The Birth of Civilization in the Near EastFrankfort, Henri
History
The Birth of Civilization in the Near East
Frankfort, Henri
Civilization, Ancient; Egypt -- Antiquities; Iraq -- Antiquities; Middle East -- Civilization -- To 622
We have some evidence of the life which these labourers lived. Three
places are known where workmen were housed. Near the pyramid of Chephren
at Gizeh there are, around a court, extensive barracks consisting of
ninety-one galleries, each 88 feet long, 9½ feet wide, and 7 feet high.
Petrie estimated that these could house 4000 men. Near the pyramid of
Senusert II at Lahun there is a walled town covering an area 900 by 1200
feet. And at Tell el Amarna, near the northern group of rock tombs, is a
walled village measuring only 210 by 210 feet (Fig. 31).[157] Its layout
is dreary, with identical houses built back to back along straight
streets. Each house consists of a court serving for kitchen and
workshop, a central room as living-room, and two little bedrooms at the
back. The enclosure wall has but one gate, opening on a square where the
men no doubt mustered before being marched off to work. At one end of
the square there is a larger house for the foreman or commandant.
Described in this way the settlement makes the impression of a penal
colony. But when one visits the site or reads the excavation report with
some care, that impression changes. One is struck by the variations
which one observes in going from house to house. Although the plans are
identical, the tenants had made many changes to suit their individual
needs and predilections. The internal arrangements are hardly ever the
same. The objects found in the houses also show considerable variety and
do not suggest penury or gloom. In one room was discovered a gay,
painted frieze of dancing figures of the god Bes, the popular genius of
music and love. One gets a distinct impression at the site that lack of
freedom neither interfered with the home life of these workers nor
destroyed their gaiety.
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