Mortuary Consumption and the Social Function of Stone Vessels in Early Dynastic Egypt

This study examines the social functions of stone vessels in Early Dynastic society through a comparison between tomb architecture and the assemblage of stone vessels. The results demonstrated that the more valuable vessels, consisting of special wares and greenish stone vessels, were mostly restricted to high-status tombs in the Memphite and Abydos regions. This hierarchical structure places the king’s and highest officials’ tombs at the top of the hierarchy. Rulers probably distributed stone vessels to elites as part of their political strategy under the administrative institution and system developed since IIIC2. Furthermore, there are formal sets of stone vessels in elite tombs at provincial sites that are close to the vessel assemblage of the ritual list inscribed on funerary slabs during IIID. This suggests that stone vessels were likely brought to provincial areas to promote the offering ritual to local elites in this period. Thus, stone vessels functioned as a political medium for vertical and horizontal integration.

Why Can’t a Woman be More Like a Man?

Summary The article examines archaeological and epigraphic evidence from the subsidiary chambers of the Early Dynastic royal cemetery at Umm el-Qa’ab/Abydos. Not surprisingly it turns out that this group of people was more diverse than the often used modern descriptions as “artisans and concubines” reveal.

Transitional Rites in Pre-Dynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt

Mythopoetic thinking operates on a binary principle, classifying all the phenomena of the macro- and microcosm. The opposition between cosmos and chaos, in other words, between life and non-being, was fundamental. Spaces assimilated by culture, an ordered world, symbolized by various images: a pillar, a mountain, a temple, a dwelling, was conceived as the center of the universe, which was opposed by chaos that threatened order. These ideas about the world order were actualized in the sphere of ritual, designed to preserve the order created in the first times by the ancestors and gods. The repetition of the original myth in the ritual was supposed to restore, renew the world order in the cyclical movement of time. This applied both to the general Egyptian holidays, such as the New Year, and to the initiations that members of society took place at one stage or another of the development of Ancient Egyptian culture. Transitional rites had two aspects: age and social. When passing the initiation, the members of the collective increased their social status, became initiated, moving from adolescence to marital relations, increasing their status in the collective. A special position was occupied by leaders and kings, who confirmed their high position in society during the holiday sd. Funerals were also considered transitional rites. Transitional rituals united ideas about such opposites as life and death, which was equated with the loss of a person's previous social status. An indispensable attribute of rituals was sacrifice, and not only bloody of animals, but also sacrifice with ancient ritual objects during the construction of temples on the site of ancient sanctuaries. Notable examples have been associated with the kings in charge of the prosperity of Egypt.

FRAGMENTS OF THE THIRD MILLENNIUM BC FROM NIGIN

The ancient city of Nigin in the State of Lagash is largely attested in the epigraphic sources of the rulers of the First Dynasty of Lagash. Conversely, the archaeological evidence of the Early Dynastic Period is so far very scanty and limited. This paper presents a small group of documents to be dated to the Early Dynastic Period IIIb that were found out of context, but that nevertheless point to a phase of occupation of Nigin in the third millennium BC and are coherent with the information we already know about history of the city and the State of Lagash.

ABU SALABIKH – ABSOLUTE RADIOCARBON CHRONOLOGY

This article presents a new absolute chronology for the archaeological site of Abu Salabikh, Southern Iraq, during the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. The main goals of this study were to synchronise the sequences of the West and Main Mounds, corroborating the dating schemes based on archaeological and textual finds, and assigning an absolute date to the transition between Uruk and Early Dynastic (ED) periods. Previously published dates and newly produced 14C measurements were used in tandem with Bayesian statistical models to arrive at more precise time estimates. Some inconsistencies in the results point to possible disturbance of the archaeological sequence in the context of tannur kilns and highlight the need for careful sample collection and selection methodology. The results suggest a hiatus in settlement between the Uruk and ED periods c. 3000 BC, and confirm the date of c. 2650-2500 BC for the Early Dynastic ED IIIa Fara-style texts.

The Long Road Out of Eden: Early Dynastic Temples, a Quantitative Approach to the Bent-Axis Shrines

This study was conducted to quantitatively assess the architectural data stemming from 70 buildings usually considered as bent-axis temples, a type of Mesopotamian temple mainly constructed from 2900 to 2300–2200 BC. The study reviews, region-by-region and site-by-site, the dimensions of the rooms considered the “holy of holies”, registering width, length, and surface area. The results are discussed in comparison to the previous reception rooms of the tripartite buildings, considered the original matrix from which these shrines developed. The chronological and regional differences that are outlined provide some insights about the kind of social units that were involved in the use of those buildings, which were key structures in the urban fabric of Early City states.

Early Evidence for the Egyptian God Kheprer

Analysing early pieces of evidence for a phenomenon has always been a problematic task and it can be more difficult when dealing with a religious topic. Anachronistic approaches have often been projected in this kind of research, which brings inaccurate interpretations and findings. This paper concentrates on early testimonies for the ancient Egyptian god Kheprer, the deity of the morning sun and autogenesis. It discusses some previously suggested Predynastic, Early Dynastic, and Old Kingdom sources (such as finds of beetles in vessels, the so-called Libyan Palette, Giza writing board, figures of beetles, personal names and titles, Pyramid Texts) that can refer to the existence and belief in this deity. This study focuses mainly on the problematic issues in the interpretations of those finds, demonstrating thus that the only secure evidence for Kheprer comes from the Pyramid Texts.