Date Thesis Awarded
5-2022
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
History
Advisor
Jeremy Pope
Committee Members
Tuska Benes
Andrew Tobolowsky
Abstract
This thesis deconstructs the predominant pharaonic assertion that Egyptian rulers single-handedly unified a nation previously divided into northern and southern halves by presenting six case studies suggesting further, subnational identities within ancient Egypt. I present these case studies, from very different time periods, to suggest that there exists a correlation between written language and identity, and suggest areas in which further research of the same kind could be fruitful. The case studies will include two letters from Kellis, settled in the Roman period, the Shabaka Stone of the 25th dynasty, select coffin texts, a letter from Ramesside Deir el-Medina, predynastic notation and so-called Butic, and the earliest writing.
Recommended Citation
Wolf, Annemarie, "Just Two Lands? Language and Identity in Ancient Egypt" (2022). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 1839.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1839
