DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0356
Ancient Egyptian Fishing
269
from the earliest period. From the table a number of points are apparent —- e. g. the
beginning of the Middle Kingdom is marked by a return of the fish-shaped vases, by the
introduction of the symmetrically two-barbed spear, of the barbed hook, and of the twy-
pronged netter, as well as by a decline of that aversion to fish which was displayed by
the Old Kingdom nobility.
The importance of such changes it is not easy correctly to estimate. Their signifi-
cance, when they are considered by themselves, appears to be negligible, but, when
correlated with other archaeological phenomena of the same period, is much increased.
The culture of the early Middle Kingdom, when placed in perspective, with that of the
Old Kingdom for background, exhibits peculiarities which suggest that ethnical, as well
as developmental, changes took place in Egypt between the end of the VI and the be-
ginning of the XI Dynasties. It is not however necessary to postulate, during this
obscure Intermediate Period, a hostile invasion into the Nile Valley, though it cannot
be denied that the collapse of the Old Kingdom must have invited foreign attack. What
really took place may have been in the nature of a partial recrudescence of elements in
the population which, from the beginning of the dynastic period to the economic break-
down of the Old Kingdom, had been in a state of subjection and repression. Such a
recrudescence would almost inevitably have followed if, as was earlier suggested in this
paper, a comparatively small body of warlike cattle-owners had obtained the mastery
of the Nile Valley near the close of the predynastic age. The triumph of such an element
over the ruder predynastic people would explain the character of the Old Kingdom, with
its centralized government and oppressive aristocracy. Such an element would inevit-
ably lose its strength unless constantly recruited from without: it would interbreed,
and would adopt many customs and devices from the subject people. From the latter
there would soon arise a class which by association with the conquerors would become
acquainted with their ways of life and their culture, and as the dominant power declined,
this new class would eagerly grasp at the power which the rulers could no longer with-
hold. There would result a time of trouble and dissention such as we know the Inter-
mediate Period to have been, and from such a confusion there would in the most natural
manner emerge the feudalism characteristic of the Middle Empire.
The new age would in many respects be indistinguishable from that which had pre-
ceded it, but we should expect the change to be marked by cultural phenomena arising
from the re-establishment of the old stock. Such phenomena are not lacking; it is
enough here to cite the sudden appearance of the s = amulet as a common ornament,
and of such divinities as Thoueris, whose aspect and whose colorless name (T-wr-t -
■'‘the Great One” — fem.) alike relate her to the old primitive stock. The hypothesis
outlined above might be supported with other and weightier evidence, but as it is here
269
from the earliest period. From the table a number of points are apparent —- e. g. the
beginning of the Middle Kingdom is marked by a return of the fish-shaped vases, by the
introduction of the symmetrically two-barbed spear, of the barbed hook, and of the twy-
pronged netter, as well as by a decline of that aversion to fish which was displayed by
the Old Kingdom nobility.
The importance of such changes it is not easy correctly to estimate. Their signifi-
cance, when they are considered by themselves, appears to be negligible, but, when
correlated with other archaeological phenomena of the same period, is much increased.
The culture of the early Middle Kingdom, when placed in perspective, with that of the
Old Kingdom for background, exhibits peculiarities which suggest that ethnical, as well
as developmental, changes took place in Egypt between the end of the VI and the be-
ginning of the XI Dynasties. It is not however necessary to postulate, during this
obscure Intermediate Period, a hostile invasion into the Nile Valley, though it cannot
be denied that the collapse of the Old Kingdom must have invited foreign attack. What
really took place may have been in the nature of a partial recrudescence of elements in
the population which, from the beginning of the dynastic period to the economic break-
down of the Old Kingdom, had been in a state of subjection and repression. Such a
recrudescence would almost inevitably have followed if, as was earlier suggested in this
paper, a comparatively small body of warlike cattle-owners had obtained the mastery
of the Nile Valley near the close of the predynastic age. The triumph of such an element
over the ruder predynastic people would explain the character of the Old Kingdom, with
its centralized government and oppressive aristocracy. Such an element would inevit-
ably lose its strength unless constantly recruited from without: it would interbreed,
and would adopt many customs and devices from the subject people. From the latter
there would soon arise a class which by association with the conquerors would become
acquainted with their ways of life and their culture, and as the dominant power declined,
this new class would eagerly grasp at the power which the rulers could no longer with-
hold. There would result a time of trouble and dissention such as we know the Inter-
mediate Period to have been, and from such a confusion there would in the most natural
manner emerge the feudalism characteristic of the Middle Empire.
The new age would in many respects be indistinguishable from that which had pre-
ceded it, but we should expect the change to be marked by cultural phenomena arising
from the re-establishment of the old stock. Such phenomena are not lacking; it is
enough here to cite the sudden appearance of the s = amulet as a common ornament,
and of such divinities as Thoueris, whose aspect and whose colorless name (T-wr-t -
■'‘the Great One” — fem.) alike relate her to the old primitive stock. The hypothesis
outlined above might be supported with other and weightier evidence, but as it is here