC – but also theoretically inadequate in its estimation of the capacity of the market to change society since the major change dates to millennia after the appearance of the markets.

function in the modern world, they cannot claim to understand how markets worked in Antiquity.43 My argument is that since one cannot demonstrate the existence of an alternative economic organization and that the evidence of the markets is indisputable, economists should consider these ancient markets. My interpretation is that economists are perfectly content to assume that the markets of Antiquity were not markets. This permits two basic claims of the economics profession: that historical sources are irrelevant and that modern economic systems are the only relevant features. Since they dismiss the ancient markets, the profession is hermetically sealed from any historical evidence. Economic Change and the Laws of Economics The market alone can explain the relative stagnation of the ancient agrarian economies. However, if markets are the key to the success of modern economies, this renders the explanation of economic change and understanding the nature of economics far more difficult.

Secondly, I stress that Polanyi assumed that the evidence of the Assyrian traders in Anatolia demonstrated that they were intent on acquiring the commodity copper for export to Assyria, and that any profits were merely an inevitable part of trade. However, the evidence actually refutes Polanyi’s claims completely. In fact, the Assyrians were not intent on acquiring commodities, but rather profits, and their trading involved the necessity of moving articles swiftly to regions where the price was still high.41 Thus, Polanyi’s mistaken theory was built on misrepresentations of the facts, an inadequate understanding of markets – and a mistaken interpretation.

Römer assumes (a) that economies are based on production and (b) that understanding the nature of modern economies automatically means that one must understand that the laws of these modern economies cannot be applied to understand ancient economies in any useful fashion.44 However, I argue that the situation is exactly the opposite. I suggest that Römer is projecting the importance of production in modern economic theory to all economics. He is thus making exactly that error which he says is invalid. As noted, the grain and textile requirements of the economies of Antiquity will have been easily satisfied. Once those needs had been satisfied, demand will have been limited. One could try to sell funerary goods and amulets. However, (a) this will have required the means to find clients who were willing (and able) to pay, whereas (b) most people were poor and (c) it was cheaper to steal them from earlier tombs. Obviously – as I have stressed for some time now – pyramids and temples will not have been a drain on an economy in which demand was satisfied.

The survival of Polanyi’s theory remains a mystery for which there are numerous explanations – but none of them intellectually acceptable. Economists thus counter any claims for the existence of markets in Antiquity with two contradictory arguments. The first argument is that mentioned: that they simply disregard whatever evidence is produced. Obviously, there is no means of persuading economists of the existence of markets in Antiquity if they deny them. The second is to explain that the economics profession does not really understand what markets are and how they work.42 For the economists, the implication is that archaeologists, Assyriologists and Egyptologists are not competent to discuss markets. This is of course a more satisfying explanation than conceding the failure of the economics profession. But it is impossible for them to deny the markets of Antiquity: if they concede that the economics profession does not understand how markets

My first argument is therefore that production cannot be the base of economics – and the second is that one should account for demand. However – aside from trying to understand how demand can play a role – this also leads to the question of how production came to play such an important role in economic thought. Obviously the concept that production is at the base of economics cannot be based on the documentation of Egypt. This leads to several questions. One group of questions concerns the laws of economics and economic growth. Another concerns the historical and economic issues

                                                             40

Warburton 2009 69 (and elsewhere). 41 Veenhof 2008 85-6. 42 For this, I (Warburton 2009 79) have cited Cartelier (in Bensimon 2005 775) an economist who stresses that there is a gap between the general assumptions about markets as understood by economists, and their detailed studies.

                                                             43 44

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For a reference to this conundrum, cf. Warburton 2009 78-9. Römer 2007.

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT related to the transformation which allegedly makes modern economies so different that they cannot be compared to ancient economies.

higher interest rates without fiduciary money (paper or fiat money) are not flexible enough to allow investment in production. So long as interest rates remain high, they encourage aiming at profits by mark-ups on exchange transactions rather than by consciously devising an investment strategy based on borrowing money to produce goods with a minor difference between the production costs and retail prices. Such investments do not promise significant profit margins when compared to the concept of purchasing at low prices and selling at high prices based upon (a) moving the goods to a more distant market and/or (b) making radical distinctions between wholesale and retail prices.

To understand the relations between the theory and history we must try to understand the differences between the economies of Antiquity and the modern world and aim at understanding how this change could have come about. I argue that Römer is projecting “production” from modern economic theory onto all economies. I argue that one should draw on “demand” instead. I also argue that in this fashion we can approach the laws which determine all economic activity. There are usually two different explanations of what distinguished these economies of Antiquity from modern economies: either the absence of markets or the absence of technological innovation. In my work I have endeavoured to demonstrate that markets were in fact present, both in terms of the definitions of modern economic thought, and in terms of Polanyi’s criteria for the existence of the market. Thus, the issue of markets should be viewed as resolved, and this cannot be viewed as a contrast allowing a distinction.

It is possible that the concept of a distinction between the nominal value of the Athenian tetradrachmas and their real silver value in weight had an impact on the concept of devaluing money which eventually led to deliberate policies which unintentionally resulted in inflation – from the Hellenistic period onwards. The Athenians – innocently or otherwise – offered pure silver coins which meant that virtually all other coins were discounted in comparison to the Athenian coins, as the guarantee of the Athenian state apparently offered a certainty justifying a mark-up in the value of Athenian coins.

Significantly, recent research is increasingly confirming the presence of technological and scientific innovation in Antiquity, from cosmetics and metallurgy to the conceptual methodology of astronomy. Thus, clearly scientific or technological obstacles are not the problem. To my mind, it is therefore significant that neither the markets nor the technology led to the type of changes to which we have become accustomed in the last two centuries.

This was the opposite of what happened in China when paper money was first introduced (Sung-Yuan dynasties, c. 1000 AD): the paper was discounted at 30% (the going rate of interest) and what were intended to be banknotes were treated as letters of credit. When the Bank of England introduced paper notes (more than five centuries later) the rate of interest had fallen to 4-6% and discounting the notes was pointless. During the wars of the French Revolution, the nominal value of the banknotes in circulation exceeded the bullion backing – and the Bank abandoned convertibility. This situation prevailed from 1797 onwards – and I contend that this changed the nature of economics. Simultaneously, investment in production became reasonable; demand increased as wage labourers were no longer dependent on grain; employment spread to industry...

Bleiberg has occasionally proposed that the absence of the use of coinage distinguished the economies of Antiquity from modern economies.45 Obviously, there are several problems with this. First of all, the economies of ancient China, Greece and Rome were familiar with coinage. And yet these economies were still ancient agrarian economies not significantly different from the Bronze Age economies where coinage was unknown. Furthermore, the use of silver as a unit of account and a store of value was familiar in ancient Egypt, and thus in some form money was present. Indeed, the use of prices designated in silver or copper for virtually all articles meant that money was present on a theoretical level. Secondly, according to the neoclassical synthesis, money is “neutral” and thus cannot play any role beyond “facilitating” exchange.

This does not mean that economics is about production. It means that demand – through state taxation in Antiquity, through bank notes in the modern era – can push investment in technology and production (if consumers are interested in the products, and have the means to purchase and prices can be pushed down far enough to satisfy them: thus mobile telephones are easier to sell than cars).46

Ironically, it is precisely this point which I consider essential. I argue that it was not coinage or money alone which changed economics, but rather the fall of the interest rate combined with the introduction of paper money. Lower interest rates made investment in production possible (since higher interest rates virtually demand that profits be made through high margins on exchange rather than on efficient production). However,

Economics The first sections of this contribution should have demonstrated (a) that markets existed in ancient Egypt, and (b) that there is little evidence of “redistribution” or “reciprocity” as economically significant aspects of the economy. Nor is there any real evidence of state

                                                             45

                                                             46

E.g. Bleiberg 2007 180.

172

These matters are treated in Warburton 1997, 2003, (forthcoming).

DAVID A. WARBURTON: THE EGYPTIAN ECONOMY: SOURCES, MODELS AND HISTORY “control” of the economy. From here it is easy to move to Polanyi’s own suggestion that the existence of the market would eliminate other forms of economic activity in the same way as the angles of a triangle define its nature. Since Bleiberg recognizes the existence of the markets and no one has demonstrated economically significant redistribution, it follows that the economy of ancient Egypt must have been a market economy.

Conclusion The Egyptian Economy First of all, I suggest that the markets of Egypt be accepted as markets. Second of all, I stress that there has never been a convincing proof for any kind of economically significant redistribution in ancient Egypt: Polanyi was wrong both theoretically and historically.

This demands a completely different understanding of economic history – one where markets play a role from the beginning. The idea that there is an evolution which leads from some kind of system without markets to a market system is probably a legacy of Marxist thought. Polanyi seems to have provided an alternative to this, but one which offered the ancient Near Eastern despots a “human face” by being generous authorities running a “redistribution” system. Both systems defined market economies as a recent development.

The documentation from Egypt clearly indicates that there (a) were monuments built and maintained with corvée labour, (b) were taxes in grain, (c) was wagelabour, (d) rental of land, and (d) markets where commodities were purchased and sold. This suddenly begins to look like a rather ordinary economy, similar to any other “traditional economy” before the Industrial Revolution. Rather than merely stating as a fact that modern economies are so different from ancient economies that it is illegitimate to compare them, I have suggested that demand is a fundamental of economics, and that differences in demand distinguish modern (currency and low interest based) and ancient (tax based) agricultural economies. The main difference is that currency-based economies with low interest rates have managed to harness technology to change production and economics. Thus, the technology follows from the economics rather than the opposite.

This offers a pretext for economists to dismiss the economies of the ancient world. This attitude is widely reciprocated among students of the ancient economies. As noted, Römer suggests that anyone who understands how modern economies work realizes that the economies of Antiquity were different. He states that in the modern world technological change leads to disruptions and economic transformations, and that most employment in developed economies is in production. In doing so, he also reveals an ignorance of the importance of services in the developed economies.

It necessarily follows (a) that the “market economy” is not a form of economic organization in itself, but merely a means of exchange; (b) that the difference between “the market economy” and “capitalism” is significant, the latter being based on fiat money with low interest rates; and (c) finally that the state is an essential part of a market economy, and that state interventions in the market are but one aspect of the role of the state in the economy. This means that understanding that the “laws of the market” are not the “laws of economics”, but rather that economics must recognize the fundamental role of the state: as a source of demand through fiat money, and as the source of that legislation which allows the markets to function.

More significant, however, is that without citing Schumpeter, Römer is subscribing to Schumpeter’s theory of economic growth, based on disruptive technological transformations. Römer seems to be unaware that this is speculation: Schumpeter did not explain the changes through transformation, but rather Schumpeter assumed that growth took place and sought an explanation in terms of technological change. However, Römer is unaware that in fact economic growth has not been explained by the technological models on offer, as Michie pointed out in the Economic Journal a few years ago.47 As Römer is following in the path of Schumpeter which has not aided the economics profession in accounting for growth, it is not insignificant that Römer also recognizes that it is impossible to understand the economy of Egypt with the sources available: this may mean that this approach is a dead-end.

In this fashion, my results – based on an analysis of the documentation – coincide with my understanding of the theory advanced by Keynes. I see my interpretation of Egypt and my account of the origins of the Industrial Revolution as confirming the general lines of Keynes’s General Theory. However, I have not applied Keynes to Egypt, but rather used the sources to illustrate what I believe are the main lines of Keynes’s thought. As the reader will have noted, my argument works without any reference to Keynes as it is based on Egypt and economic analysis.

Römer dismisses my work because of my conscious use of modern economic theory. I dismiss his because of his unconscious use of modern economic theory. And I stress that in contrast to Bleiberg and Römer, I have a model which matches the givens of the data and the theory I use.

References Allen, J. 2002. The Heqanakht Papyri. New York. Altenmüller, H. 1980. Markt. LÄ 3, cols. 1191-4.

                                                             47

Cited Warburton 2003 vi. 

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Römer, M. 2007. Die Aussagekraft der Quellen für das Studium ägyptischer Wirtschaft und Verwaltung. ZÄS 134, 66-81, 83-106. Spalinger, A. 2006. Costs and Wages of Egypt with Nuzi Equivalents. Orientalia 75 16-30. Steinkeller, P. 2002. Money-lending practices in Ur III Babylonia. In M. Hudson and M. van de Mieroop (eds.), Debt and Economic Renewal in the Ancient Near East. International Scholars Conference on Ancient Near Eastern Economies 3, 109-37. Bethesda. Veenhof, K. R. 2008. The Old Assyrian Period. In K. R. Veenhof and J. Eidem, Mesopotamia: The Old Assyrian Period. OBO 160.5. 13-264. Fribourg. Verley, P. 2009. Capitalisme. Les Essentiels d’Universalis, Vol. 2, 5-14. Vernus, P. 1993. Affaires et Scandales sous les Ramsès. Paris. Waetzoldt, H. 1972. Untersuchungen zur Neusumerischen Textilindustrie. Rome. Waetzoldt, H. 1987. Compensation of Craft Workers and Officials in the Ur III Period. In M. A. Powell (ed.), Labor in the Ancient Near East. AOS 68. 117-41. New Haven. Warburton, D. A. 1997. State and Economy in Ancient Egypt: Fiscal Vocabulary of the New Kingdom. OBO 151. Fribourg. Warburton, D. A. 2000. Before the IMF: The Economic Implications of Unintentional Structural Adjustment in Ancient Egypt. JESHO 43, 65-131. Warburton, D. A. 2003. Macroeconomics from the Beginning. Neuchâtel. Warburton, D. A. 2007. Work and Compensation in Ancient Egypt. JEA 93, 175-94. Warburton, D. A. 2008. The Theoretical Implications of Ancient Egyptian Colour Vocabulary for Anthropological and Cognitive Theory. Lingua Aegyptia 16, 213-59. Warburton, D. A. 2009. Economics, Anthropological Models and the Ancient Near East. Anthropology of the Middle East 4, 65-90. Warburton, D. A. (forthcoming) The Economies of the Bronze Age Near East and the Fundamentals of Economic Theory.

Altenmüller, H. 2001. Trade and Markets. In D. B. Redford (ed.), Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 3. 445-50. Oxford Bannock, G. and Manser, W. 1999. International Dictionary of Finance. London. Bensimon, G. (ed.) 2005. Histoire des Représentations du Marché. Paris. Bleiberg, E. 1995. The Economy of Ancient Egypt. In J. M. Sasson (ed.) Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, Vol. 3, 1373-85. New York. Bleiberg, E. 2001. Prices and Payment. In D. B. Redford (ed.), Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 3. 65-8. Oxford. Bleiberg, E. 2007. State and Private Enterprise. In T. A. H. Wilkinson (ed.), The Egyptian World, 175-84. London Caminos, R. 1954. Late-Egyptian Miscellanies. Oxford. Černý, J. 20012. A Community of Workmen at Thebes in the Ramesside Period. BdE 50. Condon, V. 1984. Two Account Papyri of the Late Eighteenth Dynasty. RdE 35, 57-82. Dercksen, J. G. 1996. The Old Assyrian Copper Trade in Anatolia. Leiden. Durand, J. M. 2000. Documents épistolaires du palais de Mari III. Paris. Grandet, P. 1994, 1999. Le Papyrus Harris I, Vols. 1-3. BdE 109, 129. Cairo. Goddeeris, A. 2007. The Old Babylonian Economy. In G. Leick (ed.), The Babylonian World, 198-209. London. Hallmann, S. 2006. Die Tributszenen des Neuen Reiches. ÄAT 66. Wiesbaden. Helck, W. 1977. Handel. LÄ 2, cols. 943-8. Hikade, T. 2001 Das Expeditionswesen im ägyptischen Neuen Reich. SAGA 21. Heidelberg. Hikade, T. 2006. Expeditions to the Wadi Hammamat During the New Kingdom. JEA 92, 153-68. Hudson, M. 2005. Review of Warburton 2003. JESHO 48, 118-22. Janssen, J. J. 1975. Commodity Prices from the Ramessid Period. Leiden. Kemp, B. J. 20062. Ancient Egypt. Anatomy of a Civilization. London. Koppen, F. v. 2007. Society and Economy in the later Old Babylonian Period. In G. Leick (ed.), The Babylonian World, 210-23. London. McMahon, A. 2008. Mesopotamia, Sumer, and Akkad. In D. M. Pearsall (ed.), Encyclopedia of Archaeology, Vol. 1, 854-65. San Diego. Menu, B. 2004. Égypte pharaonique. Nouvelles recherches sur l’histoire juridique, économique et sociale de l’ancienne Egypte. Paris. Pearce, D. W. (ed.) 1997. The MIT Dictionary of Modern Economics. Cambridge (Mass.). Quack, J. F. 1994. Die Lehren des Ani. OBO 141. Fribourg. Quack, J. F. 1998. Review of Warburton 1997. WdO 29, 174-7. Reiter, K. 1997. Die Metalle im Alten Orient. AOAT 249. Münster. Renger, J. 1994. On Economic Structures in Ancient Mesopotamia. Orientalia 63, 157-208.

Further readings Bleiberg, E. 2002. Loans, Credit and Interest in Anceint Egypt. In M. Hudson and M. van de Mieroop (eds.), Debt and Economic Renewal in the Ancient Near East. International Scholars Conference on Ancient Near Eastern Economies 3. 257-76. Bethesda. Carneiro, R. 1970. A Theory of the Origin of the State. Science 169, 733-8. Casanova, M. 2002. Le lapis-lazuli, joyau de l’Orient ancien. In J. Guilaine (ed.), Matériaux, productions, circulations du Néolithique à l’Age du Bronze, 16990. Paris. Casanova, M. 2004. Le contrôle du lapis-lazuli en Orient des origines au début du IIe millénaire av. J.-C. In P. Brun and P. de Miroschedji (eds.), Le contrôle des

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DAVID A. WARBURTON: THE EGYPTIAN ECONOMY: SOURCES, MODELS AND HISTORY ressources dans les stratégies de pouvoir, 177-82. Nanterre. Chase-Dunn, C. and Hall, T. 1997. Rise and Demise. Boulder. Cline, E. H. 1994. Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea. BAR IS 591. Oxford. Warburton, D. A. 2000. State and Economy in Ancient Egypt. In R. A. Denemark, et al. (eds.), World System History, 169-84. London. Warburton, D. A. 2005. Le Marché en Égypte Ancienne. In G. Bensimon (ed.), Histoire des Représentations du Marché, 653-73. Paris. Warburton, D. A. 2005. Working. In D. Snell, (ed.), A Companion to the Ancient Near East, 169-82. Oxford. Warburton, D. A. 2006. The Egyptian Example & the Macroeconomic Implications. In M. Perna (ed.), Fiscality in Mycenean and Near Eastern Archives. Studi Egei e Vicinorientali 3. 255-66. Paris. Warburton, D. A. 2007. Texts, Translation, Lexicography, and Society: A Brief Note. LingAeg 15, 263-79. Warburton, D. A. 2007. Ancient Egypt: A Monolithic State in a Polytheistic Market Economy. In M. Fitzenreiter (ed.), Das Heilige und die Ware: Zum Spannungsfeld von Religion und Ökonomie. IBAES 7. 79-94. London. Yoffee, N. 1995. The Economy of Ancient Western Asia. In J. Sasson (ed.), Civilizations of the Ancient Near East. 1987-99. New York.

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Trade and Money in Ramessid Egypt: the Use of General Equivalents in Economic Transactions1 Andrea Zingarelli 1

amounts of metal began to be used. Other equivalents of value measure used in the Ramessid Period were those established in relation to grain and liquids, as logical in an agriculture-based society. Data related to those general equivalents can be observed in the table:

Introduction

The aim of this paper is, first, to explain the growing process of exchange transactions expressed in common value patterns, and secondly to compare data in order to discern whether metals and/or goods were physically present in exchanges. We will also examine the idea that the invention of coinage was actually the invention of money, and, in connection to this, if general equivalents should be understood as “paleo-money”. Primary evidence for these issues comes from Deir el-Medina ostraca and the tomb robbery papyri, but also from other New Kingdom sources. It will also be necessary to take into account a variety of other forms of data in order to illustrate the points and to explain the economic process in the New Kingdom.

Weight and measurements

Equivalences

XAr

76.88 litres

16 HkAt1

hnw (hin)

0.48 litre

1/10 HkAt

ipt (oipĕ)

19.22 litres

4 HkAt

Unit

We will introduce a much-debated statement: that the appearance of coinage implies the existence of coin marked by the state in Egypt in later periods.2 However, exchanges through quantities of metals are already distinguishable in Ramessid sources. This means that, due to reasons currently being researched, almost all exchanges stopped taking place as barter, i.e. goods for goods, and a more generalised use form of patterns was established. Authors agree in calling it “a system”.3

1

Writing

HkAt = 4.8 litres.

  Table 1. General equivalents

Isolated mentions of Sat i.e. a value measure4 can be found in Egyptian sources since the Old Kingdom, and varied and widespread patterns of value were used in individual exchanges from the end of the 18th Dynasty. These value patterns were represented by units of weight as indicators of certain quantities of metal (dbn, kite, sniw) or other goods (XAr, hin).

XAr ´sack’ or ‘jug’5 was particularly used as a unit of exchange value in Deir el-Medina.6 Similarly to metal value patterns, it was applied as exchange equivalent and played a specific social role. Some equivalents could have been introduced as value patterns of general reference since none of the goods had been excluded in the social context.

From this, three issues may arise: first, the relationship between mercantile development and the use of metals in exchanges; secondly, whether metals were physically present during transactions or whether they were just ”reference patterns”; and finally, the question of individuals’ physical access to the metals.

It is noteworthy that in most cases exchanges were performed through metals and not through other objects. Metals began to exclude other goods socially. Metals as general equivalents can be observed in the table:

Why general equivalents? We have already mentioned that exchanges stopped taking place as barter and that patterns equivalent to 1 Some remarks included in this paper are fully developed in Zingarelli 2010. 2 Allam 1999 93; Curtis 1957 71; Janssen 1975 101; Peet 1932 122. 3 Menu 2004 228; Peet 1932 122. However, Janssen (1975 545) called it “money-barter” and states: “Although the unit itself may be regarded as ´money`, the system cannot be considered to be a monetary system”. 4 Wb IV 418, 2. See Vycichl 1980.

5 According to Gardiner 1988 199 the ´sack` (XAr) of 18th Dynasty was a variation of the sack of five quadruple HqAt mentioned in the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus. 6 See Janssen 1975 109-11.

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Unit

dbn

qdt (kite)

Writing

Weight and measurements

Equivalences

c. 91gs

12 Sat  1400 grains

c. 9.1gs

1/10 dbn

7.5gs of gold

1/12 dbn

transactions. This increase in the number of transactions and goods exchange involving general equivalents shows a differential process, even in the physical absence of metals. Thus, dbn could be considered a general equivalent, a measure pattern but not a means of payment, such as coins or paper currency.13 The emergence of an abstraction process in the exchanges is certainly outstanding. qdt or kite in Coptic is another term related to means of exchange in metals and generally in silver and seldom in copper.14 There are many records of qdt during the 19th Dynasty. In Papyrus Cairo 65739, a legal document,15 most goods are expressed in silver kite. The mentioned document makes reference to an exchange between a woman citizen and a merchant (Swty).16 The woman bought a Syrian female slave whose value was established in dbn and silver kite. Probably this circulation level differs from that of Deir el-Medina, though this issue is beyond our work.17

Saty

One kite was equivalent to 9.1gs, 1/10 of a dbn. This was due to silver availability in Egypt at that time, its higher value and also its extraction. However, there may have been more possibilities of obtaining it after Egyptian expansion in Asia.18

sniw

This economic transaction was not related to redistributive demands,19 to the force of tradition20 or to mythic features as substantivist authors, especially Polanyi,21 have stated. This transaction included merchants or agents of trade that could exchange outside the state control sphere.

Sat

Table 2. General equivalents dbn was originally associated to a round object.7 Later it acquired a fixed weight of about 91gs8 when it became one of the most used common patterns in the exchanges during the New Kingdom.9 Nevertheless, its use is recorded in more ancient texts.10 An example from the Middle Kingdom is found in the product lists of the Memphis Annals of Amenemhat II.11 However, this inscription is a goods list related to the pharaoh’s action and his reception of gifts and offerings. It does not refer to the exchange of goods between individuals.

The Egyptian word for silver HD22 was used to make reference to payments, like the sum of several goods value in a transaction.23 Janssen developed this issue in 13

Henry 2004 92, following Grierson 1977 17. Janssen 1975 101. 15 Gardiner 1935. 16 The word Swty was translated as ´trader`, ´merchant` by Faulkner 1962 263; Gardiner 1947 94*; and Lesko 1982-1989 Vol. 3. 140-1, and ´trade agent’ by Allam 1998 150; Bickel 1998 161; Reineke 1979 13. 17 The term Swty had been mentioned only once (Megally 1977 255; Vernus 1993 72-3) before the New Kingdom, what may allow deducing that there was not commercial activity through merchants or agents in the Nile Valley until the middle of the second millennium BC. 18 The money from Anatolia had to go through long distances until reaching Egypt (Liverani 1987 50-52, 68, 73). 19 Polanyi (Polanyi et al. 1957 264-6) distinguished between money of “all use” and ancient money, being the latter the result of “redistributive demands”. 20 According to Polanyi (1977 lii) “prices are originally set by tradition or authority, and their alteration, when it occurs, is again brought about by institutional, not by market methods. Contrary to all current assumptions, the origin of fluctuating prices, not of fixed prices, is the problem for the historian of antiquity.” 21 Economic analysis and studies about Egyptian economy were led by the opposition between Polanyist redistributive economy and market – capitalist – economy. In particular, Eichler 1992; Kemp 1989; Trigger 2003; Warburton 1991, 1995, 1997, 2000, among others, have considered the use of this theory for the investigation of ancient Egyptian economy. 22 About its symbolic connotations see Menu 2004 223-4. 23 Ostracon Gardiner 9 (Černý and Gardiner 1957 Pls. 24-24a no. 4; Janssen 1975 499) and Ostracon Cairo 25572, verso 14 (Allam 1973 6314

In Deir el-Medina, most exchanges were carried out through dbn, generally in copper dbn and scarcely in silver dbn.12 According to evidence, goods exchanges in Deir el-Medina were carried out through copper dbn as general equivalent, though this metal was not present in 7 Wb V 436-7; ‘Weight of about 91 gs’, ‘general term for weight of balance’ (Faulkner 1962 311); ‘Gewicht von 91 gr.’, also ‘Gewichtstücken’ (Wb V 438 2-3); ‘a weight’, ‘monetary unit’ (Lesko 1982-1989 Vol. 4 129). 8 In the Middle Kingdom it was equivalent to 27.5gs of copper and 13.7gs of gold. See Menu 2004 225. 9 According to Daumas 1977 428, this measure was international in the ancient Near East during the second millennium BC. 10 Janssen 1975 101-2; Peet 1934 199; and Weigall 1908 studied its significance, among other authors. 11 Altenmüller and Moussa 1991. 12 Janssen (1975 102) states that silver dbn are rare in ostraca and there are no examples in gold dbn.

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ANDREA ZINGARELLI: TRADE AND MONEY IN RAMESSID EGYPT Commodity Prices from the Ramessid Period.24 An example of this is found in Ostracon Petrie 3, from the 20th Dynasty.25 In a transaction for an ox (iH), 50 copper dbn clearly expressed the total sum (HD) that had to be paid according to its value. Ostracon DeM 223,26 dated also to the 20th Dynasty, began with the word HD meaning the total sum of money27 that a workman gave a carpenter for a set of coffins. A number of goods are listed such as dresses, a pair of sandals, grain, oil and copper, amounting to 20 1/2 dbn.

According to these documents, exchanges through general equivalents exceeded domestic production of goods and involved transactions with slaves and payments of labour. In addition, land exchange by general equivalents was only mentioned in robbery papyri and in documents from 18th and 21st dynasties. Among the examples found in the trial records, it is remarkable a thief’s statement: “The Overseer of the fields of Amun’s temple, Akhenmenu, gives 1 dbn of silver and 5 kite of gold for lands.”40

28

On the other hand, the word Sat has been associated, according to weight and value, to another word used later: Saty.29 As regards Sat, Peet30 and Černý31 suggested the translation of ´piece`, though it should be considered that its original meaning was ´ring`. Nonetheless, several authors32 have discussed the relationship of Saty with sniw. For Janssen,33 Saty is a short form of the word sniw used in ostraca and papyri of 19th and 20th dynasties. He states that undoubtedly the sniw was a silver weight, sometimes in gold but never in copper.

In these cases, it may be pointed out that land was exchanged for bullion and not in connection to goods equivalents. This information was revealed by robbers who explained the destiny of the stolen metals.41 Evidence in some papyri from the end of the New Kingdom shows the existence of a frequent practice at that time: tomb and temple robberies to obtain actual metal. In Papyrus 10053, burglars extracted 5 kite of gold and shared it among them. In the enquiry Ker said (verso 3 lines 10-11):

In any case, Sat and Saty were linked to precious metals such as silver and gold. Documents from Deir el-Medina (Ostraca DeM 49 recto34 and DeM 699)35 record transactions in which values of some goods – vegetables, pieces of clothing, baskets, a vessel, goats or even a coffin – were expressed in Saty.

“We went again to the jambs of the door with the priest Hori, son of Pekharu, the scribe of the temple Sedi and the priest Nesamon. We brought 5 gold kite and shared it. In Thebes, we bought corn with that gold and shared it.”

Slave sale and rent, establishing their value in Saty, were documented in Deir el-Medina ostraca and in Kahun documents. A judicial process regarding the sale of a female slave36 for two dbn and four silver Saty was recorded in Papyrus Berlin 9785 lines 6-7 and 11-12 from Akhenaton’s realm.37 Papyrus Berlin 9784 recto lines 11338 also records that slave service days were paid in two Saty.

Then in the same papyrus (verso 3 lines 12-13), Ker again stated: “So we went again to the jambs of the door and brought 5 gold kite and gave that gold in exchange for an ox (...).”

Ostracon Gardiner 12339 from Deir el-Medina refers to a female citizen ´dweller of the city` (anx-niwt) who bought several goods in silver Saty paying with 480 days of slave labour to a workman.

According to these statements, the gold seemed to be physically present. In these cases, gold kite is used as a value pattern but as bullion. In the same in Papyrus BM 10052 6 line 7,42 the wife of one of the thieves confessed: “(...) I took 1 silver dbn thereof and bought SASA-grain. (...)”

5, no. 31; KRI Vol. 5 572-3; McDowell 1990 179-80, 253-4). 24 Janssen 1975 499-502. 25 Hieratic Ostracon 16, 3, see Černý and Gardiner 1957 5, Pls. 14-14a no. 3; Allam 1973 227, no. 226. 26 Allam 1973 105, no. 77; Černý 1937 8-9 Pls. 15-15a; Cooney 2002 93-4; KRI Vol. 6 433. 27 Also in Ostracon DeM 399. See Černý 1951 16, Pl. 16; Cooney 2002 98; KRI Vol. 6 256. 28 ´Couper` (Vycichl 1980 29); ´Schneiden` (Wb IV 415). 29 ´Wertmesser (wie Geld gebraucht)` (Wb IV 418). 30 Peet 1934 199. 31 Černý 1954 910. 32 Peet 1934 185-7; Wente 1965 105-9, esp. 108. 33 Janssen 1975 103. 34 Allam 1973 81, no. 45; Černý 1935 14, Pls. 42-42a; Cooney 2002 8587; KRI Vol. 3 554; KRI Vol. 7 195. 35 Černý 1970 17, Pl. 27. 36 Théodoridès (1968 88-90) denied the existence of such sale. 37 Gardiner 1906 38-40, Pl. 3. 38 The best preserved of the four papyri (Gardiner 1906 32). 39 See Allam 1973 177, no. 174; Černý and Gardiner 1957 16, Pls. 5454a, no. 1; KRI Vol. 4. 219-20.

It is worth wondering if transactions took place only within a legal circuit. In some transactions, the use of metals was clearly expressed. For instance, in trials, tomb thieves stated that they had stolen metals and then exchanged them for other items. As regards metals, it is thought that obtaining them in ancient times was expensive, especially due to the extraction and melting process.43 The government exploited gold mines in Eastern Desert and Nubia and 40

P. BM 10052 2 lines 19-23, see Peet 1930 144, Pl. 26. P. BM 10053, see Peet 1930 118, Pl. 20. Peet 1930 149, Pl. 29. 43 See Hikade 1998 43-52 on expeditions to the Sinai copper mines. 41 42

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT

Figure 1. Scenes in the tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep. (after: Moussa and Altenmüller 1977 Pl. 10). goldsmiths were included in its staff.44 Consequently, it could not have been easy to obtain gold outside the court. However, nobles’ gold rewards were documented during 18th Dynasty.45 This royal practice46 became common especially as recognition of military men for their

participation in wars.47 Consequently, the Egyptian state began to use those value patterns that were represented by unities in agreement with certain metal amounts. There is not so much evidence about metal remains, except for el-Amarna, where gold bars, finished silver objects and several irregular pieces of metal were found

44 Scenes of metals melting and weighing can be found in nobles’ tombs: TT 95 Wreszinski 1923 59a; TT 86, Wreszinski 1923 78a; TT 39 Wreszinski 1923 149. An also as tribute: TT40 Wreszinski 1923 159. 45 They were also mentioned before, according to the Memphite Annals of Amenemhat II. 46 Its symbolic and political connotations exceed our research purpose.

47 It is mentioned in autobiographical inscriptions [Ahmose, son of Abana; Ahmose Pennekhbet; Amenemheb (TT85)], but also the pharaoh and the queen can be observed throwing gold collars at the appearance window (Davies 1905 Pl. 17; Krutchen 1981 164).

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ANDREA ZINGARELLI: TRADE AND MONEY IN RAMESSID EGYPT inside a pottery jar.48 This may be due to the re-use of metals, especially in metropolitan areas. Mercantile development and the use of general equivalents The use of equivalents in metal is known from Old Kingdom Egypt. We found isolated references to Sat linked to commercial transactions. It is recorded in a stela (Cairo JE 42787)49 a house purchase whose value was established in gold Sat.50 In a market scene, the exchange of pieces of clothing for Sat was recorded in Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep tomb from the 5th Dynasty; Sat is mentioned as the value unit of exchange. In one of the scenes, “fabric cubit for 6 Sat” is recorded in an inscription (Figure 1). Therefore, a value unit was used for the transaction. A common feature of some people represented in these scenes is that they are carrying small bags on their shoulders, whose content is difficult to define. It has been thought that they could contain several objects or even that these bags served as market bags,51 although it is not understood why the sellers are also carrying them. It has been suggested that the bags had money or some kind of metal.52

Figure 2. Scences of Kenamun’s tomb in Dra Abu elNaga, TT162 (after: Davies and Faulkner 1947 Pl. 8)

Kenamun’s tomb from 18th Dynasty is one of the few funerary monuments where scales are represented. This implies the possibility of weighing metals when trading with foreigners.53 In three sub-records, some individuals are sitting at a kind of stalls (Figure 2). They are offering what seem to be sandals, fabrics, food and other products, yet which cannot be positively identified. If these goods had been destined for exchange, the transaction was not documented and general equivalents were not mentioned.54

Peet pointed out the advantage of referring to these patterns.56 It may be considered that an increase in the use of these general equivalents was in agreement with some mercantile development. Therefore, there was an internal market in Deir el-Medina community. This market resulted from the surplus of domestic57 and artisan production, which was added to the wages delivered by the state. This market involved animals (oxen, donkeys), funerary objects (sarcophagi, stelae, statues, and ushabtis) and furniture58 that were recorded in different ostraca. Skilled workmen could have obtained individual profit from these exchanges. This did not depend only on individual action but on the logics of social functioning.59

Although value patterns had been used since the Old Kingdom, it is worth considering that there was an increase of goods movement in the Ramessid Period and metal value patterns were applied as in Deir el-Medina. Let us consider then that these measure units were protomoney55 and, even though there was no coin corresponding to a currency form, in some exchanges general equivalents were used but not universally.

An individual surplus accumulation can be observed in some village artisans and also in some officials who could obtain different products simultaneously. Moreover, the individual goods acquisition was reflected in buying these goods through general equivalents. It was impossible to obtain most of these goods through wages only.

48

Frankfort and Pendleburry 1933 59-61, Pl. 43. Menu 1998 274-8; Sethe 1911; Strudwick 2005 205-6. 50 Sethe 1911 135-50; Strudwick 2005 205-206; Théodoridès 1979. 51 Maspero 1900, 257. 52 With different opinion Hodjash and Berlev (1980 45). 53 Kenamun was Thebes’ mayor and overseer of Amon barns and probably he lived under Amenhotep III. Then, many details were lost and Norman de Garis Davies copied in situ later the image traces that survived with the help from Daressy’s photographs (In 1922, see Davies and Faulkner 1947 note 1). 54 The exchange taking place in markets represented in tombs was barter type, that is to say, goods for goods, usually as an extension of domestic economic activities or linked to the exchange of some institutions. 55 Janssen (1975 546) considered that in some respects units like sniw, dbn and XAr were in fact money. 49

Artisan work involved free individual time as it can be seen in officials’ goods requirements. For example, the 56

Peet 1932 122. Agricultural activities of many village workmen are known though it is difficult to establish their magnitude. See McDowell 1992 195-206 esp. 195, note 2; Lesko 1994 36. 58 A chair could cost 11 dbn, equivalent to a monthly wage. 59 Astarita 2000 22. 57

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COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT Ostracon DeM 14660 lists a series of wooden objects made by a carpenter for the official Amenakht: two seats61 making 30 dbn, one bed62 making 20 dbn, one coffin63 making 25 dbn, excess thereof: 48 dbn, one wooden statue64 making 15 dbn, one kskst basket making three dbn, Total 93 copper dbn.

In addition, the robbed precious metals were gold and silver and the main goal was to exchange them for productive goods such as grain and animals. This circulatory process was in agreement with the exchange practice in general equivalents carried out in Deir elMedina. However, transactions with copper dbn prevailed there and probably metals were not present in most of them.

The values given to each object involved the manufacturing work that was added to the final product and this, therefore, indicated a profit for the carpenter. Then, it can be deduced that the official had some surplus that allowed him to acquire goods, some of them for himself, such as a wooden coffin.

The greed for gold, silver and even copper and bronze should not only be considered as a way of getting luxurious goods, but also it should be taken into account in the general economic process at the end of the Ramessid Period.

At the same time and as a result of this, some people could own several manufactured goods through exchange provided that there existed the possibility of previous accumulation. The connection between Theban rich families and chief artisans or village scribes is evidenced by transactions involving more valuable goods. The intervention of centralised administration neither prevented individual goods acquisition in the local circuit nor avoided some cumulative mechanisms.

It is true that the historical existence of trade and money cannot be matched with modern phenomena. It is also true that such a force resulting in a mercantilised society cannot be assigned to pre-capitalist markets. However, we can distinguish a mercantile development during the Ramessid Period involving the use of proto-money. Some authors think that the invention of coinage was the invention of money, emphasising the innovation from ancient Greeks.65 It can be understood that the use of coins as a means of exchange transformed the economic relationships, particularly when this phenomenon spread and the state controlled the coinage. However, we should distinguish money form from money function.66 In the Ramessid Period, Egyptians used general equivalents to exchange and these were given a money function.

Most of the analysed documents refer to metropolitan centres where the elite lived. No wonder then that this circulation level had resulted from surplus availability within dominant groups. Those goods from artisan and domestic production were under circulation outside the state sphere. As regards this, it is worth mentioning that the economic management of monarchy was in agreement with accumulation process and private exchange. The Egyptian state as a redistributive one denied private accumulation in a symbolic way but at the same time enabled it as a secondary effect resulting from its functioning. It is true that Thebes’ uniqueness as metropolitan area was a hindrance to making this phenomenon develop throughout Egypt. However, in connection to mercantile growth in Deir el-Medina, this phenomenon was based on state infrastructure for its development, thus inhibiting an entirely free production.

Several sources reveal a process by which units of measurement in metal began to be used, though this change was not uniform. If we consider that the natural shape and functioning of a specific kind of goods (value in metal) were socially integrated to equivalents, we can deduce that this represented the previous step to money. We assume that under Ramessid Period Egyptians did not know coinage, but they knew a differential development in the use of common value patterns through which the goods were exchanged. This use spread, at least, within the state elite. The fact that coins were not found does not void the function that certain metals or their abstraction had as general equivalents in exchanges.

Final remarks The metal circulation firstly implied the introduction of these metals by the state and secondly its subsequent use in the internal circuit as general equivalents, even though they were not always physically present in transactions. Since the 18th Dynasty one of the possible ways by which officials and military men could obtain metals, especially gold and silver, was through rewards.

References Allam, S. 1973. Hieratische Ostraka und Papyri aus der Ramessidenzeit. Urkunden zum Rechtsleben im alten Ägypten 1. Tübingen. Allam, S. 1998. Affaires et opérations commerciales. In N. Grimal and B. Menu (eds.), Le commerce en Égypte ancienne. BdE 121. 133-56. Cairo.

60

Allam 1973 100-1, no. 72; Černý 1937 9, Pls. 18-18a; Cooney 2002 88-9; KRI Vol 6. 664; Mc Dowell 1999 80, no. 50. 61 qniw, Janssen 1975 187-91. 62 Hati, Janssen 1975 180-4. 63 wt, Janssen 1975 215-6. 64 twt , Janssen 1975 246-8.

65 See Parise 2003 about coin origin and its theoretical and/or empirical implications. See Peacock 2006 about the question whether money in the Near East pre-dated Greek money. See also Schaps 2004. 66 See Pryor 1977 149-61 on money origin and related studies.

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List of Abbreviations ÄA AA ÄAT ACE AE Aegyptus AH AJA AnOr AOAT AoF AOS Archéo-Nil ArOr ASAE ÄUAT ÄUL AVDAIK BACE BACPS BAe BAEDE BAR BAR IS BASOR BCIMS BdE BES BIE BIFAO BMMA BSA BSAE BSEG BSFE CAH CCE CCG CE CHANE CJE CRIPEL DFIFAO DossArch EA EEF EES-M EES-OP EgUit Enchoria FIFAO FoRa GJ GM HdO IBAES IEJ IJNA Iraq

Ägyptologische Abhandlungen Archäologische Anzeiger; Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Ägypten und Altes Testament Australian Center for Egyptology: Studies Ancient Egypt Aegyptus: Rivista Italiana di Egittologia e di Papirologia Aegyptica Helvetica American Journal of Archaeology Analecta Orientalia: Commentationes scientificae de Rebus Orientis Antiqui Alter Orient und Altes Testament Altorientalische Forschungen American Oriental Series Archéo-Nil: Bulletin de la société pour l’étude des cultures prépharaoniques de la vallée du Nil Archiv Orientální Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Égypte Ägypten und Altes Testaments: Studien zur Geschichte, Kultur und Religion Ägyptens und des Alten Testaments Ägypten und Levante: Zeitschrift für ägyptische Archäologie und deren Nachbargebiete Archäologische Veroffentlichungen (Deutsches Archaologisches Institut. Abteilung Kairo) Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology Bulletin of the Center of Papyrological Studies Bibliotheca Aegyptiaca Boletín de la Asociación Española de Egiptología British Archaeological Reports British Archaeological Reports International Series Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research Bulletin of the Canadian Institute for Mediterranean Studies Bibliothèque d’étude Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar Bulletin de l’Institut d’Égypte Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art The Annual of The British School at Athens British School of Archaeology in Egypt Bulletin de la Société d’Égyptologie Genéve Bulletin de la Société Français d’Égyptologie The Cambridge Ancient History, 2nd edition. 1970-. Cambridge. Cahier de la Ceramique Egyptienne Cahiers du Centre Gustave-Glotz Chronique d’Égypte Culture and History of The ancient Near East Cambridge Journal of Economics Cahiers de recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et d’Égyptologie de Lille Documents de fouilles de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire Les Dossiers d’Archéologie Egyptian Archaeology, the Bulletin of the Egypt Exploration Society Egypt Exploration Fund EES Excavation Memoirs EES Occasional Publications Egyptologische Uitgaven Enchoria: Zeitschrift für Demotistik und Koptologie Fouilles de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale du Caire Forschungen in der Ramses-Stadt The Geographical Journal Göttinger Miszellen Handbuch der Orientalistik Internet-Beiträge zur Ägyptologie und Sudanarchäologie Israel Exploration Journal The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology Iraq: publication of the Britisch School of Archeology in Iraq 185

COMMERCE AND ECONOMY IN ANCIENT EGYPT JAOS JARCE JAS JE JEA JESHO JGS JHS JNES JRS JSA JSSEA JWH KARNAK KRI KrSoob LÄ LEM LingAeg LingAeg - StudMon MAAR MÄS MBAH MDAIK MEFRA Meroitica MIFAO MMAF MMJ MRE NARCE NAWG NEA OBO OCMA OIP OJA OLA PAe PAM PM PMMA PTT PW RA RAPH RdE RhM RIDA RT SAAC SAGA SAK SAK Bh SAOC SDAIK SIE SIMA StudHell TEMOS

Journal of the American Oriental Society Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt Journal of Archaeological Science Journal d’Entrée (Cairo Museum) Journal of Egyptian Archaeology Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient Journal of Glass Studies Journal of Hellenistic Studies Journal of Near Eastern studies Journal of Roman Studies Journal of Social Archaeology The journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities Journal of World History Cahiers de Karnak. Centre franco-égyptien d’étude des temples de Karnak K. A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions, Historical and Biographical, Vols. 1-7. 1969-1990. Oxford. Kratkije Soobščeníja. Brèves communications de l’Institut d’Archéologie. W. Helck and E. Otto (later W. Helck and W. Westendorf) (eds.), Lexikon der Ägyptologie, Vols. 17. 1972/5-. Wiesbaden. A. H. Gardiner, Late-Egyptian Miscellanies. Bae 7. 1937. Brussels. Lingua Aegyptiaca Linguae Aegyptia - Studia monographica Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome Muሷnchner Ägyptologische Studien Münstersche Beiträge zur antiken Handelsgeschichte Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo Mélanges de l’École française de Rome Meroitica: Schriften zur altsudanesischen Geschichte und Archäologie Mémoires de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale du Caire Mémoires publiés par les membres de la mission archéologique française au Caire Metropolitan Museum Journal Monographies Reine Elisabeth Newsletter of the American Research Center in Egypt Nachrichten der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen Near Eastern Archaeology Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology Oriental Institute Publications Oxford Journal of Archaeology Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta Probleme der Ägyptologie Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean B. Porter and R. Moss, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings, Vols. 1-7.1927-1951 (1960- ) Publications of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Private Tombs at Thebes August Pauly and Georg Wissowa (eds.), Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Revue d’Assyriologie et d’Archéologie Orientale Recherches d’archéologie, de philologie et d’histoire Revue d’égyptologie Das Rheinische Museum fuer Philologie Revue Internationale des Droits de l’Antiquité Recueil de traveaux relatifs ŕ la philologie et ŕ l’archéologie égyptiennes et assyriennes Studies in Ancient Art and Civilisation Studien zur Archäologie und Geschichte Altägyptens Studien zur altägyptischen Kultur Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur - Beihefte Studies in ancient Oriental civilization Sonderschrift des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo Studies in Egyptology Studies in Mediterranean Archeology Studia Hellenistica Triade Exploration’s Opus Magnum Series in the Field of Egyptology 186

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS TTSO WdO ZÄS

Tutankhamun’s Tomb Series Die Welt des Orients Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde

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