Balat, a Frontier Town and Its Archive

Abstract

Reflecting the administrative activity at the very heart of local power, the Balat archives offer a unique insight into the everyday life of 'provincial' administration. The archive currently available from the excavations falls into two main groups: living archive, found in situ throughout the palace, and a dead archive, where outdated records which were culled out and discarded, always in the same specific dumping area, outside the north wall of the palace enclosure. Many lists of personal names were preserved in the archive. As is customary in Egyptian documents, the individuals are identified by their title, if any, and their name; in case they lack a title, the patronymic is written before the personal name. The archive name individuals with local titles more frequently than governmental departments or institutions. Given the distance, Memphite control will always have been rather loose. Keywords:archive; balat; Egypt; Memphite

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