Hierakonpolis

Other workers in the field did, however, add to the catalogue of reports dealing with these formative centuries and the sites from which the evidence was drawn. Amongst these one of the most important was Hierakonpolis, which was probably the ancient capital of one of the contending princes who sought to unify the Two Lands; however, the publication of the excavations carried out in 1897—8 by Quibell and Green24 was less extensive than scholars of today would have wished, though laudable attempts have recently been made to disinter the material still concealed in the notes and drawings of the site’s early excavation.25

Hierakonpolis was largely overlooked by Egyptology until quite recent times. Over the past three decades however very dramatic discoveries have been made there which have transformed our understanding of the processes which led to the emergence of the Egyptian state. These will be considered further in Chapter 5.

THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF ANCIENT EGYPT

In more than a century and a quarter since Petrie started working, or the nearly seventy years since Emery commenced his excavations at Saqqara, much significant work has into the early periods been undertaken but, by comparison with the attention given to other later periods of Egyptian history, it has been relatively slight, until recent times. Reisner, the distinguished American Egyptologist, carried out his magisterial review of the development of the Egyptian tomb from predynastic times to the appearance of the pyramids,26 the period with which this book is principally concerned. Similarly Lauer, the French Egyptologist who worked at the site for many years, did spectacular work in restoring the Netjerykhet Complex at Saqqara and in so doing revealed its incomparable quality.27 But the fact remains that this, the most crucial part of Egyptian history, was for too long dependent on researches whose origins are almost lost in the mists of archaeological beginnings.

The nature of Egyptian society in this period, though it is so remote in time from our own, is nonetheless deeply relevant, in the same way as the society developing in the east, in Sumer, is relevant. For the first time men, in both locations, were undertaking large-scale projects in what is effectively social engineering. At the same time, and most particularly in Egypt, they were evolving a series of symbols, forms, and institutions which, because they endured so remarkably well are still pertinent and potent today. The line which connects our world with theirs is direct and unbroken; they are a profoundly important element in our cultural ancestry. To understand them a little is to add greatly to the understanding of ourselves.