Slavery And Dependence In Ancient Egypt

Translated ancient sources from over 3000 years of Egyptian history reveal the complex story of slavery in the Nile valley.

Aimed at students, instructors and general readers interested in the experiences of enslaved persons in ancient Egypt, from the Old Kingdom to the early Islamic period. Provides nearly three hundred primary sources in translation, arranged both chronologically and thematically and accompanied by contextualising introductions.

Slavery has been a part of human civilization for thousands of years: the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all kept people in bondage. Many societies have been unwilling to give up the economic benefits of cheap labor that slavery ensures. Across the modern world, some 21 million people remain in bondage in Asia, Africa, Europe, and even North America.

Slavery has existed all through the history of mankind. It has differed in form, number and distribution through the ages. Even today we find examples of slavery or slavelike conditions in many countries. We have relatively good knowledge of the history of slavery in the Americas, the slaves kept by the vikings in Scandinavia, the slaves in ancient Egypt, and many other societies where slavery has been an integral part of the community, and accepted by most people. But there are many holes in our knowledge, and this book is an attempt to widen our knowledge about slavery in 19th. century Egypt. The slave trade to Egypt, the role and functions of slaves in Egypt and the social and legal position of slaves are described and discussed. Also the process which led to the abolition of slavery in Egypt is an important part of this book.

The various manifestations of coerced labour between the opening up of the Atlantic world and the formal creation of Haiti.

Genesis -- Servants of the city -- Strange slaves -- The democratic order of knowledge -- The mysteries of the Greek state

A ground-breaking edited collection charting the rise and fall of forms of unfree labour in the ancient Mediterranean and in the modern Atlantic, employing the methodology of comparative history. The eleven chapters in the book deal with conceptual issues and different approaches to historical comparison, and include specific case-studies ranging from the ancient forms of slavery of classical Greece and of the Roman empire to the modern examples of slavery that characterised the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States. The results demonstrate both how much the modern world has inherited from the ancient in regard to ideology and practice of slavery; and also how many of the issues and problems related to the latter seem to have been fundamentally similar across time and space.

Recovers the voices, experiences and agency of enslaved people in ancient Greece.

The period of Egyptian history from its rule by the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty to its incorporation into the Roman and Byzantine empires has left a wealth of evidence for the lives of ordinary men and women. Texts (often personal letters) written on papyrus and other materials, objects of everyday use and funerary portraits have survived from the Graeco-Roman period of Egyptian history. But much of this unparalleled resource has been available only to specialists because of the difficulty of reading and interpreting it. Now eleven leading scholars in this field have collaborated to make available to students and other non-specialists a selection of over three hundred texts translated from Greek and Egyptian, as well as more than fifty illustrations, documenting the lives of women within this society, from queens to priestesses, property-owners to slave-girls, from birth through motherhood to death. Each item is accompanied by full explanatory notes and bibliographical references.

A History of World Egyptology is a ground-breaking reference work that traces the study of ancient Egypt over the past 150 years. Global in purview, it enlarges our understanding of how and why people have looked, and continue to look, into humankind's distant past through the lens of the enduring allure of ancient Egypt. Written by an international team of scholars, the volume investigates how territories around the world have engaged with, and have been inspired by, ancient Egypt and its study, and how that engagement has evolved over time. Chapters present a specific territory from different perspectives, including institutional and national, while examining a range of transnational links as well. The volume thus touches on multiple strands of scholarship, embracing not only Egyptology, but also social history, the history of science and reception studies. It will appeal to amateurs and professionals with an interest in the histories of Egypt, archaeology and science.