Composition, form and function : scientific and stylistic investigations of Egyptian Bronze Age weaponry in the context of the Eastern Mediterranean
The ancient Egyptians portrayed themselves as more than adept at preparing and executing a battle plan and this is clearly shown in the archaeological and textual record. There is, however, a tendency by the Egyptians to oversimplify the nature of battle, depicting an idealisation of the real situation, purely focused on the role of the king or the service to the king by an elite individual. This is best portrayed in royal mortuary complexes, such as that of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, where a series of depictions and associated inscriptions on the walls of the temple display the king fighting the might of the Sea People and Libyan invaders, all but single handedly. In a similar vein high officials, such as Ahmose-Pen-Nekhbet from EI-Kab (Urk IV: 32-39), describe how they contributed to the king's army and how their personal prowess on the battlefield had expanded the borders of Egypt. These texts and depictions are often the subject of modern scholarly analyses (such as Goedicke 1985: Shaw 1996: Spalinger 2005), with the material of the battlefield confined to technological analyses (Shaw 2001), typological assessments (Davies 1987) and general discussions (including Littauer and Crouwe11979: McLeod 1982:
Boatright, Daniel Douglas Mendham
Composition, form and function : scientific and stylistic investigations of Egyptian Bronze Age weaponry in the context of the Eastern Mediterranean. The ancient Egyptians portrayed themselves as more than adept at preparing and executing a battle plan and this is clearly shown in the archaeological and textual record. There is, however, a tendency by the Egyptians to oversimplify the nature of battle, depicting an idealisation of the real situation, purely focused on the role of the king or the service to the king by an elite individual. This is best portrayed in royal mortuary complexes, such as that of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, where a series of depictions and associated inscriptions on the walls of the temple display the king fighting the might of the Sea People and Libyan invaders, all but single handedly. In a similar vein high officials, such as Ahmose-Pen-Nekhbet from EI-Kab (Urk IV: 32-39), describe how they contributed to the king's army and how their personal prowess on the battlefield had expanded the borders of Egypt. These texts and depictions are often the subject of modern scholarly analyses (such as Goedicke 1985: Shaw 1996: Spalinger 2005), with the material of the battlefield confined to technological analyses (Shaw 2001), typological assessments (Davies 1987) and general discussions (including Littauer and Crouwe11979: McLeod 1982:
composition form_function scientific stylistic investigation egyptian bronze_age weaponry context eastern_mediterranean ancient_egyptians portrayed prepare execute battle plan clearly_show archaeological_textual record however tendency egyptians oversimplify nature battle depict idealisation real situation purely focused role king service king elite individual best portrayed royal mortuary complex iii series depiction associate inscription wall temple display king fighting might sea people libyan invader single similar vein high official pen describe contribute king army personal battlefield expand border egypt texts depiction often subject modern scholarly analysis material battlefield confine technological_analysis typological assessment davies general_discussion including