early kings of Nubia

The history of Egypt can't be complete without looking at the influence of the early kings of Nubia.

Lost Kingdom of Africa is a series on that continent and the Nubia episode which aired on TVO yesterday was an excellent way to begin to understand the role of the ancient Nubians.

TVO describes Nubia in the following way.

Nubia, in now what is Northern Sudan, dominated a vast area of the eastern Sahara for thousands of years. Its people were described as barbarians and mercenaries, and yet Nubia has left us some of the most spectacular monuments in the world. Gus Gasely-Hayford discovers that its kings once ruled Ancient Egypt and that it was defeated not by its rivals but by its environment.

After watching the TVO programs on early kings of Nubia and their influence on Egypt I'm left with many curious questions about the Rock Gongs, the rock paintings recently discovered, the mud buildings and palaces of Kush, the old archeological sites around Khartoum, including Karma, Jebel Barkal, and Meroé.

Aswan is at cataract 1, kerma at cataract 3, Jebel Barkal at cataract 4, and Meroe is between cataracts 5 and 6. Khartoum is at the forks of the blue nile and white nile where the tributaries dump their fresh and potable waters highly valued for farming and irrigation into the greater Nile which flows towards Egypt and the Mediterranean.

And there are more question such has ;

Did the Nubian priest caste learn their burial rituals and build their mud mounds by standards learned in Egypt, or did the Egyptians learn their mound building skills from the inhabitants who lived at the forks of the blue nile and white nile?

The end result shows that the Nubia tribes moved with climate changes. Were they moving always towards the south or did they disperse north and south in tribes ??? After thousands of years of interactions with Egyptians, Arabians, Greeks, Romans, Persians, and others, they were all but forgotten except for the archeological artifacts and monuments that lay scattered along the Nile and in the desert proper.

Evolution of the Egyptian king list

The evolution of the Egyptian king list moves through several periods.

In approximately the year 3100 BC the Archaic Period begins. This is when names likes Menes, Narmer, and others get entangled into what become Egypt dynasties 1 and 2. The Old Kingdom of the Egyptian timeline involves dynasties 3 though 6 and by the end of this unified Egypt period we get a Intermediate Period where major dissidence occurs. During this first Egyptian intermediate period loyalty to the Pharoah fades and central government is all but abandonned. This goes on through dynasties 7 through 10.

The Middle Kingdom is a reunificated period of Pharoanic rule and the evolution of the Egyptian king list sees names like Amenemhet, Senwosret, and Nefrusobek, added to it. The Middle Egyptian Kingdom covers dynasties 11 through 13. The centralized government again breaks apart and dynasties 14 through 17 are a Second Egyptian Intermediate Period.

A New Kingdom once again reunifies the centralized one ruler Egypt in dynasty 20 and the following names are added to the evolution of the Egyptian king list.

• Ahmose
• Amenhotep 1, 2, 3
• Thutmose 1, 2, 3, 4
• Khenmetamun
• Akhenaten
• Smenkhkare
• Tutankhamen
• Meryamun 1, 2
• Ramesses
• Seti
• Setepenre

As before the central power of a Pharoanic god man leader can't hold the Egyptians from revolting and a Third Egyptian Intermediate Period seperates the kingdom where dynasty periods 21 through 25 are played out.

Late Period Egypt brings in the Ptolemy rulers and the Greeks influenced followed by Rome and Ceasar. During dynasties 21 through 30 the Cleopatra's and other names are added to the evolution of the Egyptian king list.

Extant pieces of the Royal Annals

What are the extant pieces of the Royal Annals ?

The Royal Annals are lists of Egyptian King's that were carved on stones during the Fifth Dynasty. These stela are fragmented or worn by time.

The Palermo stone or Palermo Stela for example is a piece of black basalt dated to the 25th century BC which is a portion of a wall which had inscriptions on both sides.

There are several fragments but whether all of these fragments are from the same wall is debatable since they were found in antique markets. The largest of these fragments is called the Palermo stone because it is held in a museum in Palermo. There are five other fragments called Cairo stones held in Cairo. The last of the seven fragments is called the London Fragment and held at the University College of London.

The list of king's names inscribed on the stones dates back to pre dynastic Egypt or some time before 3100 BC.

The portions of the wall which held information on the first few Egypt dynasties are missing.

Other similar stones such as the Turin Canon dated to the 13th century BC and the Karnak list of Kings exist.

The Palermo stone and the other fragments are important for scholars and Egyptologists. The debate argues the true role of the Kings of the first dynasty of Egypt. It is possible that King Menes who is often credited as unifying Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt was simply the war strategist who re - unified the bonds of older pre dynastic kings.