Tenth International Congress of Egyptologists Abstracts of Papers

XICE – Abstract of Papers
Icon of propaganda and lethal weapon – further remarks on the LB Age sickle
sword
Carola Vogel
Among the multitude of weapons in the tomb of Tutankhamun two different shaped
sickle swords have been discovered. They do belong to a small group of LB scimitars
known from various places in the Ancient Near East, and dispersed over the museums
worldwide.For years, Hans Wolfgang Müller had compiled all scimitars that did come
to his knowledge with the aim to establish a proper typology – and – if possible – to
work out a chronological frame for this weapon. His efforts resulted in a monograph
study that in the following did become a standard work: H. W. Müller, Der
Waffenfund von Balata-Sichem und Die Sichelschwerter, München 1987. However,
more than 20 years after its publication new swords could be traced that demand a reexamination
of the whole group. Based on the updated data, the aim of this paper is
twicefold: In the beginning, an overview of royal iconography will exemplify the
prominent role that the scimitar played in New Kingdom propaganda, above all in the
so-called “smiting scenes”. My second approach deals with the use of the sickle
sword as standard infantry equipment by discussing its archaeological, epigraphic and
iconographic evidence. Furthermore, the practical value of this weapon in close
combat will be highlighted to show its increasing significance beginning from the
Second Intermediate Period onwards. In the effort to explain this as an example of
development as adaequate offensive response to an improvement that had been made
on the side of the defensive, the body armour will be discussed against which the
scimitar has been implemented. And finally, the suggested replacement of the scimitar
by the two-edged sword will be analyzed.
Who was “King” (S)asychis?
Alexandra von Lieven
Herodotus II 136 as well as Diodorus I 94 attest to a lawgiver named (S)asychis, who,
according to Herodotus, also was a king. Researchers have struggled for a long time
to identify this figure, proposing candidates from Shepseskaf to Shoshenq I. The
present paper will look afresh at the testimonia and propose an altogether new
interpretation. It will show that the person in question was not a king, but a deified
sage, whose cult can be attested by a growing number of documents.
Settlement structures of the Old and Middle Kingdom on the east bank in Aswan
Cornelius von Pilgrim
Since 2000 the Swiss Institute of Architectural and Archaeological Research on
Ancient Egypt in Cairo and the Supreme Council of Antiquities Aswan conduct a
joint archaeological project in the town of Aswan. In addition to excavations in three
registered antiquities sites the work concentrates mainly on systematic rescue
excavations in current construction sites. More than twenty areas were investigated
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