Labels

1IMP 2IMP Abu Simbel Abusir Abydos Aegean Afterlife books Alexandria Amarna Amduat Archaeology Asyut Atfih Avaris Beni Hassan Bible Book of the Dead Bubastis Buhen Coffin Texts Coptic Dahshur Deir el Gebrâwi Deir el Medina Demotic Dendera Early Dynastic East Desert Edfu El Bersheh El Kab Fayum GIS Giza Greco-Roman Hermopolis Hieraconpolis KV. Karnak Khufu Kom Ombo Lahun Late Period Levant Libya Luxor Medinet Habu Meir Memphis Menkaure Mesopotamia Middle Kingdom Mo'alla Naqada New Kingdom Nubia Old Kingdom Papyrology Philae Punt Pyramid Texts Queenship Ramesseum Red Sea Saqqara Sarapeum Seti 1 Sphinx TT Thebes Tutankhamon West desert agriculture amulets animals architecture art astronomy bibliography biology boats body-soul calenders ceramics chronology climate coffins conservation coregency cosmology cult daily life deities dictionary domestic life dress economy egyptology embalming encyclopedia epigraphy erasures ethnicity excavations festivals figurines funerary beliefs furniture gender general and popular geography graffiti health hermetism hieratic hieroglyphs history international relations journals juridical king-lists kingship kinship landscape lecture (video) letters literature magic materials mathematics mummies museums music mythology names nilometer numismatics oasis osteoarchaeology ostraca papyri personal piety philology photo archive pigments poetry predynastic priesthood pyramid temples pyramids quarries reception history religion rituals rock art sculpture settlements shipping social organisation social relations stelae syncretism temples textiles texts thechnology titles tombs tourist guide trade transport travels urbanity ushabti warfare wisdom texts writing

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Graves-Brown: ideological significance of flint

Graves-Brown, C.A. (2011),
The ideological significance of flint in Dynastic Egypt
Doctoral thesis, University College London
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1306709/
Abstract
This thesis examines a little understood aspect of Dynastic Egypt—that of the ideology of flint. Ideology is defined as the way flint is thought of rather than used. This study is unique in examining long term chronological changes in flint ideology against the background of increased metal use, and in using together text, iconography, and archaeology: studies of Egyptian ideology traditionally privilege text. Metaphor theory is employed as an important tool to aid this study. While metaphor is frequently used in Egyptological studies of Egyptian religion, its use is rarely explicit. The dataset brings together unpublished artefacts in British museum collections; a first hand analysis of lithics from Panhesy’s house at Amarna; finds cards from recent excavations at Memphis; and textual sources, several of which have not been considered before in relation to the ideology of flint; as well as published data on Egyptian lithic material. Chronological changes in ideology surrounding flint during the Bronze and Iron Ages, a time of flint decline, are considered. Because the nature of flint decline in Egypt has been assumed rather than known, I attempt to quantify the process. Conclusions show that the ideology of flint was far from static but only loosely related to the kinetic decline of flint. Flint is shown to be connected with the goddesses who are the Eye of Re, with Re himself, with snakes and lions. New facets of flint ideology are uncovered, including the connection of the material with the northern sky and the link between the treatment of New Kingdom Theban flint concretions and the religious landscape of the area.

No comments:

Post a Comment