The Nile: natural and cultural landscape in Egypt

Although Herodot's dictum that "Egypt is a gift of the Nile" is proverbial, there has been only scant attention to the way the river impacted on ancient Egyptian society. Egyptologists frequently focus on the textual and iconographic record, whereas archaeologists and earth scientists approach the issue from the perspective of natural sciences. The contributions in this volume bridge this gap by analyzing the river both as a natural and as a cultural phenomenon. Adopting an approach of cultural ecology, it addresses issues like ancient land use, administration and taxation, irrigation, and religious concepts.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Modelling the Nile Agricultural Floodplain in Eleventh and Tenth Century B.C. Middle Egypt / Jean-Christophe Antoine -- Harbours and Coastal Military Bases in Egypt in the Second Millennium B.C. / Manfred Bietak -- Development of the Memphite Floodplain / Judith Bunbury, Ana Tavares, Benjamin Pennington and Pedro Gonçalves -- Karnak's Quaysides / Mansour Boraik, Luc Gabolde and Angus Graham -- Medamud and the Nile / Félix Relats Montserrat -- The Nile in the Fayum / Cornelia Römer -- Nilometers - or: Can You Measure Wealth? / Sandra Sandri -- In Search of a Future Companion / Joshua Trampier -- The Dynamic Nature of the Transition from the Nile Floodplain to the Desert in Central Egypt since the Mid-Holocene / Gert Verstraeten, Ihab Mohamed, Bastiaan Notebaert and Harco Willems -- The Analysis of Historical Maps as an Avenue to the Interpretation of Pre-Industrial Irrigation Practices in Egypt / Harco Willems, Hanne Creylman, Véronique De Laet and Gert Verstraeten -- Landscapes of the Bashmur / Penelope Wilson -- Authors.