Egypten mot utlandet : En studie på förbannelse-texter och deras roll i politiska maktrelationer

Execration rituals were a recurring practice in ancient Egypt. Central for these rituals were execration texts, figurines made of clay or red pots, which were ritually broken as part of the curse procedure. Execration texts are attested from the Old Kingdom through the Late Period and targeted foreign powers perceived as hostile. The texts typically contain multiple sections listing names and places of foreign lands. The majority of the texts identify targets in Nubia and the Levant, but some texts references names and places in Libya. This study examines execration texts and the role they played in the political power dynamics in ancient Egypt. Specifically, it investigates the relationship between Egypt and the foreign countries, and the context of the texts in order to answer the question. The focus is on three corpora from the Middle Kingdom: Brussel figurines, Berlin execration bowls, and execration texts from Mirgissa. The thesis explores the textual content to answer the question as well as examinating the differences in the content of the groups of execration texts. Particular attention is also paid to the provenance of these execration text to understand why they were buried on those places and if they have any correlations with the content of the texts.