Image Details

Pharaoh Siamun holds a prisoner by his hair with his left hand, and with his upraised right arm, prepares to strike his victim. In this relief from Tanis, a city in Lower Egypt, the left hand of the victim is raised in appeal and, in his right hand, he clutches a crescent-shaped double-bladed axe. Aegean in origin, the double-bladed axe was widely used by the Philistines. After his victory over the Philistines at Gezer, Pharaoh Siamun gave the city as part of his daughter’s dowry, to King Solomon.

The cartouche above the Pharaoh’s extended arm identifies him as Siamun.