Many people like to portray the land south of Sunt (Aswan) as a distinctive area that was not a part of ancient Egypt. This is totally incorrect. This land, which is now called Nubia, was always the Egyptian frontier, since very ancient times.
Nubia is a name that was given to Egypt’s southern frontier, by the Arabs, after the 7th century CE. The legitimate name is Kush. Sunt (Aswan) was the end of the green valley and the navigable river. This does not mean the end of Egypt proper. It only means that Kush was sparsely populated and therefore was loosely administered in the early history of Egypt, just like Sinai and the deserts on both sides of the River Nile.
The Archaic Period (3150-2686 BCE)
In 1962, the Franco-Argentine Expedition led by Professor Jean Vercoutter discovered an Egyptian cemetery of the Archaic Period, southwest of the Aksa temple of Ramses II, which produced typical 1st Dynasty sealings, pottery and palettes. This means that Egyptians were actually living in what they called The Land of the Ghosts, meaning sparsely populated, since that very ancient time.
The Old Kingdom Period (2575-2150 BCE)
The town of Buhen, within a few miles of the Second Cataract, provides extensive Egyptian archeological evidence, since the early years of the Old Kingdom (2575-2150 BCE). The names of the following kings have been identified on clay sealings and ostraca: Khafra, Menkaura, Userkaf, Sahura, Neferirkara, Neuserra. The Egyptians at Buhen, during the 4th and 5th Dynasties, were employed chiefly in smelting and refining copper ore. A considerable quantity of smelted copper was found in some of the buildings, together with several furnaces.
Professor Emery, the discoverer, sums up the Buhen find as follows:
1. The town was a purely Egyptian colony, for although the unidentified B-Group is present, at least 95% of the pottery shards are Egyptian.
2. A huge number of papyri jar sealings indicate that a well-organized dispatch service was maintained with northern Egypt, throughout the 4th and 5th Dynasties.
The Princes of Sunt stood high in the hierarchy of the Old Kingdom. Three of their proudest titles were those of Keeper of the Door of the South, Caravan Conductor and Overseer of Dragomans. They were responsible for organizing and equipping the caravans, heading deep into Africa.
During the time of King Mernera (2255-2246 BCE), a channel through the rocks at the First Cataract was cleared, to allow additional navigation south of Sunt. As stated earlier, Prince Herkhuf led at least three trade caravans, during the reign of King Merenra, each lasting 7-8 months.
His fourth recorded journey was during the reign of Pepi II (2246-2152 BCE), when he returned with a dancing dwarf from somewhere deep in Africa. Pepi II’s response to this news was a letter, which Herkhuf proudly reproduced on the outside wall of his tomb, together with the accounts of his other activities. Pepi II wrote,
“. . . Your letter stated that you have brought a dancing dwarf of the neter(god) Bes, like the dwarf which the treasurer, Bawardede, brought from Punt in the time of Asosi [a king of about a century before this time].
Each year you are doing that which your Lord desires and praises…. (implying the active, frequent trade missions.)
If you arrive home with the dwarf being in good health, I promise to do for you a greater thing than that which was done for the treasurer Bawardede in the time of Asosi….”
Bes, the ancient Egyptian dwarf neter, was known to be a protector against snake bites, a helper of women during childbirth, and to be considered a joy deity.
The dwarf’s small size disguises his/her tremendous strength. Dwarfs demonstrate remarkable control over the spiritual and physical environment. They are both instruments for reward as well as punishment.
It is for these reasons, that dwarfs were brought to Egypt with great care and respect, as detailed in many ancient Egyptian texts.
There is more archeological evidence of major public work projects in Kush, which were built in order to establish a permanent presence in the area during the Middle Kingdom. King Senwasret III (1878-1844 BCE) established (modern-day) Semna (location map on page 57) as a natural strong point, with three fortresses, in order to provide security to the trade caravans. The area above the Third Cataract was fertile and supported a large population.
During the Middle Kingdom, an artificial dam blocked the channel. A portion of this dam is still visible, to this date, at Semna East. The dam at this point was constructed to raise the level of the Nile for hundreds of miles to the south, enabling trading expeditions to navigate far into the interior of Africa. There are about 25 inscriptions on the rocks below the channel fortresses of Semna East and Semna West. They represent Nile flood levels recorded during the Middle Kingdom period, and all of them show a level about 25 ft (8m) higher than the maximum water levels of today.
Following Senwasret III, the rule of Amenemhet III (1844-1797 BCE) was the apex of Egyptian influence in the Kush region of his period, with extensive trade activities.
The New Kingdom Period (1550-1070 BCE)
After the lack of activities during the 2nd Intermediate Period, the Kings of the New Kingdom revived the attention to Kush.
King Ahmose I (1550-1525 BCE) rebuilt some Kushite forts, and cleared the canal at the First Cataract. He also upgraded the status of Kush to an Egyptian province governed by a viceroy. Public work improvements were carried out upriver all the way to the Fourth Cataract, 400 miles (644 km) beyond the old southern frontier of Semna. Egypt’s administrative boundaries extended past the Fourth Cataract, Egyptian sources list tributary districts reaching to the Red Sea and upstream to the confluence of the Blue Nile and White Nile rivers.
Many of the forts were rebuilt and enlarged. Towns sprang up and irrigation works were introduced. Once infrastructures were provided in Kush, more merchants and artisans were able to settle in the region.
The viceroys of these newly populated centers were appointed by the Pharaoh. The viceroys bore among many other titles those of King’s Son of Kush, Prince of Kush. The title, King’s Son of Kush, did not mean that the incumbent was a true son of the Pharaoh, rather it signified the importance of the position.
The first viceroy of Kush, of whom we have detailed knowledge, is Thuwre, under Amenhotep I (1525-1504 BCE).
The best-preserved tomb of a viceroy of Kush is that of Amenhotep-Huy, who served under King Tutankhamun. The ceremony for Huy’s appointment took place in the temple of Amon at Ta-Apet (Thebes). Huy has a beautifully painted tomb in western Ta-Apet (Thebes), and is, in effect, a record of his activities as viceroy.
The government of the Egyptian frontier of Kush remained in the hands of the viceroys for nearly 800 years. These viceroys were elevated by the priesthood in Ta-Apet (Thebes) and Napata to be de-facto Pharaohs of Egypt, when Egypt was invaded and sacked by foreign countries. Their new role as the torch carriers of ancient Egypt will be discussed in later chapters.
The Pharaohs of Egypt built and enlarged numerous temples on the holy sites of Kush, in following the ancient Egyptian traditions. Senwasret III built temples at Semna, Amada, Sai, and Gabal Doshe, among other places.
The Kings of the 18th and early 19th Dynasties (1575-1237 BCE) enlarged and built numerous temples. Among them are:
„h At Kumma, opposite Semna, Tuthomosis I began a temple, which Tuthomosis II enlarged, and which Tuthomosis III finished.
„h Queen Hatshepsut built a temple at Buhen.
„h Tuthomosis III built a temple on Sai Island.
„h Amenhotep III built a temple at Soleb, and another at Sedeinqa on the West Bank.
„h Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) built the Temple of Sesibi, at Delgo.
„h Ramses II erected several temples at Abu Simbel: Gerf Hussein, Wadi es-Sebua, and at Derr.
One of the most complete surviving temples from Ramses II, is the Temple of Amara, on the east bank of the Nile, opposite Sai Island.
The holiest site in Kush is commonly known as Napata, which had the same distinction as Karnak, as the ¡§Throne of the Two Lands.¡¨ Napata refers to a district immediately downstream from the Fourth Cataract of the Nile (the region of modern Kare-ama). It was an area rather than a single town, and embraced the country on both sides of the river from modern Kurru to Nuri. Whether or not there was ever a specific town named Napata is uncertain.
The ancient Egyptian monuments, which are known to us from the Fourth Cataract region, are scattered over a distance of about 15 miles (24 km) along both banks of the Nile. Within this area are the royal cemeteries of El Kurru, Gabal Barkal, and Nuri, the great complex of temples at Gabal Barkal, and the lesser temple at Sanam. The name Napata is associated in one sense or another, with all of these localities. Napa-ta could possibly mean high/holy land.
From the beginning, the holy place seems to have been more important as a religious center than as a political or commercial center. Its focal point was the Sacred Mountain of Gabal Barkal, a 325ft (100m) high hill, 1 mile (2 km) south of present-day Kare-ama. It stood a mile or two (2-4km) from the Nile¡¦s northern bank. Its peculiar shape was looked on as the throne of Amen-Ra, Lord of the Winds.
In the 15th century BCE, Tuthomosis III and Amenhotep II built the Temple of Amun/Amen/Amon at the foot of the hill, and it remained the main religious center ever since. Later, in the 13th century BCE, Ramses II made more additions to it.
A colony of Egyptian priests of Amen-Ra took up residence at Gabal Barkal, when it was built. The population here swelled considerably because of the exiles from Ta-Apet (Thebes), who took refuge at this southern counterpart of Karnak, when foreigners invaded Egypt.
More information about subsequent history of the region can be found in Exiled Egyptians: The Heart of Africa, by Moustafa Gadalla, ISBN 0-9652509-6-2.
It is true that Kesh was intertwined with Kmt as both shared a joint ethnic
origin in prehistory. For the Kmtyw, Amami, the ancestral Godland was to
the south and Kesh stood in between. Because of an especially holy site
at the 4th cataract a few individual Nhsyw families had a certain claim to
rulership over all Ta Akht.
What to some may seem very ironic is that the name Senwosret comes
from the Uahka family. This Theban family can be traced back to the 6th
dynasty. At that time they were architects who built temples near Abydos
at Qua. That the Uahka were of Nhsyw origins us attested by their burial
tombs. The design is unknown in Kmt but common in Kesh. The pharaoh
of the famous conquest stele labeling Nhsyw cowards yet fearful of them
taking over the land bit by bit was Senwosret III himself of Nhsy ancestry!
The Uahka werent the only family nor the 12th the only dynasty of Nhsw
influence from origins in Kesh.
quote:
Originally posted by alTakruri:
What to some may seem very ironic is that the name Senwosret comes
from the Uahka family. This Theban family can be traced back to the 6th
dynasty. At that time they were architects who built temples near Abydos
at Qua. That the Uahka were of Nhsyw origins us attested by their burial
tombs. The design is unknown in Kmt but common in Kesh. The pharaoh
of the famous conquest stele labeling Nhsyw cowards yet fearful of them
taking over the land bit by bit was Senwosret III himself of Nhsy ancestry!
Interesting