Writing, Violence, and the Military

Writing, Violence, and the Military takes representations of reading and writing in Eighteenth Dynasty Egypt (ca. 1550-1295 BCE) as its point of departure, asking how patrons of art conceptualized literacy and how in turn they positioned themselves with respect to it. Exploring statuary and tomb art through the prism of self-representation and group formation, it makes three claims. Firstly, that the elite of this period held a variety of notions regarding literacy, among which violence and memory are most prominent. Secondly, that among the Eighteenth Dynasty elite, literacy found its strongest advocates among men whose careers brought them to engage with the military, either as military officials or as civil administrators who accompanied the army beyond the borders of Egypt. Finally, that Haremhab - the General in Chief who later ascended the throne - voiced unique views regarding literacy that arose from his career as an elite military official, and thus from his social world.

Consequently, images of reading and writing allow us to study literacy with regard to those who commissioned them, and to consider these patrons' roles in changing conceptualizations. Throughout their different formulations, these representations call for a discussion on literacy in relation to self-representation and to art's role in society. They also invite us to reconsider our own approach to literacy and its significance in ancient times.

Niv Allon, Assistant Curator, Department of Egyptian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Niv Allon received his PhD in Egyptology from Yale University in 2014. That same year, he joined the Metropolitan Museum of Art as an assistant curator in the Department of Egyptian Art. He recently co-authored (with Hana Navratilova) Ancient Egyptian Scribes: A Cultural Exploration (2017), and is currently working on a study of visions of violence among the elite in New Kingdom Egypt.