If scholars are in disagreement over whether Egypt of the Kushite Empire experienced a period of centralized rule, this undoubtedly did occur during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (664-525 BCE),
[1]
which has been called the ’Saite Renaissance’. The Saite kings, from their palace at Memphis,
[2]
gradually managed to construct a considerably more centralized state than that of the preceding period.
[3]
The high point of Saite power was the reign of Amasis II, whose administration commanded sufficient revenues to enable him to build a fleet to conquer Cyprus.
[4]
An important phenomenon of this period was the development of the Demotic script (from the Greek word demos, ’the people’), which originated in the delta but spread throughout Lower and Upper Egypt under Psamtik I and his successors.
[5]
Based on Hieratic, a cursive script using simplified Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic was useful in everyday contexts such as accounting, letter-writing and non-religious literature, which grew in importance during the period.
Population and political organization
Upper Egypt, which before the Kushites had long been ruled by a militarized priesthood, was always a difficult nut for the central administration in the Nile Delta to crack. At first, the main influence the Saites had over the Twenty-fifth Dynasty aristocracy at Thebes was through the priestly position of the God’s Wife of Amun. This was held by a Saite priestess at the Amun temple, and an observer (rsw) based in Thebes who was often called ’governor’.
[6]
[3]
Established in the Kushite Period, the God’s Wife of Amun role was of ’very great and publicly acknowledged’ political importance.
[7]
To increase their hold over Egypt, Saite strategy, under the first ruler Psamtik I, sought the removal of the nome system of administration; instead a military official was directly appointed to oversee the whole Southern Land (covering the region from Aswan to Memphis).
[8]
Named leader of the fleet and based in Herakleopolis, this official also acted as the ’revenue accountant for Middle and Upper Egypt’.
[9]
The Saite king ruled from Memphis, where there was a High Council of aristocrats who reported directly to him.
[3]
The vizier acted as the supreme judge of the realm.
[10]
In the Late Period, almost all officials were also priests
[11]
and oracles featured in the elections of officials and even of kings.
[12]
The military was usually led by the supreme chief of the expedition,
[13]
but under Amasis II the chief physician also occupied important military roles such as ’leader of the Aegean foreign (troops)’ and ’admiral of the royal fleet’.
[14]
Theban Egypt was not brought under the effective control of the Memphite kings until Psamtik II’s campaign against the Kingdom of Napata between 592 and 591, which ended what had essentially been a ’period of compromise’ in Upper Egypt.
[15]
Before that time, Saite authority was so weak that they were forced to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Kushite pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. After Psamtik II’s military successes of the 590s, however, their policies changed and they began to portray the Nubian kings as usurpers.
[16]
With the Saite Dynasty now in a more powerful position, there was a return to the nome system of provincial organization, with governors once again stationed in the regions.
[16]
The title of leader of the fleet seems to disappear around this time,
[9]
and by 592 BCE Herakleopolis had a ’governor’.
Unfortunately, again, reliable population estimates at this time are difficult to find, but every indication suggests that the total population remained fairly steady at roughly three million people.
[17]
[1]: (Lloyd 2000, 364) Alan B. Lloyd. 2000. ’The Late Period (664-332 BC)’, in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw, 364-87. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[2]: (Agut-Labordère 2013, 965-69) Damien Agut-Labordère. 2013. ’The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power’, in Ancient Egyptian Administration, edited by Juan Carlos Moreno García, 965-1028. Leiden: Brill.
[3]: Joseph G. Manning 2015, personal communication.
[4]: (Agut-Labordère 2013, 986) Damien Agut-Labordère. 2013. ’The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power’, in Ancient Egyptian Administration, edited by Juan Carlos Moreno García, 965-1028. Leiden: Brill.
[5]: (Donker van Heel 2012, 25-26) Konrad Donker van Heel. 2012. Djekhy & Son: Doing Business in Ancient Egypt. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.
[6]: (Agut-Labordère 2013, 978) Damien Agut-Labordère. 2013. ’The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power’, in Ancient Egyptian Administration, edited by Juan Carlos Moreno García, 965-1028. Leiden: Brill.
[7]: (Van De Mieroop 2011, 275) Marc Van De Mieroop. 2011. A History of Ancient Egypt. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
[8]: (Agut-Labordère 2013, 981) Damien Agut-Labordère. 2013. ’The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power’, in Ancient Egyptian Administration, edited by Juan Carlos Moreno García, 965-1028. Leiden: Brill.
[9]: (Agut-Labordère 2013, 981-83) Damien Agut-Labordère. 2013. ’The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power’, in Ancient Egyptian Administration, edited by Juan Carlos Moreno García, 965-1028. Leiden: Brill.
[10]: (Agut-Labordère 2013, 974) Damien Agut-Labordère. 2013. ’The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power’, in Ancient Egyptian Administration, edited by Juan Carlos Moreno García, 965-1028. Leiden: Brill.
[11]: (Baines 1991, 198) John Baines. 1991. ’Society, Morality, and Religious Practice’, in Religion in Ancient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Personal Practice, edited by Byron Esely Shafer, John Baines, Leonard H. Lesko, David P. Silverman, 123-200. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
[12]: (Gee 2002, 83) John Gee. 2002. ’Oracle by Image: Coffin Text 103 in Context’, in Magic and Divination in the Ancient World, edited by Leda Jean Ciraolo and Jonathan Lee Seidel, 83-88. Leiden: Brill.
[13]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 29) Christelle Fischer-Bovet. 2014. Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[14]: (Agut-Labordère 2013, 972) Damien Agut-Labordère. 2013. ’The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power’, in Ancient Egyptian Administration, edited by Juan Carlos Moreno García, 965-1028. Leiden: Brill.
[15]: (Agut-Labordère 2013, 979-81) Damien Agut-Labordère. 2013. ’The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power’, in Ancient Egyptian Administration, edited by Juan Carlos Moreno García, 965-1028. Leiden: Brill.
[16]: (Agut-Labordère 2013, 979) Damien Agut-Labordère. 2013. ’The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power’, in Ancient Egyptian Administration, edited by Juan Carlos Moreno García, 965-1028. Leiden: Brill.
[17]: (Eyre 2010, 303) Christopher Eyre. 2010. ’The Economy: Pharaonic’, in A Companion to Ancient Egypt, edited by Alan B. Lloyd, 291-308. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
| 36 R |
| Egypt - Saite Period |
| Memphis |
| 26th Dynasty | |
| Manethonian Dynasty | |
| Saite Renaissance | |
| Saite Dynasty |
| none |
| Egypt |
| Achaemenid Empire |
| [250,000 to 500,000] km2 |
| replacement |
| Preceding: Neo-Assyrian Empire (iq_neo_assyrian_emp) [replacement] |
| loose | |
| unitary state |
| [25,000 to 75,000] people |
| [300,000 to 400,000] km2 |
| [1,800,000 to 2,500,000] people |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present | 664 BCE 571 BCE |
| inferred absent | 570 BCE 525 BCE |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| unknown |
| present |
| present |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| unknown |
| present |
| absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| present |
| absent |
| unknown |
| present |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| inferred absent |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| unknown |
| present |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| inferred absent |
| inferred present |
| inferred absent |
| inferred present |
| Year Range | Egypt - Saite Period (eg_saite) was in: |
|---|---|
| (655 BCE 526 BCE) | Upper Egypt |
26th Dynasty; Manethonian Dynasty; Saite Renaissance [1] Saite Dynasty [2]
[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 965-966)
[2]: (Lloyd 2000, 364)
26th Dynasty; Manethonian Dynasty; Saite Renaissance [1] Saite Dynasty [2]
[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 965-966)
[2]: (Lloyd 2000, 364)
By the rule of Amasis (Ahmose II) Upper Egypt was secured, monarchy centralised, administration and finance administration was developed. Revenues able to support building of a fleet to pursue Mediterranean policy and conquer Cyprus. However, this came at a hefty financial cost. [1] Herodotus (II, 177, 1): "It is said that it was during the reign of Ahmose II that Egypt attained its highest level of prosperity both in respect of what the river gave the land and in respect of what the land yielded to men and that the number of inhabited cities at that time reached in total 20,000."
[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013)
km squared.
None of "continuity, cultural assimilation, elite migration, population migration" apply because the preceding Neo-Assyrian Empire was a foreign dynasty.
None of "continuity, cultural assimilation, elite migration, population migration" apply because the preceding Neo-Assyrian Empire was a foreign dynasty.
Demotic was introduced in the early Saite period, and spread throughout Egypt. A very important phenomenon.
Memphis. Inferred that the city did not completely disappear in 600 BCE although it may have become less populated, compared to whatever population it had in 700 BCE and 500 BCE.
Modelski has Memphis at 100,000 in and before 700 BCE and in and after 500 BCE but not for 600 BCE. Modelski had no figure at all for 600 BCE.
However, we need to check evidence for these figures.
[1]
Demographic estimates for Ancient Egypt
[2]
:
Late Period to Ptolemaic-Roman: 1069 BC-AD 400
1. Largest towns. 85-170 ha. 25,000-50,000 inhabitants. 294 inhabitants per hectare.2. Medium towns. 25-65 ha. 7,500-25,000 inhabitants. 300-385 per hectare3. Small towns. 8-15 ha. 2,500-5,000 inhabitants. 312-333 per hectare.
Palace government
2.Chief Physician (from Amasis). More than a medicine man. Also occupied "major military positions" such as Leader of Aegean foreign (troops)and admiral of royal fleet.
[3]
2. Manager of the Antechamber (Psamtik I - Amasis). In charge of organizing royal audiences.
[4]
3. Accountant scribes. According to the Petition of Peteise "he has accountant scribes to perform investigations throughout the country."
[4]
2. Viziers played a role of "supreme judge"
[5]
2. High Council (Psamtik I) (High Council reported directly to the king
[1]
)"Convened to assist the sovereign in taking decisions" (Psamtik I)
[6]
The statuette of General Djedptahiufankh says the king "relies on his words on the day of the High Council ... distinguished by the king because of his excellent ideas ... pronouncing wise judgements in the Council of Nobles ... and speaking to them next to the king so that they were satisfied by his remarks."
[7]
[1]: (Manning 2015, Personal Communication)
[2]: (Mumford 2010, 331)
[3]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 972)
[4]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 973) Agut-Labordere, Damien. "The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power." in Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno ed. 2013. Ancient Egyptian Administration. BRILL.
[5]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 974)
[6]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 969)
[7]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 696) Agut-Labordere, Damien. "The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power." in Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno ed. 2013. Ancient Egyptian Administration. BRILL.
McEvedy and Jones have just under 3 million for Egypt at 400 BCE.
levels. At most: (1) Capital; (2) Regional centres; (3) Minor centres; (4) Villages; (5) Hamlets. Inferred from previous periods.
1. Capital Memphis.
Palace
2. City eg. Mendes. "During the Late Period, provincial centers display much diversity and prosperity. Mendes, a city sacred to the ram god Banebdjed, contains a series of massive temple enclosures, a ram hypogeum, an elaborate shrine dedicated to Shu, Geb, Osiris, and Re, shrines built by Nectanebo I-II, private and royal burials (e.g., Nepherites), and other structures (Hansen 1999: 497; Redford and Redford 2005: 170-94). Explor- ation outside the temple precincts at Mendes suggests the residential area lay to the east and south, with a harbor to the east (Redford 2005: 8). In addition, geophysical surveys have been used at Buto and Tell el-Balamun to reveal much of the Saite settlement (Herbich and Hartung 2004: 16; Herbich and Spencer 2006: 17)."
[1]
Temple
3. TownGovernment administrative building
4. Village
"Thebes had a special status, at least for a part of the Saite period."
[2]
[1]: (Mumford 2010, 334-335)
[2]: (Manning 2015, Personal Communication)
levels.
"To maintain power, Psamtek made use of the century-old concept of divine kingship and established control over Upper Egypt by sending his daughter as God’s wife of Amum."
[1]
Temple of Amun at Thebes had a unique political structure, used to independence.
[2]
Psamtik II "broke the back of the last major political entity capable of resisting the crown."
[3]
1. Montuemhat, the fourth prophet, prince of the city, Agent for Upper Egypt - head until 648 BCE. Title of Agent for Upper Egypt survived at least until 610.
[4]
1. Then Nesnaisut who under Psamtik I ruled 9 cities in the Delta and Upper Egypt, including Thebes, El Kab and Edfu. Title of "Observer" in Thebes and "Governor" in the other 8 cities.
1. Chief Priest of Amun.
[5]
2. Theban Scribes
[6]
2. Protector of the Priests of Amun of Teudjoi.
[7]
3. Priests
3. Agent for the division of offerings"supervision and the management of the sacred domains."
[7]
3. Manager of the fields.
[7]
"The agricultural tax map must have been the principal work tool of this high-level administrator."
[8]
[1]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 16)
[2]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 977)
[3]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 1026)
[4]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 979)
[5]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 1019)
[6]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 980)
[7]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 999)
[8]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 1000)
levels. Expressed as a range due to the lack of evidence for levels between commanders and individual soldiers. 8 would make sense, but there might have been fewer. AD.
"Overall, our knowledge of the organization of the army is limited: troops were grouped according to the soldiers’ origins, with officers belonging to the same ethnic groups; the high command was often but not exclusively Egyptian; and over time the military hierarchy became top-heavy."
[1]
Saqqara stele Cairo SR 241 has written "every commander of every military unit of the hnw."
[2]
1. Supreme chief of the expedition
[3]
Psamtek II (king)
2. Commander in chief of the Nubian expedition
[3]
same as "General in chief" and "Chief of the troops"?
[4]
3. General of the Egyptian infantry troops on the ships
[3]
"the famous Greek inscription on the leg of one of the colossi at Abu Simbel, as well as later practice, indicates that the mercenaries, under Egyptian command, formed one of the two corps in the army whose supreme commander was also Egyptian."<
[5]
3. General of the "foreign" (alloglosoi) infantry troops on the ships
[3]
Foreign Legions lead by Chief/leader of foreigners
[6]
"the famous Greek inscription on the leg of one of the colossi at Abu Simbel, as well as later practice, indicates that the mercenaries, under Egyptian command, formed one of the two corps in the army whose supreme commander was also Egyptian."
[5]
4. Commander of Aegean foreign troops
[7]
5. Chief of Aegean foreign troops
[8]
4. Commander of some infantry troops
[3]
4. Commander of the corps of archers
[9]
Organized groups of archers commanded by a specific officer
5. Chief of Horses
[9]
in early period more common than Chief of Teams (i.e. chariots).
5. Chief of Asian foreigners.
[9]
5. ??? ???
6. ??? ???
7. ??? ???
8. Individual soldier ???
[1]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 40)
[2]: (Pagliari 2012, 199) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
[3]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 29: "Table 2.1. Commanders under Psamtek II after Hauben" )
[4]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 987)
[5]: (Lloyd 2000, 367)
[6]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 989)
[7]: (Agut-Labordere 2013
[8]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 992)
[9]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 988)
levels.
1. King (Psamtik I)
Centralized monarchy
2?. Royal scribe of the Pharaoh. (The petition of P3-di-3st. Amasis.)
[1]
_ Central government line _
2. Court/Household (Psamtik I)
2.Chief Physician (from Amasis). More than a medicine man. Also occupied "major military positions" such as Leader of Aegean foreign (troops)and admiral of royal fleet.
[2]
2. Manager of the Antechamber (Psamtik I - Amasis). In charge of organizing royal audiences.
[3]
3. Accountant scribes. According to the Petition of Peteise "he has accountant scribes to perform investigations throughout the country."
[3]
2. Viziers played a role of "supreme judge"
[4]
2. High Council (Psamtik I) (High Council reported directly to the king
[5]
)"Convened to assist the sovereign in taking decisions" (Psamtik I)
[6]
The statuette of General Djedptahiufankh says the king "relies on his words on the day of the High Council ... distinguished by the king because of his excellent ideas ... pronouncing wise judgements in the Council of Nobles ... and speaking to them next to the king so that they were satisfied by his remarks."
[7]
3. Manager of the scribes of the council
[8]
Manages the audit office of the Royal Household (from second half of Saite Period).
[9]
4. Scribes of the council
[8]
5. Royal accounting scribes "dispersed throughout the various royal domains."
[10]
3. Manager of the royal boats - logistics within royal domain. (from Psamtik II)
[9]
3. Manager of the fields - "protecting the royal lands and their products from attempts at seizure." (from Psamtik II)
[9]
3. Senti - top administrator in charge of sacred domains. (from Psamtik II)
[9]
2. Council of Nobles (Psamtik I) (Council of Nobles also likely reported directly to the king.
[5]
)"a deliberative meeting in which the king had to defend his point of view and obtain adherence." (Psamtik I)
[11]
3. Head/controller of the ’h. (Statue of Psmtk-snb)
[12]
3. pr pr-’3 (The petition of P3-di-3st. Amasis.)
[1]
3. pr-nswt (Fragment of an Isis-statue with Horus of Nht-Hrw-hb)
[13]
3. Overseer of the ’hnwty (Statue of Psmtk)
[14]
3. Overseer of the treasury of the gold of the hnw. (Tomb of Hk3-m-s3.f. Amasis.)
[15]
_ Provincial line_ ET: this is not in the correct order - nomarchs, counts, governors should not be level 4?
3. Thebaid regionReligious and political center - through a priestess based at the Amun temple.
[5]
3. Royal DomainLand, quarries, fisheries, flocks, ships, other assets.
[16]
Manager of the royal boats, Manager of the two granaries, Manager of the scribes of the High Camp.
[8]
Manager of the scribes of the council4. Scribes of the council5. Royal accounting scribes "dispersed throughout the various royal domains."
[10]
4. senti appointed to manage temple affairs (end of Saite Period)
4. Governors. e.g. Governor of Heracleopolis.
[4]
4. Counts
4. Principalities in DeltaHigh Chief of the Ma disappeared in 660s BCE.
[17]
Ruled by Libyan warlords. "Great Chiefs of the Ma."
[17]
4. Southern LandInitially administered as single unit (Psamtik I) ignoring nome boundaries.
[18]
"Southern Land" (Syene/Aswan to Memphis) under official called Leader of the Fleet (Psamtik I) based in Heracleopolis. He had financial duties as "revenue accountant for Middle and Upper Egypt." Title of Leader of Fleet probably no longer present c590s BCE. At least one holders known to have had title of governor.
[19]
By 592-591 BCE there was a "Governor of Heracleopolis" and a "traditional division in nomes ruled from a capital city under the authority of a governor."5. Nome ruler from c591 BCE
4. NomarchsAmasis "modified the role of nomarchs for the entire administration of Egypt."
[20]
5. Village levelSoldier rewarded "with a gold bracelet and an Egyptian village."
[21]
"In sum, the first Saite Period, the seventh century, was a reign of skillful politics aimed at taking over the territory. The second period, the sixth century (the years 592-591 could well mark this turning point), was an age of administrative standardization, and P. Rylands 9 reveals a country divided into nomes (ts.w)" e.g. Oxyrhynchos, Hermopolis, Cynopolis. "even if the territorial powers of intermediate level between the nome and the city, like the ’district-q’h.t’, continue to be problematic."
[22]
A "superintendent of the central treasury" and a "chief steward" are known under Apries and Amasis.
[23]
[1]: (Pagliari 2012, 907) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
[2]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 972)
[3]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 973) Agut-Labordere, Damien. "The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power." in Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno ed. 2013. Ancient Egyptian Administration. BRILL.
[4]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 974)
[5]: (Manning 2015, Personal Communication)
[6]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 969)
[7]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 696) Agut-Labordere, Damien. "The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power." in Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno ed. 2013. Ancient Egyptian Administration. BRILL.
[8]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 996)
[9]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 1001)
[10]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 997)
[11]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 971)
[12]: (Pagliari 2012, 939) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
[13]: (Pagliari 2012, 943) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
[14]: (Pagliari 2012, 956) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
[15]: (Pagliari 2012, 960) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
[16]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 995)
[17]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 975)
[18]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 981)
[19]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 981-983)
[20]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 1007)
[21]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 989)
[22]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 984) Agut-Labordere, Damien. "The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power." in Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno ed. 2013. Ancient Egyptian Administration. BRILL.
[23]: (Pagliari 2012, 186) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
Infantrymen "received specific training during maneuvers held in camps ... very probably under the supervision of instructor officers like the directors of young army recruits."
[1]
Mercenaries, "notably from the eastern part of the Greek world, because of their technological sophistication, including their use of elaborate bronze armor and new military tactics."
[2]
In the "Late period ... part of the army, perhaps 10 percent, was also made up of Egyptian professional soldiers. ... under the Saite dynasty Egyptian troops fought sometimes on the same side as foreign mercenaries, at other times against them. As to the garrisons, rulers did not rely only on mercenaries but also on Egyptian soldiers, for example in Elephantine, where mercenaries speaking Semetic languages later joined them."
[3]
[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 987)
[2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 16)
[3]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 40)
Accounting office for royal domain.
[1]
"Instructions of ’nh-Ssnky (C.III.1)" refers to a prison.
[2]
However not all scholars date text to Saite Period.
[2]
[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 996)
[2]: (Pagliari 2012, 192) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
From about 591 BCE: "specialized departments composed of financial, tax, logistics, and other specialists assigned to monitor local administrations". [1] Before this time the bureaucracy less specialised and titles of powerful individuals did not adequately (for historians) express their roles. e.g. Leader of the Fleet. [1] However these generalists were full-time? or had scribes who were full-time.
[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 1002) Agut-Labordere, Damien. "The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power." in Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno ed. 2013. Ancient Egyptian Administration. BRILL.
Not encountered any reference to an examination system.
There were judges in temples. However, one must infer that even if these judges were not also priests (which is unknown?) that due to an apparent lack of specialized court-infrastructure professional lawyers would be very unlikely.
inferred absent or unknown. In temples. Were these judges priests? If so will need to code absent because we are coding judges as a specialized position.
inferred absent or unknown. In temples. there was a kind of court process but there may not have been a "court building"
[1]
In Late Period Egypt "Egyptian women (unlike Greeks) could act in transactions on their own behalf and without any guardian whatsoever; equally, women could come forward in law-courts totally unaided as plaintiffs or defendants. And it is quite evident that women were capable of independent economic activities regardless of marital status."
[2]
[1]: (Manning 2015, Personal Communication)
[2]: (Allam 1990, 33) Allam, S. 1990. Women as Holders of Rights in Ancient Egypt (During the Late Period). Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Vol. 33, No. 1 (1990), pp. 1-34. BRILL
"The cities that were members of the Hellenion received the right to manage the only authorised trade zone connecting Egypt with the Mediterranean world. They appointed the "provosts" of this port market, the prostatai tou emporiou, according to Herodotus (II.178-179). The pharaohs nevertheless maintained within this area a royal establishment in charge of collecting taxes levied in the port." [1]
[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 1006)
Granaries. [1] Although rare in Late Period texts, the term pr-nswt "seems to be perceived as an architectural entity comprehending the treasury and storage facilities". [2] New Kingdom text "The Duties of the Vizier" (TT 100) "refer to the pr-nswt as the centre of royal government where two important dignities of the administration, the vizier and the treasurer, performed their functions: controlling the incomes and outcomes of this institution, guaranteeing the security and justice as well as inspecting the personnel of the palace or organizing the army within it. Another role of the pr-nswt consisted in receiving reports from Egyptian provinces to update the government on happenings in outlying areas of the state. ...... Several other compositions refer to the pr-nswt as place where entries and outflows were recorded and physically stored." [3]
[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 996)
[2]: (Pagliari 2012, 200) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
[3]: (Pagliari 2012, 244-245) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
"Today a road known as the “Forty Days Road” (so named because of the time it takes to traverse), takes the same route to Egypt as the ancient Meroitic road, and passes right by the cemetery." [1]
[1]: (Powell, E A. 2013. Monday, June 10. Miniature Pyramids of Sudan. http://www.archaeology.org/issues/95-1307/features/940-sedeinga-necropolis-sudan-meroe-nubia)
small bridges known in ancient times. likely had small wooden bridges if no large or stone bridges.
"standardization of all private documents pertaining to family income" implied by Heredotus’s claim that Saites (under Amasis) taxed household income and assets. At this very time demotic Egyptian replaced abnormal hieratic at Thebes. [1]
[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 1008-1009) Agut-Labordere, Damien. "The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power." in Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno ed. 2013. Ancient Egyptian Administration. BRILL.
Abnormal hieratic. Demotic. Theban cursive writing. [1] Theban cursive and Abnormal Hieratic are the same; replaced by Demotic. See e.g. K. Donker Van Heel, The lost battle of Peteamonip son of Petehorresne. In Acta Demotica, Acts of the Fifth International Conference for Demotists, Pisa, 4th-8th September 1993, ed. E. Bresciani, 115-24. Egitto e Vicino Oriente 17. [2] "standardization of all private documents pertaining to family income" implied by Heredotus’s claim that Saites (under Amasis) taxed household income and assets. At this very time demotic Egyptian replaced abnormal hieratic at Thebes. [3]
[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 980)
[2]: (Manning 2015, Personal Communication)
[3]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 1008-1009) Agut-Labordere, Damien. "The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power." in Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno ed. 2013. Ancient Egyptian Administration. BRILL.
The Coptic alphabet is the script used for writing the Coptic language. The repertoire of glyphs is based on the Greek alphabet augmented by letters borrowed from the Egyptian Demotic and is the first alphabetic script used for the Egyptian language. [1]
[1]: Ritner, Robert Kriech. 1996. "The Coptic Alphabet". In The World’s Writing Systems, edited by Peter T. Daniels and William Bright. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. 1994:287-290.
"standardization of all private documents pertaining to family income" implied by Heredotus’s claim that Saites (under Amasis) taxed household income and assets. At this very time demotic Egyptian replaced abnormal hieratic at Thebes. [1]
[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 1008-1009) Agut-Labordere, Damien. "The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power." in Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno ed. 2013. Ancient Egyptian Administration. BRILL.
"Physician" referred to in a list of military personnel. [1]
[1]: (Pagliari 2012, 190) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
e.g. instructional, within government Petitions. [1] "standardization of all private documents pertaining to family income" implied by Heredotus’s claim that Saites (under Amasis) taxed household income and assets. At this very time demotic Egyptian replaced abnormal hieratic at Thebes. [2]
[1]: (Pagliari 2012, 189) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
[2]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 1008-1009) Agut-Labordere, Damien. "The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power." in Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno ed. 2013. Ancient Egyptian Administration. BRILL.
Text known as the "Instructions of ’nh-Ssnky (C.III.1)" which contain maxims. [1] ’nh-Ssnky is the author. However not all scholars date text to Saite Period. [2] Instructions of Chasheshonqy. [3]
[1]: (Pagliari 2012, 191) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
[2]: (Pagliari 2012, 192) Pagliari, Giulia. 2012. Function and significance of ancient Egyptian royal palaces from the Middle Kingdom to the Saite period: a lexicographical study and its possible connection with the archaeological evidence. Ph.D. thesis. University of Birmingham.
[3]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 696) Agut-Labordere, Damien. "The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power." in Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno ed. 2013. Ancient Egyptian Administration. BRILL.
No reference to coins, and taxes were paid in silver and grain.
No reference to coins, and taxes were paid in silver and grain.
"Herodotus informs us that stratopeda (’camps’) were established between Bubastis and the sea on the branch of the Nile. He claims that these camps were occupied without a break for over a century until the mercenaries were moved to Memphis at the beginning of the reign of Ahmose II (570-526 BC), but the archaeological evidence presents a rather more complex picture." [1] e.g. Tell Defenna and another south of Pelusium. [1]
[1]: (Lloyd 2000, 366)
"iron armor and weapons of a non-Egyptian type found in Egypt attest the work of Greek blacksmiths specialized in making and fixing weapons in the military settlements of Daphnae and Migdol. [1] Even by the time the Achaemenid Empire conquered Egypt in 525 BCE, Egyptian relied on copper-alloy weapons. [2] However, the first iron weapons may well have been used much earlier and by foreign mercenaries during the Saite Period.
[1]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 20-21)
[2]: (Ogden 2000, 168) Jack Ogden. Metals. Paul T Nicholson. Ian Shaw. eds. 2000. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
The following Achaemenid Empire may have been the first polity in the Egyptian region to have used tension siege engines.
gravity-powered counter-weight trebuchet first used by Byzantines in 1165 CE.
According to one military historian many ancient armies used slingers. Vulnerable to counter-attacks, slinger units were usually small and used at the start of the battle. Because of the training required to produce and effective slinger they were often hired mercenaries. [1] Saite Kingdom used Greek mercenaries. In this period there were highly-trained slingers in the Mediterranean region (e.g. Balearic slingers). It is probable that the Saites also employed slingers.
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 31) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
Archers. [1] "The Carian equipment may resemble that of the hoplites representated on the Amathus bowl found in a tomb in Cyprus and dated to the time of Psamtek (see Figure 2.1)." Artwork in figure 2.1 shows: shields, throwing spears, cavalry, archers, crested helmets. [2]
[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 986)
[2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 20-21)
"the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting." [1] The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE. [2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE." [1]
[1]: (Roy 2015: 20) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/UDN2ZHFD
According to one military historian "All armies after the seventeenth century B.C.E. carried the sword, but in none was it a major weapon of close combat; rather, it was used when the soldier’s primary weapons, the spear and axe, were lost or broken." [1]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 26-27) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
According to one military historian (a polity specialist needed to confirm this data): many Greek Hoplites carried a stabbing spear as their primary weapon. The Saites employed Greek mercenaries. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE. [1]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
Mounted units. [1] "The Carian equipment may resemble that of the hoplites representated on the Amathus bowl found in a tomb in Cyprus and dated to the time of Psamtek (see Figure 2.1)." Artwork in figure 2.1 shows: shields, throwing spears, cavalry, archers, crested helmets. [2] Development of cavalry, characteristic of early Saite army, and likely included Asian cavalrymen. [3]
[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 986)
[2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 20-21)
[3]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 988-989) Agut-Labordere, Damien. "The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power." in Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno ed. 2013. Ancient Egyptian Administration. BRILL.
North African elephants were used by the Ptolemies.
based on Cairan armour, which was probably the most advanced at the time [1] "The Carian equipment may resemble that of the hoplites representated on the Amathus bowl found in a tomb in Cyprus and dated to the time of Psamtek (see Figure 2.1)." Artwork in figure 2.1 shows: shields, throwing spears, cavalry, archers, crested helmets. [2]
[1]: (Manning 2015, Personal Communication)
[2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 20-21)
based on Cairan armour, which was probably the most advanced at the time [1] "the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, ’but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base." [2]
[1]: (Manning 2015, Personal Communication)
[2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 20)
based on Cairan armour, which was probably the most advanced at the time [1] "The Carian equipment may resemble that of the hoplites representated on the Amathus bowl found in a tomb in Cyprus and dated to the time of Psamtek (see Figure 2.1)." Artwork in figure 2.1 shows: shields, throwing spears, cavalry, archers, crested helmets. [2]
[1]: (Manning 2015, Personal Communication)
[2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 20-21)
In the New Kingdom mail coats were made out of bronze developed for charioteers. Evidence from a scene from the tomb of Kenamun. Colour of painting suggests bronze used for scales. [1] Is Hoffmeier referring to chainmail or coats with scales? Code assumes the latter. "the Egyptians had been using bronze armor since the Eighteenth dynasty, "but it consisted of nothing more elaborate than metal scales sewn onto a leather base." [2]
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001)
[2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) Fischer-Bovet (2014) Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge University Press
based on Cairan armour, which was probably the most advanced at the time [1] Greek armor used by Cairan and Ionians "covered much more of the body" [2] Under Persian rule Egyptian naval forces described by Herodotus had breastplates. [3]
[1]: (Manning 2015, Personal Communication)
[2]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 20)
[3]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 39)
Royal fleet.
[1]
Herodotus mentions triremes "that cruised the Red Sea as well as the Mediterranean" during the reign of Nekau II.
[2]
Tell Defenna was "a naval base from which Greek-style war galleys could operate."
[3]
"Necho developed a fleet with the help of Phoenicians and Greeks, and it played an important role under Apries (589-570 BC) in preventing Babylonian expansion on the Levantine coast."
[4]
Herodotus said Neckau II built triremes for use in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
[5]
[1]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 972)
[2]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 990)
[3]: (Lloyd 2000, 367)
[4]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 16)
[5]: (Agut-Labordere 2013, 990) Agut-Labordere, Damien. "The Saite Period: The Emergence of A Mediterranean Power." in Garcia, Juan Carlos Moreno ed. 2013. Ancient Egyptian Administration. BRILL.