Image, Strength and Power: How Strong Was Ancient Egyptian Propaganda?

Ramesses II besieging the Cheta people in Dapur, German lithography, 1879

When one hears the word propaganda, many people associate it with the ‘aggressive’ posters from the first half of the 20th century, especially the 1930s and 1940s. In a general sense, propaganda means every message spread to influence the target audience. It’s true that the art of propaganda was mastered in the 20th century, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t powerful before. The art today, that we consider ancient, has a very strong emotional message and was very successful when aimed at the target audience. One of the examples is the Egyptian siege of Dapur in the 13th century BC, from Ramesseum, Thebes. “We’re strong, capable, smart, powerful, much better than you!” – is only a part of the message this relief sends. 

Superiority Vs. Inferiority

In the propaganda war of  WWI or later, the Cold War, there was polarization. There was always a threat. When talking about the enemy, the strong colors or the funny cartoons talked about the threats. Evil Nazis, Evil Soviets, Evil Capitalists… Many posters also emphasized the superiority of us, and the inferiority of the enemy. But when looking at most of these posters, there is one thing that can be noticed – strength, often emphasized in ‘fiery’ colors, red and orange. But, during ancient times, or in this case, Ancient Egypt, ‘admitting’ there was a threat would be weak. The pharaoh was a god! Invincible! Therefore, the main motif of the ancient propaganda art was the ‘superiority vs. inferiority’. 

A ‘God’ Must be Perfect

Propaganda is a psychological warfare. We all know that. It can be used for two reasons. First, to demoralize the enemy and second, to strengthen its own forces. The Ramesseum relief shows obviously that, in this case, the goal was the latter. The relief was the ‘product’ of the Ramesses II’s era, remembered in history as one of the most celebrated and most powerful Egyptian pharaohs. The scene on the relief depicts the siege of Dapur, the part of the Ramesses’ campaign to put Galilee and Syria under control. Dapur is depicted as a heavily fortified settlement on a rocky hill, the architecture typical for the Bronze Age. Therefore, the siege, technically speaking, wasn’t easy, especially when we take into consideration that this was ancient Egypt. But, the scene shows people, soldiers conducting it without any problem. Everything looks like it’s choreographed and conducted perfectly. 

‘Be Strong and Victorious!’

So it’s obvious the Ancient Egyptian propaganda was strong. But how much? 

If we compare this to today’s digital political marketing, we can find many similarities. First of all, it is well known that an image speaks thousands of words. All those memes, funny photos, cartoons, banners, etc. send the same message. They tell a story worth thousands of words. The same thing is with the Ramesseum relief. The lines and shapes carved in the stone are emotionally strong as that stone. The message it sends almost screams “Strength!”. All the soldiers in the scene are led by the ruler, the pharaoh, mighty and powerful. Without him, they are small and weak – powerless. The pharaoh is the one who makes them strong and powerful. Ramesses’ figure is depicted as the biggest of all, as the one who has the ultimate word over everything. The other figures are smaller. Therefore, the others “will be in his mercy” if they are a part of that victorious unity, just as those soldiers attacking Dapur. The Egyptian government perfectly communicated everything people appreciated, a sense of pride, admiration, respect and even fear in front of the most mighty man (semi-god) of the state. Therefore, the message this scene sends is perfectly in accord with all the ‘target audience’ wanted and completely empathetic. 

Everything Carved in Stone

Compared to today’s developed propaganda communication, the ancient one may seem not so powerful, especially in the age of wars, conquests and completely different civilization. But, looking at this relief (and also many others), we can easily see that’s not the case. Ancient Egyptian propaganda was very strong. Concretely in this case, it has the message, emotions, empathy and the story- everything needed for achieving the goals of admiration, support and unity. Or, in other words, control over the people in ancient times needed to rule. Therefore, Ramesses II didn’t only achieve the goal of unity – to appear stronger in front of the enemy, but he also strengthened his power as a ruler and his place in history. Definitely a proof the power of image was successfully utilized since the earliest times.