Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875
8 - 14 November 2007
Issue No. 870
Digging into Africa's past
Charles Bonnet and Dominique Valbelle, (2006) The Nubian Pharaohs: Black Kings
on the Nile, The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo
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Click to view caption
The restored statue of Anlamani with Aspelta in the background;
excavating the cache;
THIS STATUE of a Meroitic king with remnants of gold leaf; the head of
King Anlamani, and the statue of Tanutamun are among the masterpieces that will
be exhibited in the new museum in Kerma which is nearing completion. The
importation into Kush of Egyptian institutions, as well as religious and
monarchic practices, helped enrich indigenous art, as convincingly demonstrated
in these works.
Those who wish to embark upon a trip to harsh climes, treacherous
cataracts, and difficult roads in order to discover the grandiose beauty of the
sacred mount called Gabal Barkal and the fascinating culture behind the
newly-unearthed treasures from the cache, will be amply rewarded. Here they
will find a gallery of kings which includes seven magnificent statues.
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Al-Ahram Weekly reviews this well-illustrated publication written by
archaeologist Charles Bonnet, former president of the International Nubiology
Association, and Egyptologist Dominique Valbelle. It covers an important period
of history that has so far been made known only in a fragmentary fashion and,
in particular, describes the discovery of monumental black granite statues
portraying the Pharaonic rulers of Egypt's 25th or "Nubian" Dynasty that lasted
for 50 years from 720 to 671 BC.
The statues, one of the most important discoveries of recent years, were found
by the University of Geneva's Mission Archeologique in 2003. The team working
near the Third Cataract of the Nile at ancient Kerma (now known as Doukki Gel
-- a Nubian term which can be roughly translated as "red mound"). Formerly
known as the "Ethiopian" Pharaohs, these black rulers of Egypt are now
generally known as "Kushites" from the area of modern-day Sudan which
constitutes an important realm of Egyptology.
The Swiss team discovered the cache of statues in a ditch within the area of a
temple then known as Pnubs (literally "the city of the jujube tree").
Magnificently sculpted, they portray five rulers of the Nubian Dynasty. Two of
the statues -- Taharqa and Tanutamun, the last two Pharaohs of the dynasty --
are masterpieces that rank among the greatest in art history.
Egyptology is constantly enriched as new evidence comes to light, and every
discovery provides food for thought. In fact, the treasures found in the Kerma
cache forced the discoverers to face questions that had been previously
overlooked. The authors of The Nubian Pharaohs explore a new geographic realm
in depth; they deal with issues that are far from resolved; and they describe
the various ritual practices associated with the area.
Kerma was a Neolithic dwelling place in about 3000 BC. There were rectangular
buildings and circular huts, pits for the storage of food, enclosures for
livestock, and a major defence system, all of which attest to the town's
belonging to a centrally-governed chieftaincy. Several centuries later an
independent kingdom emerged, which, the evidence suggests, had a level of
culture similar to that of the earliest Egyptian Pharaohs. From various
archaeological finds in the town and the necropolis -- including the Deffufa or
main temple and its surrounding urban areas -- it is possible to postulate the
existence of a network of exchanges with other lands.
In the past we have tended to consider Nubia and Kush (Sudan) from an Egyptian
perspective. That is to say, Nubia was considered vitally important to Egypt's
economy because the requirements of a highly-developed civilisation demanded
raw materials that were imported from, among other places, the
agriculturally-impoverished but mineral-rich land to the south, in exchange for
grain, oil, and honey. Now, however, excavations around the main temple have
shown how urban development in Old Kerma developed various construction
techniques and materials inspired by traditions dating back to prehistory --
and which, incidentally, are still being used today. Nubians were aware of the
requirements of Pharaonic Egypt, realised the advantages of trade, and while
allowing Egyptians to satisfy their mineral requirements, acted as
entrepreneurs, opening up markets even further south, in the Sudan and further
south.
The powerful Pharaohs of Egypt's Middle Kingdom (2133-1786 BC) built fortresses
at Semna, Buhen, and beyond, and even established a trading post in Kerma,
where generation after generation of Egyptian soldiers and settlers lived in or
around the fortress towns. The Nubians protected their own trade routes with
buttressed walls and rectangular and semi-circular bastions for defence.
Egyptologists have described this as a period of colonisation in Nubia, during
which they slowly spread their traditions and religious beliefs.
As the Swiss mission excavations show, however, this was Kerma's classic
heyday. The Nubians lived on the edge of the Egyptian empire and remained in
contact with the populations of central Africa and the Red Sea shoreline. The
king's audience chamber (rebuilt at least 10 times on the same spot) bears no
resemblance to any Egyptian building. On the contrary, the chamber might be
seen as a prototype for the large princely and royal huts discovered on the
African continent in the last hundred years. The most ancient architecture of
Kerma clearly reveals that its roots lay in an African architecture. The kings
asserted their power by planning their own funerary cult and by having hundreds
of people sacrificed at the time of their death. Kerma has provided an
opportunity to rediscover the originality of Nubian rituals and accomplishments.
Nearly 1,000 years of uninterrupted cultural development in Nubia came to an
end only with the first military campaigns of Egyptian Pharaohs in the early
18th Dynasty. In about 1547 BC Tuthmosis I pushed the Egyptian frontier south
of the Second Cataract. Many fine temples were raised in Nubia, among them that
of Queen Hatshepsut at Semna, later claimed by her successor Tuthmosis III who
built another at Soleb. At nearby Sesibi, his successor Akhenaten built another
temple. Egyptian viceroys were appointed to govern these territories and ensure
the regularity of shipments northwards.
By the 19th Dynasty (c. 1320 BC) Egyptian influence had spread southwards to
the Fourth Cataract, and another settlement was established at Napata. With the
establishment of large communities, not only were Egypt's technological skills
introduced far southwards, but its religious tradition as well. Ramses II
constructed six temples in Nubia between the first and second cataracts. There
is no doubt that Egypt's dominant position in the ancient world was due largely
to the country's command of Nubian gold production -- the precious metal
assured Egypt's superiority as the richest country in Africa and western Asia.
The situation changed when the Egyptian high priest Hrihor declared himself
viceroy of Kush, and his control of the Nubia gave him the wealth and military
might to usurp the throne of Egypt in about 1000 BC. Anarchy reigned, and after
Hrihor's death there followed a period of confusion. This enabled the African
rulers of Kush to become increasingly independent. Liberated from Egyptian
domination, Napata became the focal point of a revived kingdom. It was Egyptian
in tradition and religious belief, but it was unquestionably African in origin.
The Kushites had a Pharaonic-style court, with its assembly of officials,
Pharaonic titles, and a temple at Kerma where the temple of Amun of Gem-Aten
was located. And so strong and powerful were they that when, following unstable
conditions and a period of decline, Egypt succumbed to Libyan rulers who
proclaimed themselves Pharaohs of Upper and Lower Egypt, the Kushite king
Piankhi saw it as his duty to liberate Egypt, its northern neighbour, from what
he considered to be the forces of barbarism. He did not regard himself as an
invader when he marched northwards, because his people had long absorbed
Egyptian culture. In fact, Piankhi and his descendants, especially Taharqa, who
was the powerful Kushite king of Egypt in the first half of the seventh-century
BC, proved to be leaders of strength and ability.
How long a Kushite king might have remained on the throne of Egypt we cannot
say because the powerful Assyrian army marched on the Delta in 671, and
although Taharqa made plans to meet his rival, he was no match to the mighty
Esarhaddon, king of Assyria. Worthy of note is that Taharqa's long resistance
to the Assyrian invasion merited mention in the Bible. His force, composed of
local militia and recruits from the Nile Delta, were, however, finally
vanquished in about 656 BC. The "Black Pharaohs" were forced to abandon the
Lower Nile and withdrew to the south, thereafter reigning as the Napatan
Dynasty.
In about 600 BC Napata was no longer considered suitable for the expanding
economy, and the capital was moved further south to Meroe (Shendi), where, in a
fertile bend of the river, on a spot free from invasion, well placed for trade,
rich in mineral wealth, especially iron ore, and in wood for iron- smelting, a
new culture developed.
The Kushite kingdom was at once a continuation of the Egyptian-influenced
Napatan culture, and a distinctive African culture. The Meroitic Period reached
its heyday during the reign of King Natakamani and Queen Amanitore, shortly
before the start of the Christian era, and authors Bonnet and Valbelle recount,
in The Nubian Pharaohs, the main phases of the kingdom of Kush which came to
rival the great ancient civilisations. They trace all kinds of visible remains
throughout the archaeological site of Kerma; its demographic growth -- which is
apparent from the increase in the number of tombs and the building of its
religious precinct of Doukki Gel, one of the largest Meroitic sanctuaries in
Sudan -- and different stages of destruction, reconstruction and restoration.
It was here, at this remote site in northern Sudan, that the Swiss mission,
after 30 years of excavation in the area, made the astounding and unexpected
discovery of the granite statues.
The sculptured portraits of the African kings reveal them to have been tough
individuals with strong features and powerful bodies. The lavish illustrations
in The Nubian Pharaohs: Black Kings on the Nile, reveal the individual features
and characteristics of the monarchs, who have now taken their place in history.
In the words of Leclant, here is "an expressive art that combines the rigor of
revived classicism with a fascinatingly 'primal' aesthetic... unexpectedly
concrete evidence of negritude."
The Meroitic Period survived until the fourth century AD when the temples were
deserted and a population with different traditions moved into the region. Two
centuries later, Christianity arrived -- although only few tombs at Kerma
testify to a new cycle of development -- followed by successive stages of
Islamisation.
The city of Kerma/Doukki Gel then lost its pre- eminence. Despite its
favourable geographical location, the Christian capital of one of the three
Sudanese kingdoms was founded farther south, at Old Dongola, where grandiose
and superbly-decorated churches constituted a new centre of influence.
The Nubian Pharaohs is a major book that combines the latest archaeological
research with stunning photography. It has transformed our understanding of the
art of that period, and Bonnet and Valbelle narrate the incredible story that
will change our understanding of Egypt and Africa in the ancient world.
Reviewed by Jill Kamil
www.weekly.ahram.org.eg
mediacare
http://www.mediacare.biz
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