Reevaluating the Role of Inter-Polity Boundaries (tꜢšw) in Middle and New Kingdom Egypt

Chains of frontier fortresses and the presence of boundary stelae have understandably encouraged scholars to emphasize parallels between Pharaonic political boundaries and contemporary political borders. However, ancient Egyptian territoriality and conceptions of political boundaries differed in several key ways. First, Pharaonic boundaries were not defined by their permeability, but rather their capacity to be altered by royal action. Second, specific territorial claims were often less vital than the sovereign act of claiming or marking a boundary. Finally, ancient Egyptian boundaries were often discussed in personal terms, as belonging to a particular pharaoh. They were not abstracted, linear features that aspired to an ahistorical permanence, but functioned as powerful, performative displays of political authority in liminal spaces. Recognizing these fundamental differences builds upon the insights of earlier scholarship and provides new perspectives on Pharaonic boundary-making practices.