The Great Oasis of Egypt : The Kharga and Dakhla Oases in Antiquity

The Great Oasis of Egypt provides the first full study of the Dakhla and Kharga Oases in antiquity, written by participants in several of the current archaeological projects in this region. The oases were closely tied to Egypt and to each other, but not always easy to control, and their agricultural productivity varied with climatic conditions. The book discusses the oases' geology, water resources, history, administration, economy, trade connections, taxation, urbanism, religion, burial practices, literary culture, and art. New evidence for human health and illness from the cemeteries is presented along with a synthesis on the use of different types of cloth in burial. A particular emphasis is placed on pottery, with its ability to tell us both about how people lived and how far imports and exports can be seen from the shapes and fabrics, and both literature and art suggest full participation in the culture of Greco-Roman Egypt. Cover Half-title page Title page Copyright page Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Contributors Preface 1 Introduction Part I Living in the Oasis: Humans and the Environment 2 Water Resources and Irrigation in Two Oases of the Western Desert of Egypt: Kharga and Dakhla 3 The Ancient Population of the Kharga Oasis 4 Trimithis: A Case Study of Proto-Byzantine Urbanism Part II Managing the Oasis 5 The Great Oasis: An Administrative Entity from Pharaonic Times to Roman Times 6 Land and Resource Administration: Farmers, Managers, and Soldiers in the Great Oasis 7 What Remains in the Hands of the Gods: Taxation in Kharga Oasis through the Demotic Ostraca (Fifth Century BC to First Century AD) Part III Trade and Mobility in a Connected Environment 8 The North Kharga Oasis Darb Ain Amur Survey (NKODAAS): Surveying the Tracks between the Two Oases 9 And the Potsherds? Some Avenues of Reflection and Synthesis on the Pottery of the Great Oasis 10 Egyptian and Imported Amphoras at Amheida 11 Kegs from Amheida 12 El-Deir as a Switching Point Part IV An Oasis Culture? 13 Temple Building on the Egyptian Margins: The Geopolitical Issues behind Seti II and Ramesses IX’s Activity at Amheida 14 Funerary Practices in the Great Oasis during Antiquity 15 Was There an Interest in Literary Culture in the Great Oasis? Some Answers 16 The House of Serenos and Wall Painting in the Western Oases Bibliography Index of ancient people Index of places General index The Great Oasis of Egypt studies societies of the oases in the western desert, hundreds of miles distant from the Nile but closely tied to it, including how people used underground water for agriculture, developed their own slant on Egyptian religion, and adopted Greek and Roman literary and artistic culture.