Egypt
Al-Ahram
When grain was currency
See the above link for more
- Online - The Tell Edfu Project
Oriental Institute See the above page for the links. The remains of what once had been the provincial capital of the 2nd Upper Egyptian nome can be found at Tell Edfu, which is one of the best well-preserved ancient towns in Egypt. The continuous occupation...
- Adopt A Dig
The Oriental Institute blog The Oriental Institute website The Get Involved/How To Give section of the OI's main website offers an opportunity to contribute to Egyptology by donating to the excavations at Tell Edfu. An overview of the site and the...
- More Re Edfu Excavations
University of Chicago Chronicle (William Harms) An Oriental Institute expedition at Tell Edfu in southern Egypt has unearthed a large administration building and silos that provide fresh clues about the emergence of urban life. The discovery provides...
- More Re Recent Discovery In Edfu
Guardians.net Thanks very much to Rick Menges for sending me this link to another article about the recent discoveries at Edfu, which has some good photographs. H.E. Farouk Hosni, Minister of Culture, announced today that an American archaeological mission...
- Ancient Egyptian Administrative Building, Silos Unearthed In Edfu
Egypt State Information Service A US archaeological team has unearthed an ancient Egyptian administrative building and silos dating back to the 17th dynasty, in the Upper Egyptian town of Edfu," said Egypt's Antiquities Department Tuesday17/6/2008....
Egypt
More re: Ancient Egyptian administrative building, silos unearthed in Edfu
Al-Ahram
When grain was currency
"Ancient Egyptian administration is mainly known from texts, but the full understanding of the institutions involved and their role with towns and cities has been so far difficult to grasp because of the lack of archaeological evidence with which textual data needs to be combined," says Nadine Moller, assistant professor at the Oriental Institute of Chicago University and head of the archaeological mission in Tel Edfu. At Tel Edfu, Moller says, the mission has uncovered what is considered to be a downtown centre, a community located half way between the modern city of Aswan and Luxor. Tel Edfu was also a rare example where almost 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian history are still preserved in the stratigraphy of a single mound.
"These monuments were found at the core of the ancient community as grain was a form of currency at that time, while the silos functioned as a sort of bank as well as a food source," Moller said, adding that the size of both the silos and administration buildings shows that the community was apparently a prosperous urban centre.
"Grain, which was usually barley or emmer wheat, was used as food and medium of exchange. One form of payment was the monthly ration of grain," Moller said.
The columned hall was the place where the scribes would possibly do the accounting, the opening and sealing of the containers, and receive letters.
The period when the administrative centre was in use is the time in history when Egypt lost its political unity and a small kingdom developed in Thebes which controlled most of Upper Egypt. During this period one can see an increase in connections between the provincial elite, such as the family of the governor, to the royal family at Thebes who were keen on strengthening bonds through marriage or by awarding important offices to these people.
See the above link for more
- Online - The Tell Edfu Project
Oriental Institute See the above page for the links. The remains of what once had been the provincial capital of the 2nd Upper Egyptian nome can be found at Tell Edfu, which is one of the best well-preserved ancient towns in Egypt. The continuous occupation...
- Adopt A Dig
The Oriental Institute blog The Oriental Institute website The Get Involved/How To Give section of the OI's main website offers an opportunity to contribute to Egyptology by donating to the excavations at Tell Edfu. An overview of the site and the...
- More Re Edfu Excavations
University of Chicago Chronicle (William Harms) An Oriental Institute expedition at Tell Edfu in southern Egypt has unearthed a large administration building and silos that provide fresh clues about the emergence of urban life. The discovery provides...
- More Re Recent Discovery In Edfu
Guardians.net Thanks very much to Rick Menges for sending me this link to another article about the recent discoveries at Edfu, which has some good photographs. H.E. Farouk Hosni, Minister of Culture, announced today that an American archaeological mission...
- Ancient Egyptian Administrative Building, Silos Unearthed In Edfu
Egypt State Information Service A US archaeological team has unearthed an ancient Egyptian administrative building and silos dating back to the 17th dynasty, in the Upper Egyptian town of Edfu," said Egypt's Antiquities Department Tuesday17/6/2008....