DOCSLIB.ORG

The Middle Kingdom Sources and Its Contribution to the Study of Household Religion in Ancient Egypt

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Middle Kingdom Sources and Its Contribution to the Study of Household Religion in Ancient Egypt Beyond the obvious: the Middle Kingdom sources and its contribution to the study of household religion in ancient Egypt Susana Mota CHAM, FCSH, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa F RELIGION is one of the most prolific and analysed domains of Egyptian civilization, household religion – the set of religious practices that took place at home – is, in contrast, I one of the least studied. Victim of the numerous difficulties involved in its analysis, household religion has been relegated to the sidelines by scholars and its presence in the bibliography is residual1. Household religion is usually understood as just another element of a broader set which, among other designations, can be named personal piety2. Concerning space and time, household religion is seen as a religious phenomenon only possible to analyse from New Kingdom onwards, and where Deir el-Medina and Tell el-Amarna, while suppliers of material sources, assume an almost total hegemony3. Between 2010 and 2015 a PhD research was conducted devoted to household religion in ancient Egypt focused, mainly, in the material sources. A key result from this research is a data-base gathering the vestiges, with a confirmed or potential religious nature, from 30 settlements, dated from the Early Dynastic Period to the Late Period, located in the Egyptian territory and in Nubia when under Egyptian domination. These sources allow new analyses with more complete and accurate perspectives. One of the ideas that arise is the value and relevance of the Middle Kingdom sources. Thus, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate that although Middle Kingdom sources may not compete with the vestiges from New Kingdom onwards they are sufficient for us to study household religion in this period4. 1 R. RITNER, “Household Religion in Ancient Egypt”, in J. Bodel, S.M. Olyan (ed.), Household Religion in Antiquity. The Ancient World: Comparative Histories, Malden, 2008, p. 171. 2 M. LUISELLI, “Personal Piety (Modern Theories related to)”, in W. Wendrich, J. Dieleman (ed.), UCLA, Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles, 2008. 3 A. STEVENS, “Domestic Religious Practices”, in W. Wendrich, J. Dieleman (ed.), UCLA, Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles, 2009; R. RITNER, op. cit. 4 All the data presented here may be found at: S. MOTA, O sagrado num espaço profano: a Religião Doméstica no Egipto antigo, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Lisboa, 2015. 24 Susana Mota The Middle Kingdom sources to study household religion in ancient Egypt The sources available for the study of household religion in ancient Egypt during the Middle Kingdom come from 14 settlements: Askut (Nubia), Buhen (Nubia), Elephantine (Upper Egypt), Kom el-Fakhry (Lower Egypt), Kumma (Nubia), Lahun (Lower Egypt), Lisht (Lower Egypt), Mirgissa (Nubia), Qasr el-Sagha (Lower Egypt), Semna (Nubia), Shalfak, (Nubia), South Abydos (Upper Egypt), Tell el-Dab’a (Delta), and Uronarti (Nubia). These settlements are scattered throughout all the considered territory, from the Delta to the Nubian forts, although with greater emphasis in Nubian and in Lower Egypt. The contribution of each settlement varies and is uneven. The values, in percentage, are: 0,2 in Elefantina, 0,4 in Tell el-Dab’a, 0,7 in Kumma, 0,7 in Lisht, 0,7 in Qasr el-Sagha, 0,9 in Askut, 3,1 in Kom el-Fakhry, 3,1 in Mirgissa, 5,5 in Semna, 5,9 in Shalfak, 6,3 in South Abydos, 14,7 in Uronarti, 26,5 in Buhen and 31,5 in Lahun. From these settlements, two should be highlighted: Lahun in Lower Egypt, more precisely in the Fayum region, and Buhen, a Nubian fort. More than 50% of the existing sources originated from these two sites. Despite the dissimilar input of each settlement, they show, as a whole, that this religious practice existed, in the Middle Kingdom, all over the territory. Therefore, this wasn’t a reality confined to a given location. Now that we already know the provenance of the sources, let us look carefully at them. Our research identified 457 vestiges dated from the Middle Kingdom, which represents about 12% of the known sources used to study household religion in ancient Egypt5. In addition, there are seven situations where the bibliography or the reports inform us about the existence of sources but don’t say how many they are6. Although in these cases we don’t have numbers, these vestiges are also important. It should as well be mentioned a set of sources whose dating is inaccurate, i.e., is uncertain if they date from the Middle Kingdom or from the New Kingdom. Therefore, they won’t be considered here. The sources were organized in four categories: architectural structures, decorations, objects and others. Regarding the first group, architectural structures, we have six accounted examples and two situations without exact values. In Tell el-Dab’a were found two niches7. Niches were cavities in the walls of houses where statues, stelae or other religious items could be placed. It was also possible that these structures were used for the placement of other non religious things, like lamps, for example. So, in this case we need more data for a more reliable interpretation. In these two niches weren’t found vestiges that allow us a more accurate analysis, but we should mention that in the same rooms where the niches were found, offering deposits8 were also found, buried in the floor. They consisted of objects such as miniature pottery vessels, remains of cultic meals and/or animal bones. This kind of deposits was only found in this 5 Comparatively, we may say that about 48% of the gathered sources came from Tell el-Amarna and about 6% from Deir el-Medina. 6 See, for exemple, A. MACE, “The Egyptian Expedition 1920-1921 I: Excavations at Lisht” BMMA 16, 1921, p. 12. 7 M. BIETAK, Tell el-Dab'a V. Ein Friedhofsbezirk der mittleren Bronzezeitkultur mit Totentempel und Siedlungsschichten, Wien, 1991, p. 137-138; V. MÜLLER, “Offering Deposits at Tell el-Dab’a”, in Chr. Eyre (ed.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, Cambridge, 3 - 9 September 1995, OLA 82, Leuven, 1998, p. 799. 8 Considered under the category of objects, typology ‘others’. ENIM 11, 2018, p. 23-32 The Middle Kingdom sources and its contribution to the study of household religion 25 settlement9. Their proximity with the niches seems to create a religious surrounding that makes feasible the idea of the niches as a structure with ritual purposes. The four accounted altars were identified in three settlements: Askut10, Lisht11, and Mirgissa12. Besides these ones more were found in Lisht and in Tell el-Dab’a13 but without concrete numbers. About the altars of Lisht, Mace said: “In many of the houses seems to have been a shrine, in which was placed the rough limestone figure of the household god”14. The existing altars have different features, some being more elaborate and complex than others. At Lisht the structures were simple, consisting of mud brick pedestals placed next to a wall15 or in the centre of the room16. At Lisht we only know in detail one example found in the house A 1.3, located in the West limit of the settlement, which probably belonged to a craftsman. Here was found in the H room, a room which would be the core of the house, an altar in the East side of the southernmost column. The altar was a simple pedestal of mud brick on top of which a stela was found. The stela belongs to Ankhu who had it made for his father Mentuhotep, thus, it was possibly related to ancestors’ worship17. In Askut the structure which we call altar comprises a niche, for the placement of a stela, with an Egyptian type mantel modelled in stucco. In front of it was a pedestal which would be used to place cultic items. The structure was placed in the room 12, in the Southwest sector of the settlement, which is considered a reception and family gathering room18. In an adjacent room was found a stela related to ancestors’ worship. Smith believes that this stela would have been used in the altar which leads him to assign to it a function related to the cult of the deceased kin19. In Mirgissa two altars were identified. Of one of them only remains the base located in the central room of the men’s quarters. The other one is in a better state of preservation and allows us a more complete characterization. This altar was a mud brick pedestal leaning against the West wall of the room. Above the pedestal was a concavity in the wall, a niche, which was complemented by a plastered wooden panel. Traces of red and white paint were present. The lower part of a pottery bowl stand was found on the top of the pedestal20. About the Tell el-Dab’a altars we know very little. Only that they existed and that they were identified in houses. But we don’t know about quantity and characteristics. These scattered and sparse vestiges don’t allow us to infer major conclusions. We realize that 9 M. BIETAK, op. cit., p. 137-8; V. MÜLLER, op. cit., p. 799-803. 10 S.T. SMITH, Askut in Nubia: The Economics and Ideology of Egyptian Imperialism in the Second Millennium B C. London, New York, 1995, p. 128, pl. 7; id., Wretched Kush: Ethnic Identities and Boundaries in Egypt's Nubian Empire, London, New York, 2003, p. 127-128. 11 F. ARNOLD, “Settlement Remains at Lisht-North”, in M. Bietak (ed.), Haus und Palast im alten Ägypten, Wien, 1996, p. 17. 12 D. DUNHAM, Second Cataract Forts: Uronarti, Shalfak, Mirgissa, Boston, 1967, p.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Stela of Khu-Sobek (Manchester Museum)
    The Stela of Khu-Sobek1 (Manchester Museum) This limestone stela of the Manchester Museum (measured 16.5 cm wide and 28 cm high) was found in Abydos in 1901 by J. Garstang.2 It is of poor quality but important since it records an early of war of Egypt with its northern enemies. Htp-di-(n)swt wsir nb AbDw (di.f ) prt-xrw t Hnkt xpS Apdw Ssr3 mnxt snTr mrHt xt nb(t) nfr(t) wab(t) A royal offering of Osiris, lord of Abydos, (giving) an invocation offering of bread and beer, foreleg (of an ox) and fowl, linen and clothing, incense and oil, every good and pure thing n kA n (i)r(i)-pa(t) HAt(i)-a Dd nfrt, wHm mrrt4 m Xr(t)-Hrw5 nt ra nb, wartw6 aA n nwt, xw-(wi)- sbkw7 rn.f nfr DAA8 for the ka of the member of the elite, high official, who has said good things, repeated /proclaimed9 what was desired during the course of every day, great district official of the town, Khu-Sobek whose good name is Djaa, ir.n itA10 wartw tfnwt,11 nbt imAx, 1 The principal references for these notes are T. Eric Peet, The Stela of Sebek-khu, Manchester Museum Handbooks 75 (1914), and J. Baines, The Stela of Khusobek: Private and Royal Military Narrative and Values, in Form und Mass, Beiträge zur Literartur, Sprache und Kunst des alten Ägypten, Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, pp. 43-61. 2 See J. Garstang, El Arábah, Quaritch, London, 1901, Pls. IV, V; P.
    [Show full text]
  • Kvinner I Det Gamle Egypt
    Kvinner i det gamle Egypt Ein komparativ studie Avbiletinga viser ei kvinne som sit ute i det fri og sel fruktene frå ein sykamorebusk med eit barn tett til brystet. Ein ser såleis den komplekse naturen til kvinnerolla; På den eine sida som mor og omsorgsperson, og på den andre som kvinne med eige ressursgrunnlag og høve for eiga inntekt. Masteravhandling i antikk historie. Institutt for arkeologi, historie, kunst og religionsvitenskap. Universitetet i Bergen, våren 2009 Reinert Skumsnes Kvinner i det gamle Egypt FØREORD Eit masterstudium, ei avhandling og ei lang reise i tid og stad er til endes. Reisa har vore interessant, mykje takka rettleiaren min, professor Jørgen Christian Meyer. Hans lange fartstid og gode kunnskapar som historikar har hjelpt meg ut av mang ei fortvilt stund kor kvinnene i det gamle Egypt rett og slett ikkje ville same veg som meg. Både Christian og fyrsteamanuensis Ingvar Mæhle skal ha takk for låge dørstokkar, velvilje og solid, jordnær profesjonalitet. Frå det norske egyptologimiljøet takkar eg professor emeritus Richard H. Pierce (UiB), professor Saphinaz-Amal Naguib (UiO), Pål Steiner (UiB), Anders Bettum (UiO) og Vidar Edland for større og mindre bidrag, som alle har vore viktige. Likeeins vil eg gje ei stor takk til alle medstudentane mine som til ei kvar tid har vore tilgjengelege og positive i kaffikroken vår på Sydneshaugen. Arbeidet har vore omfattande, men likevel overkommeleg. Dei fleste kjeldene har allereie vore jobba mykje med, og har såleis skapt større rom for drøfting og utvida fagleg innsikt. Ei spesiell takk må eg her sende til professor Anthony Spalinger, professor Doborah Sweeeney, professor Andrea McDowell, og professor Schafik Allam som alle har vore villige til å svare på spørsmål eg har hatt knytt til deira arbeid med kjeldene.
    [Show full text]
  • No. 6 a NEWSLETTER of AFRICAN ARCHAEOLOGY May 19 75 Edited
    - No. 6 A NEWSLETTER OF AFRICAN ARCHAEOLOGY May 1975 Edited by P.L. Shinnie and issued from the Department of Archaeology, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N lN4, Canada. (This issue edited by John H. Robertson.) I must apologize for the confusion which has developed con- cerning this issue. A notice was sent in February calling for material to be sent by March 15th. Unfortunately a mail strike in Canada held up the notices, and some people did not receive them until after the middle of March. To make matters worse I did not get back from the Sudan until May 1st so the deadline really should have been for the end of April. My thanks go to the contributors of this issue who I am sure wrote their articles under pressure of trying to meet the March 15th deadline. Another fumble on our part occurred with the responses we received confirming an interest in future issues of Nyame Akuma Professor ~hinnie'sintent in sending out the notice was to cull the now over 200 mailing list down to those who took the time to respond to the notice. Unfortunately the secretaries taking care of the-mail in Shinnie's absence thought the notice was only to check addresses, and only changes in address were noted. In other words, we have no record of who returned the forms. I suspect when Professor Shinnie returns in August he will want to have another go at culling the mailing list . I hope this issue of Nyame Akuma, late though it is, reaches everyone before they go into the field, and that everyone has an enjoyable and productive summer.
    [Show full text]
  • Egyptian Interest in the Oases in the New Kingdom and a New Stela for Seth from Mut El-Kharab
    Egyptian Interest in the Oases in the New Kingdom and a New Stela for Seth from Mut el-Kharab Colin Hope and Olaf Kaper The study of ancient interaction between Egypt and the occupants of regions to the west has focused, quite understandably, upon the major confrontations with the groups now regularly referred to as Liby- ans from the time of Seti I to Ramesses III, and the impact these had upon Egyptian society.1 The situ- ation in the oases of the Western Desert and the role they might have played during these conflicts has not received, until recently, much attention, largely because of the paucity of information either from the Nile Valley or the oases themselves. Yet, given their strategic location, it is not unrealistic to imagine that their control would have been of importance to Egypt both during the confrontations and in the period thereafter. In this short study we present a summary of recently discovered material that contributes sig- nificantly to this question, with a focus upon discoveries made at Mut el-Kharab since excavations com- menced there in 001,3 and a more detailed discussion of one object, a new stela with a hymn dedicated to Seth, which is the earliest attestation of his veneration at the site. We hope that the comments will be of interest to the scholar to whom this volume is dedicated; they are offered with respect, in light of the major contribution he has made to Ramesside studies, and with thanks for his dedication as a teacher and generosity as a colleague.
    [Show full text]
  • Demotic Dictionary Project
    oi.uchicago.edu PHILOLOGY DEMOTIC DICTIONARY PROJECT Janet H.Johnson This year, as for the past several years, the Demotic Dictionary staff concentrated on checking drafts of entries for individual letters in the Egyptian "alphabet" and preparing and entering computer scan copies of the actual Demotic words. The only student work­ ing on the project this year was Thomas Dousa, whose command of Egyptian and Greek and the extensive literature in both has allowed him to make major contributions to the checking and rewriting of first draft entries. Thanks to a very generous bequest from Professor and Mrs. George R. Hughes, we anticipate being able next year to hire a recent Ph.D. graduate as Research Associate to work full time on checking of draft and preparation of scans and copies. The checking and rewriting of first draft entries involves double checking of all in­ formation provided in the entry and the incorporation of several categories of informa­ tion that we decided to include after the first drafts had been written. Many of these categories are being added to provide social or cultural information as part of the "meaning" of a word. For example, whenever the "word" is the name of a deity, a refer­ ence is provided to every geographic location (e.g., a specific city or cemetery) with which the deity is associated in the texts of the corpus from which the Chicago Demotic Dictionary is being drawn. Similarly, whenever the "word" being discussed is the name of a geographic location, reference is made to all deities mentioned in the texts of our corpus in conjunction with that geographic location.
    [Show full text]
  • The Secret Name of Ra
    Thesecret name of Ra Ra, the SoleCreator was visible to the peopleof Eglat asthe discol the sun,but they knew him in manyother {orms. He could appearas a crownedman. a falconor'a man with a falcon'shead and, as the scarabbeetle pushes a round ball of dungin front of it, the Egyptians picturedRa asa scarabpushing the sun acrossthe sky. In caverns deepbelow the earthwere hidden another seventy-five forms ofRa; mysteriousbeings with mummiEedbodies and heads consisting of birds or snakes,feathers or flowers,The namesof Rawere as numerousas his forms; he wasthe ShiningOne, The Hidden One, The Renewerof the Earth,The lfind in the Souls,The ExaltedOne, but therewas one name ofthe SunGod which hadnot beenspoken sincetime began.To know this secretname ofRa wasto havepower overhim andover the world that he hadcreated. Isislonged for suchapower. Shehad dreamed that oneday she *.ould havea marvellousfalcon-headed son called Horus andshe wantedthe throne of Ra to giveto her child. Isis wasthe Mistressof Magic,wiser than millionsofmen, but sheLrrew that nothingin creationwas powerful enoughto harmits creator.Her only chance vr'as!o turn thepower of Ra againsthimself and atlast Isisthought of a crlel andcunning plan. Everyday the SunGod walkedthrough his kingdom, attendedby a crowd ofspirits andlesser deities, but Rawas growingold. His eyeswere dim, his stepno longerfirm andhe had evenbegun to drivel. One morning Isismingled with a group of minor goddessesand followedbehind the King of the Gods.She watched the faceofRa until shesaw his salivadrip onto a clod o{ eanh.\0hen shewas sure that no-onewas taking any noticeo{ her, shescooped up the earth andcarried it awav.Isis mixed the earthwith the salivaofRa to form clay andmodelled a wickedJookingserpent.
    [Show full text]
  • Domestic Religious Practices
    UCLA UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology Title Domestic religious practices Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7s07628w Journal UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, 1(1) Author Stevens, Anna Publication Date 2009-12-21 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California DOMESTIC RELIGIOUS PRACTICES الممارسات الدينية المنزلية Anna Stevens EDITORS WILLEKE WENDRICH Editor-in-Chief University of California, Los Angeles JACCO DIELEMAN Editor Area Editor Religion University of California, Los Angeles ELIZABETH FROOD Editor University of Oxford JOHN BAINES Senior Editorial Consultant University of Oxford Short Citation: Stevens 2009, Domestic Religious Practices. UEE. Full Citation: Stevens, Anna, 2009, Domestic Religious Practices. In Willeke Wendrich and Jacco Dieleman (eds.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles. http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz001nf63v 1010 Version 1, December 2009 http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz001nf63v DOMESTIC RELIGIOUS PRACTICES الممارسات الدينية المنزلية Anna Stevens Religion im Alltag Pratiques religieuses privées Domestic religious practices—that is, religious conduct within a household setting—provided an outlet especially for expressing and addressing the concerns of everyday life. They can be traced throughout Egyptian dynastic history, in textual sources such as spells of healing and protection, offering and dedicatory texts, and private letters, and in cult emplacements and objects from settlement sites. Protective divinities such as Bes, Taweret, and Hathor were favored, along with ancestors who could be deceased kin, local elite, or royalty. State-level deities were also supplicated. Central practices were offering and libation, and conducting rites of protection and healing, while there was also strong recourse to protective imagery.
    [Show full text]
  • Hyksos, Egipcios, Nubios: Algunas Consideraciones Sobre El I1 Pe~Odointermedio Y La Convivencia Entre Los Distintos Grupos Etnicos
    HYKSOS, EGIPCIOS, NUBIOS: ALGUNAS CONSIDERACIONES SOBRE EL I1 PE~ODOINTERMEDIO Y LA CONVIVENCIA ENTRE LOS DISTINTOS GRUPOS ETNICOS Inmaculada Vivas SBinz Universidad de AlcalB de Henares ABSTRACT This article reviews some questions of the political and social history of the the Second Intermediate Period. The first part is based on recent discussion about the terminology related to the period, and the convenience or unconvenience of using certain terms in future investigations. The second part concerns the relationships among the dlflerent ethnic groups living in Egypt at that time, and the process of acculturation of the Hyksos in Egypt. An interesting hypotheses about king Nehesy is analysed, which proposes the existence of a dynastic marriage between a Nubian queen and a king of the XIVth Dynasty, both being the suppoused parents of Nehesy. I reject this hypotheses on the basis of archaedogical and epigraphical sources. The true origin of Nehesy remains a moot point, being still d~ficultto explain why this king had a name meaning "the Nubian". -Los estudios sobre el I1 Periodo Intermedio egipcio se remontan a1 siglo pasado', pero es desde hace apenas unas dCcadas cuando se ha sentido la necesidad de definir ese tCrmino. Los primeros trabajos sobre el tema eran breves anilisis sobre el final del Reino Medio y la llegada de 10s hyksos, sobre Cstos y su relaci6n con Israel, o la posible ubicaci6n de Avaris y el proceso de expulsi6n de 10s hyksos. Todos estos estudios son importantes para nuestras investigaciones pero muchas veces se basan s610 en fuentes arqueol6gicas procedentes de Siria-Palestina de las cuales se extrapolaban datos para la situaci6n de Egipto.
    [Show full text]
  • Davoli the Temple of Soknopaios and Isis Nepherses at Soknopaiou Nesos (El-Fayyum) 51-68
    Université Paul Valéry (Montpellier III) – CNRS UMR 5140 « Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes » Équipe « Égypte Nilotique et Méditerranéenne » (ENiM) CENiM 9 Cahiers de l’ENiM Le myrte et la rose Mélanges offerts à Françoise Dunand par ses élèves, collègues et amis Réunis par Gaëlle Tallet et Christiane Zivie-Coche * Montpellier, 2014 © Équipe « Égypte Nilotique et Méditerranéenne » de l’UMR 5140, « Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes » (Cnrs – Université Paul Valéry – Montpellier III), Montpellier, 2014 Françoise Dunand à sa table de travail, à l’Institut d’histoire des religions de l’Université de Strasbourg, dans les années 1980 (d. r.). TABLE DES MATIÈRES Volume 1 Table des matières I-III Abréviations bibliographiques V-VIII Liste des contributeurs IX Introduction Gaëlle Tallet et Christiane Zivie-Coche D’une autre rive. Entretiens avec Françoise Dunand XI-XIX Gaëlle Tallet Bibliographie de Françoise Dunand XXI-XXVII I. La société égyptienne au prisme de la papyrologie Adam Bülow-Jacobsen Texts and Textiles on Mons Claudianus 3-7 Hélène Cuvigny « Le blé pour les Juifs » (O.Ka.La. Inv. 228) 9-14 Arietta Papaconstantinou Egyptians and ‘Hellenists’ : linguistic diversity in the early Pachomian monasteries 15-21 Jean A. Straus Esclaves malfaiteurs dans l'Égypte romaine 23-31 II. Le ‘cercle isiaque’ Corinne Bonnet Stratégies d’intégration des cultes isiaques et du culte des Lagides dans la région de Tyr à l’époque hellénistique 35-40 Laurent Bricault Les Sarapiastes 41-49 Paola Davoli The Temple of Soknopaios and Isis Nepherses at Soknopaiou Nesos (El-Fayyum) 51-68 Michel Reddé Du Rhin au Nil. Quelques remarques sur le culte de Sarapis dans l’armée romaine 69-75 III.
    [Show full text]
  • Egypt and Africa Presentation.Pdf
    Egypt and Africa Map of the Second Cataract showing fortress area Different plan types of Nubian fortresses: Cataract fortresses Plains fortresses Fortress at Buhen: Plains Fortress Defensive Characteristics Askut: Cataract Fort Middle Kingdom institutions as shown by seal impressions First Semna Stela of Senwosret III Southern boundary, made in the year 8, under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khakaure Senwosret III who is given life forever and ever; in order to prevent that any Nubian should cross it, by water or by land, with a ship or with any herds of the Nubians, except a Nubian who shall come to do trading in Iqen (Mirgissa) or with a commission. Every good thing shall be done with them, but without allowing a ship of the Nubians to pass by Heh, going downstream, forever. Boundary Stela of Senwosret III from Semna (a duplicate found at Uronarti) “…I have made my boundary further south than my fathers, I have added to what was bequeathed me. I am a king who speaks and acts, What my heart plans is done by my arm… Attack is valor, retreat is cowardice, A coward is he who is driven from his border. Since the Nubian listens to the word of mouth, To answer him is to make him retreat. Attack him, he will turn his back, Retreat, he will start attacking. They are not people one respects, They are wretches, craven-hearted… As for any son of mine who shall maintain this border which my majesty has made, he is my son, born to my majesty.
    [Show full text]
  • 3 the Kingdom of Kush. Urban Defences and Military Installations
    In : N. Crummy (ed.), Image, Craft and the Classical World. Essays in honour of Donald Bailey and Catherine Johns (Monogr. Instrumentum 29), Montagnac 2005, p. 39-54. 3 The Kingdom of Kush. Urban defences and military installations by Derek A. Welsby1 When the Romans took control of Egypt in 30 BC they with the rise of Aksum and the possible invasion of the came in direct contact on their southern frontier with the region around Meroe by the army of Aezanes (cf. Behrens Kingdom of Kush, the longest established state of any that 1986; Török 1997a, 483-4). they faced. Kush had been a major power at least since the Perhaps of more long-term concern were the low level mid 8th century BC at a time when Rome itself consisted raids mounted by the desert tribes on the fringes of the of little more than a group of huts on the Palatine. In the Nile Valley2. At least one of these incursions, during the th later 8 century BC the Kings of Kush ruled an empire reign of King Nastasen in the later 4th century BC, stretching from Central Sudan to the borders of Palestine resulted in the looting of a temple at Kawa in the Dongola controlling Egypt as pharaohs of what became known as Reach and earlier Meroe itself, the main political centre, th the 25 Dynasty. Forced to withdraw from Egypt in the seems to have been under threat. face of Assyrian aggression by the mid 7th century BC, they retreated south of the First Cataract of the Nile where they maintained control of the river valley far upstream of Urban defences the confluence of the White and Blue Niles at modern-day Khartoum, into the 4th century AD (Fig.
    [Show full text]
  • Digital Reconstruction of the Archaeological Landscape in the Concession Area of the Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese Nubia (1961–1964)
    Digital Reconstruction of the Archaeological Landscape in the Concession Area of the Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese Nubia (1961–1964) Lake Nasser, Lower Nubia: photography by the author Degree project in Egyptology/Examensarbete i Egyptologi Carolin Johansson February 2014 Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University Examinator: Dr. Sami Uljas Supervisors: Prof. Irmgard Hein & Dr. Daniel Löwenborg Author: Carolin Johansson, 2014 Svensk titel: Digital rekonstruktion av det arkeologiska landskapet i koncessionsområdet tillhörande den Samnordiska Expeditionen till Sudanska Nubien (1960–1964) English title: Digital Reconstruction of the Archaeological Landscape in the Concession Area of the Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese Nubia (1961–1964) A Magister thesis in Egyptology, Uppsala University Keywords: Nubia, Geographical Information System (GIS), Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese Nubia (SJE), digitalisation, digital elevation model. Carolin Johansson, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Box 626 SE-75126 Uppsala, Sweden. Abstract The Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese Nubia (SJE) was one of the substantial contributions of crucial salvage archaeology within the International Nubian Campaign which was pursued in conjunction with the building of the High Dam at Aswan in the early 1960’s. A large quantity of archaeological data was collected by the SJE in a continuous area of northernmost Sudan and published during the subsequent decades. The present study aimed at transferring the geographical aspects of that data into a digital format thus enabling spatial enquires on the archaeological information to be performed in a computerised manner within a geographical information system (GIS). The landscape of the concession area, which is now completely submerged by the water masses of Lake Nasser, was digitally reconstructed in order to approximate the physical environment which the human societies of ancient Nubia inhabited.
    [Show full text]