Sally Katary | Laurentian University (original) (raw)

Papers by Sally Katary

I - series, Denise M. Doxey, are to be commended for an excellent effort. In addition to its outs... more I - series, Denise M. Doxey, are to be commended for an excellent effort. In addition to its outstanding scholarship, this book will also be useful as a reference book and handy textbook on ancient Egyptian royal names for students and scholars of Egyptology, the ancient Near East, ancient history, and ancient literature. In the preface, the author states that he wishes that his book be used as "a springboard from which more work can be done on the topici' This book, indeed, stimulates many ideas on this key topic.

For thousands of years, ancient Egyptian civilization has attracted the world's attention. The re... more For thousands of years, ancient Egyptian civilization has attracted the world's attention. The remarkable feats of Egyptian engineering, notably the pyramids and temples of extraordinary magnificence are magnets for tourists from the world over. The explanation for Egypt's eternal glory lies in no small part in the benign environment with which the land was blessed that all but guaranteed generous surpluses as a result of the annual renewal of the rich topsoil by the Nile inundation. Egypt was moreover protected by deserts, sea and river cataracts, and therefore relatively isolated from hostile foreign intervention but open to lucrative foreign trade.

The ownership of land for agricultural use by worlcnen of the Theban Necropolis, members of their... more The ownership of land for agricultural use by worlcnen of the Theban Necropolis, members of their families, their agents, or Village support staff is attested by very few documents found at Deir el-Medina or in its vicinity. What documentary evidence survives is fragmentary and therefore lacking both in context and sufficient detail to shed much light upon the subject. What documents exist also may relate to agriculture only indirectly. Nevertheless, Andrea McDowell has done a valuable service marshalling all kinds of evidence for agricultural aclivity at the workmen's village, including in her survey the few documents that refer to the ownership of land to the extent that 'private ownership' of land can be established in pharaonic E$pt.' The evidence for the cultivation of plots ascribed to individual workmen is meagre, but what few data survive can perhaps be elucidated by roughly contemporary data from Ramesside agricultural documents even when their frame of reference is outside ancient Thebes. The purpose of this investigation, therefore, is to explore the attribution of plots of agricultural land to Necropolis workmen by examining the data of the fragmentary ostracon, O. Strasbourg H 106, in the light of contemporary and near contemporary documentation. The possible relevance of certain Ptolemaic agriculfural texts will also be investigated.

the non-apportioning paragraphs, and these are organized into four Sections that follow a north t... more the non-apportioning paragraphs, and these are organized into four Sections that follow a north to south geographic sequence, which reflectfour consecutive periods of assessment fromJuly 8 to 24 (Gregorian)2. With'n these sections, the plots are rearranged according to their relationship to groups of related or affiliated land-owning,/administering institutions in the order of the House of Amun, House of Re, and House of Ptah, followed by smaller local temples, and secular institutions. The tr,vo qpes of paragraphs denote different schemes of cultivating the plots : the non-apportioning paragraphs denote a collectively organized scheme of cultivation under lowlevel agricultural administrators (" agents of the fisc ,,), whereas the apportioning paragraphs denote the cultivation of plots by private smallholders who are individually identified by name and occupationS. The much briefer Text B of the Wilbour Papyms is a later addition to Text A and deals only with varieties of khatolands of Pharaoh, cultivated by anonyrnous agricultural labourers (ifuwtyw) under the charge of supervisory officials.

The eminent economist John Kenneth Galbraith once said, "One of the greatest pieces of economic w... more The eminent economist John Kenneth Galbraith once said, "One of the greatest pieces of economic wisdom is to know what you do not know." Today we will test Galbraith's dictum by examining village life at Deir el-Medina, a well-documented New Kingdom community where much is known about the economy, and contrasting it with life in Hellenistic Memphis, a city with an ancient history but a complex economy that even though replete with documentation is plagued by many gaps and unanswered and possibly unanswerable questions. Deir el-Medina: Economic Life in a Ramesside Village At the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Thutmose I (1504-1492 BCE), founded a village in a small valley at the foot of the cliffs on the west bank of the Nile across from the capital at ancient Thebes, near the site of the modern-day village of Deir el-Medina. This village, called "The Place of Truth to the West of Thebes", housed the workmen of the Theban Necropolis and their families for a period of several hundred years over the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasties. the village was ideally situated close enough to the river for ready access along a narrow pathway and close to the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens where the village workmen laboured stone-cutting, decorating, and furnishing the vast rock-cut tombs of Egyptian pharaohs and their queens. Here they had access to supplies coming by river barges, and could easily go down to the riverbank, where they could also transact private business, trade at the riverbank market, meet friends and relatives from outside the community, and even cross the river to Thebes.

I - series, Denise M. Doxey, are to be commended for an excellent effort. In addition to its outs... more I - series, Denise M. Doxey, are to be commended for an excellent effort. In addition to its outstanding scholarship, this book will also be useful as a reference book and handy textbook on ancient Egyptian royal names for students and scholars of Egyptology, the ancient Near East, ancient history, and ancient literature. In the preface, the author states that he wishes that his book be used as "a springboard from which more work can be done on the topici' This book, indeed, stimulates many ideas on this key topic.

For thousands of years, ancient Egyptian civilization has attracted the world's attention. The re... more For thousands of years, ancient Egyptian civilization has attracted the world's attention. The remarkable feats of Egyptian engineering, notably the pyramids and temples of extraordinary magnificence are magnets for tourists from the world over. The explanation for Egypt's eternal glory lies in no small part in the benign environment with which the land was blessed that all but guaranteed generous surpluses as a result of the annual renewal of the rich topsoil by the Nile inundation. Egypt was moreover protected by deserts, sea and river cataracts, and therefore relatively isolated from hostile foreign intervention but open to lucrative foreign trade.

The ownership of land for agricultural use by worlcnen of the Theban Necropolis, members of their... more The ownership of land for agricultural use by worlcnen of the Theban Necropolis, members of their families, their agents, or Village support staff is attested by very few documents found at Deir el-Medina or in its vicinity. What documentary evidence survives is fragmentary and therefore lacking both in context and sufficient detail to shed much light upon the subject. What documents exist also may relate to agriculture only indirectly. Nevertheless, Andrea McDowell has done a valuable service marshalling all kinds of evidence for agricultural aclivity at the workmen's village, including in her survey the few documents that refer to the ownership of land to the extent that 'private ownership' of land can be established in pharaonic E$pt.' The evidence for the cultivation of plots ascribed to individual workmen is meagre, but what few data survive can perhaps be elucidated by roughly contemporary data from Ramesside agricultural documents even when their frame of reference is outside ancient Thebes. The purpose of this investigation, therefore, is to explore the attribution of plots of agricultural land to Necropolis workmen by examining the data of the fragmentary ostracon, O. Strasbourg H 106, in the light of contemporary and near contemporary documentation. The possible relevance of certain Ptolemaic agriculfural texts will also be investigated.

the non-apportioning paragraphs, and these are organized into four Sections that follow a north t... more the non-apportioning paragraphs, and these are organized into four Sections that follow a north to south geographic sequence, which reflectfour consecutive periods of assessment fromJuly 8 to 24 (Gregorian)2. With'n these sections, the plots are rearranged according to their relationship to groups of related or affiliated land-owning,/administering institutions in the order of the House of Amun, House of Re, and House of Ptah, followed by smaller local temples, and secular institutions. The tr,vo qpes of paragraphs denote different schemes of cultivating the plots : the non-apportioning paragraphs denote a collectively organized scheme of cultivation under lowlevel agricultural administrators (" agents of the fisc ,,), whereas the apportioning paragraphs denote the cultivation of plots by private smallholders who are individually identified by name and occupationS. The much briefer Text B of the Wilbour Papyms is a later addition to Text A and deals only with varieties of khatolands of Pharaoh, cultivated by anonyrnous agricultural labourers (ifuwtyw) under the charge of supervisory officials.

The eminent economist John Kenneth Galbraith once said, "One of the greatest pieces of economic w... more The eminent economist John Kenneth Galbraith once said, "One of the greatest pieces of economic wisdom is to know what you do not know." Today we will test Galbraith's dictum by examining village life at Deir el-Medina, a well-documented New Kingdom community where much is known about the economy, and contrasting it with life in Hellenistic Memphis, a city with an ancient history but a complex economy that even though replete with documentation is plagued by many gaps and unanswered and possibly unanswerable questions. Deir el-Medina: Economic Life in a Ramesside Village At the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Thutmose I (1504-1492 BCE), founded a village in a small valley at the foot of the cliffs on the west bank of the Nile across from the capital at ancient Thebes, near the site of the modern-day village of Deir el-Medina. This village, called "The Place of Truth to the West of Thebes", housed the workmen of the Theban Necropolis and their families for a period of several hundred years over the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasties. the village was ideally situated close enough to the river for ready access along a narrow pathway and close to the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens where the village workmen laboured stone-cutting, decorating, and furnishing the vast rock-cut tombs of Egyptian pharaohs and their queens. Here they had access to supplies coming by river barges, and could easily go down to the riverbank, where they could also transact private business, trade at the riverbank market, meet friends and relatives from outside the community, and even cross the river to Thebes.