Uluburun shipwreck - Context
Near Southern Turkey, c.14th century BCE. |
Bronze Age shipwreck, provides insight into maritim and terrestrial trade in Mediterranean. |
Site revealed copper ingots arranged in rows. |
Computer modeling has allowed reconstructions of what the ship looked like and how its cargo was arranged - the wooden hull had deteriorated and the ship is placed on a slope off which some artifacts tumbled over the years. |
Uluburun shipwreck - Cargo
10 tons of copper ingots, 1 ton of tin ingots (note that copper and tin together make bronze, kinda important in the Bronze Age), pottery storage jars, 24 stone anchors. |
Much of the perishable cargo would have disappeared because of the aquatic environment. |
Elite/royal cargo?
- Faience beads, inlaid seashell rings, ostrich eggshell vases...
- Gold and silver jewelry. |
The copper ingots |
- Pure Cypriot copper (origin deduced from lead-isotope analysis).
- Ingots very carefully loaded into rows to minimise slippage. |
The tin ingots |
- Most lost due to corrosion, but chemical analysis reveals very pure tin.
- Tin = quite rare in Bronze Age Mediterranean.
- Lead-isotope analysis suggests origins in Taurus Mountains and a source near Afghanistan. |
The Cypriot pottery |
- Included oil lamps, milk bowls...
- Cypriot wares found in very high concentration at Uluburun. |
Uluburun shipwreck - Copper Ingots
Uluburun shipwreck - Trade
Illustrates Bronze Age trade routes which connect Egypt, Cyprus and the Aegean. |
Royal gift exchange conducted directly by palatial institutions? |
Long-distance trade = high risk endeavour which requires many preparations |
Some private merchants engaging in domestic trade, but most of long-distance = controlled by some form of elite group. |
The Uluburun Mouse
Dispersal of the house mouse is agreed to be linked to stowaway transport in grain and foodstuff cargo. |
Before Uluburun, evidence resided in zooarchaeological evidence, without direct archaeological evidence. |
Uluburun produced small mouse mandible. |
Mouse also provides information about the route of the ship before its sinking. |
Phenotypic analysis of the mandible suggests it most likely originated from Syria. |
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New Kingdom Key Chronology
c. 1550-1525 |
Ahmose |
Defeats the Hyksos, reaches 2nd cataract in Nubia. |
c. 1525-1504 |
Amenhotep I |
Campaigns up to 3rd cataract in Nubia, establishes Deir el-Medina. |
c. 1504-1492 |
Thutmose I |
Defeats Kush + destroys Kerma, campaigns in Syria. |
c. 1492-1479 |
Thutmose II |
Quashes rebellions in Kush. |
c. 1479-1458 |
Hatshepsut/Thutmose III |
Expedition to Punt, a lot of temple building. |
c. 1473-1458 |
Thutmose III |
Campaigns in Syria + Palestine, establishes full control of Nubia. Initiates destruction of many temples. |
c. 1427-1400 |
Amenhotep II |
Diplomatic contacts in the Near East after military campaigns. |
c. 1400-1390 |
Thutmose IV |
is also around. |
Amarna - Overview
New Kingdom (1550-1069 BCE). |
Amarna = new capital city during the reign of Amenhotep IV (also known as Akhetaten). |
Residence of royal family, but site abandoned shortly after construction. |
Attempt to replace tradition with new religion. |
Range of social status within city. |
Amarna - the Workmen's Village
Square village. |
Grid-like streets patrolled by police. |
Houses identical in floorplan and size -> lack of differential status? Two larger houses on edge of village - overseers. |
Pens for keeping animals. |
Police outposts and representations -> authority figures. |
Oppression? Agency? |
Amarna - Domestic Religion
Amarna = contemporary with religious reforms by Akhenaten. |
Altars |
W/in houses, sometimes in form of mini chapels. Examples decorated with scenes of Akhenaten and Nefertiti worshipping the Aten, but usually simple platforms. Made of mud brick. |
Vertical niches |
Religious significance or architectural practicality? |
Domestic reliefs and inscriptions |
Amuletic images, some relating to the cult of the Aten. |
Statues + figurines + ostraca |
Anthropomorphic figurines f fertility deities and figurines of animals. |
Amarna - Cemeteries
Non-elite cemeteries |
Rock-cut tombs, mixture of adults and children. Grave goods included pottery and botanical remains. 2 small pyramid structures found - used as landscape modifiers? |
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Separate burial grounds in north Amarna show variability, not turning up any wooden coffins and less artifacts. |
At least 10,000-13,000 people buried on the east bank cemeteries of Amarna. |
Commitment to Akhenaten's vision? Influence of death and burial practices on urban development? Death as a driving force for the formation of a city? |
Domestic elements reflected in elite tombs, considered as houses for the dead. |
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Deir el-Medina - Context
New Kingdom, Ramesside worker village. |
18th-20th Dynasties (Amenhotep I, Ramesses XI) |
West bank of Luxor. |
Deir el-Medina = "Monastery of the Town". |
Excellent preservation becasue of dry desert context. |
Large administrative record on papyri and ostracaand ostraca, including |
Two necropolises, one with many child burials from the 20th Dynasty. |
Notable deities worshipped: |
Amun-Re, Hathor, Thoth, Ptah, Osiris, Horus... |
(Souto Castro, 2018; Van de Mieroop, 2021)
Deir el-Medina - Religion
Good example of personal religion. |
Similar in some ways to Tell el-Amarna. |
e,g, chapels, altars, amulets... |
Role of theology in daily lives -> "Theology of will". |
"Private religion" refers to worship in domestic contexts. |
Distinction between everyday relevance and interaction with a private deity as common practice in ancient Egypt v. popularised deities involved in official cults. |
Deir el-Medina - Domestic Religion
Houses structured as a front room and a sitting room. |
Domestic platforms - lit clos |
Rectangular platform in the front room. Could have been surrounded by walls (elevated beds?), but more recent research has suggested that the front rooms may not have been roofed - platforms woul dhave therefore been located in open court areas. Most likely used for ritual since in open. front and public space. |
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Altars with ancestral busts in niches? |
Other evidence (e.g. false doors/vertical niches) as evidence of ancestor worship. |
Ancestor busts |
Small amulet size to 50 cm busts. Found as early the Old Kingdom. Depict loved ones in their lives. |
Letters to the dead |
Found inassociation with ancestor busts. Communication between the living and dead, written on pottery and jar stands. |
References for your humble perusal
Cucchi, T. (2008) ‘Uluburun shipwreck stowaway house mouse: molar shape analysis and indirect clues about the vessel’s last journey’, Journal of Archaeological Science, 35(11), pp. 2953–2959. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2008.06.016. |
Scarre, C. (2018) 'The Human Past: World Prehistory and the Development of Human Societies', 4th edn. London: Thames and Hudson. |
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Stevens, A. (2003) ‘The Material Evidence for Domestic Religion at Amarna and Preliminary Remarks on Its Interpretation’, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 89, pp. 143–168. |
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Van de Mieroop, M. (2021) A History of Ancient Egypt. 2nd edn. Hoboken and West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. |
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