Violence in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds

2018

Violence in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds, 2018

Ancient Egypt is commonly regarded, in a simple comparative analysis, as a civilization less violent than its counterparts in neighboring Mesopotamia, for example. Some traces of violence can, obviously, be detected in many behaviors of the ancient Egyptian society, namely the physical punishments to the less committed students and to the peasants who evaded or intended to evade the intricate system of pharaonic tax collection. We can also confirm the practice of violence (verbal, physical and sexual) on women. Violence was therefore practiced in ancient Egypt, both in the domestic and public sphere, even though the Egyptian moral ethics condemn it, including the kind that one that could play on their own servants and/ or subordinates: “I have not caused pain”; “I have not slighted a servant to his master” (Book of the Dead, Chapter 125, Negative Confession). On the other hand, scenes of domination and repression of the defeated enemies were a common theme, often depicted at a large scale on the temples’ pylons, according to the ideology of the winner that each and every pharaoh should be and proclaim, even if just in theory. The ritual scenes of offering of the enemies by the Pharaoh to the main gods of the Egyptian pantheon are, in this sense, an eloquent trait of what we might designate as “ritual violence”, that was greatly appreciated in the country of the Pharaohs. With this paper, we will try to present and characterize the practice of violence in ancient Egypt exactly through some of its real or deliberate expressions and ritual or ceremonial, as a phenomenon with forms and techniques culturally and socially integrated. Finally, we will discuss a type of violence that underlies many of the Egyptian iconographic and textual productions, especially those related to life expectancy in the hereafter: we mean the threat of violence and constraints faced by the ones who do not align their existence by maetic behaviors that, in many situations, acts as a powerful deterrent and regulatory force to the living Egyptians. Inherent to our questioning of the phenomenon of violence in ancient Egypt in its various forms is a concept and generic definition of violence that is not limited to the physical and material aspect, that is, to the level of physical integrity, but also to the level of moral or psychological coercion, that violates individual autonomy and the existential behaviors.

Bibliotheca Orientalis , 2023

State authorities in antiquity and even now, who aspire to dominate foreign enemies and their own people, work through intimidation, including the threats of killing, torture, mutilation, execution, incarceration, and forced labour. The book reviewed in this article provides a detailed overview of the abovementioned methods in Egypt during the New Kingdom. The sources are texts in tombs, papyri, temple walls, and displays of war scenes in relief with the king as the foremost of the victorious warriors. Another theme in the book is how to deal with evildoers. The illustrations depicted in the netherworld guidebooks in the Royal Tombs of the New Kingdom may provide some insight into this subject. A different presentation of the osteological evidence, obtained in Egypt and Nubia, however, would have improved coherence with the abovementioned sources.

Ancient Egyptian Society: Challenging Assumptions, Exploring Approaches, 2023

Violence and Inequality: An Archaeological History, 2023

Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXX/3-4 (2023), 2023

State authorities in antiquity and even now, who aspire to dom- inate foreign enemies and their own people, work through intimida- tion, including the threats of killing, torture, mutilation, execution, incarceration, and forced labour. The book reviewed in this article provides a detailed overview of the abovementioned methods in Egypt during the New Kingdom. The sources are texts in tombs, papyri, temple walls, and displays of war scenes in relief with the king as the foremost of the victorious warriors. Another theme in the book is how to deal with evildoers. The illustrations depicted in the netherworld guidebooks in the Royal Tombs of the New King- dom may provide some insight into this subject. A different presen- tation of the osteological evidence, obtained in Egypt and Nubia, however, would have improved coherence with the abovementioned sources.

Violence and Gender in Ancient Egypt comprehensively explores the complex intersections of violence and gender in ancient Egypt. This book builds on current discussions in philosophy, anthropology, and sociology, and draws from analysis of relevant historic texts, iconography, and archaeological remains by looking at possible gender patterns behind evidence of trauma. It also bridges the gap between modern understandings of gendered violence and its functioning in ancient Egypt. Areas explored include: the differences in gendered aggression and violent acts between people and deities; sexual violence; taking of women as spoils of war; gendered dimensions of “bound prisoner” and “smiting of the enemy” motifs; the absence of violence against foreign women and children in texts and iconography; and the effeminization of enemy men in war as presented in text and iconography. It is argued that gendered violence was part of everyday lives of ancient Egyptians but that it was rarely depicted. When gendered violence was represented, this was done according to strict social rules which served to construct normative masculinity.

Ägypten & Levante 30 (2020), pp. 77–83, 2020

In reaction to Christiana Köhler’s essential article ["Of culture wars and the clash of civilizations in Prehistoric Egypt – an epistemological analysis", Ä&L 30 (2020), pp. 17–58] we will focus on a single aspect of it, the relevance of war and violence in Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt.

Die verwendete Papiersorte in dieser Publikation ist DIN EN ISO 9706 zertifiziert und erfüllt die Voraussetzung für eine dauerhafte Archivierung von schriftlichem Kulturgut.