David Wengrow. The Archaeology of Early Egypt: Social Transformations in North-East Africa, 10 000 to 2650 BC.

David Wengrow. The Archaeology of Early Egypt: Social Transformations in North-East Africa, 10 000 to 2650 BC. DAVID David, in the BibleDavid,d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. WENGROW. The Archaeology of Early Egypt: SocialTransformations in North-East Africa, 10 000 to 2650 BC. xxii+344 pages,83 illustrations, 5 tables. 2006. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press (known colloquially as CUP) is a publisher given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1534, and one of the two privileged presses (the other being Oxford University Press). ;0-521-83586-0 hardback 50 [pounds sterling] & $90; 0-521-54374-6paperback 22.99 [pounds sterling] & $34.99. David Wengrow begins by observing that the prehistory of Egyptwould be 'a good idea' (p. 1) and this ground-breaking book,which consolidates ideas developed in several articles, has them inabundance. Despite extensive field research throughout the twentiethcentury, the author is perhaps the first to attempt a sustainedinterpretation of social and cultural transformations in Egypt c. 10000-2650 BCE BCEabbr.1. Bachelor of Chemical Engineering2. Bachelor of Civil EngineeringBCEAbbreviation for before the Common Era. . The result is an engaging and multi-faceted account thatis sure to provoke discussion and debate. Cemeteries, rather thansettlements, dominate Egypt's archaeological record. Whereas othershave sought to correct or minimise this bias, Wengrow converts it to hisadvantage by focusing upon ritual activities surrounding death and thebody. For him, relations between the living and the dead were mediatedthrough elaborations of the human body as a symbolic framework. Severalchapters trace the evolution of artefacts and implements relating tocorporal care and presentation, allowing the author to demonstrate how'large-scale political and economic transformations ... [originatedin] ... small-scale alterations of the social environment' (p.265). The book's particular value lies in its 'worldarchaeology' perspective. Chapters 1 and 7 provide an overarchingchronological and interpretative framework, situating developments inEgypt within a network of communication and exchange spanning much ofthe western Old World. Comparisons with South-West Asia and the Levant Levant(ləvănt`)[Ital.,=east], collective name for the countries of the eastern shore of the Mediterranean from Egypt to, and including, Turkey. are consistently insightful, while the 'North-East Africa' ofthe book's subtitle sets Egypt within its wider African context. Chapter 2 interprets ritual treatments of human and animal bodies,common throughout Egypt and Sudan during the fifth millennium, from astructuralist standpoint. Wengrow's construction of prehistoricpastoralism PastoralismArcadiamountainous region of ancient Greece; legendary for pastoral innocence of people. [Gk. Hist.: NCE, 136; Rom. Lit.: Eclogues; Span. Lit. in Chapter 3 may be criticised by those who maintain that apastoral economy could not have supported the cultural complexityevident in Neolithic burials, but the ingenuity with which heincorporates this model into his interpretation is undeniable. While theinitial domestication domesticationProcess of hereditary reorganization of wild animals and plants into forms more accommodating to the interests of people. In its strictest sense, it refers to the initial stage of human mastery of wild animals and plants. of plants and animals in South-West Asia wasassociated with increasing sedentism, the lack of evidence for permanentsettlements in the Nile Valley leads the author to conclude that this'cultural package' was there accompanied by an increasinglymobile existence (the 'primary pastoral community' of Chapter1). For him, the portability of objects interred with the deceased, aswell as the focus upon bodily modifications as markers of socialrelatedness, reflect this pastoral lifestyle. Wengrow's suggestionthat the terms 'incorporation' or 'embodiment' (p.71) may be more appropriate to transformations in the Nile Valley(rather than 'domestication'--etymologically linked to thehouse and applicable to South-West Asia and Europe) is redolent red��o��lent?adj.1. Having or emitting fragrance; aromatic.2. Suggestive; reminiscent: a campaign redolent of machine politics. of thewit and perceptiveness that pervade per��vade?tr.v. per��vad��ed, per��vad��ing, per��vadesTo be present throughout; permeate. See Synonyms at charge.[Latin perv his account. Chapter 4 reviews evidence for changing patterns of habitation inlate prehistory (Naqada I-II, c. 3800-3300), when an apparent preferencefor the 'urbanisation of the dead' (p. 83) over that of theliving provides an explanation for the lack of long-term settlements inthe Nile Valley. The nature and extent of urbanism in early Egypt havebeen widely discussed. Unlike other recent models of state formationthat posit the existence and coalescence of several'city-states' in Upper Egypt, Wengrow's account is basedupon the patterning of the archaeological record and builds upon thefeatures of Neolithic habitation sites identified in earlier chapters.The once widespread notion that such urban environments are inaccessiblein Egypt can no longer be sustained; a priority for research should beto excavate and interpret settlement sites in order to provide the'snapshots of mundane life' (p. 7) not reflected in thefunerary fu��ner��ar��y?adj.Of or suitable for a funeral or burial.[Latin fner record. Chapter 5 presents the range of media to which pictorial imageswere applied during Naqada I-II and includes critical observations onearly Egyptian rock art. Dismemberment dismemberment/dis��mem��ber��ment/ (dis-mem��ber-ment) amputation of a limb or a portion of it. dismembermentamputation of a limb or a portion of it. and other ritual treatments ofthe body are discussed in relation to constructions of identity,providing some thought-provoking conclusions on death and power beforekingship. Opening considerations on la memoire monarchique in Chapter 6set the agenda for subsequent chapters, which explore aspects of the'dynastic continuum' (p. 128) between Egypt's earliestdynasties and the prehistoric communities from which they emerged. Chapter 8 describes the 'evolution of simplicity'discernable in the material culture of Naqada III and the Early Dynasticperiod Early Dynastic Period may refer to a period of the 3rd millennium BC in either Egypt or Sumer: Early Dynastic Period of Egypt Early Dynastic Period of Sumer (c. 3300-2500). This divestment of symbolic meaning from pottery,personal ornaments and treatments of the body in death is thencontrasted with innovations in other common artefact-types. Theiconography used to enhance such objects as 'carriers of socialknowledge' (p. 265) includes several Mesopotamian-style motifs,whose appearance on cylinder seals in Egypt during Naqada II leads to adiscussion of the emergence of Egyptian writing. Particularlysignificant here is the suggestion that the written items from tomb U-jat Abydos had a dual (administrative-ritual) function. Wengrow providesa 'prehistoric perspective' (p. 178) on ceremonial cosmeticpalettes, mace-heads and knife-handles that were appropriated by elitesas media for ostentatious display. He links these artefacts to thepolitico-economic transformations described in earlier chapters, but thecomplexity of the iconographical record may yet require a morefine-grained analysis. In Chapter 10, recourse to the pictorial and textual record oflater periods clarifies the ideological and economic foundations of asumptuary sump��tu��ar��y?adj.1. Regulating or limiting personal expenditures.2. a. Regulating commercial or real-estate activities: elite lifestyle, and bridges the methodological gap thatseparates Egyptian prehistory from Egyptology. Elite funerary monumentsprovide a window onto developments in ritual practice during the latefourth millennium, including the sacrifice of human retainers aroundroyal tombs of the First Dynasty. Wengrow's proposal that theking's body was interred at several locations during the EarlyDynastic period (thus explaining the occurrence of royal burials atsites across the country) exemplifies one of the book's morecurious features. This appealing, positivist interpretation of thearchaeological evidence should re-ignite a long-running debate over thelocation of Egypt's first royal cemeteries, but--like several otherhypotheses--it seems rather tentative and understated. It is to be hopedthat these ideas will be elaborated further elsewhere. Egyptology is often criticised for its isolation from developmentsin archaeological theory and the social sciences. By engaging withcurrent trends in related fields, Wengrow has opened up new vistas. Histreatment of the archaeological record benefits from the 'luxury ofthick description' (p. 5) and offers an up-to-date account ofrecent fieldwork. An appendix provides chronologies of Egypt andneighbouring regions, with calibrated radiocarbon dates; Table 1cross-references current relative chronological frameworks and includesthe morphological development of key vessel-forms as visual markers. Thenumerous illustrations are well selected and informative. While moreexplication ex��pli��cate?tr.v. ex��pli��cat��ed, ex��pli��cat��ing, ex��pli��catesTo make clear the meaning of; explain. See Synonyms at explain.[Latin explic (e.g. on the chronological divisions Naqada I-III would haveassisted a general audience, the book will be essential reading forspecialists investigating the origins of ancient Egyptian civilisationand processes of early state formation. In the study of predynastic--Early Dynastic Egypt, on-goingexcavations can force the reconsideration of long-established ideas andwill undoubtedly bring new evidence to bear upon the author'sconclusions. Nonetheless, for its refreshing and innovative approach,Wengrow's account deserves to become a classic interpretation ofthe archaeology of early Egypt. LIAM McNAMARA St John's College, Oxford