This monograph provides an important contribution to the study of human migration and displacement in antiquity. Based on the author’s doctoral thesis, this study brings together the extant evidence for deportations during the Egyptian New Kingdom, including an exhaustive catalogue of textual references. As noted in the introduction, this work addresses the relative paucity of research devoted to this topic[1] and challenges the academic tendency to view Neo-Assyrian deportations as the earliest attestations of this practice in antiquity. The book provides an important contribution to the study of Egyptian history and the broader field of deportation studies and complements research on the history and archaeology of migration and displacement in antiquity.
The text is arranged into five main chapters, followed by a short concluding sixth chapter. The introduction lays out the historical scope and analytical framework employed in the study, which incorporates both qualitative and quantitative methods in the investigation of Egyptian deportations during the Late Bronze Age. The introduction also explains the goals and trajectories, as well as the short- and long-term developments, of Egyptian policies towards deportees rather than simply describing the history of deportation. This “problem-oriented approach” focuses on “embed(ding) the source material in the wider (explicitly hypothetical) context of Egyptian society, primarily its economy and foreign policy” (p. 3).
Chapter 2 provides an expanded discussion of the author’s analytical framework, as well as thorough discussions of the broader fields of slavery systems, coerced labour, and deportation. This section lays out the boundaries of the evidence under examination—transborder deportations during the New Kingdom—and provides the working definition for deportation: “an act by a government with the intention and effect of securing the removal of a person or group of people against their will from one territory (i.e., place) to another” (p. 22). As part of this discussion, the author addresses the challenges of evaluating coercion as a component of migration, as with for example Late Bronze Age diplomatic marriage, in which betrothed (mostly) women moved between polities with accompanying retinues of attendants (p. 24–25). Importantly, the author also addresses the tendency of scholars of deportation to apply colonial perspectives that “unconsciously or inadvertently, or in a combination of both, euphemizes potentially violent acts in the past,” (p. 27) particularly when evaluating the experiences of deported individuals from ‘peripheral’ polities into imperial cores.
This second chapter will prove particularly valuable to students and researchers of forced migration, as it includes both comprehensive discussion of methods of analysis, as well as a highly instructive survey of examples of deportations from both antiquity and modern historical contexts. This survey illustrates the varying motives and goals of political deportation in different prehistoric societies, including development through settlement and labour allocation (e.g., Neo-Assyria and the Inca), the acquisition of enslaved peoples (e.g., Rome), population replacement (e.g., the mourning wars of the Iroquois), and the integration of conquered territories into a unified state (e.g., Qin Dynasty China). These examples demonstrate the multiple and overlapping goals of deportation within prehistoric communities and are effectively summarized in subsequent tables for the reader (Tables 1 and 2, p. 60–61, 64). The brief discussion of the displacement of local communities in Qurna and the vicinities of Aswan and the Luxor and Karnak temples as a result of archeological excavation should be of particular interest to archaeologists (p. 58–59), especially as increasing discourse addresses archaeology’s role in internal acts of displacement.[2] The chapter also introduces the primary terms used to refer to unfree labour in Egypt, which will form an important component of the following philological analysis of the textual corpus.
The discussion of deportation and unfree labour is followed in Chapter 3 by an examination of the source material from Egypt. The focus of this section is the evaluation of the different record genres and their relative reliability. The texts incorporated in this study are grouped into royal sources (R), private autobiographies (P), administrative records (Adm), and international correspondence (Int). Reliability is determined in relation to the availability of corroborating evidence and the purpose of the text, particularly the assessed degree of ideological influence. The question of numerical validity in recorded figures is reframed as a conflict between deductive versus inductive reasoning; the former necessitates proof with certainty of the text’s validity, whereas the inductive approach advocated for by Langer requires only demonstration of probable reliability (p. 97–100). This methodology becomes clear in Chapter 5 where Langer contextualizes deportation records—especially those in which deportees are assigned to temple estates—against administrative counts of temple labourers in order to ascertain the probability of deportees being effectively integrated into the workforce of these institutions. Langer also raises the important point that the invalidation of values presented in texts should depend on more substantial proof than a subjective determination by a researcher that a text is primarily ideological and thus cannot present valid historical information (p. 98).
On the debated historical task of distinguishing the impact of ideology on ancient Egyptian texts, Langer argues that recorded information would have been conveyed “truthfully in line with the principles of Ma’at” (the Egyptian concept of truth, order, justice, and balance), rendering them essentially “suitable for historical analysis” (p. 83). He further argues that administrative texts and letters primarily present administrative concerns and are therefore “relatively free of ideological posturing” (p. 84). However, P. Harris, a text which figures prominently in the study and which Langer interprets as a royal and administrative genre-hybrid document (p. 84), provides an illustrative example of the potential impact of ideology on historical validity. As noted by Kenneth Kitchen, the dedication by Ramesses III of extensive vineyards known as “Kanekeme” to the Temple of Amun recorded (P. Harris I 8:5–7) incorporated plots already counted among temple assets in earlier records from the Temple of Amun and the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses II.[3] In a similar fashion, some recorded dedications of deportees could have included duplicate donations offered for ideological purposes.
Chapter 4 presents the catalogue of sources examined in this study, organized chronologically by reign. Each source includes both transliterated and translated text, as well as a short evaluation of the source content, providing a valuable resource for any scholar looking to work on deportations in ancient Egypt. The sources from each regnal period are followed by tabular summaries of the number of deportees listed, their place of origin, and gender and age group (where details are available). Summary discussion of the terminology used for deportation and deportees during each reign is also included. This chapter, along with the following chapter analyzing the sources in this catalogue, make up the bulk of the monograph.
The main quantitative and qualitative analysis is presented in Chapter 5. Focusing on the “structures and people” involved in deportations to Egypt, the chapter includes discussion of diachronic changes in deportation numbers attested, the individuals and institutions involved in supplying deportees to Egypt, the individuals and institutions responsible for integrating deportees into Egyptian society, the socioeconomic impact of deportees on Egypt, and the geographic origins, demographic makeup, and outcomes of deportees brought to Egypt. These different sections present analyses of both the actual attestations of deportations, as well as projected figures of potential deportations during the period, calculated assuming regular deliveries of jnw and bAkw to Egypt following the establishment of these obligations under Thutmose I (Nubia) and Thutmose III (the Levant). Though hypothetical, the projected figures serve as a useful basis for assessing the potential implications of migration of this scale into Egypt.
The analysis in Chapter 5 presents a number of insights into the composition of deportee groups and their outcomes once arriving in Egypt. Demographic information, though limited, suggests the social stratification of deportees was roughly aligned with the general population (p. 370), with both men and women the target of regular structural deportations (p. 375); this contrasts with wartime deportations, which targeted mainly men, and which represent the bulk of recorded attestations. Once in Egypt, the majority of deportees for whom an outcome was recorded appear to be assigned to temples and private estates (p. 271), labouring largely in the agricultural sector (p. 397). Throughout Chapter 5, Langer incorporates extensive philological assessment of the terms of deportation and settlement recorded through the New Kingdom, which will be an asset to historians and philologists alike. Given the titular focus on political economy, it would have benefitted the book to expand the discussion dedicated to the socioeconomic impact of deportees on Egypt (ch. 5.4; 12 pages). Instead, much of the discussion of this impact is interspersed throughout Chapter 5, such as the comprehensive discussion of the economic impact of deportees on the estate of Ahmose son of Ibana (p. 286–293).
There are also a few places in which Chapter 5 would have benefitted from some reorganization. For example, the small section focusing on the socioeconomic impact of deportees (ch. 5.4) is sandwiched between demographic discussions of the origins of deportations (ch. 5.3) and the demographic makeup of deportees (ch. 5.5), which again includes interspersed discussion of geographic origins. Similarly, the discussion of administrative offices and officials connected with deportation (ch. 5.2.3) is presented as a catalogue of primary texts arranged by individual official rather than by office, which creates some repetitive discussion that could have been avoided by structuring the section around offices themselves—particularly since, as the author notes, a number of the officials included in the discussion are not directly connected to deportees in the texts.
Some of these organizational weaknesses are likely due to the fact that the monograph represents the publication of the author’s doctoral dissertation.[4] As a result, the book is structured around the presentation of raw data and its analysis, which is laid out methodically and with great detail. As a monograph though, there are some places that could have been reorganized to form a more cohesive discussion, with some data relegated to tables or appendices. For example, the discussion of the adjusted figures for projected deportees—extrapolated from the surviving references to annual deliveries from the Levant and Nubia—could have been succinctly presented in a table, rather than in individual pie charts for each reign. Many of the bar charts could similarly have been collated into tables, which would have served to make the presentation more succinct and, in cases of bar charts without data labels (e.g., figs. 78–101), exact figures more easily accessible. Some data visualizations may create initial confusion, such as the use of fractions in scales on bar charts presenting discrete figures (e.g., the counts of linguistic term attestations in figs. 89 and 91), as well as inconsistent colour-coding of pie-chart components within comparative discussions of diachronic policy changes (e.g., figs. 61 and 62). These, however, represent only minor challenges to navigating the substantial research presented in the book.
Overall, this monograph presents a valuable contribution to the literature on mobility and political economy in Egypt. It provides a comprehensive overview of the evidence for deportations to Egypt during the Late Bronze Age, including extensive analyses of the history, ideology, and language of deportation during the New Kingdom. As noted in the conclusion, this study also provides a framework of analysis that can act as a model for future work on deportation during other periods of Egyptian history. Langer’s integration of premodern and modern examples also situates this study within broader deportation research and will undoubtedly serve to help the project achieve the stated aim to “enhance interdisciplinary discussions of premodern deportations more generally beyond the scope of this work” (p. 1).
Notes
[1] Langer cites the 1994 monograph by Rolf Gundlach (Die Zwangsumsiedlung auswärtiger Bevölkerung als mittle Ägyptischer politik bis zum ende des Mittleren Reiches. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag) as the sole previous study devoted to the topic, though, as pointed out by the author, the study centers on the Predynastic through the Middle Kingdom rather than the New Kingdom. As Langer explains, the majority of discourse surrounding deportations in the New Kingdom has instead appeared within broader studies of the Egyptian military and foreign policy or economic history.
[2] The role of excavation projects in displacing and destroying contemporary community settlements is addressed in William Carruthers’ new publication UNESCO, Nubia, and the Recolonization of Archaeology (2022. Ithaca: Cornell University Press) and was the topic of a recent volume published by the American School of Classical Studies and the Agora excavations (Dumont, Sylvie. 2020. Vrysaki: A Neighborhood Lost in Search of the Athenian Agora. Princeton: ASCSA). This subject was also recently addressed by Yannis Hamilakis, who describes the acknowledgement of this colonial legacy as “a move that can be seen both as the fulfillment of an ethical obligation especially toward the descendants, and an act of what Renato Rosaldo has called, imperialist nostalgia—feeling nostalgic toward something that you helped destroy” (Greenberg, Raphael, and Yannis Hamilakis. 2022. Archaeology, Nation, and Race: Confronting the Past, Decolonizing the Future in Greece and Israel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 57; citing R. Rosaldo. 1989. “Imperialist Nostalgia.” Representations 26:107–122).
[3] Breasted, J.H. 1906. Ancient Records of Egypt. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 4:93 §158. Attestation of the earlier foundation of this vineyard includes the recovery of broken jar sherds from the Ramesseum that are stamped with the vineyard’s name (Kitchen, Kenneth A. 1992. “The Vintages of the Ramesseum.” In Studies in Pharaonic Religion and Society in Honour of J. Gwyn Griffiths, edited by Alan B. Lloyd, 115–23. London: Egypt Exploration Society).
[4] I was unfortunately unable to obtain a copy of the dissertation for review, however the tables of contents are nearly identical (with a few minor pagination differences).