NECESSARY CRUELTY: ON THE ISSUE OF THE GENDER ICONOGRAPHY OF THUTMOSE III
Thutmose III went down in history as a great warrior pharaoh who expanded borders of Egypt, conquered many peoples in the Middle East and upstream of the Nile, in Nubia. His victories were secured by a professionally trained army, as well as personal qualities of the king himself, such as courage, determination, cunning and the ability to inspire. No less important, as the Egyptians believed, was support of gods who gave the ruler victory over foreigners and power over conquered territories. Triumph over the enemies was imprinted on walls of temples, including one in Karnak. In the scenes, the pharaoh acts as a warrior ruthlessly cracking down on numerous opponents. This paper is devoted to study of gender role of the ruler defeating enemies, as well as artistic techniques of representing this role on reliefs.