Explore the ancient Egyptian residential area

A well-preserved mud brick residential area in southern Egypt is providing valuable information about Egyptian daily life 3000 years ago.

The Tell Edfu area includes the town center that is used for tax collection, business administration, accounting books and documents.

This finding has drawn a picture of an ancient, advanced society, whose trade has played a complex role in the daily lives of Egyptians, according to the University of Chicago and the Dark Archeology Council. high Egyptian.

Until now, the information about Egypt's civilian life is mostly from papyrus scrolls and other documents. Partly because scientists have long focused on buildings and gold relics related to royalty.

According to research leader Nadine Moeller, Egyptian archaeologist at the Oriental Research Institute, University of Chicago, 'Town towns have not been excavated much, and people don't care about it very much. These towns are all made of mud bricks so it's obviously not as gorgeous as stone buildings. '

(Photo: Nadine Moeller / Tell Edfu Project)

Center everything

The residential area was discovered a few years ago next to Edfu temple, one of the largest preserved temples since ancient Egypt. The town center has an open hall with 8 cellars, partly used to collect farmers' grain taxes.

With a diameter of 5.5 to 6.5 m, these vaults are among the largest ever discovered in the center of Egyptian town. Above these silos are rectangular warehouses containing ash to fight insects. These vaults date from the 17th century, lasting from 1570 to 1540 BC.

The whole complex was attached to a 16-column hall, a part of the old governor's mansion that was later transformed into an economic and administrative center.

Forgotten

One of the reasons that ancient Egyptian neighborhoods are little known is because they are so few. Many areas were destroyed during thousands of years of construction or by farmers, who used Nile mud to make fertilizer at the beginning of the 20th century. Archaeologists said the interest in Ai residential areas Ancient antiquity only arose in the last 20 to 30 years.

According to Moeller, 'This has changed, and people are more interested in the way the neighborhood is organized and the lives of ordinary people.'

Vivian Davies, an archaeologist at the British Museum, who is excavating a neighborhood in Edfu. Davies said 'Tell Edfu Residential corrects an imbalance in our picture of ancient Egypt, which is drawn primarily from graves and temples. We need to add to that picture with archaeological results from places where the Egyptians lived, as opposed to the places where they worshiped and where they were buried when they died. '

Complex political relationships

The discovery also helped elucidate political relations during the 17th dynasty. At this time pharaohs resided in the city of Thebes south of Edfu, where they were attacked by aggressive neighbors such as Hyksos in the north and Nubian. South Kushites surround. 'We really know something about these people, but it is one of the most obscure periods in ancient Egyptian history.'

The local authorities have great power, thanks to the search for pharaoh's allies. For example, Queen Sebekemsaf's wife Pharaoh Antef Nubkheperre, is actually the daughter of governor Edfu. 'We know this thanks to the arms of her name and her husband's name.'

The ruins of the pharaoh were discovered in the Valley of the Kings near Thebes, but the documents suggested that Sebekemsaf was buried in Edfu. Archaeologists said the empress could not belong to the royal family if she was buried in her homeland, proving the idea that the Thebes were closely associated with the local authorities.

Archaeologists announced and in July 2008 the remnants of an Egyptian mud brick settlement have just been discovered near the Edfu temple. This neighborhood provides the first rare information about daily life in ancient Egypt, a topic so far known only through historical documents.