This stone door socket represents a bound foreign captive, whose body has been cast on the ground and who has the pivot of a door grinding into his back. His arms are tied behind him at the elbow.

In ancient Egypt the king not only had to defeat foreign lands in actual battles, he also had to defeat them magically to maintain Egypt's dominance on the world stage, and in the eyes of the gods. To the Egyptians this represented the king maintaining divine harmony –Maat- against the forces of chaos, or Isfet.

This door socket is from Hierakonpolis in southern Egypt, an important place because its rulers became some of the first pharaohs around 3000 BC. This door socket would have been part of a long row of bound enemies who formed a door threshold.

Traditionally, Egypt had nine symbolic enemy lands, called the "9-bows." This threshold may have once had the full 9-bows. As the pharaoh strode through the doorway he would literally kick dirt into the face of each fallen captive, and as the door opened and closed, the pivot would grind into the back of the last figure, which is all we now have preserved.

As you go through the Upper and Lower Egyptian galleries you might find it interesting to see how many pieces you can identify that show the pharaoh defeating the enemies of Maat!