Invisible Kings: Dynasty XIII
The 13th Dynasty begins around 1786 BCE with the reign of Sobek-Hotep I. This king, like those who follow him, is all but invisible in the record. Why? We meet Sobek-Hotep and his namesake deity, the crocodile Sobek. In addition, we explore ideas of justice in the Tale of the Eloquent Peasant…
Bibliography
- Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2010.
- Wolfram Grajetzki, The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, 2006.
- Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, 1994.
- W.K. Simpson (editor), The Literature of Ancient Egypt, 2006. PDF Copy at Archive.org.
- Toby Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, 2003.
- W.K. Simpson (editor), The Literature of Ancient Egypt, 2006. PDF Copy at Archive.org.
The Listen/Download square to download Episode 51 is missing. 50 and 52 are there.
Thanks Martin, silly oversight on my part 😉
The button is added now.
(I am also aware that I misspeak in the intro, and refer to it as Episode 50, rather than 51 – will fix).
A late, late, late comment:
I am a newcomer to your podcast and am very grateful to you for it. I was excited to find a short film of “The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant” from 1960. Even though it’s in Arabic (a language I do not speak) I could follow the story, based on your beautiful telling of it, while watching a recreation of the period. It’s available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_U9kgI2UFg&t=720s
I’ve been binge-listening and and will be supporting your efforts as soon as payday rolls around. 😉
Hi Ariel,
Thanks for listening! I did not know that film existed – I will have to check it out!
Best regards,
Dominic
Hello Dominic, a somewhat general question about ancient Egyptian history. What I find very striking (even given that a lot of the material that survived to this day does come from elites, and that egyptologists tend to focus on elite activities) is the absence of anything amounting to a peasant revolt (there is the workman’s strike at Deir el-Medina of course, but that is not quite what I mean). At least, as far as I know. I find this odd, because peasant revolts are a staple of later history, and I don’t see a reason to believe that ancient Egypt’s agricultural society would have been any different. What is your view? Is there any evidence or even just a hint of peasants rising up agains exorbitant taxes, bad floods, or just plain bad elite behaviour, as in this tale?
By the way (in case you are not aware of it) the director of the short film @arielmelton linked to, Shadi Abdel Salam, is a really interesting and somewhat tragic figure, whose adaptations of ancient Egypt on screen are so far the best I have seen. It is in no small way thanks to him that Kawalerowicz’s Faraon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharaoh_(film)) became the most historically accurate depiction of ancient Egypt I am aware of. If you haven’t seen it I cannot recommend that film enough.
Thanks Michael, I too have found that surprising. Looking at the Amarna Period, there is evidence of people “running away” from certain communities. If I had to speculate, I would say that revolts or elopements were more common than we hear about. There really was little value (for the royals or their agents) to record instability within Egypt’s borders. It is a massive topic, though, and hard to argue either way.
Very interesting episode
I wonder about the short length of all the reigns, there must be so much royal intrigue and assassinations we cannot see in those years.
As for the tale of the eloquent peasant! A classic! Though I can’t help wonder if one of the class take aways we are meant to be left with is laughing at the idea of a peasant who could speak ‘in the manner of a noble’
Like to the elite listeners of the tale in the 13th dynasty, I feel that would have been very funny.
Can’t see the pictures.