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No settlement remains at Early Dynastic Memphis, the first ‘capital’ of the newly emerging Egyptian state, have yet been located. This study draws together exclusive evidence from three well-known non-elite Memphite cemeteries Saqqara-Serapeum, Turah and the recently excavated site of Helwan (all dating from 3200 to 2700 BC) to explore the society of this early urban centre through its funerary remains. The study engages in statistical analyses of cemetery data comparing grave parameters such as volume, quantity of grave goods, their materials and pottery vessel types, but also architecture, body protection, skeletal sex and the age of the deceased across sites. The application of statistical hypothesis testing techniques forms a methodological cornerstone highlighting some pitfalls of mortuary analyses rooted in Processual theoretical frameworks. As a result, a nuanced funerary culture with a significant degree of mortuary variability was revealed at each of the sites investigated. Non-elite funerary provision at Memphis was influenced by a complex web of factors such as economic potential, relationships to local elites, communal and personal identities, choice, and practicality. While mortuary differentiation by sex could not be proven statistically, evidence emerged for significant age differentiation in the funerary provision. The four communities investigated are distinct and each represent a different population within the Memphite region ranging from a main necropolis (Helwan) to a cemetery of a secondary or tertiary local centre (Turah). The smallscale regionality observed at Memphis should serve as a springboard for future research on Early Dynastic Egypt. Finally, the study has highlighted the research potential of statistical analyses to extract vital information from old data, alongside the importance of hypothesis testing in the evaluation of such analyses.

This thesis analyses a range of lead objects discovered in Thonis-Heracleion, an Egyptian port city, and offers a new perspective on the use of metals in antiquity. It advances two central arguments: firstly, that the large quantity of lead artefacts in Thonis-Heracleion is not exceptional but rather a more accurate reflection of the metallisation of ancient societies and secondly, that the corpus of lead objects sheds light on aspects of ancient communities that normally remain invisible due to the ease of recycling and low cost of lead. The first chapter reviews the presence of lead in the archaeological record in Egypt, the factors affecting its deposition and preservation, and the corpus as a whole from Thonis-Heracleion. A comparison between the two puts the lead from the site in a new Egyptian perspective. The second, third, and fourth chapters offer substantial analyses of lead ingots, weights, and containers found at Thonis-Heracleion with parallels from around the Mediterranean. The chapters show the potential of this corpus to shed light on activities in the Egyptian town despite the notable lack of direct parallels. It becomes clear for example that large lead objects appear earlier in the archaeological record and that the range of objects is wider than previously suspected. The analysis in these chapters offers a robust dating framework for lead objects previously unavailable. Together the lead artefacts illustrate local mercantile activities, the economic role of the port city, and, through the identification of the first Athenian weights found in Egypt, trade connections between Egypt, Athens, and the rest of the Eastern Mediterranean. The result is an overview of lead in Egypt and its place in Thonis- Heracleion, demonstrating the significance of metals for understanding ancient societies.

This thesis takes a multidisciplinary approach to the study of ancient Egyptian ceramics by applying scientific dating techniques alongside more traditional methods. It is the first study to apply OSL dating to an Egyptian ceramic assemblage, and it has done so by developing the minimum extraction technique (MET), which has made it possible to use OSL to sample, and thus analyse, ceramics housed in museums. The MET is at present essential to the success of OSL dating of Egyptian ceramics, as the exportation ban on antiquities has prevented OSL analysis of field material. For this thesis, using this new sampling technique, OSL has been applied to several assemblages from the Predynastic to the Early Dynastic period. Ceramics from [ADD IN REVIEW ] have been examined, with three phases being established: late Naqada III, First Intermediate Period, and the mediaeval Islamic period. Absolute dates have been determined for each phase and, where comparison is possible, have been found in good agreement with the historical chronology. A set of vessels from Naqada, Ballas, and the Tomb of Djer at Abydos have been examined using OSL in conjunction with radiocarbon dating. Again, three phases of activity were discerned: late Naqada II, early Naqada III, and the first scientifically determined dates for a burning event in the Tomb of Djer (the New Kingdom). The thesis also demonstrates how OSL can be used as a relative dating technique by analysing a collection of Wavy-Handled ceramics and wine jars from Turah, finding that the OSL results agree well with the established relative chronology. Finally, this thesis has also examined the applicability of cladistic analysis to the study of Egyptian ceramics. Cladistics is a technique borrowed from the biological sciences which offers a complimentary way to examine the evolution of ceramic types and forms, in particular the development of beer and wine jars.

Although the societies that lived in Egypt during the interlude of Pharaonic Period can be defined by the way of life intrinsically linked to the aquatic environment, whether for subsistence, socializing or in a symbolic way, the archaeological sites are analyzed only from point of view of land, ignoring your surroundings. Consequently, the areas of oasis, located in the Western Desert, are also ignored about this type of research. The suggestion of this research is to propose the observation of societies Egyptian oasis of a aquatic viewpoint, independent of the Nile or the lakes of Libyan Desert, but not observed only as a place to collect resources, but a place used for socializing and inspiration to culture material. To understand the populations of oasis is necessary in first understand the populations of the Nile and his speeches, especially those related to its vision over what was the desert environment and consequently its inhabitants and how this implies in material culture, especially those related to aquatic territories. / Embora as sociedades que viveram no Egito ao longo do intervalo de tempo que constitui o chamado Período Faraônico possam ser definidas pelo modo de vida ligado ao ambiente aquático, seja para a subsistência, socialização ou de uma forma simbólica, os sítios são analisados do ponto de vista somente da terra, ignorando o seu entorno. Consequentemente, as áreas de oásis, que se encontram no Deserto Ocidental, também não raramente são postas de lado no que diz respeito a este tipo de pesquisa. Desta forma, a sugestão é propor a observação das sociedades egípcias dos oásis de um ponto de vista aquista em que todos os ambientes aquáticos, seja o rio Nilo ou as regiões lacustres do Deserto Líbio, devem ser levantados, ou seja, não observados somente como um local para captação de recursos, e sim um espaço utilizado para a socialização e inspiração para a cultura material. Para se compreender as populações de oásis é necessário primeiramente entender as populações do Nilo e seus discursos, principalmente aqueles relacionados à sua visão em relação ao que era o ambiente desértico e consequentemente seus habitantes e de que forma isto implica na cultura material, especialmente aquelas ligadas aos territórios aquáticos.

Although the societies that lived in Egypt during the interlude of Pharaonic Period can be defined by the way of life intrinsically linked to the aquatic environment, whether for subsistence, socializing or in a symbolic way, the archaeological sites are analyzed only from point of view of land, ignoring your surroundings. Consequently, the areas of oasis, located in the Western Desert, are also ignored about this type of research. The suggestion of this research is to propose the observation of societies Egyptian oasis of a aquatic viewpoint, independent of the Nile or the lakes of Libyan Desert, but not observed only as a place to collect resources, but a place used for socializing and inspiration to culture material. To understand the populations of oasis is necessary in first understand the populations of the Nile and his speeches, especially those related to its vision over what was the desert environment and consequently its inhabitants and how this implies in material culture, especially those related to aquatic territories. / Embora as sociedades que viveram no Egito ao longo do intervalo de tempo que constitui o chamado Período Faraônico possam ser definidas pelo modo de vida ligado ao ambiente aquático, seja para a subsistência, socialização ou de uma forma simbólica, os sítios são analisados do ponto de vista somente da terra, ignorando o seu entorno. Consequentemente, as áreas de oásis, que se encontram no Deserto Ocidental, também não raramente são postas de lado no que diz respeito a este tipo de pesquisa. Desta forma, a sugestão é propor a observação das sociedades egípcias dos oásis de um ponto de vista aquista em que todos os ambientes aquáticos, seja o rio Nilo ou as regiões lacustres do Deserto Líbio, devem ser levantados, ou seja, não observados somente como um local para captação de recursos, e sim um espaço utilizado para a socialização e inspiração para a cultura material. Para se compreender as populações de oásis é necessário primeiramente entender as populações do Nilo e seus discursos, principalmente aqueles relacionados à sua visão em relação ao que era o ambiente desértico e consequentemente seus habitantes e de que forma isto implica na cultura material, especialmente aquelas ligadas aos territórios aquáticos.

1 Odler, Martin 2020: The social context of copper in Ancient Egypt down to the end of Middle Kingdom. PhD thesis. Prague: Charles University, Faculty of Arts. Supervisor: Prof. Mgr. Miroslav Bárta, Dr. Abstract The subject of the doctoral thesis is a reconstruction of the chaîne opératoire of copper in ancient Egypt from its earliest occurrence in the fourth millennium BC until the end of the Middle Kingdom. As copper was the metal most widely used in ancient Egyptian society, its study can offer statistical "big data" otherwise rarely available for ancient cultures. Three large groups of sources are discussed successively: written and iconographic sources, archaeological sources (material culture, i.e. artefacts), and archaeometallurgical sources, divided into several consecutive stages of the chaîne opératoire. Copper was named bjA and read [byr] in the periods under study, while an interpretation as arsenical copper with a low and high content of arsenic, respectively, is proposed for so- called Asian copper and Hsmn. In the Middle Kingdom, the term Hsmn begun to be used also for tin bronze. The word for crucible was bD(.t) and the word for metalworker (incorporating both metallurgists and smiths) was bD.ty. There is no substantial Egyptian evidence from the periods under study for the current...