The book delivers a History from below for the first half of Egyptian History covering the earliest settlements, state formation and the pyramid age.
Thus settlement sites in other regions are presented to provide contem.
For a fuller picture, evidence from other parts of Egypt is also taken into account.
Burial customs and questions of production are discussed.
The archaeology of the poorer People is the main focus.
A substantial part of the book comprises descriptions of single burials and the material culture in the province.
The reasons for this are discussed.
It appears that in phases of a weak central government, People in the provinces were much better off, while in phases of a strong central government burials of poorer People are almost absent.
The following chapters are arranged in chronological order, mainly according to the archaeological phases visible in the province.
The archaeological sites and the recorded ancient place names of the Province are presented to provide a geographical framework for the book.
The First chapter then describes the location and gives a History of previous research and excavations.
The social and cultural background of these researchers is analyzed to assess how heavily they are influenced by time and their political and cultural background.
How did decisions at the royal center affect the life of ordinary people? The Introduction offers a critical survey of Egyptologists and their attitudes towards the working class.
One main aim of the book is the interaction between farmers and the ruling classes at the centers of power and locally.
The book investigates the life of People far from the centers of power.
Histories of Ancient Egypt have focussed heavily on the kings, monuments and inscriptions, while the working population is hardly mentioned.
Herearchaeological records provide an especially rich dataset for the material culture of farmers.
The focus is on the Wadjet province, about 350 km south of modern Cairo in Upper Egypt.
The book delivers a History from below for the first half of Egyptian History covering the earliest settlements, state formation and the pyramid age
