Peace as Submission

Abstract

After the trouble and feverish activity of the foreign rebellion, peace means to reach a state of order, rest, immobility. The best foreigner is a dead one; next comes one who has submitted. His correct position is under the feet of Pharaoh, and the classical iconography of the king trampling upon his enemies¹ is even better expressed in other ways: the soles of shoes having a Syrian and a Nubian depicted on them;² or the statue-bases with the Nine Bows aligned on the upper surface, under the standing figure of the sovereign;³ or the ceremonial runner in the Amarna palace, with alternate Nubians and Asiatics to be daily trodden on by Pharaoh on his way to the throne room.⁴