Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- The Cambridge History of Violence
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume i
- General Introduction: Violence in World History
- Introduction to Volume I
- Part I The Origins of Conflict
- Part II Prehistoric and Ancient Warfare
- Part III Intimate and Collective Violence
- 14 Early Massacres: Mass Violence in Neolithic Europe
- 15 Gendered Violence in Iron Age and Roman Britain
- 16 Violence in Ancient Egyptian Society
- 17 Violence and the Mutilated Body in Achaemenid Iran
- 18 ‘Knocking Her Teeth out with a Stone’: Violence against Women in Ancient Greece
- 19 Gang Violence in the Late Roman Republic
- 20 Violence in Early Chinese History
- Part IV Religion, Ritual and Violence
- Part V Violence, Crime and the State
- Part VI Representations and Constructions of Violence
- Index
- References
16 - Violence in Ancient Egyptian Society
from Part III - Intimate and Collective Violence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2020
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- The Cambridge History of Violence
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume i
- General Introduction: Violence in World History
- Introduction to Volume I
- Part I The Origins of Conflict
- Part II Prehistoric and Ancient Warfare
- Part III Intimate and Collective Violence
- 14 Early Massacres: Mass Violence in Neolithic Europe
- 15 Gendered Violence in Iron Age and Roman Britain
- 16 Violence in Ancient Egyptian Society
- 17 Violence and the Mutilated Body in Achaemenid Iran
- 18 ‘Knocking Her Teeth out with a Stone’: Violence against Women in Ancient Greece
- 19 Gang Violence in the Late Roman Republic
- 20 Violence in Early Chinese History
- Part IV Religion, Ritual and Violence
- Part V Violence, Crime and the State
- Part VI Representations and Constructions of Violence
- Index
- References
Summary
Ancient Egypt, its society, law and belief system were brought into being, and sustained, by the threat and application of violence in the form of cruel and unusual punishments intended unabashedly to intimidate. The ‘Big Man’ role which informs the office of kingship from the outset of Egyptian history, maintains itself on celestial as well as terrestrial levels. The fertility of valley and delta promised untold agricultural riches to the human community if there was general cooperation; it was essential therefore to deter free thought and action by all available means of violent force. Prosperity would come through the plans of a single authority, not the collective debate of a people. Similarly, in Egypt’s sphere of influence whole-hearted subservience was required on pain of violent punishment. From the third millennium BCE Egypt had begun the process of cloning this life to produce a heaven and hell.
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- Information
- The Cambridge World History of Violence , pp. 342 - 359Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020