Benedick, Jered Thomas2014-08-212014-08-212014-06https://hdl.handle.net/1794/1799977 pages. A thesis presented to the Department of Anthropology and the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Arts, Spring 2014.One of the fundamental purposes of archaeology is identifying and understanding periods of socio-cultural change in past societies, especially those that lack a historical record. The Egyptian Middle (2050-1650BCE) Kingdom is, for the most part, one of these periods. The Middle Kingdom emerged from 1 00 years of political fallout after the collapse of a highly centralized Old Kingdom (2649- 2150BCE) in a flourish of culture, social leveling, and stable political control. With the first examples of Egyptian historical documentation appearing late in the period, archaeology is left to decipher these developments from the material evidence - primarily from mortuary assemblages. This thesis will examine the lives of Middle Kingdom Egyptians, mostly from a non-royal context, in an effort to broaden the understanding of Egyptian personal identity and social structure. Building from basic mortuary theory, it will focus on data collected from three separate excavations within the Abydos North cemetery, all dated to the Middle Kingdom and its peripheries: Janet Richards' 1988 excavation near the cemetery center, John Garstang's 1901 excavation in the northern segment (designated Cemetery E), and T. Eric Peet's series of excavations in the greater North Cemetery area (both the designated Cemetery S and general North Cemetery, from 1911-12). Though the widespread use of scaraboid amulets during the Middle Kingdom has been established as one symbol intrinsic of the so-called "democratization" of Egyptian social and cultural belief, this thesis proposes that a different symbol, the wedjat eye, presents itself as an equally strong symbol of these cultural and social processes. It will prove that this amulet, from its system of production to its mortuary manifestation, serves as the perfect oculus through which Egyptologists can view the intricate, transitional social patterns of Middle Kingdom Egypt.en-USAll Rights Reserved.Thesis / Dissertation