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8/12/2019 Africa in Antiquity the Arts of Ancient Nubia and Sudan v 1
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yidamani(Cat.121),
B.C.
athorhead(C at. 93),
hcenturyB.C.
eters,CharlesM.S tern.
hf ie ld, Eli abethR ief stahl.
.
ctrumInc.
theF a lconPress.
bytheD ivisionofPublicationsandMarketingS ervices,
asternParkway,Brooklyn,NewYork11238.
nMuseum,
ynInstituteofArts andS ciences.
maybereproduced,
,
or byanymeans,
otocopying,recording,orotherwise,
n,inwriting,
aloginginPublicationD ata
nheldattheBrooklynMuseum,
er31, 1978andotherplaces.
dinde .
uit ies A ddresses, essays, lectures.
u i ti e s A d dr e ss e s, e s sa y s, l e ct u re s .
u i ti e s A d dr e ss e s, e s sa y s, l e ct u re s .
A ddresses, essays, lectures. 5. A rt-
ss e s, e s sa y s, l e ct u re s . 6. A r t N u bi a
u d a n C a ta l og s . I. B r oo k ly n
ences.Museum.
3278-10925
umeI,paperback)
umeI,clothbound)
umeII,paperback)
umeII,clothbound)
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andtheS udan
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andtheS udan
wYork,NewYork
mber31, 1978
eattle , Washington
79
fA rt, New Orleans, Louisiana
um,TheH ague,TheNetherlands
ber11,1979
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bit ion8
opulation
ack,Nilotic
haeologicalR esearch
NewK ingdom
uringthe
ingdoms
fKush:
4
reandthe
139
slandIIbeginsonpage354 ofV olumeII.
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hibit ion
useum
B erlin,
t
llery
ery )
A r t et d H i s t o ir e
ti uit ies
seum,
epartmentof
m
,
ums
ool,
andO rienta lS tudies
ua lHistory
gA gyptischerKunst
n
e lden
tandArchaeology
a
alH istory,
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useum
e rathercommonlyheld
heciv il i a t ionsof thepastisa
Wecometok now theancient
isciplinesofart history,
gy,history,andphilology,and
,almostarcanefields.
thesesub ectsby language,
nowonder,consideringthe
erylittleaboutthe ancient
nglepersonalitywillspark
throughourindifference.But
ationsofanti uityareas
ofthe farsideofthemoon.
han inAfrica.In
ehaveassumedthatinAfrica
edto E gypt,andthat
nohistoric pastbeforethe
i teenthcentury.Butthereis
shistorictimeitself,set
hepyramidsofE gyptandthe
.Thecradle ofthisculture
eoftheBlueandW hiteNiles
ican,yetoftenboth,this
editselfina harshandunyielding
trecordedhistoryitliesat
ancientworld,thenatthe
,andthen attheedgeof the
ownprehistory,itsown
ropologicalandartistic
standsat theouteredge
soacrossroads.Itis acontact
nAfricaand,eachin its
cientGreece,AncientR ome,
nthiscanvasthat stretches
heNiletothe foothillsof
ork soutitsowndestiny
andsometimesascon uerorof
ovedbythedramatic
on It isironicthatit isbare lya
consciousness.We speak,
t ionthathadabrief f lashing
morethanfivehundredyears
reat pyramidsofE gyptand
us svoyagestotheNew
usand-yearheritage.Ifsucha
ouldbetheyear7400before
inkofthe twenty-first
e.W hatareweto thinkofthe
retous thanmyth,
gdomsofR ushandMeroe.
dknowledge,ofthegrowthof
and-yearcourseofthis
cometogripswithit, tok now itin
hepeoplew hoorgani ed
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A nti uity : TheA rtsofA ncient
ndthetwo-volumepublication
owwhowillin largemeasure
ofstudyhasevo lved, toagreat
sttwenty-fiveyears.Thearea
ndR omans,butitgradually
sciousnessduringtheMiddle
the edgeoftheChristianorbit
amicworld.Notuntil the1820s
opeanadventurersande plorers
theywere followedby
k ingk now ledgeandsometreasure in
edescribedby theancient
n,WaddingtonandH anbury,
he irtrave lsto" E thiopia , asthe
uropeans,in1822,andfour
anF redericCailliaudbroughtout
suptheNile,completewith
awingsthatarestill invaluable
e,Champollion-le- eune,the
secretof E gyptian
nR osellinipenetratedupthe
econdCataractandmadethe
ubiangeographyand
camethegreatGerman
psius,whotraveledasfarsouthas
meticulousmapsanddrawings
fic approachtothestudyof the
thelastdecadesof thenineteenth
esultofpoliticalturmoil inthe
udanwerecutofffromthe
gicalinvestigation.Aslateas
rnalistcouldca lltheSudana" landof
le.
tyinNubiain the
nundertakenonanemergency
ptiangovernmentcompletedthe
ook thef irststep a lthough
etime tow ardtheult imate
eartland.E achheighteningof
dby desperateeffortstorecord
es beforetheywerelostforever
fthe Nile.In1907,whenthe
gmentthedamforthefirst time,
stG.A.R eisnerwasaskedby
epartmenttoconductasurveyof
anditwashisinvestigationsthat
classificationoftheculturesin
watersreachedtheir newlevel,
nynationshad workedin
gwhatevertheycouldasthe
alledahalt toscientific
udan,andtheunsettled
peacebroughtwerenot
atronsofarchaeological
edays, mostof thefundscamef rom
cwasmoreinterestedin the
eingmadeelsewhere inE gypt,
neandAnatolia.Themistaken
Nubianremainsrepresented
fancientE gyptiancivili ation.
he E gyptiangovernment
anD am,didthearchaeologists
atdiscoveriesof thisdecade
ed BallanaandQ ustul,where
sE meryandK irw anfoundthe
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dation, throughMrs. J eande
chprovedtobe thebuilding
ect.ThegrantallowedMr.
a llo f thema orco llectionsof
hUnitedStates, Europe, Egypt,
nsivetwo-yearreassessmentof
atabasefromwhich theentire
rnardB othmer senergy, v ision,
kenthispro ectthroughfive
ndpreparation.W hilemany
ro ect, thediversee lementsof the
ndessaysallhaveasharpnessof
hat isduetohis overall
. Hisw ill ingnessandabil ity to
rs,toworkingwithD r.W enigon
rthecatalogue,withthe authorsof
mentoftheir work,andwith
ldastheiri deasand
ndenrichedthispro ectisa
ontributiontothef ieldofart
vertheyears.
work,additionalsupport
ankersTrustCompany,Mrs.
A . J osephson, MathiasKomor, the
obertLehmanF oundation, the late
aCorporation,Mrs.H enryL .
born, C arlL . S e lden, MissA lice
sonW allacekeptthecomple
thepro ectgo ing. Weare
hoinsuredthe propertimeand
massivean undertaking.
re thefruitfulcollaborative
ttheStaatlicheMuseenzu
ntributionofDr. S tef lenWenigto
e. Hiscata loguew illsure lybea
nthefieldfor yearstocome.W e
dgeandhis dedication.H is
thecatalogue,andhisideasand
ee hibition.Underthe
o lfgangMuller, Directoro f the
taatlicheMuseenz u
leaguesinB erlinwork edsidebyside
entofthee hibition.The
edw iththescho larlyparticipation
nzu B erlin/ DD R . B utapersona l
ventoD r. E berhardB artk e,
taatlicheMuseenzu
agueandaf riend. Withouthisdeep
fthe show,theidealof
dhisdecisivesupportinthe
ration,this e hibitionwould
softhe essayswegiveour
deasand theirworktous.By
vegreatlyincreasedthe
rtantworkinthe fieldof
deedgratefultoour colleagues,
f alloftheinstitutionsin
tatesw hohavebeenso
ob ectsandallowingtheir
on.
gyptandtheD emocratic
arethemodernnation-states
softhelandof Nubia.O ur
hehadaAdam,President,
pt i an A n ti u i ti e s D r . V i c to r G ir g is ,
io n o f E g y pt i an A n ti u i ti e s D r . D i a
enera l, Museumsof theA rab
andDr. H assanElA she iry , Director,
inK hartoum,D r.NegmelD in
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ableproblemsoforgani ation
complishedduesolelyto his
o ecthasinvo lveda lmost
m sstaf f . Whilew emightw antto
tystaffmembers,itispossible
epointoranother,every
entofE gyptianandClassicalArt
d wethankthemall.Marie-
ationS pecialist,D epartmentof
a,hasmadeagreat
pmentofthedidactic materials
biansectionofthee hibition.
rardLeF rancoisunderthe
t ive , A ssistantD irectorfor
evelopment,havedeveloped
nsiveandrich community
mseverpresentedforan
ydeepenthepublice perienceand
kstoBeatriceBrailsford,who
hepreparationofthedidactic
to CatherineGrimshaw,who
correspondenceand
sthemostdifficultj obwasgiven
inatoro f theEx hibit ion. His
swillingness,andthesureness
ffectivelythrougheveryaspect
nedhimtheadmiration,respect,
of us.Asthedemandsofthe
hasgrown,and wehavegreat
mplishedforallofus.
of usatBrooklyntohave
ro ect.Itis,in manyways,an
hefinest elementsofthe
hadanysuccess,we willhave
yofa greatcivili ationinthe
eonehand,whilebringing
olsfordecadesof new
theotherhand. Suchapro ect
efirmlybasedin boththe
pularworld.The
eople,onsomanyl evels,from
vengreatermeaningto allof
fulfor theopportunity.
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w iyaNorth
a wi y a S o u th
a wi y a W e st
NyC arlesbergGlyptotek
n
MerseysideCountyMuseums
S c h oo l o f Ar c ha e ol o gy a n d O r i en t al S t u di e s
.R eisner:
shedw are
ppedredpolishedw are
k of loca lorigin, brow nonblack surface
l is h ed w ar e
inary redw arew ithw hitesliporwash
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Arikankharersmitingenemies(Cat.
nningoffirstcenturya.d.
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hatfollow,weshallbe
andsomenot-so-familiar
heS udan, andE thiopia .
senamescanbeusedwith more
manynamestheyhavemeant
ttimesin history.Tofurther
orieswhichtheydescribeare to
g. Letusbegin, therefore , by
easthatwill bedealtwithinthis
ton.
andanethnicand cultural
preciselycoincide.E thnically
ansforallpractical purposes
ile f romitsmouthtotheF irst
upstream,nearthemodern
n thisregionthattheancient
arose, morethan5,000yearsago,
lower NileV alleyhasalways
eE gyptianpeople.Politically,
usuallyincludedsome
upiedbyother,non- gyptian
itoriesincludetheR edS eaHills
eNile , aparto f theL ibyan
eNile,and,mostimportantly
hichliesbetweentheF irst
f theriver( ig. 2).
liticalentityinthe modern
nbeenso inthepast.Today
nethnicandcultural
the NileV alleywhichis
eNubianlanguages,about
tosay presently.Thesepeoples
rnneighborsoftheE gyptians,
ts floodingbytheAswan
eNile f romA sw antoapointnear
ba, atthebottomof thegreat
.Today,aboutone-thirdof
etw eentheF irstandS econd
edL owerNubia)lieswithin
gypt, while theremaining
lledUpperNubia)ispart
publico f theSudan.
eakingpeoplesoccupied
heydotoday aslateasthe
werefoundatleastas farupstream
B lueandWhiteNilesatmodern
meNubiawhenusedinmedieval
w holeof theNileV a lleybetw een
hartoumandAswan.
o fB ilades- udan, meaning
inA rabic. Initsbroadestsense,
by bothArabsandE uropeans
anf ringee tendingacrossA f rica
eR edS eacoast. A mong
-colonialAfrica,however,
diatelytothe southofE gypt
ficialname.This region,known
- gyptianS udan, has
nce,theD emocraticR epublicof
nlyS udanw ithw hichweare
it ion.
udanincludesnotonlythe
UpperNubia),butmany
ast, west, andsouth. Easto f the
esof theR edS eaHillsanda
acoast to thew estarethevast
ordofanandD arfur.Upstream
e tensivesw amplandsof the
m, thee uatoria lra inforestsof theCrea
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raphicregionsof theNilebasin.
culturalindependenceover
eredtheregion unattractive
althoughtheE gyptiansoften
forthesak eof itstributeof
nenvironmentsshare
heNile forallthenecessities
snearlytothesouthern
possibilityforhuman
iver sbank s. Smallamounts
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Nubiansasrelativenewcomers
oattributetheremainsof
i ations(A-group,C-group,
-Nubianpeoples.Infact,
toattributeeachnew
comingofanew people.
kingaccountoftheobvious
neperiodto thene t,are
erthe possibilitythatthe
orthernS udanmayhavebeen
nse fromthebeginning.
nsinthecultural sense,for
nsoftheNile basin.
graphyandPopulation
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yfeaturesofthe ancient
resofNubia(see Chapter4),
gyptianciv ili a t ionbecame
neighborsoftheNubians,
sencein Nubiaitselfalmost
Militarye peditionsintoNubia
astheEgyptianDynasty I
nasty IV (ca . 2500B . C. )there is
nminingcolonyatBuhen,nearthe
geEgyptiangarrisonsw ere
ingdom(ca.2000-1800B.C.)to
le throughthecataractregion,
ne ationoftheNew
0B.C)broughtahostofE gyptian
nto thesoutherncountry.
alofPharaonicauthority,
erseersremainedbehindinthe
theirinfluencecanstill be
turiesafterthecollapseof
.
ubiaduringtheMiddle
anclergyandmonks,and
rethenalsoallowedtoplytheir
ina lly , thecolonialanne ation
shin thenineteenthcentury
yptianmigration. Sincethe
e,theforeigncivilandmilitary
entodayE gyptianmerchants
hecommerceofthe S udan.
rtanttoourstorynot only
uponthe culturalandpolitical
tbecausesomeofthe
alremainsofancientNubia,
aractfortressesandthe
imbel,areattributable
neursareafinal group
udanisnoteworthy.TheE gyptian
2broughtina hostofGreek,
banese,andothermerchant
dantsstilldominatecertain
ay.Theyarenotbyany meansa
As farbackasthelate
0-400),thereisvery clear-cut
andGreekinfluencein
sfar upstreamasMeroe.The
soshowssignsof Greek\
Greekforseveralcenturiesas
ncetheprosperityofNubia
verylarge e tentonitsforeign
onnosurprise thatthemerchant
iterraneanhavelonghada
graphyandPopulation
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nof culturallyac uired
callyinheritedonesproduced
rousmythsthanin respectto
nineteenthcentury,scholars,
calinformationformanyparts
econtemporaryvariationsin
f reconstructingimportant
Theyassumedthatasa general
groupsofpeoplewere
yrelatedtheywerehistorically
manhistorywasseenasa process
tionwhichoccurredatthe
arlines intermsofrace,
mbodiedcontemporary
udices.InAfrica,as
meametaphysicalj ustification
tion. Whilethescientif icbasis
beendiscredited(e.g.,Collins
uchof theterminologysurvive
nterpretationsofAfrican
discussionof thephysical
eofNubia mustbeginby
othestudyof race
period mankindconsistedofa
E achof theseraceswas
dingeographicalisolation
uiringandpreservingitsown
omogeneousphysical
ealsoevolvedoneor more
esanditsowndistinctive
veragreedhowmany
wheretheyhadoriginated,
like.Most physical
pecialattentiontothreeraces
dW hiteorCaucasoid,
worMongoloid.E achwas
edoneofthe three
orld.Theconceptofpureraces
of timesuchraceshad
gledtoproducethephysically
ntermediate populationsthatareso
world.It wasalsobelieved
dbedevisedthat wouldallow
originalraces tobe
rmittheunaltereddescendants
entiatedfrompopulations
ture,evenwhenthegenetic
adbeen randomlymi edfora
2,461)hasobserved,thePlatonic
so compellingthatitresultedin
tperhapsthoseofone sow n
asbelongingtofalseraces.
ropologistsdonotbelieve
stedorthathumanpopulations
ationoverlongperiods.
n fre uencyfromoneregion
haracteristicmayincrease
tosouth, anotherw illdoso
thecentertothe periphery
ecausenatural selection
es,andindividual
dforor againstatdifferent
onsin accordancewithawide
riations.Theadaptive
haracteristicsmustbe
oryofthesecharacteristics
thereforemeaninglessto
withina rangeofcontinuous
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m,althoughperhapsafew
gyptianaverage.Most
ughstoutindividualsareby
ro,Nubiansappearas
artoum,withitsinhabitants
eS udan,theyarenot
stofthe northernS udanese
chap.2).
N O F N UB IA NR A CI A H I T O R Y
f pureraceshave
sami edracethatw as
terbreedingbetween
Negroid populations. A searlyas
ggestedthatallthepopulationsof
dintermsofa" Negroid stock in
m it i c ( C au c as o id ) s t oc k i n th e
termi turebetw eenthem
sdebatedfiercelywhetherthe
udanhadbeen" Negroid,
inf lu cominglater(Murdock 1959,
w ith" Negro id typesoverrunning
Coon1963,649-51).O thers
entofthe S udanintermsofthe
arrivalofBlacksand
esof theS ahara . S til lo thers
a" B row n race, that
yconceptuali edasintermediate
id and" Negro id types.
rtcomplicatesratherthan
ntinuumofvariation.
nill-definedandmutableconcept
embracedsuchdiverse
Mediterraneans,D ravidians,
eIndian O cean,and
ca (MacGaffey1966,3-4).
theasternAfrica were
onof race,language,and
nyingracism.Themost
cientificspeculationswasthe
pothesis, w hichattemptedto
otypefortheW hite
thenineteenthcentury.The
dentifiedasH amites,
pulationsthatmaystillbefound
TheoriginalH amiteswere
skinnedpastoralistswhowere
sq uick er-w ittedthanthedark
holivedtothesouth andwestof
ns1968, 126). Theseq ua lities
amitestopushsouthandto
elvesasaruling classamongst
centrali edgovernments
b- aharanAfricawere
iticcon uerors. Wheresuch
tandH amiticlanguageswere
mptsweremadetodemonstrate
ssometimesargued
adadoptedthelanguagesof
dthattheirownspeech had
ce.S omearbitrarilyinterpreted
eamongany groupin
evidenceofH amiticinf luence
eathatpastoralists,rather
creatorsanddisseminators
ousone,whichhad been
historicalprincipleelsewhere.It
wingwealthofarchaeological,
icdatahasshownthe
bebasedonaj umbleoferroneous
yevidence(MacGaffey1966
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t,as Adamspointsout(1977,
nfirmationofanyhistorical
logistmightwishtochampion.
I NT R P R E T A TI O N
almi ture innortheastern
somephysical anthropologists
rowingnumbernowpointout
sapproach(Greene1972 van
attermay notwhollyre ect
the humanbiologicalhistory
ethattodothisre uiresfar
ledinformationaboutphysical
slyused.Comparativedataare
tionsandovera broad
ehistoricalsignificanceof
de uatelyassessed.
encefromthesametimeperiod
otentiallymisleadingtobase
lrelationshipsupon
cientpopulationsinoneareaand
swasoftendone inthe
mayconfusesimilaritiesand
historicalrelationships
eoperationof natural
ple,farfromcertainthatthe
d traits,whichwereallegedly
tureof UpperE gyptbut
ofthe laterPredynastic
enceofasub- aharancomponent
tE gypt(vanGervenetal.
woulddistributegenes
ationratherthanconserving
sters.Itis alsofarfromcertain
n,suchasprognathism,which
eavydevelopmentofthemuscles
agnosticofa specific
ebeentraitsthat wereselected
nceonagriculturealtered
irection ofnaturalselection
nofPredynasticE gypt.v
Africahavesufficient
permitadetailed
calhistoryofthe region.The
bledatabyBatrawi(1945-46),
1955,85)revealsnoevidenceof
nphysicaltypein thehistory
,theirstudiessuggestthata
yingandremarkablystable,
habitedL owerNubiafromat
ent.The populationofthe
ubiawas alsoofthistypeas, on
a lev idencef romE lK urru, the
arstohavebeen.W hilethe
romMeroitictimesonward
lyrangingcontacts,the
rablylessthanisattestedfor
istianE ra(Batrawi1945-46,
allyattestedsettlementin
ans,Copts,Arabbedouin,and
iesf romthenorthandofslaves
psfromthesouth,Nubia has
atis characteristicofthemiddle
belabelednorthernS udanese.
edNubian,providedthat
dinageographical,ratherthan
ethnic,sense(Trigger1965,
archaeologistsfamiliarwith
esthatinancienttimesthe
muchthe sameasitis todayin
hinnie1967,154-55).
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ofancientE gyptian
eteenthcenturyandthe
ntinE gyptianstudies,knowledge
NubiaandtheS udanw as
writingsofthe Greeksand
ecclesiastics,andespeciallyof
ers.Theperiodscoveredby
Meroiticand theMedieval,
theaccountsof thelands
ctandthepeoplesinhabiting
ntradition.Thedevelopmentof
onhasopenedtousnewareas
all,archaeologyhasrevealed
tionsoftheUpperNile,whose
cteduntilmoderntimes. O nthe
yofarchaeological
thegreatAfricancontinent
N
otheGreeksalmostfromthe
nceinhistory.Asearlyas the
susedtheterm Aethiopia
urntF aces )todescribenotonly the
butmostofAfrica. Thewords
t h io p ia n , a s t he y oc c ur i n e ar l y
ethnicor geographical
E thiopian w asneverapplied
es,butbecausethesepeople
eristicswhichtheGreeks
opians w ritersof theC lassicalera
thiopiansandcalledtheir
g. 16).
specificsense that
Ethiopia intheS udan, describing
anditsrelationswith thePersians,
t in525B. C . ThePto lemies, through
betterinformedaboutthe
gypt theyac uiredsome
ofthepeople,their kingsand
nformationhascomedownto
orusSiculus(ca . 40B. C . )and
oq uoteearlierauthors.TheGreek
atinwriters,includingS eneca
E lder(a.d.24-79),andmany
ntury a.d.,whoseworks
information.Christianand
oteabouttheK ingdomofMeroe
eworksofJ osephus(first
Africanus(ca.a.d.220),who
Manetho slosthistoryofEgypt,
ethird centuryB.C.,in
w asreferredtoasan" E thiopian
anmissionaries,
B.C.),Priscus(fl.ca.a.d.100-
27-65)wroteaboutNubia,its
nsandwiththeBlemmyesinthe37
ompetitionbetweenChristiansects
fNubiaand theS udan
ohnofEphesus, asi th-century
ecclesiasticalhistorythat
ionofthe countryintothe
,Makuria,andAlwaand
whoarealsomentionedinlater
ndriansources(V antini1970, 49f f. ) .
sto fEgyptina . d. 641andthe
slam, NubiaandtheS udan
ofArab writers,whooffera
mationaboutNubia,whichby
aandAlwa,that is,thearea
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ntheNubianmonumentsand
chinitiatedaseries entitled
sde laNubie, w hichw as
anA nti uit iesServ ice . Thus,
numberoftemplesbelonging
history fromthePharaonic,
iodswerestudiedbyE nglish,
olars,includingthetemplesof
sa , Dendur, Dak k a, Wadies- ebua,
pigraphic,iconographic,
cordedinthese studieswereof
ptology theynotonlyincreased
ryofNubia duringthe
periodsbut alsoemphasi ed
the historyofancient
edwith initiating
gicalinvestigation,namely
whenhecommissionedA.
iesofsurveysinL ow erNubia .
veyin 1906(Weigall 1907),using
ttempttolocate anddescribe
andotherremains,andtoput
der.H edrewattentiontothe
theC-group,whichPetrie
re.H isremarksandnotes
ortancetolaterscholars( mery
ougharchaeologicalsurvey,
ctmostprofoundlythe
ogicalinvestigationinNubia,
. G. L yons, whocamenotf rom
iesS erv icebutf romtheMinistry
whentheE gyptiangovernment
eighto f theA sw anDam, L yons,
f theSurveyDepartment,
tanarchaeologicalsurveyofthe
eresultso fR e isner sw ork
tudy ofNubianhistory,its
roups.Theable archaeologists
erincludedC . F irth,
esasassistantarchaeologists,
ndD . D erryasphysical
bothR eisnerandEll io tS mith
secondseason(1909),thework
mentofthisteamwasthe
onofforty-fourcemeteriesanda
nparticularIkkurand
eentheF irstC ataractandWadi
tedbythefirst heightening
07-12. R e isnerobservedthe
sandgatheredthesevariations
roupdesignatedby a
orane planationofR e isner s
pp. 12-13. )Thusw asdevelopedthe
ce:A-group,B-group,C-group,
werewiselyleftunused
coveries).Thisse uence,which
me, isessentiallyparallel
uence inEgypt, butthe
clonly theNubian" groups
ature.
koftheArchaeological
peditionsw ereactive inthe
ersityofPennsylvania,the
nior, E x peditiontoNubiae cavated
in1908-10,itworked
at K aranogandS hablul,and
chesin L owerNubiaby
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vesurveyofNubiancultures
mdoeslittlemorethan
nedatverydifferentlevels
E gypt.Comparisonreveals
aculturally advanced,
t io n t h e E g y pt i an a n d t h e
nate Nubiancultures. H istoric
socio-economicorgani ation
tion,awell-documentedand
eliefsandpractices,
callyaccomplishedart
eis lesseasilyreconstructible,
althe peoplesofthe
nloosetribalunits ratherthan
re lative ly simplere ligiouslif e (at
e pressioninsurviv ingmateria l
elyrestrictiveinthee pression
nd ideals.When relatively
appearin Nubiaduring
mB.C.,theyareclearly
eifvaryingdegrees,upon
, function, andtechni ue.
nsindepthandinterest
nq uestionswhichare
conte tofthis volume.
Nubia inEgypt, the long
thetwocultures,the
theNubianpopulation,and
andinferiorqua lityo f its
a andespecia lly Low er
memuchearlierameree tensionof
eansw erliesintheR iverNile ,
cticable routebetween
interland theF irstC ataract
asbeenama orethnicand
trecordedhistory.In
oushere,distinctiveNubian
1600B.C.in L ower
eWadiHa lfa / S econd
. F urther, w hy despite
didtheNubians" fa il
etofindigenousart forms
ptianmodesofartistic
pcationsof thisproblemarenot
ethnographicrecordsreveal
ple societiesthatdidnot,
ducewhatwe would
ms(statuaryorat least
onalforms,large-scale
dthe adoptionofalienart
thedevelopmentof
ess,intermsofanyspecific
,the q uestionisof
cdocumentationon
eoutlined.Archaeologically,
tyin Nubiacanbetraced
utfor ourpurposes
thefourthto themiddleof
C.Thedatafallinto two,
blesets fortheentirespan
alrecordofboth E gyptand
00yearswehaveE gyptian
biaandthe Nubians.Thebasic
dtopographicalfacts
resummari edinF ig. 25,
lanatoryandre uiresonlya
atternofNubian
berthatwearedealing
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(A W AN )
A
rr y
ntheO ldK ingdom.
ghtto haveterminated
ynasty I(ca . 3000B . C .), a t
yptianartifactscease
ow ever, asimilarcessationin
arkedtheendofindigenous
otofcultural e tinction,
-group,undergoing
ce, surv ivedintotheOld
struethatthe B -group,
heddescendantofthe
obean archaeological
anunpublishedcollection
erdsfromtheO ldK ingdom
nlydepositedtherewhile
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atis,during D ynasties
bethatthedepositionw as
terialcamefroman earlier
lement,butnotracesof
ominanttypologicalfeatures
f fromboththe" Classic
oup.
ddeclineincultural
ecreaseor displacementof
on. Thene tL ow erNubian
cannotdateearlierthan
Iandappearstobe intrusive , inthat
theA-groupcannotbe
ginoftheC-groupis
nprevailingenvironmental
hthavecomefromnow
orwestorfromUpper
E arlier K ermaculturedoes
detailedresemblances
perdateremainsuncertain.
hecharacteristicassemblage
outhern)UpperNubia
ingdomtoearlyDynasty
991to1551b.C . Itsposit ionon
alandre uirescomment.
macultureisfirmlydatedto the
dIntermediatePeriod
ciatedE gyptianartifacts.The
culture isusua llydatedaf terthis
arlierK ermaculture sstrong
ypes,burialcustoms,
swiththeC-group,which
an characterbyabout1600
cttheinevitablerepercussions
occupationofUpperNubia
rsedrelativechronology
arlierK ermaculture ,
aandS ai, hassofarbeen
melysummaryform.
ureincludesseveral
ogyinE gyptiantermsis
otheL aterassemblage
spondinparttothe Middle
back toDynastyV I. E gyptian
refound atK erma,but
ctassociationwitheither
semblage.H owever,
under thestrongE gyptian
dtothecultural discontinuity
ps,theUpperNubian
t leasttheoreticallypossible.
ig.25)isan intrusive
dL ow erNubiaandiscerta inly
Periodsampleofthematerial
henomadicinhabitants
rt,wheretherainfall ofthe
w ayssupportedasignificant
torygoesback totheOld
plorationinthedesert
torecoverearlierMed ay
ablishthe significanceof
dtotheriverineculturesbut
rdatandtheWadiHow ar.
ascompleted(ca.D ynasty
itionspermittedsignificant
ntactinareasofnow
groupandtheearlier
vehadimportantlinks
s,whiletheYamites,
NubiainD ynastyV I,
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te fourthmillenniumB.C.
litaryevents.
esharpenedthedifferences,
vitalarea ofcommunication.
wasan" intermediate l inguistic
gyptandNubiathatfacilitated
entofawrittenform of
B.C.musthaveincreasingly
E gyptianlanguage,
isconte tifthe vocabulary
enpermanenceandsymbolic
NorthernorMiddlerather
lects.Politicalhistoryisrelevant
arlyD ynasticE gyptclearly
e panding,competitive
mostpartofE gypt,wherein
pmaterial,wasincorporated
talate date.Throughout
210years)theregionof Ta-sety
ndthistoponymprobably
ernmostE gyptandnot,as
o.Thegradualassimilationof
re inforcedthesignificanceof
oliticalandstrategicaswell
e.
bianculturesweresufficiently
nsof aesthetice pression
ryasto suggestamentalbias
hibited thedevelopment
bias cannotnowberecovered.
nartwasnotentirelyrestricted
unctions,andtheNubian
gyptianartformswasboth
isthereforeusefultoe amine
ibitedor stimulatedthe
t.
pstherewasarelatively
,geometricdesigns
yonincised(Cats.27-40),
rouponly)paintedwares
andinsimplerformonoccasiona l
dinC-groupbeadwork.
ofthese designsin
kpatterns,theirrestrictionto
calor decorativeuse,and
nceofnaturalisticmotifs
s geometrictraditionwas
noneofthe symbolic
allyabstractpatternshave
ad veryrestricted
,highlyschematichuman
F ig. 29)occurinboth
ttle , goats , ante lope )
in theC-group(Cats.
everysmallin scale,madeof
rangedin onlythesimplest
, the irverye istenceandthe
chthey areusuallyfound
orethandecorative
resting" naturalistic tradition
p.O naveryspecific class
dinbothfuneraryand
incisedsimple,somewhat
esofhumans,birds,cattle,and
ometimesarrangedin
sbutalsooccurin rather
d" scenes. Sim ilarf iguresinthe
scaleareincised," pecked,
nteduponboulderorcliff
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atedwithanystrikingdevelopments
rd. " E gyptiani ation w as
tlybecausetherewereno
itabout.Nubiansentered
andvoluntaryimmigrantsand
wereassimilatedratherthan
heOldK ingdomcentersofL ow er
d,therewasnoE gyptian
estointeractwith. The
sstimulatednoartisticinitiatives,
ttery,beads,metalweapons),
ulets,whichthe Nubians
.
rNubiaintheMiddle
tablishmentofanumberof
ivelydecreasedNubianaccessto
dconceptsandinhibited
opment.TheC-grouppeople,
fromlivingin thefortresstowns,
aditionalmaterialculture
uralisticfiguresonpottery
bstractdesignsdrawnfromthe
dition.InD ynastyX III,
easedtorotateandbecame
increasinglyunabletorelyon
gyptandcompelledtherefore
thesurroundingC-group
ifactsagainappearamongst
tremelylargetombsof
eemergenceofanindigenouselite.
,theintensityandintimacyofthe
pearanceofthe indigenous
dlytoE gyptiancustomsand
heS econdIntermediate
stmostof itsdistinctive
yNewK ingdomwefindthe
ofW awatindistinguishable
ryE gypt.
ush hadadifferenthistory . Its
cesweregreater,andE gyptian
andintense.D uringthe
iteswerepermittedtoenter
purposes,butpenetrated
anceandfor alimitedperiod
lE gyptianraidsintoK ushwere
byanypermanentorq uasi-
efthataMiddleK ingdom
ermaitse lfdependsbasica lly
hatsite,which,likemuchother
althere,mayinfacthavebeen
entindetailupon the
until it isfullypublished butthe
emelyimportantdevelopments.
growthofpo lit ica lcentra li a tion,
sdevelopmentalthough
ofE gypt scontemporary
aburia lno . 48, C emeteryMatKerma.
econdIntermediatePeriod(1785-
art ofUpperNubiaand
erNubiawereunderthecontrol
ushitedynasty,thestatusand
gsymboli edbytheirenormous
Thematerialcultureofthis
sdistinctive lyNubiananddirectly -
rphase.Burialcustomsincluded
animalsacrifice graveswere
ntedbyearthentumuli( ig.
potterywasablack-toppedred
he Nubianculturesbut
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onichistory,alittlebefore
gyptturnedtheireyestowardthe
s wastheregionbeyondthe
handthefirst nomeofUpper
yenoughwascalledTa-sety,
erritorybeyondAswanand
wherethebarterforcovetedivory
asbeyondthebarrierofthe
Intothisinhospitableregion
edtheirtrade andinfluenceto
ubia,whichwasthen
yknowntodayas theA-group.
rstandS econdCataracts,
mes,havebeenfoundvessels
rtedfromE gypt,which
fcommercialrelationsbetween
eighbors.Itseems,however,
otalwayspeaceful,for
w horuledEgyptatthevery
ecordsavictory overTa-sety,
j er, ahard- to -readrock
hSuliman, oppositeWadi
thatE gyptianraidingparties
rastheS econdCataract( ig.
attributetotheseraids the
nctionoftheA-groupculture
ldK ingdom(ca. 2650-2150'
pedit ionsintoNubiaona large
edsof S nofru,thefounderof
rerecordedonthePa lermoS tone,
uring whichthekingtook
andbroughtbacktoE gypta
e.AtBuhen,nearW adiH alfa,
edtheremainsofaninstallation
ldK ingdomonthebasiso f
ealimpressionsbearingthe
nrulers.Thatthissitewas
aohsis indicatedbythe
ry.
alsopenetratedto the
biandesertwest ofToshka,
ne-grainedstoneforthe
esses.CertaingraffitiatTomas
satK ulb, j ustsouthof the
rhapsattributabletoq uarrying
ceofO ldK ingdomrulers the
uthernmostrecordsyet foundof
ubiaduringtheOldK ingdom.
yptianho ldonL ow erNubia
PepyI senttoAsiaunderthe
enywerecontingentsfrom
es,andduringthefollowing
edanE gyptiane pedition
heNubianq uarriesfinestone
epyramidiondestinedfor the
er.Atthattime,W enysupervised
blechannelsthroughtheF irst
himselfmadeaj ourneyto
hehomageofNubianchieftains.
onsatTomasandthosein
E lephantineindicatethatall
wasnecessaryto" opentheroad
metimes,asPepynakhtreports
ombatwiththeNubians.The
ecordlonge peditionslasting
netratedasfarasYam,perhaps
ongolalaterknownasIrm.In
palitieslocatedin theNile
edalongthesandytrailsbordering
e liststhegoodsac uiredbyhis
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srisIII(1878-1842B . C .)smitinganenemy,
ast(afterS impson1963).
ertainE gyptiancustoms
tance,e periencedan
region,thereweresignsof
ekenenra-Taaandafterhim
eforliberation.In ordertotake
ovement,theHyksosK ingAa-
alliancewiththeK ushites.The
er1916b),withitste t
romance, hasrecentlyac uireda
lcontentinscribed onalarge
eearthat K arnakin1954
w ereadthatthefo llow ersof
emissaryoftheH yksoskingen
theresultthatthe urgentmessage
destination.K amose,withthe
essfullyroutedtheenemy,paving
hmose,whofinally took
scapitalatAvarisand drovethe
dedD ynastyX V IIIand
NewK ingdom(1551-1080
gyptiansdrivenouttheH yk sos
recon uesto f thesouth. Weare
mpaignsofAhmoseandhis
stoone Ahmes,sonofIbana,
edonthe wallsofhistombat
to-speak , a" marine, w ho
cessivestagesofhis long
eautobiographyheleftandfrom
wL owerNubiacameonce
ntrol.CartouchesofK amoseand
ockinscriptionsat Arminna.
Buhen,northofthegreat
s hissonA menhotepIle f this
veriesontheIslandofSa i a
withthe nameofhiswife
A menhotepI suggestthat
tyX V IIIoccupiedthatisland
aract.H oweverthatmaybe,
nthecoloni ationofallNubia
w nas" K ing sS onofK ush
outhernL ands. Thef irst
seems,acertainTuri,who
ndantofthefortressofBuhen.
underTuthmosisI.At
ngtherocksof theBatnel
countingtheboats thatw ent
salwayspossible),anda
srecentlybeendiscoveredat
to thesouth,TuthmosisI
hirdCataract,thus openingthe
ongola,andsuddenlythe
apsed.Well beyondthispoint,a
gus,aboutfiftykilometerssouth
s, forthefirstt imeinE gyptian
adirectroute towardthe
gyptinNubiaduringthe
ingdoms
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gyptianDynastyX X I, at
C . , Egypt sdominionoverNubia
tuntilaround900B.C.that
dtheformerEgyptianterritory, a
nethehistoryof theNile
ataracttobeyondK hartoumfor
ears.Thispower,calledthe
Meroe,isalso knownasthe
enameorigina llygivenby the
nterritoriesandlater adopted,
lE gyptiandesignations,bythe
omofK ushisdivided
tanPeriod,lastinguntil
roiticPeriod,e isting
mtowardtheyeara.d.320.
changesinthesocio-economic
e kingdom,forwhichwe
wingevidence:
lcemeteryfromtheregion
rthCataract,toMeroe,above
gyptianastheonlywritten
anguageofthepeoplewho had
ncefromthebeginning.
ndigenouscultural
rceptionwhichin thepasthad
ressioninofficialreligionandart.
oftheNapatanPeriodare
cemeteriesnearNapata( l
9), thecemetery formembersof the
rclassatMeroe( outhand
eries),andthecemeteryofthecity
deof Napata,havebeen
emplesitesatNapata(Gebel
,andTebo,ontheIslandof Argo
themostimportantof them havea lso
ourseof thesee cavations, aseries
storicalnaturewrittenin
ight. Thesef inds togetherw ith
ons,from templereliefsand
enabledustodeterminetheprobable
cumstancesoftheir ascentto
tionshipswithinthedynasty.
edinformationregarding
econstructions,and
gods.Inshort,it hasenabledus
omplete ly " E gyptiani ed
eofficialreligion.O ntheother
mostnoinformation
socialstructure oftheordinary
ttleaboutpropertyrightsor
on.Wehavelearnedalmost
micfoundationsofthestate,
heo ldestorgani ed" A f rican
reover,weknowhardly
alandspiritualcultureof large
on. Weareac ua intedw ith
northe artisticproductivityof
ir settlementsorcemeteries
d.
dyofthis periodarenotvery
mporaryruleofthekingsof
epharaohsintheeighth and
ultedinnumerousconstructions
s verylittleaboutconditions
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ugglesofthegreatMediterranean
ani sreportofhisE gyptian
apata,theinscriptionsofthe
abso lutesilenceonthesub ectof
ithEgyptor, indeed, w ithanyother
emoreregrettable,sinceit
ee tenttowhichcontinuing
orthshould betakeninto
gtheculturalandartistic
ngthethreecenturies
shiterule inE gyptended, the
mpttobanishall memoryofits
f thepharaohsofDynastyX X V
emonumentsandgenerally
amtikII (595-589b.c),and
ereremovedfromtheheadsof
heimmediatecauseforthis
ke outintheyear591 b.C.
anversion,PsamtikIIsentan
tthemilitaryplansofthe
wntestimonyregardingthis
egraffitiof Greek,Carian,
esonthelegof oneofthe
oreinformationisprovidedby
gyptianking.Accordingtoone
h,unfortunately,isvery
anis, C airo J E 67095: S auneron
abattleoccurrednearasmall
nceof theq ore w ho" w asthere
eof theKushitek ing). The
usinthisbattle , andtheqore
oe.Itremainsuncertain
ptianarmyadvancedasfaras
dwasresponsiblefor the
fK ushitekingsandforthe
sin thetemplesatthatplace.
asecondinscription(stelae in
bsha: S auneron Yoyotte
bo,whichislocatedto
aract,wasreachedbythe
abattleensued.Thestelae call
avorableconditionsofthe
urageofthe K ushites,ofwhom
.PresumablytheK ushiteswere
theplainsof D ongola.
rcausesthatcontributed
E gyptandK ush.Accordingto
tus2.30),amutinousE gyptian
lephantineto" E thiopia
at thetimeofPsamtik1
velersofPtolemaictimesclaim
scendantsof thisgarrison
farthertothesoutheast.
s,whichare both
thePersianK ingCambyses
acampaignagainst" E thiopia
gyptin525B . C. H erodotus
wasingreatpartdestroyed
sions,andthattherefore
trabo(17.1.54)mentionsthe
brimasthe regionwherethe
edbyasandstorm.O therGreek
seswasthefounderof
mpletelyimpossible.
lersassociatedindividual
V alleywithCambyses,
" storehousesofCambyses
rNubiacanhavefallenintoa
edependenceuponthePersian
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stermarriagewascustomary,asit
sonsofak ingac uirea legit imate
trilinearorder ofsuccession
understandcertainte ts,
fTahar ow hichclaimthatKing
Amuntoconfersovereignty
sisters(amongthem, Tahar o s
ara sow nchildren( te lae
enhagenNCG1712).Anlamani
ehalfofhismother sdescendants
G1709).Inhiscoronationreport
866 F ig. 57), Aspe ltarendersan
cestorsthroughseven
of theking,inwhichthe
candidateplayeda part.Thisfact
s(H erodotus,S trabo,
thatthesuccessor tothethrone
dmostpowerfulman,therichest
edinanimalhusbandry . Welearn
fromthe K ushiteinscriptions
vealthatascensiontothe
nat whichaconvocationof
m towhatwasatleasta formal
ntlymentionedinscriptionof
awa,whichunfortunatelyis
bestheprocedureindetail.At
armyconvenesandproceedsto
enceofa leaderislamentedto
sametime,asuccessorisnamed
toplacehimonthethrone. The
dthenewking,who as" an
ongthek ing sbrothers, isledinto
eseehere isquiteclearlya
neinwhichthesuccessor still
ythearmy,evidentlya
tablemembersofthe
bdicatedits righttovote
cisionofthegodAmun of
a, C a iro J E 48866). Of course , this
stsight onlyanotherformof
havehadnothingtodowith
epriesthoodas" kingmaker.
eportthat" inancienttimes
onseveraloccasionseven
nthroughsuicide( trabo
odorus3.5,thepriestsfirstselected
sofsuitablecandidatesandthen
woneof themwithsovereign
ceofthe priestsissaidto have
mewhichcoincidedwith
icPeriod (seepp.94-95),a
usthavee istedwithinthe
lethat amovetowardending
lphaseof theNapatanPeriod,
ntedinthetemporarytransfer
ectlyto GebelBarkal(seep.
selvesyieldonlyvague
ensays, fore ample , thathehadbeen
ofNapata(C at. 72).
throneinMeroe,theking
ona" coronationjourney . He
d proceedfromtheretoK awa
n hisroute,hewouldpresent
efurnishedbythemwith
dpower.Thecoronation
noccasiononwhichcommissions
ationofplaces ofworship.It
processionroute,forinstance,
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a idedthek ingincultfunctionsandwere
yleadership.O thertitlesof
st ime amongthemw ere" Princeof
n e o f H i s M a e s ty o r " G r e a t Ma n
Thentherew erea lsow holeseriesof
eadSea l-B earero f theR oya l
c r i b e of K u s h, t h e " R o y al S c r ib e
aarySuperintendent, andso
f thistypehadE gyptiannames
te laLouv reC 257).
dministrativeorgani ation
country.The inscriptions
butitremainsamattero fdebate
rried thesamemeaningasit
w thatasonofP iyehadbeena
anda (aplacewhoseprecise
the" tw orebell iousslaves in
oughtbyH arsiyotef(seep.80),
cname.We mayassumethat
pondingtothatof high-level
nlaterMeroitictimes
nlythose groupsactivein
ficialcults.Theyweredivided
customary inEgypt. A te t
am( te laLouv reC 257)mentions
t" servantofgod (highpriest).
antofgodisnot mentioned,and
asregardedasthe holderof
hew ordofgod, sevenw af t-
erydaycultobservances),three
howereperhapsentrustedwiththe
roperty),anda" templescribe
v rete t.
thetemplepersonnel.In
pata,S anam,K awa,andTebo,
thepositionof " sistrum
chhedispensedtohissisters( te la
neofthesesistersbecamethe
Aspeltalater becameking,he
creeto anothersister( tela
l,the sovereignappearstohave
owerto establishanddisposeof
d onthestelaofan unknown
gingtoDynastyX X V (C a iro J E
wopriestlyfamiliesfromtheir
madeamurderousattempt" on
adnotcommittedacrime. If the
ple,especiallyduringhis
ashewhoconductedthe religious
t imageofthedeityin
ike-Amanote,K awaIX ).
ptions,nosubordinationof
canbeestablished.Asin E gypt,
consideredtobethe highest
ypriestandpartnerof thegods.
cyofthepriesthood,whichhas
asprobablyaresultofthe close
ntheNapatanmonarchyandthe
blypriestsalone whopossessed
dcounselinanideologythat
inthe peopleitself.S ince
languageand,therefore,alsoof
probablylimitedto thepriests,
ethatE gyptiansw eremembersof
ng time.O fthefifteenpersons
TempleofS anam,four
mes.
hepoliticalfunctionofthe
f thek ing. Thisfunctionisonly
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iodof theK ingdomofK ushis
t spanstheyearsfromabout
and ischaracteri edbyseveral
decisivechangestook
ansferofthe royalcemetery
r Napatatoasitein thevicinity
dbementionedfirst because
ficance,althoughfurther
e pla inthecircumstancesthat
owingthistransfer,theMeroites
stsmoreto thesouthernpart
ytotheregion ofthe islandof
stheButana.Asaresult of
senteredthemarkedly
cultureof thestateandcourt, in
ass. O nthebasisof our
eunabletodeterminewhether
angesinsocial structuretook
s whichwoulddistinguishthis
eriod.Theroleof theruling
ansmissionofofficesthrough
sclearlyvisibleonlyat alater
rNubia.Thatthesephenomena
wever,maybeduemerelytothe
tersourcesavailabletous.
e,cattlebreedingbecomes
x cavationsinthecityof Meroe
mals,suchas sheepand
acedbycattleasthe basisof
presentationsofcattle,
eTempleofA pedemak at
ig. 60), pictureapow erfuland
aspermitsusto surmisethata
nghad takentheplaceofmere
sarepicturedwearingwide
eofleather,fromwhichbellsare
oyedgreatprestigeandmust
roleinthe templecult.
dthattheMeroiteswere
mingAfricanelephantsandthat
militarycampaigns( ig.61).
mcan betracedbacktothe
directlytoIndianinfluenceis a
hanthadgreatsignificancein
awwarates- ufra,whereit
ntedinreliefandsculpture.It was
cturalelementin templedesign,
tioningascolumnbases(V ol.
hantplayeda partincult
eorigin ofthisroleand its
unknown.Inanyevent,we see
characteristicthatdid not
imaticconditionsofthe
emofreservoirs(hafirs)was
hcattleherdingand,to a
ationoffieldsawayfromthe Nile
esebasin-shapedhafirswere
ngtheearthandpilingitupinan
entwithanintake,sothat
hewaterscould streamintothe
tpossibledrainagearea.S ome
argeandcertainly re uiredthe
rablenumberof workersfor
ntenance.Thelargehafirof
ore ample , hasadiameterof
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rguedthatMeroiticwriting
s preciselyinitsmethodof
icdiffersfundamentallyfrom
syllabicsystem,inwhichevery
nantplusthevowela,e cept
symbolindicatingthevowel/ ,o,
elaitselfappearsonly atthe
rthesyllablesne,se, te,andto,
s.Ifaconsonantlacks avowel
resentedbyane thesigne
.In itsuseofa symbolto
criptisnot onlydistinguished
reek.TheMeroiticsystemof
o theoldPersiancuneiform
ofnotatingvowelsandinits
n.W edonotknowwhether
lycoincidental.
yB.C.on,theMeroitic
erlybeenonlyaspokentongue
a lmoste clusive lyasthewritten
thereare,unfortunately,no
videuswith accessto
erylittleofthe language.We
Meroiticscriptwithout
f irstdecipheredbyF . I. Grif fith
wthe meaningofwhatweread,
very few w ordsandphrases. A sa
iticinscriptionsinour
yto alimitede tentinmaking
Meroiticisnota H amito-
c )languageandtherefore isnot
n. V ariousattemptshavebeen
ne oftheotherwell-known
es,forif suchkinshipcouldbe
ficantaidindecodingthe
nately,theseeffortshavenot
esults.
Period oftheK ingdomof
thefollowingmainstages:A
0to270 B.C.)betweenthe
roiticPeriodis followedby
om270 to90B.C.) themiddle
C.tothe thresholdofthe
helateMeroit icPeriod(f romthe
ratoappro imatelya . d. 350).
NA S TAG
B.C.,Gen27)wasthelast
Afterhis interment,theroyal
totheoppositebankofthe Nile,
gyptiansaswellasthe
o lyMountain, andatthefooto f
eof Amun.F oratleastthree
meteryremainedatGebel
GreatTemple.Although
4,15)thataredefinitelyofthis
here,inscriptionsofseveral
imatelythesametime
awa.Theseinscriptionsare
er,andthereforelargely
theless,wedoknowthatthey
nandbe uestsforsacrifices.
edin thepyramidgroupat
slyclassifiedbyscholarsas
Mero it icC o-Dynasty inNapata . It
ngdomofKushw asatthist ime
patan)territorywithits
uthern(Meroitic)territorywith
am(inD unham1957)wasthe
hich datesbacktoR eisner
lie f thataF irstMero it icC o-
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ingA rnek hamani(235-218B . c.), f rom
e ApedemakTempleatMusawwarat
dthescepterare notE gyptian
C ats. 135, 137). Theprincipalgods
roiticgods:thelion-headed
dprotectivede ity ( ig. 70 C at.
dedS ebiumeker,agodofpeace
on( )andsuccessor,
sII, 218-200B . C ., Gen. 37), w ho
.N.7, goodrelationswith
tlypersisted. A r amanij o ined
ngtemplesinPhilaeand inthe
dekashoinos).AtPhilae,blocks
sIIformpartofthe southern
Arensnuphisbuilt byPtolemy
pelbegunbyErgamenesIIw as
, andblock sbearinghisname
bsha.
ofthese constructionsin
ete lyEgyptianinsty le . K ing
.C.,Gen.38),whowasprobably
enesII,causedachapelof Isisto
oneofits inscriptions,heterms
demak.
edtoasthe D odekashoinos
ssouthf romS yene(Asw an)to
harra a). Ithadbeensub ect
ionsinceatleastthesi th
inedtow hatw asthenEgypt s
aborderz one.Philae,withits
uscenterofthis territory.The
eatcommercialimportance,for
heimportantgoldminesofW adi
rnD esert. ThefactthatMeroit ic
programsinthisborder area
ane pressionofthemarkedly
istedbetweentheMeroitesand
owever,sufferedaserious
(205-180B.C.).Thiskinghad
nrebellionsin UpperE gypt
fhis reign,anditis altogether
resupportedby the
lemyV ,aftersuppressing
acampaignagainstK ush,
evercametofruition.The
menesIIinscribedatPhilaewere
ayinaccordancewithacommon
timatelythePtolemaicsphereof
pasttheTwelve-MileStripintoa
eS trip(Triakontashoinos)
ndof theS econdCataract.
.)establishedpermanent
andprobablyalsonearBuhen.
C.)embarkeduponintensive
tKa labsha. ThenameofQueen
50B.C.,Gen.41,buriedin Pyramid
oitic hieroglyphsonatemple
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wasneverthelessdeclaredaR oman
ecuredR omanaccesstothe
a i. A f terthesuicideofhis
/25B.C.,AeliusGallus,the
wasgiventhespecialmissionof
E thiopia (thatis, theK ingdom
gthetraderoutesfromIndia and
mancontrol.Butwhilethe
efirst ofthesemissions,a
Arabiain25 B.C.,theMeroites
con ueredPhilae,Aswan,and
4b.C.They defeatedthethree
dinthisdistrict, plundered
statuesof Augustusthathad
n eheadofA ugustus
F ig. 73), foundinMeroe, is
tytakenduringthiscampaign.
sweredrivenoutofAswan
ronius,whonowheldtheoffice
gypt.Accordingtoadetailedreport
pherS trabo(17.53-54),the
dfartothesouth andfinally
htheywithdrewagaintothe
rrison inQ asrIbrim(Primis),
roftheR omanE mpirenowlay.
arenewedattempttose i e
toforestalltheir efforts.
gotiationswerebegunbetween
oites.Thelattersent mediators
in S amos,andintheyear
wasconcludedwhichwas
Meroites:thesouthernpartof
udingPrimis,wasevacuatedby
ro itesw eree emptedf rom
theotherhand, theR omans
odekashoinosasamilitary
ntiernow laynearHiere
a).Thisarrangementcontinued
nturya.d.,therelations
manE gyptremaininggenerally
nlytheE mperorNero(a.d.
nneda campaignagainst
enevere ecuted. Inorderto
hadsentout twoe peditions
cesof theNile ; e tractsf romtheir
edbyS eneca(Nat.Q uaest.6.8.3)
9 seea lsoHint e1959, 28).
mPetroniuswas
allyassumedto havebeen
heandPrinceAkinidadleft behind
earing Meroiticinscriptions,
ondon(BM1550).Theyalsoleft
kka,asmentionedabove.
idad snamewasrecently
m ( o n do n BM x x x x x ) . I t na m es
ueenAmanishakheto(Gen.
successorof Amanirenas.
comprehendthecontent of
theire istencenevertheless
ncetoprovethat Prince
onnectedwithL ower
rsonknowntohaveborne
ghtit lesofpa or, " prince, and
w erNubia).
O ITICP R IO D
G IN NI NG O F T H E C H R I T IA NE R A TO
Y a . d. 3 2 0)
tedappro imatelythree
began withK ingNatakamani
22),whowas probablythe
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eMeroites,butthehighest
term derivedfromE gyptian.
yotherpriestlytitleswhichare
entlymentionedgroupsarethe
riestsofthegodA manapa,who
apata.Priestsof thegod
Thenameofthis god,whois
bia,hasbeenassociatedwiththe
masil, w hichmeans" sun. It is
Isisarehardlyevermentioned.
singlereferenceto thegod
tanceinMeroewasverygreat.
ofthisdivinityisfound ona
er1970,27).
officeswereheldby
roiticfamiliesand inherited
Indeed,theentire
haverestedinthehands ofa
Meroiticfamilies,who
inavery limitednumberof
epeople,however,seemto
,perhapsNubian,descentand
istrationofthecountry.
betweenthe greatfamilies
theirMeroitichomelandinthe
point.H owever,itwouldbe
L owerNubiannorth,defacto,
Intheir funeraryinscriptions,
amiliesof L owerNubiaplace
relationshipto highofficials
eroe,especiallytothepa ar
e clusivelyinMeroeand
epesato(viceroy).Moreover,
entionedj ustasf re uently in
scriptionsasaresuchL ow er
as,Primis,orAkin.
regardinganyspecialrole
oddessIsisinMeroitic L ower
,wepossess considerable
ceofthatcult ontheIslandof
,E gyptians,R omans,Nubians,
oinedinworshippingthe
dbecomea worldreligion.
ortantmeetingplacefor
numerousinscriptionsleftby
videagoodidea ofthe
everalinscriptionsofMeroitic
heE gyptian(demotic)
nsclearlyrevealthatMeroitic
IsisonPhilaewassponsored
followinge tracttakenfrom
ayhelp toclarifythispoint:
theq oren-akrore
rto ff icia l o f thek ing, thegreat
foreIsisofPhilae ...the
tressofthesouth,the
st,hearer ofpetitionsof
2,1cametoE gypthaving
onthisdesert,throughthe
dess,forsheheardour
eto E gypt.Icameto
hejudgments( )w hichmy
me...H ecommandedthe
rensof IsistocometoE gypt
dthefestivalsand the
ldinthetempleof Isis[ and
.. P h ar m ut h y da y 1 [ F e b ru a ry 2 5 ,
cametoPhilaeandw emade
mpleofIsis.H ebroughta
rideamanisenttothetemple
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especiallyapparentin
ngdom.S uchinfluenceis
mics(Cat.231).Thatit also
Meroeis clearlydemonstrated
yaltombsandfrom thecityof
5 V o l. II, F igs. 61, 62, 66-68).
TH E M R O ITICP R IO D
oftheMeroitickingdom
mongthevariousfactorsthat
reasing soilerosioncausedby
ghtcattlebreedingtoa halt
o fw oodforthee panding
theabandonmentoftraderoutes
oastalroutesalongtheR ed
conomiciso lationofMeroe. One
strengthoftheMeroitickingdom
dbyconstantbattleswithnomads
alley,andparticularlywith
nsteppesandtheR edS ea
otcompletelyclearaboutthe
owerNubiabytheBlemmyes,
sB e a, w holivedbetweentheNile
asbeenhistorica llyverified,
yptwasconstantlyandseriously
stances,togetherwith
nomicchanges,ledtotheendof
the firsthalfofthefourth
ssumedthatEz ana, k ingof the
uminnorthernA byssinia,
Meroearound a.d.350and
finaldestructionofthe
ver,nosuchconclusioncanbe
usinscriptionofA um,in
accountofhiscampaign(H int e
ptionprovidesimportantclues
tions intheNileV alley
urth century.
wehave,wecan probably
oftheMeroitickingdomatsome
ourthcentury.This byno
Meroitic culture,whose
oldforms.Nor doestheendof
dof theMeroiticpeople,for
ist,albeitundernewand
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niche gravesw erefarmoref re uent
nicstrain mayaccountforthe
burials,whichnow occurredin
e tended" Mero it ic sty leof
rd,asopposedto westward,
s(Adams1977,chap.13).
tedburialsmaysimplyhave
onstrictedspace availablein
raryofferingscontinued,they
ndvariety.Potteryand
bute ceptforbeadsimported
rmastabasandchapels
perstructuresofupper-class
gerconstructed,norwere
elae,offeringtables,Aa-statues,
ngravesof theB allanaculture
erstructures,theseinvariably
mound,sometimescoveredwith
mesticatedanimalsandhuman
dinupper-classgraveson a
Meroitictimes.
tuniformlyoneof
peningbarbarism.Some large-
tradecontinued.At the
eriod,theMeroiticpotteries
time,Nubiaappearstohave
tianimports.E ventually,redware
gantobemanufacturedat
distancenorthofWadiH a lfa. Much
ationofR omanterrasigillata
pesthathadbeenpresentin
centurya.d.(Trigger
chap.13)suggeststhatthe
beenestablishedbyimmigrant
hattheyproducedall ofthefiner
hroughoutNubia.S uch
uantitiesandwasoneofthe
ound intheaveragehousehold.
atwasmanufacturedineach
uedtoadhereto thetraditions
yob ects, suchasspears,
kingutensils,andfurniture,
htheuse ofsuchitems
mainlytotheupperclasses.
dicatethatiron wasforged
vations,suchassocketed
ptianmodels.
TAT
cealsotestifiesto
statuswithinthe Ballana
containmuchlarger and
d elsewhere.Mostofthese
ssociatedwithcentersof
hichmayhavebeentheseats
structionoftheW esternBui/dingat
ud,mud-brick,androughstones,
si thtoninthcenturya. d.
pesfromQ ustulandBallana.
u r t B p = b u r i al p i t h e av y l in e = b r i c k
bedarrow+ Nindicatesnorthand
omb double-barbedarrowshows
mb (afterTrigger1969a).
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pyriare foundinordinary
mentalinscriptionthatcanbe
naPeriod,that oftheNubian
sedinbarbarousGreek.
eroiticstatebuildings
ndperhapsBuhenwere
ringtheBallanaPeriod(Adams
blocksremovedfromMeroitic
asionalbuildingelementsfor
andQ ustul.Althoughboththe
sveneratedthegoddessIsis
sto preventtherededicationof
hurchesinthefifthcentury a.d.,
heBallanamonarchsrelied
n tobolstertheirregime.W hile
eroiticdeities,theydonot
avishcultsfor them(Adams
conographybecame
ughoutNubiaduringthe,
nob ectsimportedf romEgypt
e thatweremanufactured
ayhavebeenpopularmerelyas
thenprevailinginE gyptanddo
hristianitywaswidespreadin
eless,thespeedand apparent
tybecamethestatereligionof
si thcenturysuggeststhatat
sitiontowarditmusthave
gtheBallanaPeriod(Adams
ekingdomcenteredon
ata llt imescoe tensivew iththe
yinthefifthcentury,K ing
ilitarycampaignsagainstthe
gbetweenQ asrIbrimand
gnsonthesouthernfrontiersof
edthelocalrulersin theseareas
iroverlord.In thetempleat
resentshim inane uestrianpose
itha lance( irw an1963, 75). In
sashortmail tunicandacape
ycontrast,thewingedV ictory
shimnotwithlaurel butwitha
ig. 86). While it isuncerta inthat
gsburiedatB a llanaorQustul, o r
e samedynasty,thecore
yin theformerlyMeroitic
chsappearstohave
militaryforce thatallowed
ativetraderoutesand to
ghoutnorthernNubia . F ora llthe
anaculture,itsgovernment(or
esembledthatofthekashef,the
erNubiainthe eighteenth
shenchmentraveledthrough
ack , w ringingta esf rom
sand,byadisplayof force,
ne-too-willingobedience
,theBallanastate,which
ghtto itsma imume tent, was
ofNobatia.Itscapitalwasat
omBallana.Nobatia,however,
an kingdomsthatbythistime
ngthemiddleportionof the
obatiawasMak uria . Litt le isyet
ogyofthiskingdom.Itsearly
edat Tan asi,although,as
ggests,thebeginningsofthe
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ryaftertheC hrist iani ationofNubia ,
miesofIslam.Theinvaders
ntiontowardthesouthern
ethat hadsubduedBy antine
sedbytheNubians.A second
a.d.652, wase ually
owedbytheconclusionof atreaty
erepermittedtoretain their
iticalsovereigntyin e change
annualtributetothegovernor
tactuallyremainedinforcefor
years.
ncalledtheChristian
greatfloweringofindigenous-
oughthemedievalkingdoms
ungasw astheempireofK ushinits
sremainedfimlyindependentof
se ertedaconsiderable
nborders.AftertheArab
eNubiank ingsproclaimed
torsoftheE gyptianChristian
heR ussianc arsassumedthe
rthodo churchaf terthefa llo f
hitecture,literature,andthe
veachievementsofthemedieval
hose ofanyearlierperiod.
ationtherewere,according
ndependentkingdomsin
,Makuriain thecenter,and
17).Nobatiaseemstohave
atthebeginningof theeighth
etwoformedasinglestate
theF irsttotheF ourthCataracto f
ersdw elledatD ongola , inthe
m,whileL owerNubiawas
ictionofaroyaldeputy,the
walay fartothesouthof
satSoba, notfarf romthe
dtheWhiteNiles.
domswerevisitedbyan
limelA sw ani, a ttheendof the
ryfavorablyimpressedwithboth
,whichhe describedas
withmanyfinechurchesand
mother recordsthatthekingof
yelaboratecourtmodeled
antium B y antinetit leswere in
s.H owever,therulersofNubia
nouscustomfromearliertimes:
passedfromthe kingtohis
tohisownson.
forcein Nubiaasit
valworld.Itsinfluence
antintheliterature,art,
e.O rgani ationally,theNubian
oftheE gyptian(Coptic)
eappointedby theCoptic
Mostofthebishopsand clergy
atherthanE gyptians,and,
ekratherthanCoptic(thelatest
ptianlanguage)wasusedinthe
MiddleAges,manyreligious
nativeNubianlanguage,which
ersionof theGreekalphabet.
records,therewere
ubia,thoughthe locationof
eknow,however,from
hebishopsatsuch placesas
D ongolaw erepossessedof
ls,andthatafterdeaththey
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