10

May

ARCE-CHICAGO: Blood is Beautiful: Royal Violence in New Kingdom Egypt by Dr. Niv Allon

Registration is Required

  • 5:00 PM CTChicago
  • In-Person/OnlineBreasted Hall (ISAC, University of Chicago)
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Lecture Information

Block from a Relief Depicting a Battle, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, possibly reign of Amenhotep II (ca. 1427–1400 B.C.E); Painted sandstone; From Thebes, Asasif, Temple of Ramesses IV, foundation (reused), MMA excavations, 1912–13, From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Asasif, Temple of Ramesses IV, foundation (reused), MMA excavations, 1912–13, Rogers Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1913 (13.180.21)

In New Kingdom art, the king is frequently depicted as a victorious conqueror—trampling, smiting, and shooting arrows into Egypt’s enemies. His image looms large, from temple walls to scarabs, prompting us to consider how kingship and violence were understood at that time. In elite tomb art, depictions of the violent king appear but are largely confined to furniture and other objects represented on the walls. Of particular interest are scarabs, which could be produced outside the royal court. Examining royal violence across different non-royal media, this presentation will explore how (mostly) elite perceptions of the smiting king evolved throughout the New Kingdom.

Speaker Bio

Niv Allon is a curator in the Department of Egyptian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he focuses on the display and interpretation of Ramesside art and of textual objects throughout Egyptian history. He has published on the scribal culture and literacy in ancient Egypt, and he is currently preparing a publication on the hieratic jar labels from the palace city of Amenhotep III at Malqata with Sherif abdelMoniem. He has also published on concepts of violence in New Kingdom Egypt including a monograph Writing, Violence, and the Military: Images of Literacy in Eighteenth Dynasty Egypt (1550-1295 BCE) with OUP in 2019.