In Search of Lost Memories: Domestic Spheres and Identities in Roman Amheida, Egypt

Abstract

Memory and heritage are critical components for identity formation. Within the context of empire, the display of heritage represents and transforms connections between individuals and their relationship to society. This essay examines a Roman Period Egyptian house as emblematic of the complex post-conquest conditions that intertwined memory, identity, and empire. This paper explores the integrative phase of empire, a process that continues long after the dramatic acts of conquest and submission have ended. I explore this process on a microscale in order to understand local negotiations, responses, and influences. Specifically, I focus on domestic contexts from the Roman city of Amheida (ancient Trimithis) in the Dakhleh Oasis. Amheida has a long occupational history, but it was under Roman rule that it reached its greatest extent (1st C AD–4th C AD). This historical trajectory offers a detailed example of a locality that developed during a period of social, religious, economic, and political change.