From Slave to Pharaoh: The Black Experience of Ancient Egypt

231 Pages·2004·5.24 MB·English

by  Donald B. Redford

FROM SLAVE TO PHARAOH

DONALD B. REDFORD
FROM SLAVE TO PHARAOH
THE BLACK EXPERIENCE
OF ANCIENT EGYPT
THEJOHNSHOPKINSUNIVERSITYPRESS
BALTIMOREANDLONDON
© 2004 The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved.Published 2004
Printed in the United States ofAmerica on acid-free paper
Johns Hopkins Paperbacks edition,2006
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
The Johns Hopkins University Press
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www.press.jhu.edu
Frontispiece:Nubian and Asiatic,traditional enemies ofEgypt,bound under the sandals ofa
mummy,in a traditional pejorative device.Thebes,Late Period.
The Library ofCongress has cataloged the hardcover edition ofthis book as follows:
Redford,Donald B.
From slave to pharaoh :the black experience ofancient Egypt / Donald B.Redford.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8018-7814-4 (hardcover :alk.paper)
1.Egypt—History—To 332 .. 2.Nubia—History. 3.Blacks—Egypt—History. I.Title.
DT83.R4 2004
932(cid:1).015—dc21
ISBN 0-8018-8544-2 (paperback :alk.paper)
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
CONTENTS
ListofIllustrations vii
Preface ix
Introduction 1
1. EgyptiansandNubians 5
2. TheProblemofFrontiers 11
3. Nubia:Egypt’sPrimarySphereofIn_uence 19
4. “PlottinginTheirValleys”:TheUnrulyTribesmen 24
5. FromChiefdomtoStateandBackAgain:TheFinalConquest
ofKush 31
6. TheEgyptianEmpireinKush 38
7. TheSilentYears:TheAbandonmentofLowerNubiaandtheRise
ofNapata 58
8. TheSudanInvadesEgypt 65
9. TheInvasionofPiankhy 72
10. TheTwenty-fourthDynasty 80
11. TheResistancetoAssyrianExpansion 86
12. “TaharqatheConqueror” 93
13. Egyptofthe“BlackPharaohs” 101
v
CONTENTS
14. ThebesundertheTwenty-~fthDynasty 117
15. TheEndoftheTwenty-~fthDynastyinEgypt 139
Epilogue 145
ListofAbbreviations 149
Notes 153
Index 209
vi
ILLUSTRATIONS
MAPS
1. Nubia,Kush,andSudan 2
2. RegimesandtransitcorridorsinnortheastAfrica,c.2300–1700B.C.
25
3. MiddleandLowerEgyptattheendoftheeighthcenturyB.C. 73
4. ThenortheasternNileDeltainantiquity 141
FIGURES
1. AnatolianblondesandNubianblacks 6
2. Upper-classNubiangentry 7
3. BrutalizingacaptiveNubian 9
4. ElephantineandtheFirstCataractregion 14
5a. Staircase approach and facades of Old Kingdom tombs at Qubbet
el-Hawa 15
5b. Outcropsofgranite,FirstCataract 16
5c. SceneofthemortuarymealinthetombofthemayorofElephan-
tine,Nubkhaure-nakht(SirenpowetII) 16
6. InscriptionsontherocksoftheislandofSiheil,FirstCataract 17
7. RamessesIIchargesintoathrongof_eeingNubians 23
8. Wrestlingtrainingandsiegewarfare 30
9. NubiansbringingtributetoPharaoh 40
10. ViceroyofKush 42
11a. NubiansadoringAkhenatenatthejubilee 45
11b. ANubianinAkhenaten’sbodyguard 46
11c. NubianandCanaanitecaptivesinsubmissiontoAkhenaten 46
12. GranitelionfromGebelBarkal 47
vii
ILLUSTRATIONS
13. Facade of the great rock-cut temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel
48
14. Facadeofthelesserrock-cuttemple,dedicatedtoNofretari,queen
ofRamessesII,atAbuSimbel 48
15. Libyantribesmen 62
16. OsorkonIIIandhisdaughterShepenwepetworshipAmun,Rehar-
akhte,andPtah(cid:1) 68
17. TheLevantinecoast,southofAshkelon 84
18. Shabaka(Sabaco) 87
19. Taharqa,enthroned 88
20. ShebitkuworshipsAmunwithhisdaughter 94
21. Taharqa 96
22. Trialpiecewithking’shead 104
23. AmunirdisIworshipsAmun 112
24. ShepenwepetIbeforeMontuandHarendotes 113
25. Karnakandenvirons 118
26. ViewalongtheaxisofKarnakfromtheeast 121
27. DomesticstructuresofTwenty-~fthDynastydate 122
28. Domesticarchitecture 123
29. Domesticstructures 124
30. Planofatypicalvilla 125
31. Casematefoundationstosupportmultistoriedtower 126
32. Soclelikeshowerstallwithdrain 127
33a. Goldring 129
33b. Felinegoddessholdinglotus 129
33c. Terracottaanimalimages 130
34. Reconstructionofakiln 131
35. PlanofTempleC 133
36a. ExcavationsofTempleC 134
36b. Remainsofcrypt,TempleC 134
36c. HeadofDivineWorshiper,TempleC 135
36d. Recumbentlionfromthedromos,TempleC 135
36e. FeathersofAmun-re,TempleC 136
36f. Fragmentofsceneofinductionceremony,TempleC 136
37. ReconstructionoftheputativefacadeofTempleC 137
38. Fragmentofacipposfromthesanatorium,TempleC 138
viii
PREFACE
T
hepresentworkisnotahistoryofNubiaandtheSudaninantiq-
uity, still less a history of Egypto-Nubian relations up to the
seventhcenturyb.c.TheadventofcomplexsocietyintheNile
Valley and the possible role and interaction of Nubia in the
process of the development of the state are, similarly, not the burden of
theinquiry,howeverfascinatingspeculationonthesetopicsmightbe.A
disquisition on the ef_orescence of historical cultures in Nubia, such as
theA-grouportheC-group,isthepreserveofthearchaeologistandthe
historian of the subcataract Nile Valley and is really not germane to the
topicathand.BegunwithaneyeontheachievementsoftheTwenty-~fth
Dynasty in Egypt, From Slave to Pharaoh has expanded into a general
overviewoftheNubianandKushiteexperienceoftheexpansionistpower
of Egypt and its culture up to 671 b.c. The fundamental questions that
leadinto,andinform,thediscussionarethosethathavesuggestedthem-
selvesfromtimetotimetoallwhore_ectonethnicrelationsinnortheast-
ernAfrica:Howwerethedark-skinnedNubiansandSudaneseblacksper-
ceivedandtreatedbytheEgyptians?Didtheseveralcommunitiesinthe
NileValleyseparatefromoneanotherintheconceitofspatialandspiri-
tualboundaries?Iftheydidso,whydidonecommunity,thatofimperial
Egypt,considerextensivetractsbeyonditsboundarytobeitsownlegiti-
matesphereofin_uence?AndhowdidtheNubianandSudaneseinhabit-
ants of these tracts react to the loss of self-determination that inevitably
followedtheirbeingswallowedupinsuchasphereofin_uence?Follow-
ingthisdiscussionisadescriptionoftheimpositionofmoreregularized,
imperial structures, ~rst at Kerma, then in Egypt proper; and the long,
checkered history of the relationship between the communities is then
tracedagainstthebackdropofempireupto671b.c.Thisdatewaschosen
asastoppingpointbecause,withtheriseofSaïs,thefocusshiftsdramati-
callytothenorthandoneisobligedtopursuenewormodi~edthemes.
ix