Reconstructing Ancient Egyptian Identity: A Review of Kemp

Introduction: Kemp's Project and Its Central Challenge

While attempting to present a fairly comprehensive overview of the ancient Egyptians and their way of life, Barry Kemp's Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization undertakes the reconstruction of the identities of the people living in ancient Egypt. Such a task is intrinsically arduous because a considerable amount of time has passed since this indigenous population inhabited the earth. The crux of Kemp's manuscript ultimately hinges upon some crucial definitions that allow for the completion of such a work. The most eminent of these revolves around the notion of identity itself, addressing what identity consists of and how it may be measured several centuries later. To his credit, the author has addressed these vital points throughout his manuscript. A careful analysis of these points and their relevance and credibility in contemporary society demonstrates that the author has based his argument upon the notion of community, and has utilized tangible representations of such community in the form of culture — some of the most essential of which was created during the Predynastic period (Brewer, p. 72) — to reconstruct the identities of the ancient Egyptians.

Kemp's definition of identity is relatively simple and integrates several facets of culture. The author believes that the collective identity of a group of people exists in their proclivity and proficiency in forming a community considered distinct from that of others, despite the fact that it may encompass the territory of others. For example, during the 17th Dynasty, Egypt expanded to encompass parts of Nubia and Canaan (Grimal, 1994, p. 194). The ultimate expression of such a community is, of course, the modern conception of a state, which existed in ancient times under various labels. After providing such a definition of collective identity, the author confirms that ancient Egypt conforms to this definition. As Kemp himself writes:

Defining Identity Through Community and Culture

"Central to the concept of the nation is an imagined political community… By this definition ancient Egypt passes the test reasonably well. The ancient Egyptians, speaking and writing a common language, occupying a territory with a well-catalogued geography centred on the Nile valley and subscribing to a distinctive culture, imagined themselves as a single community" (Kemp, 2006, p. 20).

The political community that oversaw the larger, literal community of ancient Egyptians was the lineage of kings that ruled this nation-state. This pharaonic civilization stems from the early dynastic period and was influential in propagating this form of government for later generations (Wilkinson, 2001, p. 49). It is also crucial to note the several facets of culture that the author invokes as integral to the definition of community and, by extension, to the conception of identity. Cultural aesthetics include forms of communication such as language, as well as tenets of religion — partially alluded to in this quotation, since the political community of pharaohs governing Egypt was believed to be divine — along with architecture and forms of artwork. The founding of a principal place of demarcation, denoted within this passage as along the Nile River, is another key principle of identity intrinsically related to culture.

After demonstrating the close relationship between culture and identity, Kemp bases his reconstruction of ancient Egyptian civilization on an analysis of cultural manifestations. These include studying its form of government and the states erected and sustained by it, as well as analyzing facets of Egyptian literature, art, religion, and architecture. These cultural facets provide the sources available to study the identity of the ancient Egyptians because they offer tangible representations of the values and mores of this people, which assist in defining who they were. For instance, the author utilizes aspects of etymology for the Egyptians' own word for "Egyptian," as well as folk stories and artwork, to reveal that they considered themselves the center of the universe and the most prominent species of man (Kemp, 2006, p. 20).

Sources Used to Reconstruct Ancient Egyptian Civilization

Physical aspects of culture, however, are not the only means by which Kemp reconstructs the identity of the ancient Egyptians. The author also makes use of first-hand accounts from those outside of the Egyptian community. There is a finite amount of written material created by Europeans — the most salient of which is compiled by Herodotus, although both Plato and Pythagoras also wrote accounts of Egyptians — that the author references. What appears as the most compelling source for reconstructing Egyptian identity, however, is non-literary written accounts of their own history. For example, the Palermo Stone contains historical data regarding the names and lengths of reign of several kings. Such documentation is highly valued and is occasionally used by Kemp to validate certain points. Additionally, the author references contemporary academic scholarship to persuade or dissuade the reader about certain conclusions. Nevertheless, the bulk of Kemp's sources for recounting the identity and daily facets of ancient Egyptian civilization remains cultural relics.

Kemp makes a number of relevant inferences based on the culture of these people to draw conclusions about their values and, ultimately, their cosmology. For instance, he recounts the Story of Sinuhe to allude to concepts that the Egyptians held regarding those who dwelled outside of their communities. He eventually draws the conclusion — with this particular piece of literature as the primary source, supported by secondary sources such as material from Herodotus and references to popular scholarship — that the ancient Egyptians took great pains to distinguish themselves from outsiders in order to preserve the homogeneity of their population.

Conclusion: Strengths and Shortcomings of Kemp's Methodology

Ultimately, the paucity of ancient Egyptian historical documents and the cultural biases of sources outside of its indigenous culture attest to a lack of certitude about most conclusions regarding these people. This sense of the indefinite also pertains to the cultural testaments of ancient Egyptian civilization, such as its architecture and its language. Although remnants of these exist and can still be found, the conclusions reached through them are less than certain. For the bulk of the manuscript, Kemp makes assertions qualified by phrases such as "probably," "seems," "likely," and others that denote some degree of doubt — no matter how slight in certain instances — found in the inferences drawn from the evidence and its significance. Kemp's task, like that of all historians and academics seeking to reconstruct facts separated from them by lengthy periods of time, is to minimize such doubt, even though it inevitably remains.