ABSTRACT
The development of complex society in ancient Egypt contrasts sharply with Mesopotamia, its neighbor and contemporary, despite a similar reliance on river-fed agriculture and divinely appointed kings. Egypt is the earliest known territorial state, encompassing a large geographic area ruled by a king, a status it achieved at the same time as it developed urbanism. At its peak in the Middle and New Kingdoms, Egyptian material culture was dominated by monumental temples and funerary monuments; an ideology that focused on the deeds, death, and afterlife of its semidivine kings; and a visual culture that certified the continued prosperity of society by ensuring that the kings acted in accordance with the desires of the gods in perpetuity. Because most archaeological efforts in Egypt have focused on royal monuments and iconography, the discussion that follows in this chapter necessarily concentrates on political history; aspects of village life and social relationships will be noted where there is evidence for them.
