The Reconstruction of Egyptian Houses and Challenges of Gender Studies in Egyptology

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5433/2237-9126.2024.v18.50786

Keywords:

Domestic Space, Gender, Egyptology

Abstract

This article critically examines the association of women with domestic spaces in ancient Egypt by analyzing Egyptological reconstructions of ancient dwellings. The study focuses on the title nbt-pr and archaeological evidence from residences, particularly in the workmen's villages of Amarna and Deir el-Medina during the New Kingdom (c. 1539-1075 BCE). It highlights the diversity of dwellings in these contexts and the complexity of the archaeological material, which does not support the notion of women being confined within the houses. Additionally, the text explores the limitations and potential of gender studies in Egyptology to clarify the explanatory models of domestic life and the interpretative biases that have influenced the reconstruction of dwellings in these settlements.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Thais Rocha, University of São Paulo

Doutora em Egiptologia pela Universidade de Oxford, Professora de História Antiga e do Programa de Pós-Graduação História e Cultura da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG). O artigo foi produzido durante o pós-doutorado no Departamento de História da Universidade de São Paulo (USP) com o apoio da FAPESP (2020/13319-9). Email: thaisrocha@fafich.ufmg.br. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0616-1924.

References

ALLEN, James P. The Heqanakht papyri. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002.

ALLISON, Penelope. The archaeology of household activities. London; New York: Routledge, 1999.

ARNOLD, Felix. A study of Egyptian domestic buildings. Varia Aegyptiaca, v. 5, p. 75-93, 1989.

ARNOLD, Felix. The meaning of change in ancient Egyptian domestic architecture: houses on Elephantine and the birth of the "private". Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo, v. 75, p. 1-13, 2020.

AYAD, Mariam F. (Org.). Women in ancient Egypt: revisiting power, agency, and autonomy. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2022.

BARRETT, Caitlín E.; CARRINGTON, Jennifer. Households in context: dwelling in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2023.

BORCHARDT, Ludwig; RICKE, Herbert. Die Wohnhäuser in Tell El-Amarna. Berlin: Mann, 1980.

BORGES PIRES, Guilherme. Pode um deus dar à luz? Msj nos hinos religiosos do império novo egípcio (c. 1539-1077 a.C.): para uma (re)avaliação da "androginia" da divindade criadora. Mare nostrum, v. 11, n. 1, p. 61-103, 2020.

BRUYÈRE, Bernard. Rapport sur les fouilles de Deir El Médineh (1934-1935). Troisième partie. Le village, les décharges publiques, la station de repos du col de la Vallée des Rois. Le Caire: Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 1939.

BUDIN, Stephanie L. Sex and Gender and Sex. Mare Nostrum, v. 11, n. 1, p. 1-59, 2020.

BUDIN, Stephanie L. Gender in the ancient Near East. Abingdon: Routledge, 2023.

BUDKA, Julia; AUENMÜLLER, Jörg. From Microcosm to Macrocosm: individual households and cities in ancient Egypt and Nubia. Leiden: Sidestone Press, 2018.

CONNELL, Raewyn W. Masculinities. Berkeley; Los Angeles: Polity Press, 2005 [1995].

CONNELL, Raewyn W.; MESSERSCHMIDT, James W. Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept. Gender Society, v. 19, p. 829-859, 2005.

DORRY, Marie-Anne E. (Org.). Food and drink in Egypt and Sudan: selected studies in archaeology, culture, and history. Le Caire: Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw; Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 2023.

EYRE, Christopher. The Market Woman of Pharaonic Egypt. In: GRIMAL, Nicolas-Christophe; MENU, Bernadette (Orgs.). Le commerce en Égypte ancienne. Cairo: IFAO, 1998. p. 173-191.

EYRE, Christopher. Women and Prayer in Pharaonic Egypt. In: DECORUM and experience: essays in ancient culture for John Baines. Oxford: Griffith Institute, 2013, p. 109-116.

FLANDERS, Judith. The Victorian house: domestic life from childbirth to deathbed. London: HarperCollins, 2004.

FRANKOVIĆ, Filip; MATIĆ, Uroš. 'Boy, you fight like a woman…': representations of defeated enemies, boys and male nudity in the Late Bronze Age Aegean iconography and their role in the expression of masculinity. Men and Masculinities, v. 26, n. 1, p. 44-68, 2023.

FRANDSEN, Paul J. The menstrual "taboo" in ancient Egypt. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, v. 66, n. 2, p. 81-105, 2007.

GOBEIL, Cédric; SALMAS, Anne-Caroline; ONÉZIME, Olivier. Le village de Deir el-Medina: nouveau plan topographique et pistes de réflexion. Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, v. 123, p. 171-213, 2023.

GRAVES-BROWN, Carolyn; COONEY, Kara. Sex and gender in ancient Egypt: 'don your wig for a joyful hour'. Swansea: Oakville, CT: Classical Press of Wales; Distributor in the U.S.A., The David Brown Book Co, 2008.

GRIFFITH, Francis L.; NEWBERRY, Percy E.; PETRIE, William M. F. Kahun, Gurob and Hawara. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co, 1890.

HAMLETT, Jane. At home in the institution: material life in asylums, lodging houses and schools in Victorian and Edwardian England. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.

HOLLIS, Susan T. Egyptian literature. In: EHRLICH, Carl S. (Org.). From an antique land: an introduction to ancient Near Eastern literature. Lanham, MD; Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009, p. 77-136.

JOHNSON, Janet. Sex and Marriage in Ancient Egypt. In: GRIMAL, Nicolas-Christophe; KAMEL, Ahmed; MAY-SHEIKHOLESLAMI, Cynthia (Orgs.). Hommages à Fayza Haikal. Le Caire: Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 2003, p. 149-159.

KEMP, Barry J. The city of Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Amarna and its people. London: Thames & Hudson, 2012.

KEMP, Barry J. The early development of towns in Egypt. Antiquity, v. 51, p. 185-200, 1977a.

KEMP, Barry J. The city of el-Amarna as a source for the study of urban society in ancient Egypt. World Archaeology, v. 9, p. 123-139, 1977b.

KEMP, Barry J. Preliminary report on the el-'Amarna survey, 1978. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, v. 65, p. 5-12, 1979.

KEMP, Barry J. Amarna Reports I. London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1984.

KEMP, Barry J. Amarna Reports III. London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1986.

KEMP, Barry J. Amarna Reports IV. London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1987a.

KEMP, Barry J. The Amarna workmen's village in retrospect. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, v. 73, p. 21-50, 1987b.

KEMP, Barry J. Ancient Egypt: anatomy of a civilization. London: Routledge, 1989.

KESSLER, Dieter. 'pr' + Göttername als Sakralbereich der staatlichen Administration im Neuen Reich. In: SCHLÜTER, Andreas; SCHLÜTER, Katrin; ADROM, Felix (Orgs.). Altägyptische Weltsichten: Akten des Symposiums zur historischen Topographie und Toponymie Altägyptens vom 12.-14. Mai in München. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2008, p. 65-104.

KOLTSIDA, Kaiterina. Social aspects of ancient Egyptian domestic architecture. (BAR International). Oxford: Archaeopress, 2007a.

KOLTSIDA, Kaiterina. Domestic space and gender roles in ancient Egyptian village households: a view from Amarna workmen's village and Deir el-Medina. British School at Athens, v. 15, p. 121-127, 2007b.

LACOVARA, Peter. The New Kingdom royal city. London: Kegan Paul International, 1997.

LANDGRÁFOVÁ, Renata; NAVRÁTILOVÁ, Hana. Sex and the golden goddess I: ancient Egyptian love songs in context. Prague: Czech Institute of Egyptology, 2009.

LANDGRÁFOVÁ, Renata; NAVRÁTILOVÁ, Hana. Love songs and Deir el-Medina. In: TOIVARI-VIITALA, Jaana; VARTIAINEN, Turo; UVANTO, Saara. (Orgs.). Deir el-Medina studies: Helsinki, June 24-26, 2009. Vantaa: Multiprint, 2014, p. 101-122.

LEHNER, Mark. Fractal house of Pharaoh: ancient Egypt as a complex adaptive system. In: GUMERMAN, George J.; KOHLER, Timothy A. (Orgs.). Dynamics in human and primate societies: agent-based modelling of social and spatial processes. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 275-353.

LEHNER, Mark. Sensory experience and social space at Heit el-Ghurab: the Giza pyramid builders' settlement. In: SIGL, Johanna (Org.). Daily life in ancient Egyptian settlements: conference Aswan 2019. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2022, p. 131-149.

LI, Jean. Women, gender and identity in Third Intermediate Period Egypt: the Theban case study. London; New York: Routledge, 2017.

LICHTHEIM, Miriam. Ancient Egyptian literature: a book of readings, volume II: The New Kingdom. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1976.

LOPRIENO, Antonio (Org.). Ancient Egyptian literature: history and forms. Leiden; New York; Köln: E. J. Brill, 1996.

MCDOWELL, Angela. G. Village life in ancient Egypt: laundry lists and love songs. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010 [1999].

MESKELL, Lynn. An archaeology of social relations in an Egyptian village. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, v. 5, p. 209-243, 1998.

MESKELL, Lynn. Archaeologies of social life: age, sex, et cetera in ancient Egypt. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1999.

MESKELL, Lynn. Private life in New Kingdom Egypt. Princeton; Chichester: Princeton University Press, 2002.

MESKELL, Lynn M. Re-em(bed)ding sex: domesticity, sexuality and ritual in New Kingdom Egypt. In: SCHMIDT, Robert A.; VOSS, Barbara L. (Orgs.). Archaeology of sexuality. London: Routledge, 2000, p. 253-262.

MILLER, Daniel. The comfort of things. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2008.

MILLER, Daniel. Home possessions: material culture behind closed doors. Oxford: Berg, 2001.

MORENO GARCIA, J. C. Households. In: Frood, Elizabeth; Wendrich, Willeke (Orgs.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. Los Angeles, 2012.

OLABARRIA, Leire. Kinship and Family in Ancient Egypt. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.

PARKINSON, Richard. B. Voices from ancient Egypt: an anthology of Middle Kingdom writings. London: British Museum, 2004.

PARKINSON, Richard. B. Poetry and culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt: a dark side to perfection. London; Oakville, CT: Equinox Pub, 2010.

PARKINSON, Richard. B. 'Boasting about hardness': constructions of Middle Kingdom masculinity. In: GRAVES-BROWN, Carolynn. (Org.). Sex and gender in ancient Egypt: 'don your wig for a joyful hour'. Swansea: Classical Press of Wales, 2008, p. 115-142.

PEET, Thomas. E.; WOOLLEY, Leonard.; FRANKFORT, Henri.; PENDLEBURY, John. D. S. The city of Akhenaten. London; Boston: Egypt Exploration Society, 1923.

PENDLEBURY, John. D. S. The city of Akhenaten. Part III: The central city and the official quarters. The excavations at Tell-El-Amarna during the seasons 1926-1927 and 1931-1936. London: Egypt Exploration Society; Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press, 1951.

PETRIE, William. M. F. Illahun, Kahun and Gurob, 1888-90. London: D. Nutt, 1891.

PFÄLZENER, Peter. Activity-area analysis: a comprehensive theoretical model. In: MÜLLER, M. (Org.). Household Studies in Complex Societies: (Micro) Archaeological and Textual Approaches. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015, p. 29-60.

QUIRKE, Stephen. Women of Lahun (Egypt 1800 BC). In: WHITEHOUSE, Ruth D.; HAMILTON, Sue; WRIGHT, Katherine. I. (Orgs.). Archaeology and women: ancient and modern issues. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2007, p. 246-262.

QUIRKE, Stephen. Women in Ancient Egypt: temple titles and funerary papyri. In: LEAHY, A.; TAIT, J. (Orgs.). Studies on ancient Egypt in honour of H. S. Smith. London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1999, p. 227-235.

RAINVILLE, Lynn. Investigating traces of everyday life in ancient households: some methodological considerations. In: MÜLLER, Miriam (Org.). Household Studies in Complex Societies: (Micro) Archaeological and Textual Approaches. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015, p. 1-28.

REEDER, Greg. Queer Egyptologies of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep. In: GRAVES-BROWN, Carolyn. (Org.). Sex and gender in ancient Egypt: 'don your wig for a joyful hour'. Swansea: Classical Press of Wales, 2008, p. 143-155.

RICKE, Herbert. Der Grundriss des Amarna-Wohnhauses. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1932.

ROBINS, Gay. Women in ancient Egypt. London: British Museum Press, 1993.

ROBINS, Gay. Proportion and style in Ancient Egyptian art. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994.

ROBINS, Gay. Male bodies and the construction of masculinity in New Kingdom Egyptian art. In: D'AURIA, S. (Org.). Servant of Mut: Studies in Honor of Richard A. Fazzini. Leiden: BRILL, 2008, p. 208-215.

ROCHA, Thais. A senhora da casa ou a dona da casa? Construções sobre gênero e alimentação no Egito Antigo. Cadernos PAGU, v. 39, p. 55-86, 2012.

ROCHA, Thais. Reassessing models in gender and domestic space in New Kingdom workmen's villages. In: GARCIA-VENTURA, Agnes; BUDIN, Stephanie L.; MILLET ALBÀ, Adelina; CIFARELLI, Megan. (Orgs.). Gender and methodology in the ancient Near East: approaches from Assyriology and beyond. Barcelona: Edicions de la Universitat de Barcelona, 2018, p. 299-312.

ROCHA, Thais. Novas abordagens sobre a arqueologia da casa na Vila de Trabalhadores em Amarna. Roda da Fortuna, v. 9, n. 2, p. 25-47, 2020.

ROCHA, Thais. Reflexiones sobre la privacidad y el espacio doméstico en la aldea de los trabajadores de Amarna. In: NORIA-SERRANO, Beatriz. (Org.). Dinámicas sociales y roles entre mujeres: percepciones em grupos de parentesco e espaços domésticos em o Oriente antigo. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2023, p. 140-152.

SKUMSNES, Reinert. Patterns of change and disclosures of difference. Family and gender in New Kingdom Egypt. 2018. Tese de doutorado (Gender Studies) - Universidade de Oslo, Noruega.

SKUMSNES, Reinert. New Kingdom non-royal female titles: patterns, change, variation, and ambiguity. In: SKUMSNES, Reinert; SCRIVENS, Edward; ROCHA, Thais. (Orgs.). From Women to Research in Egyptology: In Search of Patterns, Change and Variation. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, [em preparação].

SKUMSNES, Reinert; SCRIVENS, Edward; ROCHA, Thais. (Orgs.). From Women to Research in Egyptology: In Search of Patterns, Change and Variation. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, [em preparação].

SOLIMAN, Daniel. Workmen's marks in pre-Amarna tombs at Deir el-Medina. In: BUDKA, Julia; KAMMERZELL, Frank; RZEPKA, Sławomir. (Orgs.). Non-textual marking systems in ancient Egypt (and elsewhere). Hamburg: Widmaier, 2015. p. 109-132.

SOLIMAN, Daniel. Ostraca with identity marks and the organisation of the royal necropolis workmen of the 18th dynasty. Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, v. 118, p. 465-524, 2018.

SOLIMAN, Daniel. Two groups of Deir el-Medina ostraca recording duty rosters and daily deliveries composed with identity marks. In: AST, Rodney; CHOAT, Malcolm; CROMWELL, Jennifer; LOUGOVAYA, Julia; YUEN-COLLINGRIDGE, Rachel (Orgs.). Observing the scribe at work: scribal practice in the ancient world. Leuven; Paris; Bristol, CT: Peeters, 2021. p. 45-61.

SPENCE, Kate. The three-dimensional form of the Amarna house. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, v. 90, p. 123-152, 2004.

SPENCE, Kate. Settlement structure and social interaction at el-Amarna. In: BIETAK, Manfred; CZERNY, Ernst.; FORSTNER-MÜLLER, Irene. (Orgs.). Cities and urbanism in ancient Egypt: papers from a workshop in November 2006 at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2010, p. 289-298.

STEFANOVIĆ, Danjela.; SATZINGER, Helmut. I am a Nbt-pr, and I am independent. In: GRAJETZKI, Wolfram; MINIACI, Gianluca. (Orgs.). The world of Middle Kingdom Egypt (2000-1550 BC): contributions on archaeology, art, religion, and written sources. v. 1. London: Golden House, 2015, p. 333-338.

STRATHERN, Marilyn. The gender of the gift: problems with women and problems with society in Melanesia. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.

STRATHERN, Marilyn. Partial connections. Updated ed. Walnut Creek, Calif.: Altamira Press, 2004.

STRATHERN, Marilyn. Reading relations backwards. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, v. 20, n. 1, p. 3-19, 2014.

STRATHERN, Marilyn.; BUTLER, Judith.; FRANKLIN, Sarah. Before and after gender: sexual mythologies of everyday life. Chicago, IL: HAU Books, 2016.

SWEENEY, Deborah. Correspondence and dialogue: pragmatic factors in late Ramesside letter writing. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz in Kommission, 2001.

SWEENEY, Deborah. Gender and language in the Ramesside love songs. Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar, v. 16, p. 27-50, 2002.

SWEENEY, Deborah. Sex and Gender. In: Frood, Elizabeth; Wendrich, Willeke (Orgs.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. Los Angeles, 2011.

SWEENEY, Deborah. Women at Deir el-Medina. In: BUDIN, Stephanie. L.; TURFA, Jean. M. (Orgs.). Women in antiquity: real women across the ancient world. London: Routledge, 2016, p. 243-254.

SZPAKOWSKA, Kasia. M. Daily life in ancient Egypt: recreating Lahun. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2008.

TAYLOR, John. H. (Org.). Journey through the afterlife: ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. London; Cambridge, MA: British Museum Press; Harvard University Press, 2010.

TOIVARI-VIITALA, Jaana. K. Marriage at Deir el-Medina. In: Proceedings of 7th International Congress of Egyptologists. Cambridge, 3-9 September, 1995. Leuven: Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 82. Peeters, 1998.

TOIVARI-VIITALA, Jaana. K. Women at Deir el-Medina: a study of the status and roles of the female inhabitants in the workmen's community during the Ramesside Period. Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 2001.

TOIVARI-VIITALA, Jaana. K. Marriage and Divorce. In: FROOD, Elizabeth; WENDRICH, Willeke (Orgs.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles, 2013.

WEISS, Lara. Religious practice at Deir el-Medina. Leuven: Peeters, 2015.

WEGNER, Joseph. W. Social and historical implications of sealings of the king's daughter Reniseneb and other women at the town of Wah-Sut. In: BIETAK, Manfred.; CZERNY, Ernst. (Orgs.). Scarabs of the second millennium BC from Egypt, Nubia, Crete and the Levant: chronological and historical implications; papers of a symposium, Vienna, 10th - 13th of January 2002. Wien: Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2004, p. 221-240.

WILFONG, Terry. Gender and sexuality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.

WILFONG, Terry. Menstrual synchrony and the "place of women" in ancient Egypt (Oriental Institute Museum Hieratic Ostracon 13512). In: LARSON, John. A.; TEETER, Emily. (Orgs.). Gold of praise: studies on ancient Egypt in honor of Edward F. Wente. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1999, p. 419-434.

Published

2024-12-01

How to Cite

Rocha, T. (2024). The Reconstruction of Egyptian Houses and Challenges of Gender Studies in Egyptology. Domínios Da Imagem, 18, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.5433/2237-9126.2024.v18.50786

Funding data