This thesis proposes that we can better understand Greek society in the Archaic Period by evaluating the purposes of their interactions with Egyptian material culture and through a greater appreciation of Egyptian political and cultural history in the Third Intermediate and Late Period. The thesis combines an examination of the Egyptian and Egyptianising objects from Greek graves and sanctuaries with a study of Egyptianising motifs in Greek painted pottery and sculpture. With this evidence, the thesis primarily addresses questions of agency and of consumption. It aims to demonstrate that Greek interactions with Egypt are not defined by Phoenician intermediaries or by the foundation of Naucratis late in the seventh century. Instead, it is argues that the development of personal connections between the elite of certain Greek states and the rulers of Egyptian kingdoms in the eighth century could explain the escalation of Greek interactions with Egyptian material culture during the Archaic Period and the regional variability of these interactions. The thesis also highlights the stark differences between Greek interactions with Egyptian and Egyptianising material in different media and in different consumption areas. In their sanctuaries, the Greeks used Egyptian faience, stone, and bronze objects alongside Greek-produced imitations of these objects in order to define aspire to the status of being a member of the elite while accessing a magical potency associated with Egyptian material culture. In other media, however, the Greeks reject imitation of Egyptian subjects and iconography, and instead we find processes of interaction which use Egyptian material culture but do not refer to it explicitly. Therefore it is concluded that Greek interactions with Egyptian material culture not only draws attention to Greek connectivity with surrounding cultures, and the Greek association of Egypt and magical potency, but can also help us to reflect upon different forms of elite-elite and elite-non-elite interaction and self-identification in the Archaic Period.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:676443 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Skuse, Matthew Leslie |
| Contributors | Mitchell, Lynette |
| Publisher | University of Exeter |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/18879 |
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