Dotawo/content/article/urosmatic.md

---
title: "Gender as Frame of War in Ancient Nubia"
authors: ["urosmatic.md"]
abstract: Gender research in the archaeology of the Sudan and Meroitic studies is still a nascent field. Studies of gender are especially lacking in investigations concerning war and violence, which are usually written from an androcentric perspective, and often focus solely on soldiers, army, weaponry, battle representations, and images of enemies. The experiences of non-combatants in the context of war in ancient Nubia, such as women, children, and non-combating men, are rarely considered. The same tendency is observable with the gender background of war. This paper deals with gender structure in the lists of spoils of war, women and children as prisoners of war in representations of battle aftermath, feminization of enemies in royal texts, participation of royal women in war, and depictions of royal women smiting enemies. The sources for the study come from the Napatan and Meroitic periods (8th century BCE to 4th century CE). In gender as a frame of war, Kushite kings were represented as masculine, and their enemies as feminine. This binary opposition has also been observed in ancient Egyptian and Neo-Assyrian sources, and was clearly a shared vocabulary of the great powers of the second and first millennium BCE. Such a frame of war was based on a gender disposition of men as active and strong, and women as passive and weak. It “naturalized” Kushite domination over their enemies just as it “naturalized” male domination in ancient Sudanese society. However, the participation of Meroitic queens in conflicts and their depictions smiting enemies shows how the visual vocabulary of violence can be utilized even by some women, in their own expressions of power.
keywords: ["ancient Nubia", "war", "violence", "gender", "women", "children"]
---

# Introduction

Gender studies in archaeology have moved a long way from the initial
criticism of androcentrism (criticism of androcentric and
heteronormative interpretations of the past, giving voices to ancient
women, recognizing different genders behind the archaeological record),
to viewing gender as a system or a result of performative practices.[^1]
These developments in gender archaeology are not necessarily the same in
all archaeological communities. In studies of ancient Sudan, gender
studies have been introduced first through research of prehistoric and
protohistoric societies[^2] and then through focus on Kushite royal
women and the concept of queenship.[^3] The topic has been broadened by
analyzing gender crossed with other aspects of identity, such as age,
resulting in an intersectional understanding of identity in ancient
Sudan.[^4] The focus in studies of ancient Sudan still seems to be
largely on men (implicitly or explicitly), although recently, overviews
on women, including non-royal women, have been published.[^5] Only few
authors focused on masculinity.[^6] However, studies of gender are still
far from being fully acknowledged in research on ancient Sudan. This is
demonstrated by the lack of an entry on gender in even the most recent
handbooks.[^7]

In recent years, gender archaeologies are tackling a wide variety of
different problems, offering equally varied approaches.[^8] Two related
topics which have lately attracted the attention of several scholars are
gendered violence and gender as a form of symbolic violence.[^9] Whereas
scholars of the first search for evidence of quite specific gender
patterns behind violent acts, scholars of the second argue that gender
itself is a form of violence, because gender brings different people
into asymmetrical relations of power in different domains. The idea that
gender can be a form of symbolic violence is inherited from sociologist
Pierre Bourdieu and philosopher Slavoj Žižek and has been only recently
applied to archaeology.[^10] These discussions remind us that it is
fruitful to think about gender from the point of view of violence, and
to think about violence from the point of view of gender.

War is typically a sphere of past social action about which
archaeologists and historians usually write from a male perspective and
with the sole focus on men. The participation of women and their
experiences are rarely addressed.[^11] War and violence in ancient Sudan
are fields still largely dominated by male authors.[^12] This
androcentric perspective rarely takes into account gender as a social
category and tends to implicitly focus only on combatant men. As a
result, we are left with numerous valuable contributions on Kushite
representations of war, enemies, weaponry etc. However, a gender
perspective is lacking in almost all of them. This does not mean that
the effort to find women in such contexts or to relate these contexts to women is
that which is lacking, although this is true too. What is missing, is a
perspective on both masculinity and femininity as socio-culturally
determined categories coming from a specific gender system. Until
recently, this was also the case in Egyptology. However, some recent
studies focusing on war in ancient Egypt have shown the potential of
implementing ideas and concepts coming from gender studies.[^13] One of
these concepts is the 'frames of war'. The concept of the frames of war
was developed by American philosopher Judith Butler, who demonstrated
the way some political forces frame violence in modern media. Frames
of war are operations of power which seek to contain, convey, and
determine what is seen and what is real.[^14] They are the ways of
selectively carving up experience as essential to the conduct of
war.[^15] Butler argues that, by regulating perspective in addition to
content, state authorities are clearly interested in controlling the
visual modes of participation in war.[^16] The study by Butler on frames
of war is essential for our understanding of how modern media
creates the experience of war, whether and where they find a place for
non-combatants, and how victory and defeat are presented. In this
process, different genders are represented as differently positioned,
depending on other identity categories such as age or status in an
intersectional manner. According to Butler, we should undertake "a
critique of the schemes by which state violence justifies itself".[^17]

In this paper, I will argue that gender was a frame of war that was also
observable in the textual and visual media of ancient Sudan during the
Napatan and Meroitic periods. I will first focus on non-combatants in
texts, by analysing the attestations of prisoners of war of differing
ages and genders. The lists of spoils of war demonstrate a structure
based on a hierarchy based on status, age, and gender intersectionality.
Intersectionality is one of the central tenets of black
feminist theory. It is based on the fact that oppression is not
monocausal, as for example in the USA it is not based either on race or
on gender. Rather, an intersection of race and gender makes some individuals more
oppressed or oppressed in a different way than others.[^18] This
analysis of the attestations of non-combatants is followed by an
analysis of a currently unique representation of women and children as
prisoners of war found on the reliefs of Meroitic temple M250 in Meroe.
After this, I turn to the feminization of enemies in Napatan and Merotic
texts in order to demonstrate how gender was used to structure hierarchy
and to position the Kushite king as masculine and his enemies as
feminine. I argue that, in this way, gender framed both relations in war
and hierarchies within the society of ancient Sudan. I also discuss
evidence for the participation of Kushite royal women in war and stress
that the sources at our disposal are providing us with an outsider
(Graeco-Roman) perspective rather than a local perspective. Finally, I
discuss the specifics of scenes in which Meroitic royal women are
smiting enemies by comparing these scenes to others from ancient Egypt.
I argue that the observed differences relate to a different
understanding of the relation between kingship and queenship in these
two societies.

# Men, Women and Children as Prisoners of War

## Textual Evidence

The taking of prisoners of war is a well-attested ancient war
practice.[^19] Enemies of different gender, age, and status were also
imprisoned during war in ancient Nubia. Although the practice surely
must have been older, the first textual attestations come from the reign
of Taharqa (690-664 BCE), and continue until the Meroitic period. The
mentioning of men, women, and children as prisoners of war is mostly
part of the lists of spoils of war. Since there is no space in this
paper to thoroughly analyze these lists and present them in a systematic
manner, I will concentrate only on prisoners of war, and especially on
women and children, since they are often entirely neglected.[^20]

The Kawa III stela of Taharqa (Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Æ.I.N. 1707, Columns 22-23) informs us that the king provided the
temple of Amun with male and female servants, and the children of the
rulers (*wr.w*) of Tjehenu (Libyans).[^21] The Kawa VI (Khartoum SNM
2679, line 20-21) stela informs us that the temple of Amun in Kawa was
filled with, among other others, female servants, wives of the rulers of
Lower Egypt (*T3-mḥw*), and the children of the rulers of every foreign
land.[^22] A granite stela from Karnak (line 3), attributed to Taharqa
by Donald B. Redford, also mentions children of rulers, and later (lines
11-13) refers to the settling of a population with its cattle in
villages. This possibly refers to the settlement of the prisoners of
war among which were the above-mentioned children.[^23] A more
securely-dated example of men and women (total: 544), seemingly presented
as spoils of war during the reign of Taharqa, and enumerated according
to ethnonyms or toponyms, can be found in his long inscription from
Sanam.[^24]

On the Enthronement stela of Anlamani (late 7th century BCE) from Kawa
(Kawa VIII, lines 19-20, Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Æ.I.N. 1709),
it is stated that his soldiers gained control of all the women,
children, small cattle and property in the land Bulahau
(*b-w-r3-h-3-y-w*) and that the king appointed the captives as male and
female servants of the gods.[^25] This indicates that Anlamani, like
Taharqa, appointed at least some prisoners of war to the temples.[^26]

In the Annals of Harsiyotef (Cairo JE 48864, lines 68-70) from his
35th regnal year in the early 4th century BCE, the king states that
he gave booty (*ḥ3ḳ*) to Amun of Napata, 50 men, 50 women, together
making 100.[^27] The text (line 87-88) further states that the king
took, among others, male and female servants in the land of Metete.[^28]
Likewise, in the Annals of Nastasen (Stela Berlin ÄMP 2268, lines
44-46), from his 8th regnal year in the last third of the 4th century
BCE, the king states that he gave a total of 110 men and women to Amun of
Napata.[^29] As noted by Jeremy Pope, there is no reason to impose here
an artificial distinction between a donation text and a record of
war.[^30] In fact, there is also no such division in ancient Egyptian
records of war and the Kushite records of war bear many similarities to
those of ancient Egypt, especially when lists of spoils of war are
concerned. Nastasen also claims (lines 46-49) that he captured Ayonku,
the ruler connected to the rebels and that he took all the women, all
the cattle, and much gold. The list mentions 2,236 women.[^31] Compared
to the number of men and women given to the temple of Amun at Napata,
this is a significantly larger number, which indicates that a majority
of the prisoners actually did not end up as property of the temple. We
can only speculate that they were distributed elsewhere, possibly even
among the soldiers.[^32] Nastasen also seized the ruler Luboden and all
the women in his possession (line 51).[^33] He also seized Abso, the
ruler of Mahae, and all their women (line 53).[^34] Nastasen went
against the rebellious land of Makhsherkharta and seized the ruler, as
well as all of that by which the ruler sustained people, and all the
women (line 55).[^35] Finally, Nastasen seized Tamakheyta, the ruler of
the rebellious land Sarasarat, and caused the plundering of all their
women (line 58).[^36]

Common to all these Napatan and Meroitic texts written in Egyptian is
the order in which different prisoners of war are listed, which is
always the same. The enemy ruler is listed first, followed by the enemy
men, women and children. No difference is made between male and female
children. This demonstrates an intersectional hierarchy based on status,
gender, and age. The enemy ruler was the most valued, then came enemy
men, women and children, in that same order. An interesting question is
if this intersectional hierarchy mirrors that of ancient Sudanese
society or if it was only imposed on its enemies. That male and female
prisoners of war feature together with children, including even those of 
foreign rulers donated to temples, comes as no surprise. The
individual temples of Amun in Kush also functioned as centres of
territorial government and redistribution.[^37] Some lines in the Annals
of Nastasen refer to imprisoned women in a rhetorical manner, stating
rather generally that all women of the enemy were taken, instead of
providing a number like in earlier sources.

Currently, the textual evidence written in Merotic script is very
scarce, and our understanding of the language is not on a level
which allows for a detailed reading for most preserved texts.
Nevertheless, several experts in Meroitic language and script have
recognized the mentioning of prisoners of war in the Hamadab Stela of
Amanirenas and Akinidad (British Museum 1650) from the late 1st
century BCE.[^38] According to the new reading of Claude Rilly, the
second (small) Hamadab stela (REM 1039) mentions Akinidad and the sites
where the Roman prefect Petronius fought against the Meroites, namely
Aswan (Meroitic "Sewane"), Qasr Ibrim (Meroitic "Pedeme"), and Napata
(Meroitic "Npte"). According to Rilly, the stela also mentions the beginning of
the war in its 3rd and 4th lines: "the Tmey have enslaved all the men,
all the women, all the girls and all the boys".[^39] Interestingly, if
Rilly´s reading is correct, this would mean that when Meroitic folk were
taken as prisoners by enemies, a gender differentiation was made among
children and/or adolescents. The following discussion will focus on the
possible iconographic evidence of the conflict between Meroe and Rome.

## Iconographic Evidence

Unlike in ancient Egypt, ancient Nubian iconographic evidence for the
taking of prisoners of war is rather scarce when the bound prisoner
motif is excluded from the corpus. Even less attested are depictions of
women and children being imprisoned.

One rare instance of such a depiction is found in temple M250, located
about 1km to the east-southeast of the centre of the city of Meroe. John
Garstang first investigated the temple in 1910-1911 together with
Archibald H. Sayce. The temple M250 was investigated further by
Friedrich Hinkel from 1984 to 1985. He dated it to the late 1st century
BCE and early 1st century CE because of the royal cartouches of Akinidad
found on fallen blocks of the cella's north wall.[^40] The earliest temple
on the site, which is northwest of M250, had probably already been built
in Aspelta's reign (the beginning of the 6th century BCE) in the form of
a cella on top of a podium.[^41] According to László Török, the
temple was dedicated in its later form to the cult of Re or, more
precisely, to the unification of Amun with Re.[^42] Hinkel interpreted
it more carefully as a temple of Amun.[^43]

So far, the battle reliefs of M250 were analyzed by several authors. It
is Hinkel who published the temple and gave the most detailed
description and analysis of the relief blocks to date.[^44] According to
Török, the decoration of the façades had a "historically" formulated
triumphal aspect.[^45] Before the publication of the temple by Hinkel,
Steffen Wenig assigned them to the reign of Aspelta because his stela
was found on the site. Wenig related the reliefs to the ones from the
B500 temple of Amun at Gebel Barkal, not knowing at that time that they
predate M250.[^46] Inge Hofmann analyzed the war reliefs in detail
regarding the weapons and equipment worn by the Meroites and emphasized
that the weapons they use are post-Napatan. Based on the kilts and hair
feathers worn by some of the enemies of Meroites in these scenes, she
concluded that they are southerners, but that they cannot be associated
with any specific Sudanese community.[^47] This type of enemy wearing a kilt
and feathers is also found as a bound prisoner on the pylon of the tomb
chapel of Begrawiya North 6 (the tomb of Amanishakheto).[^48] It is also
depicted on the east wall painting from the small temple M292, better
known because of the head of a statue of Augustus, which was buried in
front of its entrance, as well as a representation of the so-called
Roman prisoner on the same wall painting.[^49] According to Florian Wöß,
this type of enemy can be classified as an Inner African Type. It is
most numerous among Meroitic depictions of enemies and Wöß argues that
it could have therefore represented a real threat to the Meroites.[^50]
This conclusion resonates well with the interpretation of the Meroitic
kingdom as having a heartland in the Nile Valley, at Keraba, and perhaps
also the southland. The Meroitic kingdom was surrounded by various
neighbouring communities that could have posed a real threat and were
only occasionally under Kushite control.[^51] As we have already seen,
numerous texts refer to conflicts with these communities outside the
realm of the Kushite kingdom.

Hinkel has already concluded that the north wall of M250 depicts women
and children taken by the Meroites in their raid of the First Cataract,
as reported by Strabo in *Geography* (17. I. 54),[^52] and that the
south wall depicts a conflict with some population that the
Meroites encountered in Lower Nubia.[^53] However, if Meroe is
understood as the centre of the axis, then the enemies depicted on the
southern wall are unlikely to depict Lower Nubians. We know that during the
last decades of the 1st century BCE Lower Nubia was not hostile to
Meroe, but on the contrary, that it rebelled against Rome. Gaius
Cornelius Gallus reports in his trilingual stela from Philae, erected in
29 BCE, that he placed a local tyrant to govern Triakontaschoinos (Lower
Nubia), which became part of the province of Egypt and established a
personal patron/client relationship with the king of Meroe.[^54] This
arrangement obliged inhabitants of Triakontaschoinos to pay taxes.[^55]
Roman emperor Augustus then ordered Lucius Aelius Gallus, the second
prefect of Egypt, to prepare a military expedition against province
Arabia Felix. Aelius Gallus regrouped the forces stationed in Egypt and
took c. 8000 of the 16800 men in three legions and 5500 of the
auxiliary forces. The expedition was carried out in 26-25 BCE and ended
with Roman defeat. The inhabitants of Triakontaschoinos received the
news of Aelius Gallus' failure in Arabia and revolted in the summer of
25 BCE. The aim of the revolt was to end the previously established
status of Triakontaschoinos and the obligation of paying tax to Rome.
Concurrent with this revolt, there were local rebellions against the
pressure of taxation in Upper Egypt.[^56] The rebels might also have
received help from the king of Meroe. Meroe probably tried to use the
opportunity presented by the revolt in Triakontaschoinos and Upper Egypt
to establish the northern frontier in the region of the First
Cataract.[^57] Therefore, it is unlikely that the southern enemy
depicted on the walls of temple M250 represents Lower Nubians. They were
not hostile toward Meroe at the time before the building of the temple M250
under Akinidad. On the contrary, they were its allies in war with Rome.

Regarding the representations of women and children as prisoners of war in temple M250,
Török found parallels in New Kingdom Egyptian (ca. 1550-1070 BCE)
reliefs,[^58] whereas Hinkel found parallels both in New Kingdom
Egyptian and Neo-Assyrian reliefs (ca. 911-609 BCE).[^59] One must,
however, stress that in the case of the New Kingdom Egyptian reliefs,
the parallels are both thematic and iconographic, whereas in the case of
Neo-Assyrian reliefs, the parallels are strictly general and thematic
(e.g. imprisonment). In this paper, I will focus more closely on the
thematic and iconographic parallels from New Kingdom Egypt and Nubia,
considering the fact that general thematic parallels (e.g. imprisonment)
are found in many cultures and are not particularly helpful in better
understanding the decorative program of M250.

Women and children are found both on the south and the north wall of the
temple M250. The blocks with representations of women and children are
part of the preserved *in situ* lowest register of the north wall. Its
preserved height is ca. 110cm above the crepidoma.[^60] Its register
depicts an east-west oriented procession of armed men, horse riders, and
chariots who join a battle. After the battle scene, the same register
continues with the procession of armed men, with nude women and children
in front of them (Figure 1).

![Relief blocks from the north wall of M250](../static/images/matic/fig1.jpg "Relief blocks from the north wall of M250")

**~~Figure 1. Relief blocks from the north wall of M250 in the sequence east-west (redrawn after Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250. I. 1*: 140--141, Abb. 39, 40, 41, 42).~~**


The women and children are preceded by men with oval shields and cattle
in front of them, after which comes one more group of nude women and
children. They are approached by oppositely-oriented men, probably in a
battle. After them, the register continues in an east-west orientation
towards a columned building, which is presumably a representation of a
temple.[^61] The register continues behind this columned building and 
there is a break here, after which comes poorly preserved
representations of round huts and trees.[^62] Only the lower parts of
the figures of women and children are preserved on the north wall, so it
is hard to say more about them. However, the women and children seem to
be nude. The gender of the children cannot be identified because the
representations were later damaged in the genital area. There are two
groups and in between them there are cattle. The groups are flanked with
men who lead them forward.

The blocks of the southern wall, with representations of women and children, are not
found *in situ*, but rather in the vicinity of the south wall. Some of
them can be joined and some of these joints present evidence for at
least two registers. In one case, the upper register of the two depicts
both women and children as prisoners of war, while the lower register
depicts ship-fragments 198, 322, 323, 319, and 190.[^63] The figures in
the two registers are differently oriented. Additionally, one more boat
representation with a head of a ram possibly indicates a relation to
Amun (fragments 113 and 106).[^64] It is oriented in the same direction
as the previous boat. On the blocks of the south wall, both men and
women are depicted as prisoners of war next to children (Figure 2).

![Relief blocks (fragments 943+185+180 and 222) of the south wall of M250](../static/images/matic/fig2.jpg "Relief blocks (fragments 943+185+180 and 222) of the south wall of M250")

**~~Figure 2. Relief blocks (fragments 943+185+180 and 222) of the south wall of M250 with fragmented depictions of imprisoned women and children, line drawing (redrawn after Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250. I. 2b*: C11).~~**


Unlike the women from the north wall, the women from the south wall are
half-dressed. The breasts depicted on some of them (fragments 188, 214,
136, 943, 185, 222, 199, 847, 849, 811) indicate their sex, while the
sex  of some of the children figures is depicted via smaller breasts
(fragment 236). Some of the women from the south wall are carrying
baskets with children on their backs, held with the help of a tumpline
(fragment 943, 849). In New Kingdom Egyptian iconography, this is a
characteristic of Nubian women when depicted with children in tribute
scenes.[^65] Women are depicted with children either next to them, held
in their arms, raised high in the air (fragments 210, 849), or in
between them (fragments 185, 189, 230, 175). Both men and women on the
south wall have ropes tied around their necks, with several people in a
row being tied on the same rope (fragments 136, 943, 189, 34, 102, 39,
408, 847, 844, 849, 811).

![Empty oval name rings on the northern part of the pylon of M250](../static/images/matic/fig3.jpg "Empty oval name rings on the northern part of the pylon of M250")

**~~Figure 3. Empty oval name rings on the northern part of the pylon of M250 (redrawn after Hinkel, Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250. I. 1: 139; Abb. 37b).~~**


Hinkel related the construction of the M250 temple to the treaty that
the Meroites negotiated with Augustus on Samos in 21/20 BCE. He relates
the taking of women and children as prisoners on the north wall to the
sacking of Philae, Elephantine, and Syene by the Meroites,[^66] as
reported by Strabo in Geography, 17. I. 54.[^67] The context of the war
reliefs on the northern wall of the temple indeed indicates a northern
conflict. It is interesting that the oval name rings for the toponyms or
ethnonyms of defeated enemies are left blank on the northern part of
the temple pylon (Figure 3),[^68] and were only filled in with Meroitic
hieroglyphs on the southern part of the temple pylon, which have thus far
not been identified with certainty.[^69] In the light of Strabo's
Geography 17. I. 54, in which he writes that when told that they should
go to Augustus, the Meroites answered they do not know who that
was,[^70] one has to consider that the Roman dominated world beyond the
province of Egypt was unknown or insufficiently known to the Meroites.
This explains the empty oval name rings on the northern part of the
temple pylon. Except for the generic *Arome* referring to Rome[^71] and
*Tmey* referring to the Northeners,[^72] we do not know of any other Roman
toponyms from Meroe so far and it is likely that in the first century
BCE and first century CE the Meroites indeed did not know of any others.
If the reliefs on the northern walls of the temple depict a Meroitic
raid on the First Cataract sites, then we have to take into account that
they imprisoned the local population, consisting also of women and
children and not only of men. These women and children could also have
been local and not necessarily immigrants after the Roman takeover of Egypt.
The iconographic evidence from M250 corresponds well with the textual
attestations for the taking of prisoners of war of different ages and
genders, and allocates them to temples of Amun. Interestingly, just like
in ancient Egyptian iconography of the New Kingdom, there is an absence
of violence against women and children.[^73] Bearing in mind the idea
that frames of war regulate what is reported and represented in various
media, we can consider the possibility that some realities of war such
as violence against non-combatants were censured due to socially
determined taste. Hurting women and children was probably considered a
form of illegitimate violence and although it probably occurred, it was
not communicated to local audiences.

# Feminization of Enemies in Texts

The feminization of enemies is a common cross-cultural motif in war
discourse, both textual and visual. As anthropologist Marilyn Strathern
argued, "relations between political enemies stand for relations between
men and women".[^74] Numerous examples are known for this from ancient
Egypt and Neo-Assyria and these are extensively dealt with
elsewhere.[^75] Here, the focus will be on the feminization of enemies
in Kushite war discourse.

One attestation for the feminization of enemies without parallels, to the best of my
knowledge, is found on the Triumphal Stela of Piye (Cairo
JE 48862, 47086-47089, lines 149-150), the founder of the 25th Dynasty
of Egypt, who ruled between 744-714 BCE: "Now these kings and counts of
Lower Egypt came to behold His Majesty's beauty, their legs being the
legs of women." *js gr nn \<n\> nswt ḥ3(tj).wꜥ nw T3-mḥw jj r m33 nfr.w
ḥm=f rd.wj=sn m rd.wj ḥm.wt.*[^76] Nicolas-Christophe Grimal has
translated this part of the text in a way that suggests that the legs of
the kings and counts of Lower Egypt trembled like those of women.[^77]
One has to stress that the adjective *tremblant* (French trembling) is
not written in the text, but is rather assumed by Grimal. On the other
hand, Hans Goedicke's translates *rd.wj=sn* not as legs, but knees 
instead.[^78] According to Robert K. Ritner, this means
that they were trembling in fear,[^79] and similarly, according to Amr
el Hawary, this could indicate that enemies of Piye had their legs
bent at the knees from fear.[^80] However, David O'Connor and Stephen
Quirke understand the text as a metaphor for the femininity of Piye's
enemies, because the legs of women are smooth-skinned.[^81] Yet,
although both men and women shaved in Egypt and Nubia, we cannot assume
that body hair removal was restricted only to women. For Nubia, at least,
this is indicated by the description of Kushites in the Bible as tall
and smooth-skinned people (Isaiah 18: 7).[^82] Later in the text, it is
stated that three of these kings and counts stayed outside the palace
"because of their legs" (*r rd.wj=sn*), and only one entered. El Hawary
postulates that this could be related to the previous comparison with
the legs of women.[^83] Another case is possibly alluded to later in the
same text when it states "You return having conquered Lower Egypt;
making bulls into women" (*jw=k jy.tw* *ḥ3q.n=k T3-mḥw* *jr=k k3.w m
ḥm.wt*).[^84] Bearing in mind that in the Instructions of Ankhsheshonqy
(X, 20), an Egyptian text of the Ptolemaic period (305-30 BCE), bulls are
contrasted to the vulvas which should receive them,[^85] we can argue
that, in both cases, bulls stand for men, or at least masculinity, in
both the human and animal world. It is interesting that on the Triumphal
stela of Piye women from the palace of the Lower Egyptian king Nimlot 
paid homage to Piye "after the manner of women" (*m* *ḫt* *ḥm.wt*).[^86]
Maybe this indicates that there was also a manner in which men are
supposed to pay homage to the king, and that the defeated kings and
counts of Lower Egypt failed to do this, or at least the text wants us
to believe that. The failed masculinity of Nimlot in the text of the
stela was extensively studied most recently by Mattias Karlsson. Next to
the motives already mentioned, additional arguments are rich and
complex. Piye is representing ideal masculinity, contrasted
with failed masculinity of Nimlot. This can be observed both in the text
and in the iconography of the stela. For example, Nimlot is holding a
sistrum, a musical instrument usually linked to women (e.g. priestesses
of Hathor), while he is standing behind his wife and not depicted in the 
usual front-facing manner. His wife speaks for him and appears as the head of his
household.[^87] To these arguments one can also add the fact that the
silhouette of the defeated Egyptian princes in proskynesis differs in
shape from usual representations of men. Their bodies seem to be curvier
as in Kushite depictions of women. An allusion of sexual domination is
not directly communicated, but it might have been implied.

There are other attestations of the feminization of enemies in texts
composed for the Kushite kings. In the Annals of Harsiyotef (Cairo JE
48864, line 89) we are informed about his conflicts with the Mededet
people in his 6th regnal year. After taking spoils of war, the ruler
of Mededet was sent to Harsiyotef, saying: "You are my god. I am your
servant. I am a woman. Come to me" (*ntk p(3)=j* *nṯr* *jnk p(3)=k b3k*
*jnk* *sḥm.t* *my j-r=j*).[^88] In this attestation, we have a direct
speech of the enemy, who, according to the text, identifies himself with
a woman. Of course we are safe to assume that these words were put in
his mouth by the composer of the text of the stela. El Hawary has
already made a connection between the passage from the Annals of
Harsiyotef and this passage from the Triumphal stela of Piye, describing
the homage to Piye in a womanly manner. Interestingly, no such
attestations, as far as I am aware, are known from Egyptian
sources.[^89]

# Meroitic Non-royal and Royal Women in War

In Diodorus Siculus (1st century BCE), Agatharchides reports how the
Ethiopians employed women in war: "They also arm their women, defining
for them a military age. It is customary for most of these women to have
a bronze ring through one of their lips".[^90] This is repeated by
Strabo in first century CE.[^91]

The conflict between Meroe and Rome was mentioned in the discussion of
the iconography of temple M250. One interesting aspect of this conflict
is the Roman perspective on the rulership of Meroe. Strabo mentions the
participation of a Meroitic queen in war against Rome, describing Queen
*Kandake* here as "a manly woman who had lost one of her eyes".[^92] We
should be careful with crediting such descriptions much value. Not only
did Strabo confuse a Meroitic royal title that probably indicated a
mother of a king,[^93] but there is also a tendency among Graeco-Roman
authors to depict foreign women as masculine thus creating an inverted
image to gender expectations in their own society. Such inversions could
have served the purposes of shocking their audience and enhancing the
otherness of foreign lands and peoples. This is evidently an example
of ideological gender inversion used as a sign of barbarism, especially
towards foreign women, in the works of Strabo.[^94]

Still, that the soldiers in the Roman army knew of a woman that was
referred to by her subjects simply as *kandake* is also demonstrated by
a ballista ball (British Museum EA 71839) with a carbon-ink inscription
KANΔAΞH/Kandaxe from Qasr Ibrim. On the ball, the second and third lines
of text can be understood as a personal message for the queen: "Just
right for you Kandaxe!".[^95] Clearly, it is questionable if the ones
who actually found themselves in Nubia during the conflict with Meroe
knew the name of the enemy ruler. It is also possible that they knew,
but referred to her as everyone else.

# Meroitic Queens and Enemies: Iconographic Evidence

The smiting of an enemy scene originates from ancient Egyptian
iconography, with its earliest known evidence found in tomb 100 in
Hierakonpolis in Upper Egypt, dated to the Naqada IIC period, around
3500 BCE. In Egypt, the motif has remained in the decoration of temple
pylons, private and royal stelae, and small finds for more than 3500
years. Its latest known appearance is found on temple reliefs from the
Roman period when emperors Domitian, Titus, and Trajan are depicted
smiting. Kushite kings are also depicted smiting enemies and the motif
was adopted from ancient Egyptian art.[^96]

What differentiates the use of this motif in ancient Nubia during the
Meroitic period from its use both in the contemporary Roman province of
Egypt and in earlier periods of Nubian history is the fact that certain
queens are depicted smiting male enemies in Meroitic iconography. Some
ancient Egyptian queens are also depicted smiting enemies. However,
these enemies are always female when the figure who is delivering the
blow is depicted as a woman.[^97] This is because a king is never
depicted delivering harm to foreign women and children, at least in the
New Kingdom. The king always defeats the supposedly stronger enemy.[^98]
Although the inclusion of queen Nefertiti smiting female enemies
alongside scenes of Akhenaten smiting male enemies probably indicates
the elevation of her status during the period of his rule,[^99]
Nefertiti is nevertheless not the dominant figure in such depictions;
the dominant figure remains the smiting king because of the gender of
the enemies he smites. Male enemies were considered more dangerous than
female. When a female ruler like Hatshepsut (ca. 1479-1458 BCE) of the
18th Dynasty is depicted smiting or trampling male enemies, she
herself is depicted as a king --a man-- and her identity is indicated by
the accompanying text that lists her name and royal titles.[^100]

![Amanishakheto spearing enemies](../static/images/matic/fig4.jpg "Amanishakheto spearing enemies")

**~~Figure 4. Amanishakheto spearing enemies, pylon, pyramid Begrawiya North 6, line drawing (Chapman & Dunham. *Decorated Chapels of the Meroitic Pyramids at Meroë and Barkal*, Pl. 17).~~**


The Meroitic case is interesting precisely because certain royal women
can be depicted smiting and spearing male enemies. Amanishakheto (1st
century CE) is depicted spearing enemies on the pylon of her pyramid
Begrawiya North 6 in Meroe, both to the left and right of the pylon
entrance (Figure 4). On the left, she holds a bow, arrow, and rope 
in her left hand and a spear in her right hand. The rope in her left
hand extends to the necks of the enemies to which it is tied. Seven
enemies are depicted with rope tied around their necks and with their
arms tied behind their backs. On the right, Amanishakheto holds a rope
in her left hand which binds four enemies around their necks.
Their arms are also bound behind their backs. In her right hand, she
holds a spear with which she spears the enemies.[^101] On her stela from
Naqa she is depicted before the enthroned Lion God above a group of
bound enemies.[^102]

![Shanakdakheto sitting on a throne with bound enemies underneath](../static/images/matic/fig5.jpg "Shanakdakheto sitting on a throne with bound enemies underneath")

**~~Figure 5. Shanakdakheto sitting on a throne with bound enemies underneath, north wall, pyramid Begrawiya North 11, line drawing (Chapman & Dunham. *Decorated Chapels of the Meroitic Pyramids at Meroë and Barkal*, Pl. 7A).~~**


Bound enemies are additionally depicted under the throne of the queen on
the north wall of pyramid Begrawiya North 11 attributed to
Shanakdakheto, ca. 170-125 BCE (Figure 5).[^103] Nine bows, the
traditional symbol for enemies originating from ancient Egypt, are
depicted under the throne of Amanitore of the 1st century CE (Figure
6), just as they are depicted under the throne of Natakamani in the
pyramid Begrawiya North 1 of queen Amanitore.[^104]

![Amanitore sitting on a throne with the nine bows underneath](../static/images/matic/fig6.jpg "Amanitore sitting on a throne with the nine bows underneath")

**~~Figure 6. Amanitore sitting on a throne with the nine bows underneath, south wall, pyramid Begrawiya North 1, line drawing (Chapman & Dunham. *Decorated Chapels of the Meroitic Pyramids at Meroë and Barkal*, Pl. 18B).~~**



![Natakamani and Amanitore smiting enemies](../static/images/matic/fig7.jpg "Natakamani and Amanitore smiting enemies")

**~~Figure 7. Natakamani and Amanitore smiting enemies, pylon of the temple of Naqa, line drawing (Lepsius, *Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien* 10, B1. 56).~~**


Amanitore is depicted smiting enemies on the pylon of the Lion Temple in
Naga.[^105] There, she is paired with Natakamani, who is also depicted
smiting enemies (Figure 7). Natalia Pomerantseva interpreted this as
"hero worshiping of the woman-image", adding that "it is impossible to
imagine the frail Egyptian woman's figure in the part of chastisement of
enemies".[^106] Yet, as we have seen, some Egyptian royal women are
depicted in violent acts such as the smiting and trampling of female
enemies and the reason they are not depicted doing the same to male
enemies is status-related. If they would be depicted as women smiting or
trampling male enemies, this would elevate their status to the one of
kings; clearly, attention was paid to avoid this. In the case of the
Meroitic queens, the gender of the enemy was not an issue. Jacke
Phillips has also emphasized that the smiting of enemies by Merotic
queens is among the corpus of scenes, which were formerly restricted to
kings, but Phillips did not take the argument further. The reason for the
creation of these scenes can be seen in the specific status of royal
women in Meroitic ideology.[^107] However, we also have to bear in mind
that, considering the number of known Napatan and Meroitic royal women,
the smiting scenes of Amanishakheto and Amanitore in the 1st century
CE are an exception rather than rule. Interestingly, the smiting and
trampling scenes of Tiye and Nefertiti are also an exception rather than
the rule, and this exception in ancient Egyptian iconography has so far
been explained as a consequence of the increasing importance of royal
women both in politics and religion.[^108] We can certainly say
Amanishakheto and Amanitore also lived in exceptional times, during and
after the conflict of Meroe with Rome. It is possible that in these
times certain exceptional women rose to unparalleled positions.[^109]

# Conclusion

Gender as a frame of war has structured both Napatan and Meroitic texts,
from lists enumerating the spoils of war to texts dealing with military
campaigns. In the first case, this is observable in the order that
different categories of prisoners of war are listed, namely enemy rulers
(men), then enemy men, women, and children. This same structure for
prisoners of wars is found with only slight differences in ancient
Egyptian spoils of war examples,[^110] which can hardly be taken as a coincidence.
Since the earlier Napatan texts were written in Egyptian, their
structure, at least when lists of spoils of war are concerned, could
have been based on an Egyptian pattern. This, then, continued into the
Meroitic period. In the second case, namely the texts dealing with
military campaigns, how gender as a frame of war operates can be
observed in the discursive feminization of enemies in Napatan texts.
Just like in ancient Egyptian and Neo-Assyrian texts,[^111] enemies are
discursively framed as women or effemininate. This is in fact a
metaphor found in many cultures in which strength is associated with men
and weakness is associated with women. Rather than just framing the
power relations between the Kushite kings and their enemies, such
metaphors strengthen the gender structure of the society itself,
privileging men and masculinity. By discursively taking away
masculinity from the enemy, these texts are framing them as
subordinate and thus legitimizing the subordination of women to men.
Unfortunately, the present state of knowledge of the Meroitic language
does not allow us to investigate possible feminizations of enemies in
the Hamadab stelae written in Meroitic. It would indeed be interesting
to know if the same metaphors are used.

The reports of Graeco-Roman writers such as Agatharchides in Diodorus
Siculus and Strabo could have been a misunderstanding of Meroitic royal
ideology and the figure of *kandake*. We should, however, not entirely
exclude the possibility that women could have participated in war,
although we do not have any explicit ancient Nubian textual attestations
for this. We also do not have any burials attributed to "warrior women"
or "warrior queens", based on the placement of weapons as grave goods in
graves of women.[^112] Even if such burials were to be found, one would
have to be cautious in assigning military activity to women (or men)
simply because of the associated weapons. Muscular stress markers or
potential traces of trauma on the skeletons would be more indicative,
however both could also be found in burials without such associated
weapons. Nevertheless, one should not exclude the possibility that
Meroitic queens made military decisions, just like, for example, the
17th Dynasty queen Ahhotep or the 18th Dynasty queen Hatshepsut in
Egypt,[^113] though they probably did not fight in war. The depictions
of Meroitic queens smiting enemies should be seen in the context of
royal ideology. Unlike Egyptian queens, who are depicted as women
smiting enemies only when these enemies are also women, both Meroitic
kings and certain Meroitic queens are shown smiting and spearing enemy
men. There is no difference in the gender of the enemy and therefore no
hierarchy. This can be explained with an elevated status of queenship in
Kush, in comparison to ancient Egypt. Unlike in Egypt, where a ruling
woman like Hatshepsut had to be depicted as a man when smiting enemies,
a ruling woman in Meroe could be depicted as a woman smiting male
enemies.

Clearly, gender was one of the frames of war in ancient Nubia, with a
tradition spanning several centuries and possibly even having ancient
Egyptian roots, at least where the structure for listings of the spoils 
of war and some metaphors for enemies are concerned. However, as I have shown,
there are certain expressions without parallels in ancient Egyptian
texts, which testify to an independent, but equally male-privileging
discourse. Gender as a frame of war (sensu Judith Butler) justified
state violence against enemies by discursively representing them as
women. In this manner, asymmetrical power relations in one domain (war)
were tied to asymmetrical power relations in another domain (gender).
This is a prime example of symbolic violence (sensu Pierre Bourdieu and
Slavoj Žižek). Gender relations which place Kushite and enemy women as
subordinate to Kushite men are naturalized through a reference to a
subordination of enemy men to Kushite men. Simultaneously, the lack of
explicit violence conducted against enemy women and children was in a
way "the cosmetic treatment of war", to use the words of Jean
Baudrillard. The frame of war such as this one clearly influenced how
war and violence is represented and consequently experienced by local
audiences who did not participate in war. Some forms of violence are
communicated to local audiences in specific manners relying on
asymmetrical power relations of gender. Other forms of violence which
probably occurred, such as violence against non-combatants, are
carefully avoided in texts and images as it was probably hard to justify
them.

# Acknowledgments

I would like to express my enormous gratitude to Jacqueline M. Huwyler,
M.A. (University of Basel) for proofreading the English of my paper. I
am also grateful to Angelika Lohwasser and Henriette Hafsaas for their
help in acquiring some of the references.

# Abbreviations

FHN I-III

Eide, Tormod, Tomas Hägg, Richard Holton Pierce, and László Török (eds.).
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[^1]: For criticism of androcentrism, see Conkey &
    Spector, "Archaeology and the Study of Gender." 5--14;
    for criticism of heteronormative interpretations of the past, see
    Dowson, "Why Queer Archaeology? An Introduction."
    161--165; for giving voices to ancient women and recognizing
    different genders behind the archaeological record, see
    Gilchrist, *Gender and Archaeology*;
    Sørensen, *Gender Archaeology*;
    Díaz-Andreu, "Gender identity." 1--42, for viewing
    gender as a system, see Conkey & Spector, "Archaeology
    and the Study of Gender." 4--16, for gender as a result of
    performative practice, see Perry & Joyce, "Providing
    a past for Bodies that Matter: Judith Butler\'s impact on the
    archaeology of gender". The literature in gender archaeology is vast
    and these are only some frequently quoted studies.

[^2]: Haaland & Haaland, "Who Speaks the Goddess's
    Language?"; Haaland, "Emergence of sedentism";
    Nordström, "Gender and social structure in the Nubian
    A-group".

[^3]: Lohwasser, *Die königlichen Frauen*;
    Lohwasser, "Queenship in Kush: Status, role and
    ideology of royal women", 61--76; Lohwasser. "The Role
    and Status of Royal Women in Kush" 61--72.

[^4]: Lohwasser, "Gibt es mehr als zwei Geschlechter? Zum
    Verhältnis von Gender und Alter", 33--41.

[^5]: Phillips, "Women in Ancient Nubia" 280--298; The
    necessity of studying gender, rather than focusing solely on women
    has also been emphasized recently, Lohwasser &
    Philipps, "Women in Ancient Kush", 1015--1032.

[^6]: Hafsaas-Tsakos, "Edges of bronze and expressions of
    masculinity"; Karlsson, "Gender and Kushite State
    Ideology".

[^7]: The contributions in the volume are entirely devoid of gender
    perspectives, Raue, *Handbook of Ancient Nubia*. For
    example, the new *Oxford Handbook of Ancient Nubia* has an entry on
    women in ancient Kush and on the body, but no entry on gender. Other
    contributions are entirely devoid of gender perspectives.

[^8]: Among these are the questions of ability and disability, gender
    and intersectionality, and masculinity. Danielsson &
    Thedéen, *To Tender Gender*.

[^9]: Jensen & Matić, "Introduction: Why do
    we need archaeologies of gender and violence, and why now?" 1--23.

[^10]: Bourdieu, *Masculine Domination*, 1--2; Bourdieu,
    "Symbolic Violence" 339--342; Žižek, *Violence. Six
    Sideways Reflections,* 1--2; for the application of these concepts
    in archaeology and Egyptology, see Jensen &
    Matić, "Introduction: Why do we need archaeologies of
    gender and violence, and why now?" 1--23; Matić,
    "Traditionally Unharmed? Women and Children in NK Battle Scenes."
    245--260; Matić, *Body and Frames of War*, 139--148;
    Matić, *Violence and Gender in Ancient Egypt*.

[^11]: For example, see, Kuhrt, "Women and War." 1--25.

[^12]: Matić, "Die \'\'römische\'\' Feinde in der
    meroitischen Kunst." 251--262; Spalinger, *The
    Persistence of Memory in Kush*. Spalinger, *Leadership
    under fire,* 201--242; Wöß, "The Representations of
    Captives and Enemies in Meroitic Art." 585--600.

[^13]: Matić, "Her striking but cold beauty: Gender and
    violence in depictions of Queen Nefertiti smiting the enemies."
    103--121; Matić, "Traditionally Unharmed? Women and
    Children in NK Battle Scenes." 245--260; Matić, *Body
    and Frames of War in New Kingdom Egypt*, 139--148; Matić, *Violence
    and Gender in Ancient Egypt*.

[^14]: Butler, *Frames of War*, 1--10.

[^15]: Butler, *Frames of War*, 26.

[^16]: Butler, *Frames of War*, 65.

[^17]: Butler, *The Force of Non-Violence*, 6.

[^18]: Crenshaw, "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A
    Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist
    Theory and Antiracist Politics".

[^19]: Matić, "The best of the booty of His Majesty:
    Evidence for foreign child labor in New Kingdom Egypt." 53--63;
    Matić, "Begehrte Beute. Fremde Frauen als Raubgut im
    Alten Ägypten." 15--18.

[^20]: The author is currently working on a comprehensive study of the
    ancient Egyptian and Nubian lists of spoils of war from the Egyptian
    Early Dynastic to Nubian Meroitic period, Matić,
    "Pharaonic Plunder Economy".

[^21]: Macadam, *The Temples of Kawa I. Text,* 9;
    Macadam, *The Temples of Kawa I. Plates*, Pls. 5-6.

[^22]: Macadam. *The Temples of Kawa I*. *Text*, 36;
    Macadam, *The Temples of Kawa I.* *Plates*, Pls.
    11--12; FHN I, 172--173.

[^23]: Redford, "Taharqa in Western Asia and Libya." 190.
    The stela actually does not bear the name of Taharqa and Jean Revez
    attributed it to an entirely different dynasty, Revez, "Une stèle
    inédite de la Troisième Période Intermédiaire à Karnak: une guerre
    civile en Thébaïde?".

[^24]: Pope, *The Double Kingdom under Taharqo*, 98-106.

[^25]: Macadam, *The Temples of Kawa I. Plates*, Pl. 15;
    FHN I, 222.

[^26]: For appointing prisoners of war to temples and temple workshops
    in New Kingdom Egypt see, Matić, "The best of the
    booty of His Majesty: Evidence for foreign child labor in New
    Kingdom Egypt." 53--63.

[^27]: FHN II, 447.

[^28]: FHN II, 449.

[^29]: FHN II, 487; Peust, *Das Napatanische*, 40.

[^30]: Pope, *The Double Kingdom under Taharqo*, 105.

[^31]: FHN II, 488.

[^32]: It is also possible that some of them ended up enslaved in the
    Mediterranean world, Burstein, "The Nubian Slave Trade in Antiquity:
    A Suggestion".

[^33]: FHN II, 489.

[^34]: FHN II; 489--490.

[^35]: FHN II, 490.

[^36]: FHN II, 491.

[^37]: Török, "Sacred Landscape, Historical Identity and
    Memory." 161; For the same practice in ancient Egypt, at least until
    the New Kingdom, see Matić, "The best of the booty of
    His Majesty: Evidence for foreign child labor in New Kingdom Egypt."
    53--63.

[^38]: FHN II; 722-723; The connection to the conflict with Rome has
    been challenged since, Zach, "A Remark on the
    'Akinidad' Stela REM 1003 (British Museum EA 1650)." 148.

[^39]: Rilly, "New Advances in the Understanding of Royal
    Meroitic Inscriptions."; Rilly, "Meroitische Texte aus
    Naga."; Rilly, "Fragments of the Meroitic Report of
    the War Between Rome and Meroe."

[^40]: Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250. I. 1*, 209;
    see also Török, *Meroe City*, 104.

[^41]: Török, *Meroe City*, 104.

[^42]: Török, *The Kingdom of Kush*, 401;
    Török, *The Image of the Ordered World*, 219--220.

[^43]: Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250. I. 1*, 262.

[^44]: Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250. I. 1*;
    Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250. I. 2b*.

[^45]: He adds that the archaizing iconography and style of the war
    reliefs of the south and north walls of M250 were based on 25th
    dynasty Kushite monuments, and supposes that this archaizing
    iconography was mediated by the early temple at the site, which was
    built during Aspelta's reign, and whose reliefs could have been
    copied on M250, Török, *The Image of the Ordered
    World*, 213. The 25th dynasty connections are seen, for example, in
    the motif of spearing the enemy using a lance by piercing the enemy
    almost horizontally from above-fragments 809, 876, 828, 808, 857,
    836, 916, 917, 928, Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe
    250*. I. 2b. This motif is known from the Amun temple at Gebel
    Barkal B500, from the reign of Piye, Spalinger, "Notes
    on the military in Egypt during the XXVth Dynasty." 48, Figs. 3 and
    4.

[^46]: Wenig, *Africa in Antiquity*, 59--60.

[^47]: Hofmann, "Notizen zu den Kampfszenen am sogenannten
    Sonnentempel von Meroe." 519--521.

[^48]: Chapman & Dunham, *Decorated Chapels of the
    Meroitic Pyramids at Meroë and Barkal*, Pl. 17.

[^49]: Shinnie & Bradley, "The Murals from
    the Augustus Temple, Meroe." 168, Fig. 1; Matić, "Der
    Kopf einer Augustus-Statue aus Meroe". 70, Abb. 7.

[^50]: Wöß, "The Representations of Captives and Enemies
    in Meroitic Art." 589.

[^51]: Lohwasser, "Kush and her Neighbours beyond the Nile
    Valley In The Fourth Cataract and Beyond." 131.

[^52]: FHN III, 831; Jones, *Strabo. The Geography Vol.
    VIII*, 139.

[^53]: Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250. I. 1*,
    189--190.

[^54]: Minas-Nerpel & Pfeiffer,
    "Establishing Roman Rule in Egypt: The Trilingual Stela of C.
    Cornelius Gallus from Philae." 285--288.

[^55]: Kormysheva, "Political relations between the Roman
    Empire." 306; Török, *Between the Two Worlds*,
    434--436.

[^56]: Jameson, "Chronology of the Campaigns of Aelius
    Gallus and C. Petronius." 77; Török, *Between the Two
    Worlds*, 441.

[^57]: Török, *The Kingdom of Kush*, 449;
    Török, *Between the Two Worlds*, 441.

[^58]: Török, *Meroe City*, 185.

[^59]: Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250. I. 1*, 142.

[^60]: Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250. I. 1*, 139.

[^61]: Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250. I. 1*,
    140--141, 257, Abb. 39, 40, 41, 42; Abb. 95.

[^62]: Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250. I. 1*, 140.
    257; Abb. 38, Abb. 95.

[^63]: Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250*. I. 2b, C10.

[^64]: Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250*. I. 2b, C10.

[^65]: For example, in tribute scenes from the tombs of Useramun-TT 131,
    Rekhmire-TT 100, Horemhab-TT 78 but also the Beit el-Wali temple of
    Ramesses II, Matić, "Children on the move: *ms.w wr.w*
    in the New Kingdom procession scenes." 378--379, Fig. 12.

[^66]: Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250. I. 1*, 189.

[^67]: FHN III, 831; Jones, *Strabo. The Geography Vol.
    VIII*, 139.

[^68]: Hinkel, *Der Tempelkomplex Meroe 250. I. 1*,
    138--139, Abb. 37b.

[^69]: Török, *The Image of the Ordered World,* 220;
    Breyer, *Einführung in die Meroitistik*, 67.

[^70]: FHN III, 831; Jones, *Strabo. The Geography Vol.
    VIII*, 139.

[^71]: Rilly & De Voogt, *The Meroitic
    Language and Writing System*, 185

[^72]: Rilly, "Meroitische Texte aus Naga." 190;
    Matić, "Die \'\'römische\'\' Feinde in der meroitischen
    Kunst." 258.

[^73]: Matić, "Traditionally Unharmed? Women and Children
    in NK Battle Scenes." 245--260; Matić, *Body and
    Frames of War in New Kingdom Egypt*, 139--148.

[^74]: Strathern, *Before and After Gender*, 21.

[^75]: Parkinson, "Homosexual' desire and Middle Kingdom literature";
    Matić, *Body and Frames of War*, 139--148;
    Matić, *Violence and Gender in Ancient Egypt*.

[^76]: Grimal, *La Stèle Triomphale,* 177; FHN I, 111.

[^77]: Grimal, *La Stèle Triomphale*, 176.

[^78]: Goedicke, *Pi(ankhy) in Egypt*, 172.

[^79]: Ritner, *The Libyan Anarchy*, 492.

[^80]: el Hawary, *Wortschöpfung*, 243.

[^81]: O'Connor & Quirke, "Introduction:
    Mapping the Unknown in Ancient Egypt." 18.

[^82]: For a detailed analysis see Lavik, *A People Tall and
    Smooth-Skinned*.

[^83]: el Hawary, *Wortschöpfung*, 281.

[^84]: Ritner, *The Libyan Anarchy*. 477, 490.

[^85]: Dieleman, "Fear of Women?" 14.

[^86]: FHN I, 84.

[^87]: Karlsson, "Gender and Kushite State Ideology".

[^88]: FHN II, 450.

[^89]: Matić, *Violence and Gender in Ancient Egypt*.

[^90]: FHN II, 653.

[^91]: FHN III, 816.

[^92]: FHN III, 831; Jones, *Strabo. The Geography Vol.
    VII*I, 139.

[^93]: Lohwasser, "The Role and Status of Royal Women in
    Kush" 64; Lohwasser & Philipps, "Women
    in Ancient Kush", 1021.

[^94]: McCoskey, "Gender at the crossroads of empire".
    61--68.

[^95]: Wilkins, Barnard &
    Rose, "Roman Artillery Balls from Qasr Ibrim, Egypt."
    71, 75, Pl. 8, 4F.

[^96]: Hall, *The Pharaoh Smites His Enemy*, 44.

[^97]: Queen Tiye (ca. 1398-1338 BCE) of the 18th Dynasty is depicted
    trampling over enemies in the guise of a female sphinx. Queen
    Nefertiti (ca. 1370-? BCE) of the same dynasty is depicted both
    smiting enemies and trampling over them in the guise of a sphinx. I
    argued that we can observe a clear gender structure behind such
    images, and that the status of queens smiting enemies is lower than
    the status of the king smiting male enemies, Matić,
    "Her striking but cold beauty: Gender and violence in depictions of
    Queen Nefertiti smiting the enemies." 103--121.

[^98]: Matić, "Her striking but cold beauty: Gender and
    violence in depictions of Queen Nefertiti smiting the enemies."
    103--121; Matić, "Traditionally Unharmed? Women and
    Children in NK Battle Scenes." 245--260; Matić, *Body
    and Frames of War in New Kingdom Egypt*, 139--148.

[^99]: Williamson, "Alone before the God: Gender, Status,
    and Nefertiti's Image." 179--192.

[^100]: Matić, *Violence and Gender in Ancient Egypt*.

[^101]: Chapman & Dunham, *Decorated Chapels
    of the Meroitic Pyramids at Meroë and Barkal*, Pl. 17.

[^102]: Rilly, "Meroitische Texte aus Naga." Abb. 218.

[^103]: Chapman & Dunham, *Decorated Chapels
    of the Meroitic Pyramids at Meroë and Barkal*, Pl. 7A.

[^104]: Chapman & Dunham, *Decorated Chapels
    of the Meroitic Pyramids at Meroë and Barkal*, Pls. 18B. and 18D.

[^105]: Gamer-Wallert, *Der Löwentempel von Naqa in der
    Butana (Sudan) III*, Bl. 1-2.

[^106]: Pomerantseva, "The View on Meroitic Kings and
    Queens as it is Reflected in their Iconography." 625.

[^107]: Phillips, "Women in Ancient Nubia" 292.

[^108]: Matić, "Her striking but cold beauty: Gender and
    violence in depictions of Queen Nefertiti smiting the enemies."
    116--117.

[^109]: For exceptionality and the possible divinization of Amanirenas
    (1st century CE) see Zach, "A Remark on the 'Akinidad'
    Stela REM 1003 (British Museum EA 1650)." 149.

[^110]: Matić, "Pharaonic Plunder Economy".

[^111]: Matić, *Violence and Gender in Ancient Egypt*.

[^112]: For weapons in female burials of the Kerma period interpreted as
    symbols of status, see Hafsaas-Tsakos, "Edges of
    bronze and expressions of masculinity." 89. Henriette
    Hafsaas-Tsakos has in personal communication informed
    me that she considers investigating this topic further and maybe
    revising her conclusions.

[^113]: For the military activities of Ahhotep and Hatshepsut see,
    Matić, *Violence and Gender in Ancient Egypt*;
    Taterka, "Military expeditions of King Hatshepsut."
    90--106.