The place of lead in an Egyptian port city in the Late Period
This thesis analyses a range of lead objects discovered in Thonis-Heracleion, an Egyptian port city, and offers a new perspective on the use of metals in antiquity. It advances two central arguments: firstly, that the large quantity of lead artefacts in Thonis-Heracleion is not exceptional but rather a more accurate reflection of the metallisation of ancient societies and secondly, that the corpus of lead objects sheds light on aspects of ancient communities that normally remain invisible due to the ease of recycling and low cost of lead. The first chapter reviews the presence of lead in the archaeological record in Egypt, the factors affecting its deposition and preservation, and the corpus as a whole from Thonis-Heracleion. A comparison between the two puts the lead from the site in a new Egyptian perspective. The second, third, and fourth chapters offer substantial analyses of lead ingots, weights, and containers found at Thonis-Heracleion with parallels from around the Mediterranean. The chapters show the potential of this corpus to shed light on activities in the Egyptian town despite the notable lack of direct parallels. It becomes clear for example that large lead objects appear earlier in the archaeological
van der Wilt, Elsbeth M.
Archeology ; Egyptology ; Maritime archaeology ; Materials studies (archaeology) ; Economic and Social History ; Egyptian archaeology ; lead (metal) ; Late Period ; ancient metrology ; ingots ; metal containers
The place of lead in an Egyptian port city in the Late Period. This thesis analyses a range of lead objects discovered in Thonis-Heracleion, an Egyptian port city, and offers a new perspective on the use of metals in antiquity. It advances two central arguments: firstly, that the large quantity of lead artefacts in Thonis-Heracleion is not exceptional but rather a more accurate reflection of the metallisation of ancient societies and secondly, that the corpus of lead objects sheds light on aspects of ancient communities that normally remain invisible due to the ease of recycling and low cost of lead. The first chapter reviews the presence of lead in the archaeological record in Egypt, the factors affecting its deposition and preservation, and the corpus as a whole from Thonis-Heracleion. A comparison between the two puts the lead from the site in a new Egyptian perspective. The second, third, and fourth chapters offer substantial analyses of lead ingots, weights, and containers found at Thonis-Heracleion with parallels from around the Mediterranean. The chapters show the potential of this corpus to shed light on activities in the Egyptian town despite the notable lack of direct parallels. It becomes clear for example that large lead objects appear earlier in the archaeological
place lead egyptian port_city analyse range lead object discover egyptian port_city offer_new perspective use_metal antiquity advance central_argument firstly large_quantity lead artefacts exceptional rather accurate reflection ancient_society secondly corpus lead object light aspect ancient community normally remain invisible due ease recycle low_cost lead first review presence lead archaeological_record egypt factor_affect deposition preservation corpus whole comparison put lead site new egyptian perspective second_third fourth offer substantial analysis lead ingot weight container find parallel around mediterranean show potential corpus shed_light activity egyptian town despite notable lack direct parallel becomes_clear example large lead object appear earlier archaeological