The Social Network(s) of the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period Treasurers: Rehuerdjersen, Siese, Ikhernefret and Senebsumai

Abstract

Studies on the ancient Egyptian administrative system(s) are usually based on analysis of the institutions and officials attached to them. The present paper focuses on the social settings of the four Middle Kingdom / Second Intermediate Period highest ranking officials, Le., treasurers. Starting with the traditional methodological approach, which focuses on collecting the prosopographic data, this paper further addresses the implementation of Social Network Analysis (sNA) tools for analyzing the obtained material. SNA is used to study people, or groups of people (nodes), linked together through social interaction, and relations or links between them (edges). SNA exemplifies various types of interaction through networks and analyzes them. By applying SNA methodology for studying the networks of the selected treasurers, it is possible to reconstruct more precisely their social setting (both private and institutional) and interrelations, which complement the traditional approach, but also provide new possibilities for research into ancient Egyptian administration.