BETTINA BADER MATERIAL CULTURE AND IDENTITIES IN EGYPTOLOGY AUSTRIaN ACaDEMY OF SCIENCES Austrian Archaeological Institute Department of Prehistory & West Asian / Northeast African Archaeology AESL Archaeology of Egypt, Sudan and the Levant Volume 3 Edited by Julia Budka, Felix Höflmayer and Barbara Horejs BETTINA BADER MATERIAL CULTURE AND IDENTITIES IN EGYPTOLOGY Towards a Better Understanding of Cultural Encounters and their Influence on Material Culture Accepted by the Publication Committee of the Division of Humanities and the Social Sciences of the Austrian Academy of Sciences: Michael Alram, Bert G. Fragner, Andre Gingrich, Hermann Hunger, Sigrid Jalkotzy-Deger, Renate Pillinger, Franz Rainer, Oliver Jens Schmitt, Danuta Shanzer, Peter Wiesinger, Waldemar Zacharasiewicz Printed with support from the Holzhausen-Legat of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Cover: Objects from Lisht: pottery [acc. nos.: jar 15.3.1592; lid 15.3.1309; stand 22.1.1578], necklace of barrel beads [acc. no. 32.1.116], scarab with crucifom lotus flower decoration [acc. no. 20.1.27], comb [acc. no. 15.3.336], Vase fragment [acc. no. X.632.6], dragonfly amulet [acc. no. 15.3.519], kohl jar [acc. no. 22.1.841], fish net sinker [acc. no. 15.3.680], spatula [acc. no. 32.1.140] (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund 1915, 1920, 1922, 1932; Edward S. Harkness Gift 1922) This publication was subject to international and anonymous peer review. Peer review is an essential part of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press evaluation process. Before any book can be accepted for publication, it is assessed by international specialists and ultimately must be approved by the Austrian Academy of Sciences Publication Committee. The paper used in this publication is DIN EN ISO 9706 certified and meets the requirements for permanent archiving of written cultural property. All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-3-7001-8798-1 Copyright © Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2021 Text editing: Hazel Harrison Graphic design: María Antonia Negrete Martínez Print: Prime Rate, Budapest https://epub.oeaw.ac.at/8798-1 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at Made in Europe Table of Contents Preface . 7 1. Introduction . 9 2. Theoretical Consideration of Identities and Material Culture . 15 2.1. Formation of the Aspects of Identities . 15 2.2. Identity and Culture Concepts . 18 2.3. Past Identity and Material Culture: how to Get from an Idea to “Things” . 20 2.3.1. Practice Theory . 24 2.3.2. Modern Analytical Methods and Culture . 26 2.4. Ethnic Identity and the Migration Concept in Archaeology . 28 2.5. Cultures in Contact . 32 2.5.1. Acculturation Theories . 33 2.5.2. Cultural Mixing . 37 2.6. Which Kind of Identities can be Gleaned from the Archaeological Record? . 39 3. A Case Study from Ancient Egypt . 41 3.1. Textual and Pictorial Sources . 41 3.2. Archaeological Sources . 44 3.3. The Choice of the Settlement of the Late Middle Kingdom in Area A/II as a Case Study . 45 3.4. Data Forming the Basis for Research . 47 3.5. Summary of Characteristics of the Material Culture in the Late Middle Kingdom Settlement in Area A/II (Phases H, G/4, G/3–1) . 50 3.5.1. Architecture . 51 3.5.2. Burials in the Settlement of Area A/II in Phases H, G/4 and G/3–1 . 52 3.5.3. Archaeological Finds in Area A/II (Phases H, G/4 and G/3–1) . 54 3.5.3.1. Pottery . 54 3.5.3.1.1. Tools Made from Reused Pottery . 56 3.5.3.2. Chipped Stone Tools . 63 3.5.3.3. Grinders/Pounders, Querns and Mortars . 65 3.5.3.4. Animal Bones . 65 3.5.3.5. Archaeo-Botanic Remains . 65 3.5.3.6. A Group of Green Siltstone Objects . 66 3.5.3.7. Stone Vessels . 66 3.5.3.8. Stone Implements . 67 3.5.3.9. Items of Personal Adornment . 67 3.5.3.10. Artistic Production Made from Various Materials . 67 3.5.3.11. Balance Weights . 68 3.5.3.12. What Was not Found . 69 3.5.4. Summary . 69 3.6. Development of Material Culture at Tell el-Dabᶜa . 71 3.7. Social Identities in the Settlement . 78 6 Material Culture and Identities in Egyptology 3.7.1. Sex and Gender . 78 3.7.2. Children . 80 3.7.3. ‘Profession’ . 80 3.7.4. Religion . 81 3.7.5. Status . 81 3.7.6. Age . 82 3.7.7. Regional Diversity of Inhabitants . 82 3.7.7.1. Deep Change . 83 3.7.7.1.1. Domestic Sphere . 84 3.7.7.1.2. Funerary Sphere . 86 3.7.7.1.3. Ritual Sphere . 87 3.7.7.1.4. Overview of Factors Influencing Migration in the Late Middle Kingdom . 88 3.7.7.2. Models of Cultural Contacts . 88 3.7.7.2.1. Acculturation . 91 3.7.7.2.2. Cultural Mixing . 92 4. Conclusions . 95 5. Future Prospects . 107 6. List of References . 109 Appendix . 129 Preface This book was developed from the ‘Rahmenschrift’ for the ‘cumulative habilitation’ thesis ‘Material Culture and Identities – Complexities of Identity Research in Archaeology as seen in a late Middle Kingdom settlement in Ancient Egypt. A Case Study’, approved in 2019, at the Institute for Egyptology, University of Vienna. It is the result of an elongated period of research, first recording all the finds of a late Middle King- dom settlement at Tell el-Dabᶜa, then understanding the archaeology and finally researching on the meaning of material culture and its relation to the identities of people and what to make of things left behind in antiquity and found millennia later by archaeologists. While thinking about the complicated nature of this relationship filled many books in the past, the intention of this book was to bring the many thoughts on ‘things’ of daily use, how they were made and who used what and how into a fruitful rela- tion with a large number of actual objects recovered from a settlement of the late Middle Kingdom. The choice of the settlement in Area A/II at Tell el-Dabᶜa in this period as a case study within the framework of several archaeological theories is strongly influenced by the fact that excavations here have brought to light many artefacts clearly related to the Syro-Palestinian milieu, which has resulted in somewhat dismissive references in the Egyptological literature to that settlement being classified as a settlement of strongly ‘Egyptianised’ (acculturated) immigrants from Syria-Palestine. Such a view does not take into account the multifaceted image that the site, the inhabitants and their material culture actually deserve. In effect, the importance of this rather humble accumulation of houses, people and items found in Area A/II, lies in the stage it provides for the inhabitants living here in the late Middle Kingdom, with contacts to both Egypt and the Near East. The features and development of its material culture provide several opportunities to utilise various theoretical approaches to its studies, by far exceeding the simple historical narrative usually offered. Several of the approaches to the archaeological processes visible at the site suffer from a lack of data, either through missing comparanda or due to the fact that certain scientific data could not be collected because the excavation took place a long time ago and scientific sampling of various materials was, at the time, impossible. While some scientific data might still become available in the future, in the mean- time this book offers a guide to thinking about material culture in a liminal space, without claiming to provide the only correct approach. In many ways it was a thought experiment to see what happens if some assumptions are not taken as certainties but instead are questioned and allow the material culture to speak without cramming it into a preconceived and rigid taxonomy. As for the structure of this book, Chapters 1 to 3.3 formed the introduction to the collection of thir- teen articles and one book previously published/in press constituting the original “habilitation” thesis. These chapters were expanded and some discussions were adapted to be coherent without the published articles directly attached in the form of references. For better understanding a number of figures have been added. The chapter on results summarises many of the archaeological details, which were original- ly included in the habilitation thesis but have since appeared in print as ‘Tell el-Dabᶜa XXIV. The Late Middle Kingdom Settlement of Area A/II. A Holistic Study of Non-élite Inhabitants at Tell el-Dabᶜa. Volume 1. The Archaeological Report. The Excavations from 1966 to 1969’. The second part of this report.