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Migrations: Interdisciplinary Perspectives pp 213–226Cite as

Migration in Archaeology: An Overview with a Focus on Ancient Egypt

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Abstract

The archaeology of migration has become prominent due to the increasing importance and frequency of population movement in todays world. Thus, the relevance of research into ancient processes and how people coped with them has increased. Research has produced a massive bibliography (Chapman 1997) on the formation of group identity, e.g. through ethnicity, (Burmeister 2000; Jones 1997; Pohl 2010 with references) and how to ascertain migration in the archaeological record, but tangible proof is harder to find.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The designation “Asiatic” does not relate to the modern use of the term but refers traditionally to Syro-Palestinian inhabitants as occupants of Asia Minor and represents the translation of the ancient Egyptian term “aamu”.

  2. 2.

    Possibly caused by the topography in the swamp like environment of the delta, in contrast to the Nile valley (Schiestl 2009: 481).

  3. 3.

    Donkey/equid burials may not signify a specific “Hyksos” context, but they should be seen as a Syro-Palestinian burial custom, as in Egypt, the time gap to the prehistoric period, when such burials are attested, appears too wide (contra Way 2010: 211–212).

  4. 4.

    Some weapons can be recognized in Fig. 4 (cf. Bietak 1996: 14).

  5. 5.

    This settlement serves as basis for the current project of the author sponsored by the Austrian Science Fund (cf. Bader 2011).

  6. 6.

    Another tomb was found connected to those two but was too destroyed to yield secure results.

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Acknowledgements

Research conducted for this chapter was enabled by an Elise Richter scholarship of the Austrian Science Fund Project no. V147-G21. I would like to thank D. Aston, J. Bourriau and I. Kaplan for improving the English of this chapter; any remaining mistakes are my own.

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  1. Institute for Egyptology, University of Vienna, Frankgasse 1, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Bettina Bader

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  1. Argentinierstrasse 67/18, Vienna, Austria

    Michi Messer

  2. , Department of Biochemistry, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, Dr Bohr-Gasse 9/5, Vienna, 1030, Austria

    Renee Schroeder

  3. , Dpt. of Ling. and English Language, Lancaster University, County South, Lancaster, LA1 4YL, United Kingdom

    Ruth Wodak

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Bader, B. (2012). Migration in Archaeology: An Overview with a Focus on Ancient Egypt. In: Messer, M., Schroeder, R., Wodak, R. (eds) Migrations: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-0950-2_19

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