Abstrakt
Egypt and the Near East. Interactions between these regions are attested from the earliest days when the first political centers started to develop in both parts of the ancient world.
For this period, our information on Egyptians living "abroad" is very limited. The interpretation of the Egyptian policy towards the NE polities and their peoples is hence largely dependent on the interpretation of the character of the Egyptian (or Egyptianizing) objects discovered in NE sites.
During the 3rd millennium BC, the picture provided by the limited number and much formalized character of the Egyptian written evidence is often supplemented by iconographic and archaeological sources. Moreover, there are practically no ancient Near Eastern records mentioning Egyptians living "abroad".
It is only in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, when the written evidence-both Egyptian and non-Egyptian-becomes sufficient to provide a more detailed account on the Egyptians living "outside the Egyptian borders". In my paper I address the question of evidence of Egyptians living in the Near East.
