Deciphering Senwosret III: Insights from the Border Inscription

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By reading the Border Inscription of Senwosret III, historians can get a glimpse at what King Senwosret III was like. The Stone Stela was written by the Pharaoh Senwoserat III to record Egypt's southern border with Nubia. Throughout the inscription, the Pharaoh lauds himself and degrades his enemies. While it is primarily a text which records Egypt's southern border, it gives us information about what the Pharaoh was like, how he viewed how own people, how he viewed neighboring peoples, and what he expected of his descendants. At the beginning of the border inscription, Senwosret III proclaims that he has established a new border further south than any of his ancestors had. We can see that a typical duty of the Pharaoh is to expand his kingdom …show more content…

Senwosret III claims he is not afraid of conflict as he is willing to go to war with whoever threatens his empire or he thinks might pose a threat to it in the future. Once again, this almost exhibits himself as a god due to the fact he believes he can conquer anyone who threatens him. He says that he is "ferocious in order to grab". This demonstrates the fact that he would ravage and go to war in order to get something that he desires. Because of these qualities, we can see that he views himself as a god who is not only capable of defeating all challengers but deserving of their …show more content…

He states that he has "taken their women, I having brought their inhabitants, went to their wells, smote their cattle, cut down their grain and set fire there". This lets us know that after he defeated them in battle, he took their women and slaves and tried to destroy everything that was left. This would have devastated the Nubian society and way of life. What is fascinating is that Senwosret III wrote this inscription on stone and put it at the border where the Nubians would be able to read how he devastated them. This shows arrogance on the part of the Pharaoh, but also a warning to the Nubians to not challenge him or

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