Edges of bronze and expressions of masculinity: the emergence of a warrior class at Kerma in Sudan

Hafsaas, Henriette

doi:10.1017/s0003598x00048638

Cited by 12 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The very high lower body entheses, on the other hand, may be partially explained by a continuation of pastoral practices in Kerma (Martin, 2015; Schrader, 2015). It has been argued that pastoralism was vital in ancient Kerma society (Hafsaas‐Tsakos, 2013). The centralized capital city, at the type‐site Kerma, and secondary cities (e.g., Saï) were likely very sedentary.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Embodied labors during the state formation of Egypt and Nubia (ca. 4800–1750 BCE): Elucidating transformations in behavioral patterns with entheseal changes

Pérez

Schrader

2023

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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Throughout Egypt and Nubia's state formation periods (4400-1750 BCE), broad transformations impacted Nile Valley communities, which experienced agricultural consolidation, sedentarization, and more complex social organization. The current study examines the various patterns and levels of physical activity in the skeletal remains of 259 predynastic and early dynastic individuals from Nubia (Northern Dongola Reach) and Egypt (el-Badari, Naqada, el-Ballas, and Hu). Using entheseal changes in the upper and lower limbs and non-parametric tests, we have observed changes in behavior patterns between the fifth and second millennia BCE in the Nile Valley. These transformations include an increased impact on the evolution of physical activity and possibly specialized occupations in the Old Kingdom. In this regard, we discovered differences in activity based on the type of burial and the tasks performed by females compared with males. Furthermore, we found additional evidence to support the hypothesis that the Nubian state of Kerma was based on a highly mobile pastoral way of life.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Embodied labors during the state formation of Egypt and Nubia (ca. 4800–1750 BCE): Elucidating transformations in behavioral patterns with entheseal changes

Pérez

Schrader

2023

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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“…The contexts for these vessels also support the idea of their incorporation into the body schema by the Kerman royal court and elite. BTRPW vessels are found in large quantities in royal and elite burials, where they are placed around the body, alongside many other of these new or adapted elite grave good typologies such as cosmetic vessels, furniture and weapons (Reisner 1923;Gratien 1978;O'Connor 1993, 52;Kendall 1997, 55-62;Hafsaas-Tsakos 2013;Minor 2018). The quantities and physical proximity to the deceased suggests direct personal relationships between materials, objects and the body.…”

Section: Constructing Drinking Experiences and Elite Identity At Kermamentioning

confidence: 99%

Body Matters: Exploring the Materiality of the Human Body

2019

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Body Matters approaches the material world directly; it seeks to remind people that they are the matter of their bodies. This volume offers an assortment of contributions from anthropology, archaeology and medieval studies, with case studies from northern Europe, the Near East, East Africa and Amazonia, which variously draw attention to the multiple shifting materials that comprise, impact upon and co-create human bodies. This lively collection foregrounds myriad material influences interacting with and shaping the human body; the chapters come together to illustrate the fundamental fleshy, bony, suppurating, leaky and oozing physicality of being human. Ultimately, by reminding readers of their indisputable materiality, Body Matters seeks to draw people and the rest of the material world together to illustrate that bodies not only seep into (and are part of) the landscape, but equally that people and the material world are inextricably co-constitutive.

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“…Gender archaeology has produced a significant amount of work on varying historical formations of femininities, 1 while focusing less on masculinities (among else Yates 1993; Treherne 1995; Knapp 1998; Joyce 2000a; 2000b; Alberti 2006; Parkinson 2008; Scher 2012; Hafsaas-Tsakos 2013; Skogstrand 2016; 2017; Frie 2018; Matić 2019a; 2021). One of the crucial questions in the examination of masculinity in the past is whether the concept can be used at all to describe a set of socially defined characteristics in pre-modern societies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Boy, You Fight like a Woman … Representations of Defeated Enemies, Boys and Male Nudity in the Late Bronze Age Aegean Iconography and Their Role in the Expression of Masculinity

Franković

Matić

2022

Men and Masculinities

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This paper examines depictions of male nudity, flaccid penises and phalli (erect penises) attested in the representations of boys, defeated warriors and figures of authority in the Late Bronze Age Aegean (ca. 1700–1050 BCE). It is argued that, similarly to ancient Egyptian iconography, the flaccid penis, as a sign of weakness and the lack of developed masculinity, was contrasted to the phallus, as a sign of masculine strength and sexual virility. Moreover, the paper argues that there was a gradual change in the depictions of male nudity around 1420/1400 BCE. In the period between ca. 1700–1420/1400 BCE, male nudity was restricted to representations of boys and defeated warriors. After ca. 1420/1400 BCE, most depictions of male nudity represented figures of power and authority with erect penises/phalli. We believe that the depictions of male nudity in combination with phalli were used to accentuate masculinity of such figures.

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Edges of bronze and expressions of masculinity: the emergence of a warrior class at Kerma in Sudan

Cited by 12 publications

References 11 publications

Embodied labors during the state formation of Egypt and Nubia (ca. 4800–1750 BCE): Elucidating transformations in behavioral patterns with entheseal changes

Embodied labors during the state formation of Egypt and Nubia (ca. 4800–1750 BCE): Elucidating transformations in behavioral patterns with entheseal changes

Body Matters: Exploring the Materiality of the Human Body

Boy, You Fight like a Woman … Representations of Defeated Enemies, Boys and Male Nudity in the Late Bronze Age Aegean Iconography and Their Role in the Expression of Masculinity

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