v. Fanni Faegersten, PhD, Senior International Officer, HT-International Office, Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology, Lund University
Torsdag d. 5. november, kl. 18 – KUA, lokale kommer senere.
During the past decades there have been exciting discoveries casting new light on the Pre- and Early Dynastic periods of Upper Egypt. These have come not only in the form of archaeological finds from sites such as Nekhen/Hierakonpolis and the early harbor sites on the Red Sea coast, but also from chemical and molecular analyses carried out on existing finds and materials. It seems that Predynastic Egyptian elites, already involved in long-distance trade and exchange, turned to timber and byproducts (resins, tar and oils) from far-away coniferous forests in order to communicate with their gods and to seek eternal life.
Two case studies are highlighted in this paper: the earliest indications of wooden ocean-going ships, and the first known intentional application of embalming substances to a dead body. Both point towards close contacts between Egypt and the Levantine coast. Only there local settlements had access to the cedar forests in the high Lebanese mountains, possessing the necessary know-how to fell timber and extract resins, knowing their qualities and antibacterial properties, being able to handle the large carnivores inhabiting these wild and deep forests – and exhibiting the ability to export these numinous raw materials by means of ocean transport.
Accepting an early and dynamic exploitation of the Lebanese cedar forest we can perhaps view archaeological and iconographical material from Pre- and Early Dynastic Egypt – and contemporary Mesopotamia – in a new light.