ABSTRACT
Most people in ancient Egypt lived in permanent settlements. They were numerous but generally small enough to seem to our eyes to be villages rather than towns or even cities (Elephantine/Aswan is a good example), matching the small size of the country’s population. Early settlements grew largely as a result of local decisions and community interactions. They thus illustrate the process of self-organization, when many decisions as to location are made over time with greater regard to immediate factors than to an overall (and usually geometric) plan. Self-organization remained a powerful determinant of the shapes of towns and cities throughout ancient Egypt’s history. Nevertheless, the wish to impose a uniform order over an entire community, by providing it with a predetermined layout of streets and templates for living spaces, made fitful appearances, starting as early as the First Dynasty (at Tell el-Fara'in/Buto) and seemingly peaking during the Middle Kingdom. The chapter looks at a series of settlements where the state has played a role in shaping the result. It includes the large, geometrically planned town of Kahun, the colonial town of Ain Asil in the Dakhla Oasis, settlements to house the communities which maintained the cults of deceased kings at their pyramids (especially at the Giza pyramids), and the system of fortresses built in Nubia to maintain Egyptian rule over this conquered territory. The urge to control peoples’ lives through bureaucracy and urban planning appears, however, to have moderated following the Middle Kingdom.
