British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences
Saïs and its hinterland: dynamics and power in the western Nile delta
Dr Joanne Rowland (University of Oxford) on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Society
This presentation explores why the location of Saïs in north-western Egypt was as attractive to Neolithic migrant fishermen around 4,000 BCE as to Greek merchants and soldiers who came to work for an Egyptian ruling house in 664 BCE, with implications for understanding how small scale interactions lead to larger cultural transitions.
The research at Saïs was facilitated by the Egypt Exploration Society, in collaboration with Durham University, and has been funded by the British Academy (1997-2002) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (2002-2007).
For further information, visit: www.dur.ac.uk/penelope.wilson/sais.html; www.ees.ac.uk
Summary
The economic and locational opportunities afforded by the site of Saïs (Sa el-Hagar) in Egypt were irresistible to incoming settlers over long time spans.
Since 1997 the joint Durham University/Egypt Exploration Society expedition to Saïs has collected archaeological, environmental and cultural information about the development of this one area of land-space occupied from around 4,000 BCE to the present. The Neolithic community made the transition around 3,800 BCE from seasonal fishermen to settled pig and grain farmers, in contrast to the neighbouring communities of the Near East who relied on grain, sheep and goats. The swampy abundance of the delta may have been unsuitable for exactly the same agricultural repertoire, suggesting a more nuanced model of indigenous diffusion and selection of outside ideas. The settlements established by 3,500 BCE show the consequences with the establishment of a Lower Egyptian culture.
Much later in the seventh century BCE, Saïs was the capital city of Egypt and a major political and religious centre. Greek merchants and soldiers brought in fine Aegean wines and oils in return for Egyptian grain, perfumes, papyrus and linen, resulting in an economic system based upon coinage rather than barter. The first signs of the interaction of Greek and Egyptian ideas, culture and technologies can be detected at Saïs with profound consequences for the economic system and culture of the Hellenistic world.
Other contributors
Dr Penelope Wilson, University of Durham (project director)