Ancient Egyptian Cities and Settlements: Center and Periphery
6/5/2023 TOKYO
Current Research in the Ancient Egyptian Settlements
6/8/2023 OSAKA

ABSTRATS OF THE PAPERS
Juan Carlos Moreno García (CNRS, Paris)
LECTURE AT TOKYO
TITLE: “Building a state in Egypt (3100-1800 BC): the relations between

centre and periphery”
ABSTRACT: Usual narratives about the foundation of the Egyptian state depend heavily
on concepts and historical dynamics borrowed from modern nation-states, from "city"and "centralization" to "bureaucracy" and "territoriality". Egypt is thus interpreted as thefirst territorial state in history, vertically organized, exerting homogeneous authority overa relatively vast area and based on a complex bureaucracy. However, this image depends
to a great extent on the official ideology. It emphasized royal agency but ignored otherpowerful forces, which occasionally emerge in the written record and are detectable
thanks to archaeological evidence. Hence, the contribution of local elites was essential
for the kingdom's stability. At the same time, Egypt's integration into the exchange
networks that linked north-eastern Africa with the Near East influenced the dynamics ofEgyptian society and its political organization. The weight of such forces will be
discussed in the light of selected epigraphic and archaeological sources.
LECTURE AT OSAKATITLE: “‘Hidden forces’: Trade, nomads local potentates and theircontribution in shaping ancient Egypt”
ABSTRACT: The economic basis of ancient Egypt depended on agriculture, and many
administrative documents deal with the management and taxation of land. As for trade, it
is usually interpreted as depending on the initiatives of the monarchy, which organizedcostly commercial expeditions abroad and provided the necessary facilities to guarantee
their success, from harbours to logistical bases. However, some evidence reveals theimportance of non-institutional actors, their autonomy and their initiatives in theorganization of crucial economic activities, from mining to trade. This means that theseactors usually held their own agendas and may use the state for their benefit. Kings shouldcope with their interests to ensure the continuity of the monarchy and the kingdom'sstability. The lecture will address some of these issues in the light of recent archaeologicaland epigraphic discoveries.

Nadine Moeller (Yale University, USA)
TITLE: Tell Edfu - Recent discoveries at a provincial capital
ABSTRACT: Recent fieldwork at Tell Edfu has concentrated in two zones of the site which
each provide new insights into the political and economic role of this regional urbancenter. Excavations in Zone 2 have focused on two large, official buildings that can now
be linked based on the architectural features and associated finds to a royal domainor ḥwtwhich would be the first example attested archaeologically. Their functions can beconnected to royal expeditions into the Eastern Desert for the extraction of raw materials,
in particular copper ore. The associated clay sealings and ceramics date this activity
firmly to the end of the 5th Dynasty and the reign of Djedkare - Isesi. Zone 1 contains asequence of installations dating from the late Middle Kingdom until the early New
Kingdom. It has been possible to trace the evolution starting with an administrativebuilding with two columned halls to a large granary court with multiple grain silos during
the Second Intermediate Period and a large villa that was the residence of members of thehighest elite at Edfu during the transition from the 17th into the early 18th Dynasty. The
most spectacular discovery in the villa was a small shrine dedicated to the worship of theancestors which sheds new light on private religious practices and associated objects
within a domestic context. The role of the town of Edfu within its region and its link tothe emerging rulers of the late 17th Dynasty at Thebes will also be addressed.

Gregory Marouard (Yale University, USA)
TITLE: Wadi al-Jarf, the King Khufu’s Harbor on the Red Sea and its Links
to the Early 4th Dynasty Pyramids
ABSTRACT: Since 2011, a joint team of the Paris-Sorbonne University and the FrenchInstitute in Cairo (IFAO), supported by the CNRS and the French Ministry for Foreign
Affairs, has been excavating an exceptional harbor complex from the early Old
Kingdom at Wadi al-Jarf along the Egyptian coast of the Red Sea.
Considered now as the oldest harbor in the world, it was used as a departure
point for Royal expeditions to the Sinai Peninsula, the principal mining areas for copper
and turquoise during the Pharaonic times.
The entire site stretches for 5 km from the shore of the Red Sea and its preserves
all the components of an Egyptian harbor, which it seems to be the prototype and whoselayout influenced the later port sites on the Red Sea at Ayn Sukhna and Mersa Gawasis
According to the pottery and epigraphy, this massive installation dates to the very
beginning of the Fourth Dynasty and seems to have been occupied during the reigns ofkings Snofru and Khufu.
In 2013 the site has received a special reputation after the discovery of several
hundreds of fragments of narrative and administrative papyri, the oldest inscribed papyri
ever discovered in Egypt so far. Some clearly name King Khufu and give importantdetails and describe activities in close relation to the construction of the Great Pyramid atGiza.
This lecture will first focus on a decade of archaeological discoveries at the Wadi
al-Jarf, which underline a complex organization and well-structured logistics for the royal
projects and expeditions 4600 years ago.