The quantification of labour in ancient Egypt is an under exposed field of study. Ancient sources are scarce on solid data about the labour processes of that time or the deployment of staff or...Show moreThe quantification of labour in ancient Egypt is an under exposed field of study. Ancient sources are scarce on solid data about the labour processes of that time or the deployment of staff or personnel. The way the administration of the Egyptian state worked has been researched extensively. These studies encompass the long and dynamic history of the pharaonic state, from the Early Dynastic Period to the Graeco-Roman period in the very end. In reconstructing the labour processes of specific activities we may find a way to address the question of quantification. The process of building with mud brick can be an example to study the way how the ancient Egyptians organized their labour. The reconstruction of this process allows us to quantify the labour – in terms of man-hours and duration - for each successive stage. From there, it is possible to estimate the efforts and expenses (funds) necessary to realize the building. A labour organization model has been devised to support and structure the reconstruction of the building processes and to quantify both labour and funds. The building of the First Dynasty fortress at Elephantine has been subject of a case study to test the model. Although we can not reconstruct the ancient processes in detail, the outcome provides reliable information to assess the labour involved with the erection of the initial fortress at Elephantine.Show less
Refuse layers are often rich in plant remains, which give them the potential to provide valuable information to archaeobotanics. However, the plant remains within these layers could have entered...Show moreRefuse layers are often rich in plant remains, which give them the potential to provide valuable information to archaeobotanics. However, the plant remains within these layers could have entered the layers via a considerable number of combinations of pathways and additionally these layers are exposed to processes such as contamination and reduction, which affect the botanical composition. Due to this complex nature, it remains difficult to fully interpret the botanical information from such refuse layers. Therefore, a new approach is presented, to optimise the interpretation of plant remains from refuse layers based on the analysis and characterisation of botanical samples from refuse layers within a street, some houses and a granary in Karanis, a Graeco-Roman village in Egypt. By analysing the botanical composition of the samples and the degree of fragmentation of the plant remains together with the reduction through consumption by humans, livestock, rodents and/or insects, it was possible to distinguish certain clusters of plant remains. In combination with the additional analysis of the photographs of the large sieve fractions of the samples, these clusters could be assigned to possible pathways, such as crumbled building materials, crumbled dung and kitchen waste. Moreover, it appeared that all samples showed some similarity in botanical composition, which could probably be attributed to crumbled architecture, in combination with the influence of the wind. Furthermore, it appeared that reduction of the plant material by rodent gnawing has occurred in almost all contexts. As a result of these analyses it became possible to improve the characterisation and hence the interpretation of botanical remains from various refuse layers, based on which in the future the sampling strategy can be adjusted in relation to specific research questions. Fruits of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) were identified in the majority of the samples and, because of the rich occurrence of oil presses in Karanis, it was investigated whether the safflower remains were the result of oil production or of other processes, such as animal activity. In order to do so, a small literature study was combined with the proxy data of the safflower remains. Based on the written evidence, it could not be determined exactly how safflower oil was produced and what kind of remains this created. However, the degree of fragmentation and the considerable number of safflower remains that showed traces of consumption by livestock and/or gnawing marks of rodents, suggest that the remains were probably the result of animal activity rather than oil production.Show less
![Modelling Labour in Ancient Egypt. The First Dynasty Mud Brick Fortress at Elephantine [case study]](/sites/all/themes/scholarly/img/closed_access.png?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=fcb6c10e4a319f5ae27d&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=2)
