The Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period Royal Decrees Revisited: Evidence of Historical and Sociopolitical Change
In: Journal of Egyptian HistoryAssistant Professor of Egyptology, Yale University New Haven USA
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Abstract
The Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period royal decrees were documents commissioned by the king and placed at the gates of temples with important messages concerning the regulation of work, cultic, and economic activities. In this article I review the validity of these texts as sources of historical research for modern scholars and their effective use as documents by the ancient Egyptians. I propose that royal decrees offer valuable information concerning the king’s access and impact on temple economies at the end of the Old Kingdom and beginning of the First Intermediate Period. This access remained continuous and unchanged until the second half of the reign of Pepi II when non-royal patronage becomes more prominent in the texts and the presence of royal sealings decreases. I challenge the impression that royal decrees had no practical validity for the ancient Egyptians by showing that the permissions and restrictions exposed in the decrees are consistent with shifts in rhetoric and external evidence for historical change at the end of the Old Kingdom.
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The Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period Royal Decrees Revisited: Evidence of Historical and Sociopolitical Change
In: Journal of Egyptian HistoryAssistant Professor of Egyptology, Yale University New Haven USA
Search for other papers by M. Victoria Almansa-Villatoro in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
The Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period royal decrees were documents commissioned by the king and placed at the gates of temples with important messages concerning the regulation of work, cultic, and economic activities. In this article I review the validity of these texts as sources of historical research for modern scholars and their effective use as documents by the ancient Egyptians. I propose that royal decrees offer valuable information concerning the king’s access and impact on temple economies at the end of the Old Kingdom and beginning of the First Intermediate Period. This access remained continuous and unchanged until the second half of the reign of Pepi II when non-royal patronage becomes more prominent in the texts and the presence of royal sealings decreases. I challenge the impression that royal decrees had no practical validity for the ancient Egyptians by showing that the permissions and restrictions exposed in the decrees are consistent with shifts in rhetoric and external evidence for historical change at the end of the Old Kingdom.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 278 | 278 | 28 |
| Full Text Views | 43 | 43 | 2 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 124 | 124 | 9 |
