Entanglement and the Formation of the Ancient Nubian Napatan State
Open accessAbstract
Through the concept of entanglement, archaeological indications of cultural identity and skeletal evidence of biological and geographic interaction are used to explore the development of the Nubian polity who ruled as the 25th Dynasty of Egypt (Napatan period, ca. 750–656 B.C.E.). In this article, we examine the ways in which cultural and biological linkages affect the political, social, and cultural trajectories of the political entities in the ancient Nile Valley. Early studies of political developments in this region have often focused on Egypt, ignoring the aspects of power formation that may have developed independently and the long tradition of established local institutions in Nubia. The present research uses evidence from the site of Tombos, located in Upper Nubia, to investigate the processes of identity formation and population composition during the Egyptian colonial occupation and the subsequent rise of the Nubian Napatan polity. We address the impact of Egyptian and Nubian immigrants on the political developments, finding strongest support for the influence of Nubian-Egyptian communities established in colonial times on the character of the Napatan polity. [cultural entanglement, Egypt, 25th Dynasty, Tombos, mortuary practices, state formation]
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Multiple paleomobility studies have used 87Sr/86Sr analysis of human dental enamel to identify non-locals in Egyptian and Sudanese contexts along the Nile Valley.
“Multiple paleomobility studies have utilized 87Sr/86Sr on human dental enamel to identify non-locals in Egyptian and Sudanese contexts along the Nile Valley [41–45], although none have been conducted on humans from the Nile Delta region.”
From Who were the Hyksos? Challenging traditional narratives using strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analysis of human remains from ancient Egypt (2020) · cites this paper as [43]
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Stantis, C., Kharobi, A., Maaranen, N., Nowell, G. M., Bietak, M., Prell, S., & Schutkowski, H. (2020) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0235414 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
- Authors
- Buzon, M. R., Smith, S. T., & Simonetti, A.
- Affiliations
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- University of Notre Dame (US)
- Corresponding author
- Buzon, Michele R.
- Venue
- American Anthropologist
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2016-05-18
- Volume
- 118
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 284-300
- ISSN
- 0002-7294 (ISSN-L)
- 1548-1433
- OpenAlex
- W2507574122
- Cited by
- 51
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 26.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- American Anthropologist (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (BCS-0917824, 0907815, 0313247)
- National Geographic Society
- Schiff-Giorgini Foundation
- American Philosophical Society
- American Association of Physical Anthropologists
- Killam Trust
- Institute for Bioarchaeology
- Purdue Alumni Foundation and College of Liberal Arts
- UCSB Academic Senate and Institute for Social
- Behavioral and Economic Research
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Ancient Egypt and Archaeology
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › African Studies and Geopolitics
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › African history and culture studies
- Keywords
- Nubia, Tombos, cultural entanglement, state formation, identity construction, demographic structure, funerary practices, Upper Nubia
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