Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Tarkhan. A Naqada III-cemetery in Lower-Egypt revisited This thesis attempts to shed light on the site of Tarkhan; a Naqada III-cemetery in Lower-Egypt. Unlike Abydos, Sakkara or Helwan is Tarkhan not often mentioned when one reads about the Naqada III-period. Nevertheless, seem the dimensions of the site, the funerary architecture and some grave goods to indicate the potential important status of the cemetery during this period. This thesis wants therefore to re-evaluated Tarkhan; with the purpose of obtaining a fuller apprehension of the Naqada III-cemetery of Tarkhan within the setting of the Naqada III-period. An internal analysis of the Valley Cemetery of Tarkhan tries to look into the social structure and the chronological evolution of the society, buried in the cemetery. Previous research on the social structure of Tarkhan was based upon the presence of grave goods associated with the tombs and may therefore present a biased view due to tomb robbery. Unlike these previous researches will the social structure in this thesis be studied through an architectural analysis. Social structure can often be observed archaeologically in a cemetery through the effort invested in the construction of the tombs. The measurable tomb architecture allows us to consider the different access to resources and therefore social inequality in a more objective way. The research in this thesis will first study the dating of the tombs and the cemetery by means of a map to reveal possible spatial tendencies. Subsequently shall the architectural analysis focus on the grave volumes; these will be analysed per dating phase and across the entire period of existence of the cemetery to investigate temporary differences within the Valley Cemetery. Likewise will the grave volume be studied in relation to the dating of the tombs by plotting both parameters on one map, to examine spatial trends in the grave volumes per dating phase and across the entire period of existence of the cemetery. Further will the architectural analysis concentrate on the shape of the graves, occurring in the Valley Cemetery. At last, the results from the architectural analysis will be correlated to the appearance of the attributes of the burial, to examine if the outcome of the inquiry on the attributes of the burial can confirm the results obtained from the internal analysis. With a detailed internal analysis of the Valley Cemetery of Tarkhan has this thesis attempted to bring more clarity about the emerge and composition of the Valley Cemetery and the reflected social structure of the population buried within this cemetery; with the purpose of a fuller apprehension of Tarkhan within the broader framework of the Naqada III-landscape in Egypt.

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

The aim of this master thesis is to study the architectural development of the Egyptian archaeological site Elephantine during the period of the Old Kingdom. Elephantine was a settlement on an island in the Nile near the present-day city of Aswan. After a few remarks in the first part of chapter one about how Egyptologists have categorised Egyptian settlements, one particular way of categorising is put under greater scrutiny, namely the way in which settlements are planned and what 'planned' actually means. This question will be central to this research. A planned settlement is often understood as being orthogonally planned which is seen as the exact opposite of what is often called organic growth. We will see however that there are different kinds and different gradations of planning. The meaning that buildings can take and the actions of human agents also have to be included in the study. This is why an introduction about human agency and architecture is also included as a third part in the first chapter. The second chapter describes a number of archaeological zones of Elephantine in greater detail. First the development of the shrine of the goddess Satet is discussed starting with the origin of the shrine as a niche between a set of three large granite boulders. Next, the consecutive building phases of the shrine are discussed until the end of the Old Kingdom. The fortifications of Elephantine are then described starting with the fortress of the first dynasty. Both the internal layout and possible lot distribution are part of the analysis. The subsequent phases in which the wall is first extended to include the entire settlement to the south and later to include the northeast of the island are also included in the study. Lastly, the step pyramid and the adjoining administrative complex are discussed. In the third chapter, the insights of the first chapter are combined with the information of the second chapter to be able to understand the meaning of these structures. First the relationship between the fortress and the shrine of Satet is further explored. The fortress was built next to an already existing settlement of which the shrine was part. The relationship between the soldiers and indigenous population is looked at from an architectural point of view. Next some remarks are made about the internal lay-out within the fortifications of the settlement. Contrary to what the excavators believe, it is suggested here that the layout follows a semi-orthogonal plan in which the central state had little to no involvement. The building of the fortress also cut off the entrance way to the shrine. Contrary to what could be expected, the cult continued to flourish and it was the fortress that was eventually given up. It is suggested that the cutting off of the entrance unintentionally fitted the meaning of the sanctuary as a hidden place very well and helped communicate and evoke this hidden aspect of the cult of Satet. Lastly, the function and meaning of the step pyramid and the administrative building is put under scrutiny. To conclude, some final remarks are made about the urban design of Elephantine. it appears that certain developments did not necessarily have to follow on the causes that research could identify. A certain phenomenon could very well have led to a different outcome. For future research it is suggested to pay attention to why a cause caused a certain outcome and not an entirely different outcome.

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

This master's thesis covers an overview of the sanctuaries of Serapis. This Ptolemaic deity was probably founded by the first Ptolemies in order to legitimate their power. Serapis derived characteristics from both Egyptian and Greek deities. This way the entire Hellenistic world felt close to this dynastic god.Sanctuaries were erected for this god in the entire Mediterranean area. His cult however, has been spread in the whole of Europe and parts of the Near East. In 1973 KATER-SIBBES published a catalogue of all his monuments and other objects. A map was created, marking every site where an object was found that could be assigned to Serapis. In 1984 WILD published an article in which a great amount of Serapis-sanctuaries were studied. These publications inspired me to study Serapis' sanctuaries. I determined which sanctuaries once belonged to this god. By studying archaeological remains and objects, ancient inscriptions, the publications of both ancient and modern historians and so on, I was able to determine whether or not certain temples belonged to Serapis and when they were erected.Research showed that Hellenistic inhabitants erected sanctuaries for Serapis in the third century BC in the Egyptian cities of Alexandria and Oxyryhynchos. On Greek soil sanctuaries arose in Delos, Eretria, Thera and Thessalonica. Priene and Milete also had temples in his honour.Because of the poor state in which some of these currently are, only the temples of Alexandria, Delos and Eretria could help analyse Serapis' sanctuaries architecturally. The temples of Serapis stood on a platform, had to be approached frontally and could be entered by a staircase. They were located within a bigger paved complex, which also housed annexes, altars and other independent structures. Although the sanctuaries have these elements in common, they cannot only be assigned to those of Serapis. These characteristics can also be found in temples areas in Greece and the Roman Empire long before the thi...

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Scholarly research on the term pA xtm n pA xr has been ongoing since the ostraca from the Grand Puits have been transcribed and translated. The goal of this Masters thesis is to discover the function and the location of the term, which most probably seems to have been a structure at the entrance of Deir el-Medina. This goal is obtained by studying all the texts in which the term is found. Through thorough analysis of these texts will be attempted to establish its function. The problem with the previous authors who have looked at the term, is that only two of them have collected all the documents where the term is mentioned. The first one was VENTURA in 1986, and the last one was BURKARD in 2006. The other authors have used only a few documents to be able to confirm their theory. New documents have been added to the list made for this work, comprising a total of 67. To understand the meaning of the xtm, a lexicographical study of the term was necessary. After giving general information about Deir el-Medina and its population, both elements of the term (pA xr and pA xtm) are analyzed, because there is still no consensus on the definitions of both terms. The last two chapters cover the documents themselves. At first, the texts will be presented by placing them into themes which eventually will be discerned into the functions of the xtm n pA xr. The function and location will be discovered through the analysis of the available textual and archaeological sources. The archaeological sources are based upon an article from A.J. KOH in 2006, but a more detailed study was made in this thesis in order to figure out what the (exact) location of the xtm n pA xr could be.

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

In the present master thesis, the author aims to describe the prosodic nature of the Biblical Hebrew or Masoretic accents. Although the accents are older than the vowel signs, they have thus far received limited attention in academic research and education. The accents are traditionally considered to have a treefold function of a) word-stress, b) syntactical division and c) rabbinic cantillation. Some recent scholars, however, have sucessfully added a fourth function, namely prosody, to the Masoretic accents. This function is mirrored in the canonised rabbinic cantillation. Prosody encompasses rythm, intonation, stress and the formation of units of speech. Until now only the last of these aspects has thorougly been studied with respect to the Biblical Hebrew accents. In the present study the other three aspects, especially rythm and intonation, will be subjected to research. On the one hand the current approaches towards the accentual system will be thorougly re-examined and evaluated througout the research. On the other hand syntactical and pragmatical factors, which are known to influence prosody, will be examined vis-à-vis the accentual patterns which accompany them. Syntactical features influencing prosody are, among others, the clause category (demonstrative vs. interrogative clauses), left dislocation and relocation of constituents (eg. subject fronting). On the field of pragmatics it is a known fact that the focus (that which is new information for the adressee in an utterance) is marked by prosodic prominence.The implications of this research are manyfold. Due to the unique accentual system, it will be possible for modern researchers to veraciously reconstruct the long lost prosody of an ancient language. This reconstruction of a Biblical Hebrew prosody will open many prospects for further research resultin...