Leiden University Student Repository

Fiske, Peter (2011)

To which the world sails. Egyptian travel, trade, and trafsformation in the second millennium BCE

Master thesis | Archaeology (MA/MSc)

Egyptian seafaring in the second millennium BCE is examined in its social and economic aspects simultaneously, using an integrated approach relying on archaeological, iconographic, textual, and ethnographic evidence. Geography and technology are considered, along with status, the Egyptian world view, and the regional power structure. Particular attention is given to trade and exchange and the role of institutions and individuals in society and the economy. Social organisation in the dangerous conditions of seafaring is essential to the discussion, as are the insights provided by the evidence into life at sea. Seafaring is shown to have depended upon hierarchical order and the cooperation of others. The high point of second millennium seafaring is characterised, together with the role of seafaring in the decline of the Bronze Age palace system. It is shown that travel and trade, along with subsistence, military, and diplomatic activities, ultimately transformed social, political, and...Show moreEgyptian seafaring in the second millennium BCE is examined in its social and economic aspects simultaneously, using an integrated approach relying on archaeological, iconographic, textual, and ethnographic evidence. Geography and technology are considered, along with status, the Egyptian world view, and the regional power structure. Particular attention is given to trade and exchange and the role of institutions and individuals in society and the economy. Social organisation in the dangerous conditions of seafaring is essential to the discussion, as are the insights provided by the evidence into life at sea. Seafaring is shown to have depended upon hierarchical order and the cooperation of others. The high point of second millennium seafaring is characterised, together with the role of seafaring in the decline of the Bronze Age palace system. It is shown that travel and trade, along with subsistence, military, and diplomatic activities, ultimately transformed social, political, and economic power relationships in Egypt and the region.Show less

Author

Fiske, Peter

Faculty

Faculty of Archaeology

Supervisors

Meijer, D.J.W.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en