Chapter Fourteen - Early Dynastic Sealing Practices as a Reflection of State Formation in Egypt

Summary

Among the many aspects that scholars take into account when studying ancient cultures, administration systems take an important role, and have been considered crucial in the path toward state formation and social complexity. Numerous seals and seal impressions from ancient Egypt prove the existence of an early form of control over the distribution of goods, which were imported and exported by the state, and eventually transported over long distances. In Early Dynastic Egypt (ca. 3250–2700 BCE), however, sealing practices are probably more complex and diverse than has hitherto been acknowledged and the evolution of such systems has been too narrowly connected to the centralized administration. The possibility of private usage or of local and regional differences has received little attention. After comparison with models from the ancient Near East, we are now better equipped to interpret the rather varied nature of seals and seal impressions discovered in different parts of Egypt.