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 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore,Maryland 21218-4363 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