Pots, gold, and viceroys: shifting dynamics of Egyptian-Nubian relations at the transition to the New Kingdom, from the viewpoint of Middle Nubian pottery at Tell Edfu. Ägypten und Levante|Ägypten und Levante XXX 30|

This paper attempts to marry together the archaeological and historical records for the transition into the New Kingdom, from the viewpoint of the Nubian ceramic sequence at Tell Edfu. The evidence in question dates to a period spanning the late Middle Kingdom through to the early 18th Dynasty and is notable for a distinct change in the character of the assemblage that seems to correspond to marked changes in the social and political relationship between Egypt and Nubia. These changes include an increased Egyptian vigour in goldmining activities and the establishment of the viceregal administration. More broadly, the paper suggests that Tell Edfu and its surrounding region (Hierakonpolis and Elkab) were enmeshed in broad social and political shifts that occurred at that time. It is also suggested that the southern half of Upper Egypt as far as Hierakonpolis should be perceived as a transitional zone in which the Egyptian and Nubians spheres overlapped, both administratively and culturally