Book

From farmers to pharaohs: mortuary evidence for the rise of complex society in Egypt

Sheffield Academic PressSheffield, EnglandPublished In 1994 • Pages: vi, 144

By: Bard, Kathryn A..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Bard explores the origins of Egyptian civilization and state formation. She first reviews other authors' theories about why the Egyptian state arose. She then reviews the predynastic archaeological evidence in Upper, Middle, and Lower Egypt and the absolute dates, Petries Sequence Dating, and Kaiser's seriation dating. Much of the archaeological evidence is from cemeteries. The Armant and Nagada cemeteries are described and an analysis of their grave goods is done to examine the graves' status or ranking. At Nagada one sees the emergence of elites. Increased social differentiation and stratification is one of the major factors in state formation. In Egypt this is coupled with the rise of a mortuary cult. The governing instituitions became symbolically associated with the mortuary cult during the Predynastic. It may have been a way to legitimize secular power.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Reviews and critiques
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Organization and analysis of results of research
Sociocultural trends
Ceramic technology
Settlement patterns
Miscellaneous facilities
Status, role, and prestige
Burial practices and funerals
Chronologies and culture sequences
Typologies and classifications
traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Upper Egypt Predynastic
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2005
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Africa
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Northern Africa
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Archaeologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Sarah Berry ; 2004
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1978 and 1989
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
6000 BP- 5000 BP (4000 B.C.-3000 B.C.)
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Upper Egypt
NotesAdditional notes
Kathryn A. Bard
Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Toronto
Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-148) and index
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
94130510
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Neolithic period--Egypt/Egypt--Antiquities