Conference Paper: Representing Cultural Encounters at Beni Hassan, Egypt: Continuity, Transformation, and the Shifting Roles of Local Officials in ‘Foreign’ Relations of the Early Second Millennium BC

Description

The tombs of the local officials of the Oryx Nome, situated at Egypt’s Beni Hassan, were constructed across the late third to early Second Millennium BC, a pivotal period of changing socio-political dynamics in Northern Africa and Western Asia. A number of these tombs contain scenes of individuals represented with features atypical of Egyptians, signalling their affiliation with foreign or non-local groups. While some of these have been previously studied for their insight on representations of non-Egyptians and, particularly, foreign relations, this paper instead shifts focus to analyse if, how and why the representations embody a changing world-view according to the local officials of an Egyptian community. It assesses the idealism and reality in representing the interplay of various groups in the tombs, and correlates this in relation with socio-historical and political developments. By doing so, it will show how the representations reveal the roles and adaptations of an Egyptian locality in negotiating cultural and inter-group encounters.

Period	9 Apr 2021
Event title	12th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East
Event type	Conference
Location	Bologna, Italy
Degree of Recognition	International