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Identity And Colonialism In Tombos

Decent Essays

When discussing identity and colonialism between the Egyptians and Nubians in Tombos, it is critical to consider how the two cultures influenced one another and how identity is emphasized and displayed through culture (primarily memorialization) and the physical landscape. Additionally, we must also consider what archaeology reveals and how it allows us to potentially answer about Egyptian society, identity, and interactions between ethnic groups. Specifically, the author uses archaeological evidence to demonstrate the intersection and balance of power between Egypt and Nubia culturally through burials and memorialization, but also the political interaction and how it relates to history. Subsequently, understanding the archaeological record requires us to understand how identity is formed through memorialization in burials, which Tombos gives insight into. Finally, the archaeological record reveals an abundance of information about Egyptian identity, cultural and ethnic mixing with Nubians, and how this interaction (with respect to the idea of exclusion vs inclusion) relates to the structure and function of each society and, ultimately, how this relates to the greater history, religion, and culture of the region. The first and most critical element to analyze is the interaction between Egypt, Nubia, and how the two cultures ultimately influenced each other. Despite Egyptologists of the past characterizing Egypt as a sophisticated core with the inferior Nubian periphery (Smith and Buzon 188), the archaeological record and what the author gleans from it is superior as a hypothesis. What is evident is that Egypt was obviously dominant initially during the New Kingdom period due to having military and colonial control over Nubia – and through this military dominance, conformation to Egyptian culture was rewarded by less violence. This is demonstrated by the author through a study of head and defensive wounds, with the results demonstrating lower rates of violence at the more Egyptianized Tombos compared to surrounding, earlier Nubian cities (197-199). The existence of violence is indicative of a degree of resistance to Egyptian colonialism, nulling the argument that a ‘sophisticated’ Egyptian culture was

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