Propaganda In Ancient Egypt

George Orwell famously declared »all art is propaganda.« Great works of art, in other words, have a very particular message for an intended audience. This function of art transcends historical periods, as is evident if one takes a closer look at the art of specific eras, such as Ancient Egyptian art. Ancient Egyptian art possessed a very specific propaganda function: to promote the divine origins and authority of the Pharaoh and thus a hierarchical social system.

The temple was originally carved out of the mountainside next to the Nile during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BC. It was to serve as a lasting monument to himself and his queen Nefertari, to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Kadesh. He also wanted to intimidate Egypt's neighbors, the Nubians. It was Ramses' way of trying to make an impression upon Egypt's neighbors, as well as to force Egypt's religion upon them. Propaganda in Egyptian art was common. Art can attempt to persuade, publicize and influence the people’s attitudes. Their art work includes paintings, stone carvings, statues, and sculpture and funeral artifacts. Daily life such as field work, special events, political and social hierarchy, battles

Propaganda is hard to define as most definitions do not cover the full meaning of the word. The Webster's Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary defines propaganda as " the systematic propagation or discrediting of a given doctrine or cause by circulation of polemical material, such as posters and leaflets" (1353). However, this definition does not cover the full scope of the of the word. Terence Qualter also feels the definition for propaganda needs to be more refined for its new usage. The definition that he gives is "the deliberate attempt...(to) form, control, or alter the attitudes of other groups...(with) the use of the instruments of communication" (27-28). He goes on to say that the propaganda must be aimed at the group in general because that is the basic nature of the word, in that the most effective propaganda is the propaganda which has a large audience. Qualter does mention, however, that there need be no difference in the propaganda to persuade one and the propaganda to persuade the many (28). Germany did this by controlling the flow of information into the country.

Propaganda has many different definitions and interpretations, depending on who you ask. When the word was first created it referred to the “reproduction of plants and animals” (Fellows pg 182), gradually became used as a religious term, from the 1600s until it was rebranded to be used for military purposes during World War II. The current definition of propaganda has changed quite a bit since the origin of the word. Michael Parenti for example said that propaganda is “the mobilization to influence the mass audience.” Another quote we heard in class defining propaganda was “the deliberate attempt of a few to influence the many to manipulate the facts” (K.Khory). While there is no conscience definition of propaganda especially because the definition has changed over time, it is generally agreed on that it includes some from of influence to the public.

Propaganda, though not the most effective war time strategy, allows people to come together as one to contribute to the success of the country as a whole. However with this idea, there is also the idea that they are not whole truths being told by governments within countries. Propaganda is a form of a lie seen in both North Korea in the book Escape from Camp 14, and in one of the world’s darkest times, World War II; the world allows these lies to surface due to the fact that they do no outwardly hurt another race.

Propaganda in general is the idea of getting others to believe in one’s own beliefs. Propaganda is the “attempt to influence behavior…by affecting through the use of mass media of communications, the manner in which a mass audience perceives and ascribes meaning to the material world.”1 Propaganda was a major part of Germany’s way to brain wash people into following Hitler and his army. The theme of Hitler and Goebbels, (Paul Joseph Goebbels, was appointed Hitler’s Reichspropagandaleiter, the Nazis national director of propaganda), using propaganda, “was to merge the traditional German patriotism with Nazi ideological motifs”2, this was basically used from1919 to 1945.

Propaganda refers to when biased information is spread to influence a certain audience to promote another political opinion. Propaganda greatly influenced the home front by convincing civilians to get involved by downplaying the WW1. They came up with many ways to convince homefront to defend their country and claimed that it would be a very “swell” place to go.

The use of propaganda in wartime was not a common thing, but when it came to resources it did. Societies have used and lived with propaganda from the earliest civilizations like Ancient Greece. World War I marked a turning point for state use of propaganda both in war and during peace. One reason was That World War I was the first “Total War.” In the US many Americans were towards the use of propaganda because they needed supplies and men. So propaganda persuaded the audience with ethos or their emotions just so people can get or do what they want.

In the last paragraph or so the same message was being presented. By reading, a person would believe and accept the information on propaganda given.

Propaganda was arguably one of the most effective ways for ideas to be spread around rapidly, In his autobiography, Mien Kampf, Hitler states: “Propaganda tries to force a doctrine on the whole people….. Propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea.” It shows that Hitler understood the effectiveness of propaganda and used it to spread his anti-Semitist ideals towards the German people to create a negative image of the Jewish

Another civilization that used propaganda to control its people is ancient Egypt. Between 2450 BCE and 2250 BCE, Egyptian elders wrote documents offering advice to their successors. One of these documents was written by the pharaoh, Wahkare, to his son, and another one was written by chief advisor, Ptah-hotep, to Egyptian citizens. These documents were a form of propaganda, and they were important because they instructed Egyptians to obey their pharaohs and their superiors, keeping social order, and keeping the powerful in power. In these documents, the elders instruct their successors to “[do] right for the king until death” (Egyptian Elders’ Advice to their Successors, MyHistoryLab, P. 27). The documents sought to keep rebels and revolutionaries’ voices suppressed so that Egyptian tradition would persist and Egypt would remain powerful. The elders warn their successors that “a talker is an exciter of a city [and to] divert the multitude and suppress its heat” (Egyptian Elders’ Advice to their Successors, MyHistoryLab, P. 23). The elders insist that their successors do not listen to a man with radical new ideas, but instead “copy [their] fathers and [their] ancestors” (Egyptian Elders’ Advice to their Successors, MyHistoryLab, P. 23). These documents reveal that Egyptian elders had great love for their empire and wanted to see their traditions live on after them. In one of these documents, the elder states that “a man works for him who was before him, through a desire that

When people hear the word ‘propaganda’, a negative image automatically seems to pop up in their heads. Propaganda generally revolves around hiding the whole story with information often being provided in a biased or misleading fashion.

Propaganda is a tool for manipulating and changing the opinions people. The bases of propaganda have come forth form the modes of persuasion, Ethos, Pathos and Logos.

First, one must define propaganda and since many have done so already, I shall use the Sheryl Ross model. Her model defines propaganda as “an epistemically defective message designed with the intention to persuade a socially significant group of people on behalf of a political institution, organization, or cause.”

Propaganda, a strong and powerful word that carries quite a negative connotation nowadays. It exists since a thousand years ago, and used to be a tool that was widely used by charismatic leaders in order to rule a nation or just simply influence an audience. It is still constantly being used as a political and social mean in less obvious ways to influence people’s attitudes. By definition, propaganda is giving information that is not impartial. We usually have the Nazi propaganda in mind, or all the other war propaganda posters since it is more evident. But what about modern day propaganda?