Nationalism, Modernity, and Ancient Egypt
Abstract
The criteria utilized to support the contention that the nation originated in modern Europe-- citizenship, a unified economy, a world of compact nations, and mass education–are most clearly articulated by Anthony D. Smith and emphasized, to varying degrees, by most scholars who study nationalism. Accepting the fact that ancient Egypt was a theocracy and using evidence from post- 1979 Iran, this paper begins by showing that a theocratic state does not necessarily preclude the development of citizenship. It also shows that the economy of ancient Egypt was linked by centrally controlled granaries and that this unified territory existed in a Mediterranean world influenced by empires, just as the world of the twentieth century was influenced by the Soviet empire. The paper concludes by focusing on the Wisdom Literature of the Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt–an educational system that was designed to impart the requirements of citizenship to the masses.