Aspects of non-elite household economy and ritual practice at Amara West

High-resolution geoarchaeological and contextual analyses of domestic surface deposits from the administrative settlement of Amara West have revealed new and otherwise invisible evidence for aspects of everyday life in New Kingdom Egyptian-occupied Nubia. These analyses shed light on the place of non-elite inhabitants within the intra-settlement economy of a colonial town, and include evidence for private animal husbandry and the participation of individual households in likely stone and woodworking industries. This study has also yielded archaeological evidence for aspects of household ritual, including physical manifestations of a possible apotropaic practice aimed at protecting houses’ liminal points of access and various other significant features within them. Further archaeological evidence suggests that domestic offering cults were enacted within a wide range of elite and non-elite households at the site. Both practices are well-known throughout New Kingdom Egypt, but the apparent physical form of these activities at Amara West is currently unparalleled at other pharaonic settlements. This paper will outline this new evidence and discuss its significance within the specific social and historical contexts of pharaonic Nubia.