SEMI-MYTHOLOGICAL

HEROES IN EARLY EGYPT

JUAN JOSÉ CASTILLOS

- HISTORICAL HEROES

- MYTHOLOGICAL HEROES

- SEMI-MYTHOLOGICAL HEROES

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

GILGAMESH

HERCULES

AN ICONOGRAPHIC TRADITION THAT

GOES BACK SEVERAL THOUSAND

YEARS AGO, WHEN THE FIRST

HEREDITARY CHIEFS THAT EMERGED

DURING THE PREDYNASTIC PERIOD

TRY TO JUSTIFY THEIR NEW EXALTED

SOCIAL POSITION WITH PROPAGANDA.

IMAGES THAT SHOW THEM AS

SUPERHUMAN BEINGS, GREAT

HEROES CAPABLE OF THE MOST

DARING EXPLOITS BECAUSE

THEY ARE THE LEADERS APPOINTED

BY THE GODS TO RULE MANKIND.

Naqada I decorated pottery

Naqada I decorated pottery

Wadi Hammamat, Winkler, 1937.

Wadi Hammamat, Winkler, 1937.

Early king commanding an expedition with boats over the First Cataract

HEREDITARY CHIEFS, THEN REGIONAL

KINGS AND LATER ON THE FIRST PHARAOHS

DEPICT THEMSELVES AS BRINGING ORDER

OVER NATURAL CHAOS, THE CONTEMPORARY

ICONOGRAPHY UNDERLINES A TYPE OF ORDER

THAT INVOLVES NOT ONLY HUMAN SOCIAL

ORGANIZATION BUT ALSO THE WHOLE WORLD.

THOSE EARLY RULERS IMPOSE THEIR WILL

TO EVERYTHING AROUND THEM NOT OUT

OF A PERSONAL WHIM OR BECAUSE OF

GREAT AMBITION BUT AS A FULFILMENT

OF A DIVINE PLAN FOR THE WORLD WHICH

THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE TO MAINTAIN.

THE CLOSE ALLIANCE BETWEEN

POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS POWER

THAT HAS BEEN A CONSTANT IN

ALMOST ALL CIVILIZATIONS FOR

THOUSANDS OF YEARS UNTIL

RECENT TIMES, IS SHOWN IN

MANY EXAMPLES OF ROCK ART.

Gebel el Arak knife handle Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis

Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis Narmer Palette

Narmer Palette

Fragment of Ceremonial Palette

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