- 216 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
Ancient Egyptian Technology and Innovation
About this book
This book examines the fundamental evidence for many different aspects of change and evolution in ancient Egyptian technology. It includes discussion of the wider cognitive and social contexts, such as the Egyptian propensity for mental creativity and innovation, and the pace of change in Egypt in comparison with other African, Mediterranean and Near Eastern states.
This book draws not only on traditional archaeological and textual sources but also on the results of scientific analyses of ancient materials and on experimental and ethno-archaeological information. Case-studies analyse those aspects of Egyptian society that made it either predisposed or actively opposed to certain types of conservatism or innovation in material culture, such as the techniques of stone-working, medicine, mummification and monumental construction. The book also includes detailed discussion of the ways in which the practice and development of Egyptian technology interrelated with Late Bronze Age urban society as a whole, using the city at Amarna as a case-study.
This book draws not only on traditional archaeological and textual sources but also on the results of scientific analyses of ancient materials and on experimental and ethno-archaeological information. Case-studies analyse those aspects of Egyptian society that made it either predisposed or actively opposed to certain types of conservatism or innovation in material culture, such as the techniques of stone-working, medicine, mummification and monumental construction. The book also includes detailed discussion of the ways in which the practice and development of Egyptian technology interrelated with Late Bronze Age urban society as a whole, using the city at Amarna as a case-study.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- List of illustrations
- Chronology
- 1. Introduction: towards an explicitly anthropological analysis of technological change and innovation in ancient Egypt
- 2. Analysing Egyptian technological dynamics: was Egyptian technology underpinned and framed by ‘science’?
- 3. Writing: human communication as social technology
- 4. Medicine, magic and pharmacy: the fusion of science and art
- 5. Stone-working: the synthesis of traditional chaînes opératoires and ideological innovations
- 6. Mummification and glass-working: issues of definition and process
- 7. Chariot production: technical choice and socio-political change
- 8. Military hardware: the east Mediterranean knowledge economy and the emergence of the Iron Age in Egypt
- 9. Technology embedded in urban society: finding the individual in the general
- 10. Conclusions
- Appendix 1. Measuring space
- Appendix 2. Measuring time
- Appendix 3. Astronomy and astrology
- Abbreviations
- Bibliography
- Index
- Ancient Egyptian terms
- Assyrian terms
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Yes, you can access Ancient Egyptian Technology and Innovation by Ian Shaw in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Egyptian Ancient History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.