Tutankhamun in Nubia? Pyramids from the other side of the tracks. Badass pyramid construction where the white folks don’t go. While genteel Egypte had its flashes of semitic and medittereanean culture, the Kingdom of Kush (700Bc-250 Ad ) was very much an African affair and far less cosmopolitan though genetically diverse.They were a non-arabic people at the crossroads between Egypt and the African tribal kingdoms.However, even then, it was tough to keep up with the Horus’s, Osiris’s and Isis’s.
Though influenced by Egypt , Nubia is very much an African culture that banged on a different set of bongos. A common origin with Egypt, but culturally and artistically reflecting Africa.Also a more abundant yet decrepit set of pyramids. Babson College art historian,Janice Yellin, in collaboration with the late German conservation architect Friedrich Hinkel, have been the first people to delve into this relatively unexplored area.
The ram is one of the animals sacred to Amun. This statue depicts Amun protecting King Taharqa, who stands between the front legs and below the animal's head.
By the time of Tutankhamun’s reign, Nubia was an Egyptian province administered by a Viceroy. Nubia had always been ancient Egypt’s primary source of gold, but beginning with the reign of Amenhotep III —Tut’s grandfather—it offered the Egyptian kings something even more valuable: divinity. Decorations and inscriptions in Nubian temples indicate that in this ancient land pharaohs could be worshiped more fully as living gods than in Egypt. Artistically, this involved gold and precious metal sculptures made in honor of Tutankhamun.
Kushite Pyramids, Meroe, Sudan
”In order to ensure his existence after death, Taharqa, like his ancestors, built a stone pyramid to house his mummy and food offerings for the afterlife. He built a burial chamber deep beneath his pyramid. In the center of the room, Taharqo’s mummy rested on a stone platform surrounded by a moat. When the moat was filled with water, the raised area became a “sacred island” surrounded by the life-giving waters of the Nile. Only one other tomb had an underground “island,” and it was no ordinary tomb. It was the resting place of the god Osiris that had been built behind his temple at Abydos.While Taharqa ruled Nubia and Egypt, the deities of both the living and the dead prospered once again. Temples were filled with rich offerings, and priests and priestesses sang praises to the gods and goddesses throughout the two lands. Indeed, the Nubians saw Taharqa as a king whom the deities themselves loved.” ( Janice Yellin ) A mythological period when gods and goddesses lived on earth and set up their kingdoms. A golden age.
nubian pyramids
All the tombs at Meroë, where the largest concentration is found, have been plundered, most infamously by Italian explorer Giuseppe Ferlini (1800-1870) who smashed the tops off 40 pyramids in a quest for treasure in 1834. Ferlini tried to sell the treasure of Queen Amanishakheto’s pyramid (involving exquisite gold amulets, signet rings and necklaces) when he returned to Europe. Collectors did not believe that such a treasure could come from black Africa; they thought he was trying to pass off fakes. Indeed, they were jewels of great quality and beauty and often influenced by G
art; customers didn’t expect to find deep in the heart of Africa depictions resembling those of Egyptian or classical Greek art. ( Philip Coppens ) What genetic and DNA seems to point towards, is that Egyptians, Ethiopians, Nubians and Hebrews, form at its core, the same ethnic origins.There is an inextricable linkage, and the semitic influence is relatively muted in comparison with the similarities.
The Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt, continued until about 653 BC. The 25th dynasty was based at Napata, in what is now The Sudan. Alara is universally regarded as the founder of the 25th Kushite dynasty by his successors.
While Taharqa ruled Nubia and Egypt, the deities of both the living and the dead prospered once again. Temples were filled with rich offerings, and priests and priestesses sang praises to the gods and goddesses throughout the two lands. Indeed, the Nubians saw Taharqa as a king whom the deities themselves loved.
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