Bloomsbury (2016) h/b 311pp £70 (ISBN 9781474226233)
During the Old Kingdom the contact Egyptians had with their neighbours was limited, partly owing to the geography of the country, with its surrounding mountains, deserts and water. But the Middle Kingdom was a time of change and ‘foreigners’ began to appear, being mentioned in inscriptions, depicted in statuary and paintings and leaving archaeological evidence. S. makes a detailed study of all this evidence for the changing perception of these foreigners and their role in the economic and social aspects of life in Egypt during the Middle Kingdom.
The Egyptians had several words for ‘Asiatics’. They seem to have distinguished them by their weapons and their lifestyles. One name for them, Aamu, seems to refer to the nomadic Amorites, a people who settled in what became known as Canaan i.e. south Syrian and Palestine. These were the Egyptian ‘Asiatics’. The most common epithet the Egyptians gave them was a word meaning ‘vile’/‘wretched’. This may, however, refer primarily to their uncivilised, nomadic lifestyle. Egyptians, naturally, thought of themselves as the most civilised people on earth.
Were the Aamu there as captives? There are many depictions of them kneeling or being held by the hair and about to be bludgeoned. There were many of them shown as servants, but there is also evidence that some rose up the hierarchy and became quite well-established. Some of them brought to Egypt their special skills in particular weaving, dyeing, cattle herding and metal-working, for which they were valued. At the end of the Middle Kingdom the ‘Asiatics’ actually took over Egypt as the so-called ‘Hyksos’ rulers.
S. takes a comprehensive approach using all the evidence available in this study, which first appeared as her PhD thesis. It is an important, ground-breaking work of scholarship for a specialist audience. There are over 50 pages of notes and an extensive bibliography.
Olive Hogg—North East Ancient Egypt Society