This project investigates the mechanisms of fear and intimidation in New Kingdom (NK) Egyptian palaces (ca. 1550 to 1070 BCE) through an interdisciplinary lens, combining textual analysis, visual studies, spatial analysis, and Actor-Network Theory (ANT). Ancient Egyptian literature often portrays the pharaoh as a figure of overwhelming power and dread. However, historical realities, such as Tutankhamun’s disabilities or Ramesses II’s old age, suggest that intimidation relied heavily on the spatial and material aspects of palaces. The research examines how architectural layouts, decorations, furniture, and objects created an atmosphere of fear.
Uroš Matić, an expert in ancient Egyptian violence and iconography, collaborates with Constance von Rüden, a specialist in Bronze Age palatial architecture and wall paintings. Together, they employ Actor-Network Theory (ANT), which considers humans and objects as active participants (“actants”) in social interactions, to explore material culture's role in shaping human experiences. Sources like Amarna letters, Ramesside papyri and ostraca describe encounters with the pharaoh and highlight intimidating architectural features, such as the “window of appearance”. Pharaoh’s throne, dais, and footrests found display violent imagery of bound prisoners, reinforcing subjugation during proskynesis. Wall and floor paintings in New Kingdom palaces included violent motifs and adorned throne rooms and access routes, confronting visitors with vivid symbols of control. Space syntax and visibility graph analyses will be utilised to reveal how palace designs directed movement and sightlines to emphasise intimidating elements. Synthesising textual, visual, and spatial data, the study reconstructs the sensory and emotional experiences of NK palaces. This research not only clarifies fear’s role in NK Egypt but also sets the stage for broader studies on intimidation in ancient palace cultures, offering fresh insights into power dynamics in antiquity.
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Dr Uroš Matić
University of Innsbruck (Austria) | Egyptology, Archaeology
E-mail: uros.matic@college-uaruhr.de
Uroš Matić is an archaeologist and Egyptologist based as a senior lecturer at the Institute for Ancient History and the Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Innsbruck, and the Institute for Classics at the University of Graz, Austria. His main expertise is in war and violence in ancient Egypt, ancient Egyptian interrelations, settlement archaeology, and gender studies in archaeology.
Matić obtained his PhD from the University of Münster in 2017 and received two prizes for this work (Philippika prize of Harrassowitz in 2018 and Best Publication Award of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 2020). He held a PRIME fellowship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) from 2018 to 2019 and received grants from the Foundation for Postgraduates of Egyptology in Vienna in 2016 and 2022. He was co-chair of the Archaeology and Gender in Europe (AGE) community of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) from 2016 to 2019.
Uroš Matić taught at the University of Münster (Germany), University of Vienna (Austria), University of Graz (Austria), and University of Innsbruck (Austria). He has more than 100 publications, the most recent being the monograph Violence and Gender in Ancient Egypt (Routledge, 2021) and the edited volumes Gender Trouble and Current Archaeological Debates (Springer, 2024 with Bisserka Gaydarska, Laura Coltofean and Marta Diaz-Guardamino) and Bodies that Mattered. Ancient Egyptian Corporealities (Sidestone Press, 2025, with Dina Serova).
Website
https://www.uibk.ac.at/alte-geschichte-orient/institut/team/dr.-uros-matic-ba-ma.html
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Constance von Rüden is a professor of archaeology at Ruhr University Bochum, specialising in Bronze Age wall paintings in the Eastern Mediterranean and Egypt. With a PhD from the University of Heidelberg, her dissertation Die Wandmalereien von Tall Mishrife/Qatna im Kontext einer ägäisch-syrischen Kommunikation (2007, published in 2011) explored the interplay of art, cultural exchange, and material production in the Late Bronze Age. Since 2010, she has directed the field project ‘The Wall Paintings of Avaris, Tell el-Dabca, Egypt’, which investigates the unique artistic techniques and iconography of this crucial cultural hub. Her work, such as the book Tracing Technoscapes: The Production of Bronze Age Wall Paintings in the Eastern Mediterranean (2018), highlights the complex networks of cultural interaction and materiality that defined this period. She collaborates extensively in interdisciplinary projects, integrating archaeological theory with material studies, particularly through New Materialist perspectives.
Website
https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/archaelogie/institut/personal/vonRueden.html.en