The Archaeology Of Ancient Egypt: Beyond Pharaohs

Description

Egyptologists, art historians, philologists and anthropological archaeologists have long worked side by side in Egypt, but they often fail to understand one another's approaches. This book aims to introduce students to the archaeological side of the study of ancient Egypt and to bridge the gap between disciplines by explaining how archaeologists tackle a variety of problems. Douglas J. Brewer introduces the theoretical reasoning for each approach, as well as the methods and techniques applied to support it. This book is an essential read for any student considering further study of ancient Egypt.

Author description

Douglas J. Brewer is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois. He is the author (with Emily Teeter) of Egypt and the Egyptians, as well as of numerous other books and articles on Egypt, covering topics from domestication to cultural change and the environment. He has more than thirty years of field work experience in Egypt and is currently researching the cultures and environment of Egypt's deserts.

Table of contents

1. Introduction: archaeology: history and development; 2. The first Egyptians: the art and science of dating; 3. Agriculture and the Nile Valley: biology, the environment, and sampling; 4. A cultural transformation: explaining and describing the past; 5. Unification and the king: the limits of archaeology; 6. The first great cycle: hypotheses and models; 7. Stability and provincialism: archaeology and the environment; 8. The desert frontiers: archaeology of the 'other'; 9. From artifacts to culture: back to basics; 10. Archaeology in perspective.