There is no need for arms, physical violence, material constraints. Just a gaze. An inspecting gaze, a gaze which each individual under its weight will end by interiorising to the point that he is his own overseer, each individual thus exercising this surveillance over, and against, himself. A superb formula: power exercised continuously and for what turns out to be a minimal cost.
AbstractThe Panoptic model of surveillance, which enables a small number of observers to control large numbers of people, is usually considered a modern (18th century AD) invention and a conceptual cornerstone of modern surveillance and disciplinary systems. On the basis of two case studies encountered in a survey near the southwestern edge of the Dead Sea, this study suggests that the concept of surveillance is much older. The first case deals with a quarry from the Roman period, and the second concentrates on an ascent from the Early Bronze Age II-III periods (3000-2400 BC).
This paper presents the discovery of a unique and widespread type of petroglyphs in the Western Negev Highlands, depicting human figures with crescent-shaped headgear, knee-high garments, and crescent pommel daggers. It proposes a methodology for dating this style and its historical context by: (1) analysis of presence or absence of specific animal species in the engraved scenes; (2) examination of the occurrence of particular attributes that appear in the scenes within dated contexts across the ancient Near East; and (3) study of the fit between the incised panels' locations and the distribution of dated archaeological sites in the region and the routes connecting them. Based on this composite analysis, it is proposed that these petroglyphs are associated with groups participating in the copper trade that operated in the Sinai-Negev-Edom region during the Intermediate Bronze Age (ca. 2500-2000 B.C.E.).
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