"Leadership in rural pharaonic Egypt: village chiefs, small potentates and informal networks of power in the provincial world." In: M. Tamiolaki (ed.), Leadership in the Ancient World: Concepts, Models, Theories, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2025, pp. 34-57. Juan Carlos Moreno Garcia

https://www.academia.edu/42810982/_Leadership_in_rural_pharaonic_Egypt_village_chiefs_small_potentates_and_informal_networks_of_power_in_the_provincial_world_In_M_Tamiolaki_ed_Leadership_in_the_Ancient_World_Concepts_Models_Theories_Cambridge_University_Press_Cambridge_2025_pp_34_57?email_work_card=title "Mayors" and village chiefs play a significant role in the iconographic and administrative records of ancient Egypt as key representatives of pharaonic authority. However, their power is somewhat ambiguous. On one hand, as mediators between their communities and the king's agents, their responsibilities included collecting taxes, supplying expeditions, and implementing orders from the king and his officials. On the other hand, they acted as local leaders, mediating between their neighbors, and their authority—both formal and informal—placed them at the center of patronage networks that helped maintain their influence in rural areas. The foundation of their local authority is still not well understood, as it may depend on factors such as inheritance, wealth, or ritual. Additionally, their relationship with their superiors fluctuated, shifting between submission and autonomy in decision-making. Furthermore, other local actors, such as wealthy peasants and "great ones," occasionally appear in written and archaeological records, indicating the existence of alternative paths to wealth and power. These alternative paths sometimes led to the emergence of local leaders who owed little or nothing to the state for their enhanced social roles. This contribution aims to explore how mayors and informal leaders established their prominent local positions, how these dynamics changed over time—especially during periods of political turmoil—and how they leveraged their contacts, family networks, wealth, and official duties to consolidate and transmit their privileged status to future generations. Inscriptions from Elkab, Akhmim, and other locations, along with references in administrative texts and archaeological evidence related to a "middle class," provide crucial insights into these themes.