Subsistence Strategies and Craft Production at the Ancient Egyptian Ramesside Fort of Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham - (Bloomsbury Egyptology) (Paperback)

About the Book

"Drawing on more than 20 years of archaeological study and investigation at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham, this book paints a nuanced picture of daily life not only at this liminal military site, but also in Ramesside Egypt more broadly. Focusing on the various subsistence and craft production strategies that were conducted alongside each other in Area K of the fortress, it sheds new light on what life was like for ordinary Egyptians"--

Book Synopsis

Drawing on more than 20 years of archaeological study and investigation at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham by a team from the University of Liverpool (led by Professor Steven Snape), this book paints a nuanced picture of daily life not only at this liminal military site, but also in Ramesside Egypt more broadly. Constructed during the reign of Ramesses II, the fortified settlement was situated 300 kilometres west of Alexandria and represents the furthest western outpost of the Egyptian New Kingdom empire. Excavations in Area K of the fortress have uncovered extensive evidence for the living arrangements, minor industries, food production and daily life of the fort's inhabitants.

This previously unpublished material forms the bedrock of this volume, which focuses on analysing the various subsistence and craft production strategies that were conducted alongside each other in this area, from baking, brewing and butchery to lithics working, bone-carving and weaving. These traces of the activities of the soldiers and their families shed new light on what life was like at this military installation and for ordinary Egyptians more widely, shifting away from a focus on elite social groups. The archaeological evidence covered in this book prompts a re-evaluation of the realities of the relationship between Egyptians and Libyans at the close of the Late Bronze Age. The purpose of the fortress' construction was primarily defensive, however the surviving material points to co-operation by means of collaborative farming and trading, and provides a direct counterpoint to the more belligerent contemporary royal monumental inscriptions describing Egypto-Libyan relations.

Review Quotes

"This book is a refreshingly new study on a little known but important fortress settlement representative of Ramesside period fortifications along the western border of the Nile Delta. It offers important new insights into the life of the inhabitants of such a site and provides a detailed analysis of new archaeological data from the recent University of Liverpool excavations." --Nadine Moeller, Professor of Egyptian Archaeology, Yale University, USA

About the Author

Nicky Nielsen is Senior Lecturer in Egyptology at the University of Manchester, UK. He worked on the Area K material from Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham as part of his PhD at the University of Liverpool, UK. He specialises in ancient Egyptian material culture, in particular from the New Kingdom and Late Periods and on relations between the New Kingdom Egyptian state and the inhabitants of the Western Desert.