Reconstruction of Amphorae Trade Networks in New Kingdom Egypt

The research aims to understand some aspects of the actual economic situation and international relations during the New Kingdom, by reconstructing the trade networks of amphorae and demonstrating their diachronic changes.

In the first phase of the project, amphorae found at the sites of Saqqara, Dahshur and Luxor, where Japanese missions are working, will be studied in detail to find out if there are minute and distinguishing characteristics of the various amphorae, and to identify whether they can be assigned to particular regions in Egypt and abroad. The possible regional characteristics will be provided by a combination of fabrics, sizes, shapes, production techniques, and hieratic inscriptions or the pre-fired stamps on some amphora handles, if any, and elemental composition in fabrics which will be analyzed at the sites by co-researcher, Yoshinari Abe, using non-destructive portable X-ray analysis. Also, a chronological study of amphorae from these sites will be conducted.

Then, in the second phase, I will collect the published materials from excavations all over Egypt, and if possible, comparative studies and re-examination in museums and/or on sites will be included, and then attempts will be made to assign them to possible production areas based on the regional characteristics identified in the first phase.

The third phase of the project is devoted to the comparative analysis of the dataset from the sites where amphorae were produced and those where they were found. Thus, amphorae trade networks will be reconstructed. Diachronic changes will be highlighted according to the amphora chronology examined in the first phase and as result it will be shown if and how such networks changed over time.