@article{Development:2218,
      recid = {2218},
      author = {Siegel, Oren},
      title = {Walls of the Rulers: The Development of Monumental  Enclosure Walls in Ancient Egypt Prior to the New Kingdom},
      publisher = {The University of Chicago},
      school = {Ph.D.},
      address = {2020-06},
      pages = {780},
      abstract = {This project investigates the emergence and development of  monumental enclosure walls in ancient Egypt, drawing on a  wealth of evidence from published excavation reports and  new fieldwork conducted at the sites of Tell Edfu, Dendara,  and Uronarti. Enclosure walls were defining features of  ancient Egyptian communities: they divided sectors within  settlements, delimited temples, administrative buildings,  citadels, fortresses, mortuary monuments, or palaces,  encompassed entire towns, and in rare instances restricted  access across broader regions. This dissertation argues  that ancient Egyptian monumental enclosure walls should be  reconceptualized as an architectural tool through which  Egyptian authorities attempted to exert control over the  geographic and symbolic landscape. Their ubiquity,  monumentality, and physicality readily facilitated their  appropriation as a symbol of power, protection, and control  by the Pharaonic state—walls figured prominently in  metonyms for the traditional Egyptian capital at Memphis  and even in the etymology of the word “Egypt”, to say  nothing of their prominence in funerary spells and literary  texts. The nature of the authorities demanding the  construction of such walls might vary, whether embodied in  the form of a royal decree from the Pharaoh himself, royal  officials acting on behalf of the Pharaonic state, or more  communal impulses towards defense in times of crisis and  insecurity. Whatever defensive functions they might have,  walls, inevitably, are political constructions: they divide  the intramural from the extramural, reinforcing socially  imposed or negotiated boundaries. Particularly in the case  of mudbrick walls that require regular maintenance and  refurbishing, such walls could only could continue to  function with the support of local authorities, or else  they would inevitably be replaced, erode, and collapse into  obsolescence. Yet even in these cases, the memory of  massive walling projects at times impacted much later  settlement planning. The dissertation begins by outlining  functional categories of enclosure walls and words in the  Egyptian language used to describe walls and various  constructions typically surrounded by an enclosure. The  materiality of enclosure walls is then interrogated before  the walls of Tell Edfu are discussed in greater detail as a  more focused case study. Subsequent chapters detail how  enclosure walls were built and how such labor might have  been organized, the symbolic and political power of such  constructions, and finally, the legacy of monumental  enclosure walls within ancient Egyptian settlements. A site  gazetteer is included as an appendix to aid future  researchers.},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/2218},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.6082/uchicago.2218},
}