Poverty in ancient Egypt remains a rarely-studied subject. For decades Egyptologists have focused their attention mainly on the so-called ‘elite’, while the poor, their housing, their possessions, their diet, or their cultural values, remain largely in the shadows. Although they are much less visible archaeologically, they were much more numerous than the wealthy. Despite these circumstances, ancient Egypt provides a good starting point for discussing how to approach poverty during antiquity, as there are archaeological and textual records that can shed light on this complex issue. This article aims to stimulate reflection on the issue of poverty in the Nile valley and how it can be explored. It seeks also to add nuance to the idea of a strict dichotomy opposing the poor to the elite. In so doing, this paper will present discussion of the definition of poverty.

中文翻译：

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对古埃及穷人和贫困的研究：初步思考

古埃及的贫困仍然是一个很少被研究的课题。几十年来，埃及古物学家的注意力主要集中在所谓的“精英”身上，而穷人、他们的住房、他们的财产、他们的饮食或他们的文化价值观，基本上都处于阴影之中。虽然他们在考古上不那么明显，但他们比富人多得多。尽管有这些情况，古埃及为讨论如何在古代解决贫困提供了一个很好的起点，因为考古和文字记录可以阐明这个复杂的问题。本文旨在激发人们对尼罗河谷的贫困问题以及如何对其进行探索的思考。它还试图为严格区分穷人和精英的想法增添细微差别。这样做时，