#nubiaknowledge

The Qustul Incense Burner 

• •  While excavating an A-Group cemetery, the Qustul Incense Burner was found in the tomb of a Nubian ruler at Qustul. It is made of limestone and contains carved images, a common technique of Nubian rock art. In the first photo the artifact is drawn flat to show the images more clearly. These include sacred boats (used in ceremonial practices), a feline, an antelope, rosette, a falcon deity, a prisoner, the White Crown, and a palace. These pharaonic images, similar to those found in Egyptian art, reaffirms a relationship between Nubia and Egypt.

These similarities have caused much debate in anthropology. While some believe Nubian rulers and Egyptian pharaohs just used related royal symbols, others argue that Nubians were imitating Egyptian art and rituals. The assumption dismisses evidence of Nubian unification before that of Upper Egypt.

The Kushites of Ancient Nubia: Apparel

The Kushites wore diverse types of clothing. Clothing worn by the Kushites were mostly made of leather and linen fibers.

Men: clothed with loin and tunics made of linen. Men wore tunics tucked under their belts and tied to their fronts in a butterfly tie.

Women: clothed with simple long skirts and often bare-chested. Women would also wear a piece of cloth with tassels dangling from the lower edge in addition to wearing heavy ornaments that included a headband, large bracelet, and armlets.

The notion that the emulation of Egyptian practices by Nubians represents a natural acculturation towards an inherently appealing and sophisticated Egyptian culture is heavily embedded within Egyptology. The possibility that the conquered Nubians might have influenced Egyptian society or maintained native practices tends to be ignored or denied

Egyptian culture and Nubian culture are often treated as if they are/were in binary opposition. However, new evidence suggests that Egyptians and Nubians share a complex pattern of juxtapositions as well as entanglements that blend Egyptian and Nubian elements in various aspects.

Not to mention, that popular culture’s representation of “Egyptian culture” tends to overlook the traditions of the Nubian culture that still exist today. Instead, it treats Nubia as if it were solely a thing of the past when in reality these traditions still exist today.

Ancient Nubia: Transportation • • Ships and boats were the main means of transporting goods and people around Nubia.

Ancient Nubians built large wooden ships equipped with square sails and oars. The planks were held together with rope, expanding in the water and making the vessel watertight. Acacia wood was used in Lower Nubia ships. Ships could travel with ease up and down the Nile.

Mark Nelson, author of the article linked below, found large amounts of tetracycline in bones tested from an ancient Nubian site. Nelson asserts that Nubians knew of technology to make antibiotic beer and used it to cure themselves of bacteria.

Ancient Nubia: Exports and Imports • • Throughout history, Kush remains the closest trade partner to Egypt.

Exports: The Kushites were the only elephant exporting people besides the Indians. Kushite elephants were used by ancient armies of Egypt - The Egyptian city of Elephantine, the Greek word for elephant, was named so because elephants were sold and exported there.

The Kushites were also known for exporting Elephant Tusks. Kush was the primary exporter of Ivory in the ancient world. In addition, The Kushites were known for gold, considering it was also a natural mineral the Kushites possessed.

Imports: Bronze was the Kushites’ most imported product. Oil was a common import as well. Kushites imported olive oil from Lebanon. Also, Lumber and Cedar trees were imported from Levant and used as building materials.

Meroitic Writing

Meroitic became the official language of the Nubian kingdom around 200 BC. There are both hieroglyphic and demotic (or cursive) versions of Meroitic, an alpha syllabic script made up of 23 characters. Of these there are four vowels, fifteen consonants, and four syllabus signs (syllables possessing inherent vowels). Words are separated by two or three dots, and the cursive is read right to left; the hieroglyphics top to bottom. This writing system is the oldest in Africa apart from Egyptian hieroglyphics. While the cursive was probably more efficient for writing, the script is not included in the Rosetta Stone making it difficult for anthropologists to decipher its meanings. Some words appear often and are known, but the majority of the language still remains a mystery. The third image (the black granite) is the Stela of Queen Tabiry and on it is the original Kushite language, reserved mainly for sacred and ritual occasions. This writing system is very similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics even though recent diggings found that they developed the system before the invasion of Egyptians.