Descendants of a Lesser God

"""The focus on a provincial centre and its ruling elite provides a rewarding study.""—Ancient Egypt Magazine “This book explores and interweaves aspects of social networks, politics, belief, ritual, and cult to present a fascinating and comprehensive portrait of the Elephantine/Qubbet el-Hawa area during the Old and Middle Kingdoms. Jiménez-Serrano sheds welcome light on intriguing aspects of ancient Egyptian culture that have often been neglected. His lively writing style animates ancient families and personalities, suggesting possible motivations for their actions.”—Adela Oppenheim, The Metropolitan Museum of Art “This book is particularly original for the new perspective it offers on pharaonic history, far from the great capitals of ancient Egypt. Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano has led excavations for more than fifteen years in the Elephantine region, Egypt’s southern gateway at the crossroads of the tracks of the desert and the axis of the Nile. His study is therefore enriching, both for its political, social, and economic perspectives on a key region of the Egyptian world and for the history of the archaeological work carried out there for nearly two centuries.”—Pierre Tallet, Sorbonne University “This study offers a fascinating journey through the history of Aswan at the end of the Old Kingdom and during the Middle Kingdom, as Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano presents the findings of his archaeological mission at the necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa and his unique thoughts here for the first time. Descendants of a Lesser God is highly recommended reading for anyone who wishes to understand the politics, religion, and evolution of ancient Egyptian society and state, and the competition for status and resources as reflected through archaeological discoveries from that period.”—Miroslav Bárta, Charles University, author of Analyzing Collapse “A refreshingly new study that focuses on the lives and deaths of the governing families in the ancient Egyptian community at Elephantine located in the First Cataract region of Egypt. Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano successfully manages to bring this long-lost community to life by telling us the histories of its local leaders and their households, based on his team’s recent archaeological discoveries at the elite necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa.”—Nadine Moeller, Yale University"