Unofficial economic circuits
It is still common to consider that the pharaonic economy was rigidly centralized and controlled by the state. However this is only part of the picture, as the economic networks dominated by the monarchy and the great institutions coexisted with other, unofficial ones. Recent archaeological discover...
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| Formato: | Artículo revista |
| Lenguaje: | Español |
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Universidad Nacional de Rosario
2022
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| Acceso en línea: | https://claroscuro.unr.edu.ar/index.php/revista/article/view/47 |
| Aporte de: |
| Sumario: | It is still common to consider that the pharaonic economy was rigidly centralized and controlled by the state. However this is only part of the picture, as the economic networks dominated by the monarchy and the great institutions coexisted with other, unofficial ones. Recent archaeological discoveries show the considerable volume and geographical scope of the exchanges led by maritime populations, herders, fishermen, peddlers, etc., independently of any state initiative. In fact, it seems rather possible that the expansionist policy led by some monarchies of the ancient Near East (including Egypt itself) sought to capture such lucrative commercial networks that escaped to their control, with the aim to tax them and get income. In other cases, the production of some quality craft production did not obey to the demand of the monarchy or that of the great institutions, but to an urban and rural demand instead, based on complex productive networks. These networks managed to integrate, depending on the circumstances, both workshops and domestic units. Finally, it seems that merchants represented an important urban productive sector in pharaonic Egypt, but the sources describing their business (specially private ones) still remain surprisingly scarce. |
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