The exotic land
par excellence
for Egyptians, Punt was probably situated in a zone including eastern Sudan, Eritrea, and northern and western Ethiopia.
During the late prehistory of Egypt, the lion (
Panthera leo
) probably dwelt as far north as the border of the Eastern Desert and its wadis (Needler 1984: 351).
319on site, the author emphasising in fact that practice might well have varied considerably from reign to reign, with residence more regular in the reign of Ramesses Iv, but with the men regularly returning to Deir el Medina overnight at other periods. The author does, however, bring out very clearly the way in which this excavated material, when compared to finds from other groups of huts in the valley, gives a clear focus on the micro-history of the Tomb: the way in which variations in the record, and in particular in the types of texts found in different groups of huts, imply variations in organisation and practice at different periods (pp. 180, 215). The site published here was really very disturbed, and the excavators had a real struggle to make the best sense possible of the disorder created by earlier spoil heaps, limiting the conclusions that fuller stratification could have given. The ostraca, then, necessarily become the primary focus of the author's analysis, but the underlying questions are posed clearly, and the detailed presentation of the physical data and the thematic discussions both move Deir el Medina studies forward significantly.
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