Nubia's Black Pharaohs
In around 1500 BC, Egypt's warrior-pharaoh, Thutmose I, embarked on a campaign to conquer the lands south of Egypt, along the Nile. He entered Nubia -- what is now Sudan -- kicked butt, and enslaved the peoples there. It was mainly about gold and slaves. The reasons for going places to kick butt hasn't changed since. Thutmose's priests however, found god in that campaign. In Napata, located 200 miles north of where Khartoum is today, the priests saw Jebel Barkal -- a table-top mountain fronted by a pinnacle, rising some 320 feet above ground near the Nile. Quite phallic it is -- or was. Imagine if you were a bunch of guys that had just marched 700 miles of nowhere. Anything sticking out of the ground didn't need a lot of imagination I would think. In Jebel Barkal, they believed they had found the birthplace and primeval home of Egypt's supreme deity, Amun -- he of the Sun -- he who created the other gods by sheer will and apparently, a whole lot of masturbation.
This find transformed Egyptian society -- for the next 400 years, as Egypt plundered Nubia, they also revered Jebel Barkal. They built temples and palaces around it, and slowly transformed the mountain into a place the pharaohs would come for their coronation ceremony. In 1100 BC however, a massive earthquake laid waste to the Egyptian colony at Jebel Barkal. The party was most definitely over. The priests saw this as a sign of Amun's anger over the pharaoh's rule of his southern lands, and this resulted in Egypt's retreat from Nubia. For the next 350 years, Egypt suffered from economic and political decline. I guess shit happens when there's no plundering to be done.
In Nubia however, something remarkable transpired in those 350 years. The Nubians found religion. They found Amun. I suppose it wasn't too difficult, having the Egyptian ruins left at Jebel Barkal. They adopted hieroglyphics and revived the practice of pyramid building. They in effect, adopted the ways of their former colonial rulers. Eventually, a Nubian king named Piye, encouraged by the Egyptian priesthood, took an army 700 miles to Egypt's holy city of Thebes, and kicked Egyptian butt in the name of Amun. Piye restored order to Egypt, and became the first of five successive Nubian pharaohs to rule Egypt. They were supported by the Egyptian priesthood.
The Nubians were eventually expelled from Egypt -- and in 593 BC, to ensure they never came back, the pharaoh Psammetihcus II, took an army to Jebel Barkal, and laid the place to waste.
That's the story anyway -- and it may be just a story unless more proof is dug up from the ruins of the earthquake of 1100 BC. Problem is, time is running out. A consortium of Arab nations, Sudan, and China, is building a hydroelectric dam -- and although it won't flood Jebel Barkal, it will flood some low lying regions that may hold keys to understanding what went on there. Meanwhile, Sudan's Islamic fundamentalist government and the rebels have stopped fighting for now, and in western Darfur, a genocide continues.
Some lessons from history:
Related reading:
Nubia's Black Pharaohs -- the article from the latest Discover magazine.
This find transformed Egyptian society -- for the next 400 years, as Egypt plundered Nubia, they also revered Jebel Barkal. They built temples and palaces around it, and slowly transformed the mountain into a place the pharaohs would come for their coronation ceremony. In 1100 BC however, a massive earthquake laid waste to the Egyptian colony at Jebel Barkal. The party was most definitely over. The priests saw this as a sign of Amun's anger over the pharaoh's rule of his southern lands, and this resulted in Egypt's retreat from Nubia. For the next 350 years, Egypt suffered from economic and political decline. I guess shit happens when there's no plundering to be done.
In Nubia however, something remarkable transpired in those 350 years. The Nubians found religion. They found Amun. I suppose it wasn't too difficult, having the Egyptian ruins left at Jebel Barkal. They adopted hieroglyphics and revived the practice of pyramid building. They in effect, adopted the ways of their former colonial rulers. Eventually, a Nubian king named Piye, encouraged by the Egyptian priesthood, took an army 700 miles to Egypt's holy city of Thebes, and kicked Egyptian butt in the name of Amun. Piye restored order to Egypt, and became the first of five successive Nubian pharaohs to rule Egypt. They were supported by the Egyptian priesthood.
The Nubians were eventually expelled from Egypt -- and in 593 BC, to ensure they never came back, the pharaoh Psammetihcus II, took an army to Jebel Barkal, and laid the place to waste.
That's the story anyway -- and it may be just a story unless more proof is dug up from the ruins of the earthquake of 1100 BC. Problem is, time is running out. A consortium of Arab nations, Sudan, and China, is building a hydroelectric dam -- and although it won't flood Jebel Barkal, it will flood some low lying regions that may hold keys to understanding what went on there. Meanwhile, Sudan's Islamic fundamentalist government and the rebels have stopped fighting for now, and in western Darfur, a genocide continues.
Some lessons from history:
- Sooner or later, no matter how powerful you are, you're going to get your butt kicked. Probably from the people you've been oppressing.
- There needs to be a strong separation between church and state. Politicians are amateurs compared to the religious types.
- There's no stopping progress -- except perhaps people killing each other over stupid reasons.
Related reading:
Nubia's Black Pharaohs -- the article from the latest Discover magazine.
Comments
Post a Comment