The archaeology of ancient Egypt

About this book

"Egyptologists, art historians, philologists and anthropological archaeologists have long worked side by side in Egypt, but they often fail to understand one another's approaches. This book aims to introduce students to the archaeological side of the study of ancient Egypt and to bridge the gap between disciplines by explaining how archaeologists tackle a variety of problems. Douglas J. Brewer introduces the theoretical reasoning for each approach, as well as the methods and techniques applied to support it. This book is an essential read for any student considering further study of ancient Egypt"-- "Archaeology: History and Development Archaeology and Egyptology Archaeology, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is the "study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and analysis of physical remains." These physical remains include not only every item ever made by humans - - from a piece of burnt charcoal to awe-inspiring stone monuments -- but also the remains of humans themselves. As such, archaeology is one of the widest-ranging scientific disciplines and incorporates method and theory from art, history, linguistics, geology, biology, chemistry, mathematics and the social sciences. What is Egyptology and how does it differ from archaeology? Egyptology is a historical discipline devoted to the study of ancient Egypt. It is modeled after classical studies of Greece and Rome, which rely on written records to supply chronology, historical data, and information about beliefs of the past. Egyptologists work with specific texts to understand nuances of the ancient culture, often within a well-defined time period. Like all historical disciplines, Egyptology is a particularizing discipline. That is, it is primarily interested in defining what happened at a specific place and time"--