Nubia
To the
ancient Mediterranean world, the land south of Egypt was a
territory
of mystery and legend. Wealth and exotic products came from
there.
It was the home of the Ethiopians, whom Homer called blameless
and
stories about its great achievements endured to tantalize the
modern world. This land, which now includes
Nubia, is a land of
enormous
distances, and its exploration was long impeded by problems
of
transport and political unrest. In the last hundred years, Nubia
has
slowly yielded its secrets, its vanished peoples, abandoned cities
and lost kingdoms brought to light by the
excavator and copyist of
inscriptions.
This exhibit is a selection of objects recovered over
twenty
years ago by the Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition in the
effort
to rescue archaeology from the rising water behind the Aswan
Dam.
The
land of Nubia is a desert divided by the river Nile. For want of
water
and rich soil, most of Nubia has never been able to support a
large
population for long periods. However, some of Africa's greatest
civilizations
emerged here, centers of achievement whose existence was
based on industry and trade. Because they did
not write their own
languages
until very late in ancient times, we know these centers and
their
people largely through their archaeology and what the Egyptians
and
Greeks said about them.
An Early
Kingdom in the Land of the Bow:
The
A-Group,
3800-3100
B.C.
The
first continuous agricultural tradition in Africa, the
Sudanese-Saharan
Neolithic, developed almost ten thousand years ago
in
country west of Nubia that is now desert.
The
Nile Valley in Egypt had been inhospitable, but in the seasonally
dry channels of the Second Cataract, early
farmers learned to manage
parts of the river's annual flood. This
knowledge could then be
applied
in Egypt's wide floodplain, giving rise to the great sequence
of
Upper Egypt's early civilizations.
Upper
Egypt soon grew wealthy and its culture expanded again into
Nubia,
where renewed southern contacts gave rise to the first of
Nubia's
trading cultures, called the A-Group. Incense, copper, gold,
objects of shell, and semiprecious stones
were traded northward in
return
for manufactured articles and probably agricultural produce.
Most
surprising, evidence that early pharaohs ruled in A-Group Nubia
was
discovered by the Oriental Institute at Qustul, almost at the
modern
Sudanese border. A cemetery of large tombs contained evidence
of
wealth and representations of the rulers and their victories. Other
representations and monuments could then be
identified, and in the
process,
a lost kingdom, called Ta-Seti or Land of the Bow, was
discovered.
In fact, the cemetery at Qustul leads directly to the
first
great royal monuments of Egypt in a progression. Qustul in
Nubia
could well have been the seat of Egypt's founding dynasty.
Figure 1:
The decoration of the Qustul Incense Burner, as restored.
A sacrificial procession contains the
earliest definite image of a
pharaoh
with his crown and falcon-label. Oriental Institute Nubian
Expedition.
The
Land of Wawat: C-Group Lower Nubia,
2300-1550
B.C.
Life in
Nubia between 3100 and about 2300 B. C. differed greatly from
the
prosperous times of A-Group. We know of only a few inhabitants and
one substantial town, where copper was
smelted for export.
About
2300 B.C., during the Egyptian Sixth Dynasty, a new culture
appeared,
which archaeologists call C-Group. Cattle played an important
role in this culture, as they have in many
other African societies
since.
Nevertheless, the C-Group was settled permanently along the
Nile,
from Aswan to the Second Cataract, and a closely related culture
was established in northern Sudan, especially
at Kerma, south of the
Third
Cataract. As Egypt fragmented politically, C-Group people entered
the
country to the north, as herdsmen and soldiers. They sometimes rose
very
high in Egyptian society and they played an important role in the
struggles
that founded the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, about 2050 B.C.
Figure
2: One of the finest C-Group incised bowls is decorated with a
herd of
cattle. Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition.
From
biographies of Egyptian governors at Aswan, about 2300 B. C., we
learn
that the peoples to the south were concentrated in four
principalities.
One, Wawat, later gave its name to all of Lower Nubia,
the
land between the First and the Second Cataracts. Another, Yam, may
have
been a predecessor of Kush. In the Egyptian period of disunity, about
2250 B. C., Lower Nubia had its own pharaohs.
C-Group
is well known for its tightly packed cemeteries of high stone
circles.
Next to these circles were placed stelae, some with pictures
of
cattle incised on them, and pottery, some of Nubia's finest art.
Three
major cemeteries and a house of this culture were excavated by
the
Oriental Institute at Adindan and Serra East.
Kerma
and the Rise of Kush,
ca.
2000-1550 B. C.
Egypt
conquered Lower Nubia about 1950 B. C., and retained it until
about
1700. C-Group kept its cultural identity under Egyptian rule,
but the
land of Kush to the south and the Medjay people of the Eastern
Desert
remained independent. Kush, much influenced by the Medjay, became
a major
power in the south, and as Egypt fell into disunity again, about
1700 B.
C., Kush took over Lower Nubia with its C-Group population and
Egyptian
garrisons. The allegiance of people and soldiers was transferred
to the
southern ruler who was represented as a pharaoh.
Most
archaeology of the Kerma culture or early Kush is found south of the
Second
Cataract, especially at the great capital at Kerma, with its
central
temples, elaborate smelter, manufacturing installations, houses
and
enormous royal mound tombs. Its magnificent pottery was sometimes
exported
as far north as the Egyptian Delta, and sometimes carried north
by
travelling officials and soldiers.
The
Ages of Egyptian Occupation
The
Middle Kingdom,
1950-1700
B. C.
The New
Kingdom,
1550-1
100 B.C.
The two
periods of Egyptian rule in Nubia were quite different. In the
Middle
Kingdom, Egyptian garrisons occupied fortresses and the native
C-Group
peoples were not profoundly changed by the imperial occupation.
Figure
3: Ruins of the temple of Soleb, one of New Kingdom Nubia's
greatest
monuments. Photo by Breasted.
After
the terrible struggles that ended Egypt's Second Intermediate
Period,
objects and many local customs became practically indistinguishable
from those of Egypt. Much that underlay the
tremendous elaboration of
Egypt
must have been present long before in Nubia, for the rapid,
sympathetic,
and understanding adoption of Egyptian culture in Nubia is
unique
in the ancient world. Egypt invested heavily in this change,
building
numerous temple complexes such as Abu Simbel that were at once centers of
religion, culture, politics, and economy. In later centuries, this investment
bore fruit as Nubia championed the pharaonic faith against forces of
disruption, conquest and foreign rule in the Nile Valley again and again.
Figure
4: The view looking south from Abu Simbel, great rock-cut temple of Ramesses
II, before it was moved. Photo by Breasted.
The
Empire of Kush
Between
1100 and 750 B.C., little is known of Nubia, but after 750, a new Kushite
kingdom appeared at Napata near the Fourth Cataract and rapidly expanded into a
huge empire. To the south, Meroe was founded. To the north, Egypt had fallen
into fragments under Libyan rulers, and the Kushites extended their control
north of Thebes, the cult center of the god Amun in Egypt, who was also the
most favored deity of Kush. Piye, most famous of Kush's pharaohs, united the
Nile Valley from the Mediterranean to Meroe, creating one of Africa's greatest
states. He and his successors are known as Egypt's Twenty-fifth Dynasty. One,
Taharqo, was a great builder, and the Kushite rulers led Egypt to its last age
of outstanding achievement, which reached its peak in the sixth century B.C.
But when Kush tried to stop the westward advance of Assyria in Asia, Taharqo
and his successor Tanutamani were defeated and expelled from Egypt by 650 B.C.
In Nubia and Sudan, Kush continued to be a major state for a thousand years.
Meroitic
Nubia,
ca. 200
B.C.- A.D. 300
The
actual capital of Kush was established at Meroe quite early even though its
rulers built pyramids near Napata until about 300 B.C. Meroe became a great
city of large industrial complexes and great temples, with an inner city that
contained palaces, a shrine with a large pool and columns that spouted water,
and even an observatory. Numerous important centers were founded in the Isle of
Meroe, and great temple complexes dedicated to gods with both Egyptian and
Meroitic names. The most important Meroitic deity was Apedemak, usually shown
with a lion's head, who became one of the greatest state gods. The outstanding
Meroitic industry known to us is iron. The site of Meroe still contains large
heaps of slag, and recent excavations have unearthed parts of the furnaces used
to smelt the metal.
Figure
5: Decoration from a ring-bezel shows the Meroitic lion god Apedemak. Oriental
Institute Nubian Expedition.
In the north,
Meroitic policy had been to assist revolts in Upper Egypt against foreign
rulers, such as Persians, the Macedonian Ptolemies, and Romans. After an
agreement with Rome just after 23 B.C., Meroitic settlers were able to live
close to Aswan, beginning a new era of prosperity in Lower Nubia. Wealth
derived from trade made possible some of Nubia's most delightful achievements
in arts and crafts. The culture, like that of Kush's main center at Meroe, was
pharaonic, and the representations on pottery and small objects were made in
accordance with the what was considered proper in that tradition. These
Meroites of Lower Nubia also constructed small brick pyramids, and equipped
their chapels with stone sculptures and inscribed monuments.
X-Group
Nubia
The Blemmyes,
ca A.D. 250-500
The
Noubadian Kingdom,
ca.
A.D. 350-550
With
the Roman world in turmoil, and Meroe in decline, a people from east of the
Nile known to the Greeks as Blemmyes and to the Arabs as Bedja, rapidly overran
much of Egypt and Lower Nubia. Although expelled from Egypt, they were able to
establish themselves in the region of Nubia just south of Aswan. Although they
continued the religion of the pharaohs, their rulers used the Greek forms of
contemporary Roman Imperial titles. The Oriental Institute excavated near
Kalabsha and recovered many fragments of decoration from one of the Blemmyes'
most important holy places, as well as pieces of their unusual and beautiful
pottery.
Figure
6: A beautifully carved sandstone incense burner found near the main shrine of
the Blemmyes has alternating lotus flowers and buds in carved relief, a symbol
of creation. Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition.
South
of the Blemmyes, the Meroitic province of Lower Nubia collapsed by about A. D.
300, and by 375, the kingdom of the Noubades, now known as Nubians was
established with its capital near the modern Sudanese Border. Great mound-tombs
of its kings at Qustul and Ballana contained much wealth, in crowns, jewels,
and great weapons, including long African spear-swords, now in the Cairo
Museum. The Oriental Institute's own excavations there discovered that the
tumuli themselves were only part of larger complexes of chapels and sacrificial
pits. Like the Meroitic rulers they supplanted, the Noubadians used pharaonic symbols
and worshipped ancient gods. They joined with the Blemmyes in attacks on Upper
Egypt in defense of the old religion against the newly dominant Christianity.
Christian
Nubia, ca. A.D. 550-1400
Nubia
first became Christian in the time of the Roman emperor Justinian, but soon
after, the Moslem Arabs conquered Egypt, and the Nubians were isolated from
direct contact with the Christian world north of the Mediterranean. Early
attempts at Moslem conquest in Nubia failed, allowing various Christian kingdoms
of Nubia to remain independent for centuries, and they even had a profitable
treaty arrangement with the Caliph. At times, Christian Nubia became quite
powerful and was able to intervene on behalf of the Coptic Christians in Egypt
and even to hold territory. In the twelfth century, under Saladin, and later,
under the Mamelukes, the power of Christian Nubia was broken by a series of
campaigns and invasions of Arab tribes. By 1400, Christian Nubia had
disappeared. Nubians are now virtually all Moslem.
Figure
7: Jar fragments from the later Christian Period that were painted in black
with intricate geometric designs. Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition.
The
conversion to Christianity was a major stimulus to cultural achievement.
Christianity required churches, written texts, in Greek, Egyptian Coptic and in
Old Nubian, as well as educational and inspirational decoration. The Christian
images and symbols were drawn largely from traditions developed in Egypt and
the Mediterranean world, but Nubian artists and architects added details,
designs, combinations, and proportions of their own to establish a unique
formal art. Some of the greatest paintings of the Middle Ages were made on the
walls of the Cathedral at Faras and rescued by a Polish expedition for the Museums
of Khartoum and Warsaw. The Oriental Institute excavated a major monastery at
Qasr el Wizz, and a large town at Serra East, which contained churches with
frescoes that could be copied, but were too damaged to remove. Much
architectural information was recovered, along with objects from daily life,
including superbly painted pottery which was, as so often before, the glory of
Nubia.
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