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Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin
Publishedbi-monthlyby the Museumof Fine Arts, Boston,Massachusetts
Subscription
price,50 centsperyearpostpaid. Singlecopies, 10 cents: aftera year, 20 cents

VOL. XIX BOSTON, APRIL AND JUNE, 1921 Nos. 112 AND 113

.- n
o~** 0\r-tS

The Royal Cemetery of El-Kur'uw previous to excavation


I The tomb of the first ancestor XV. Pyramid of King Shabaka (partly excavated)
2-6. Other tumuli graves XVII. Pyramid of King Piankhy (before excavation)
XI-XIV. Mastabas of the great row

The Royal Family of Ethiopia 19 17- 19 18 the excavationof the pyramidsof


Nun' had broughtback to humanknowledgethe
D URING the winter of 1918-1919 the names of twelve forgotten kings and of many
HarvardUniversity--Museum of Fine Arts queens,and the chronological orderof the twenty-
Egyptian Expedition reached the climax of its one kings after Tirhaqa, the Ethiopianking of
discu,veries
of royal tombsin Ethiopiaby finding II Kings and Isaiah.* That fieldwas exhausted
the pyramidsof four kingsof Egypt,- Piankhy, and the examination was begunof the threeother
Shabaka, Shabataka, and Tanutaman. They knownfields--Tangassi,Zuma,and El-Kur'uw,-
formedthe Twenty-fifthDynastyof Egypt, called reportedby the earlytravellersto the Sudan. To
for their home
Ethiopianby the ancienthistorians, my great disappointmentthe so-called pyramids,
was at Napata; and they were the ancestors both at Tangassi and Zuma, were found to be
of the kings of Ethiopia buried at Nuri. This merelytumuli-graves of late date; but the pyramids
surprisingdiscoverywas made in a field of small of El-Kur'uwwere reallypyramids. Only one of
pyramids so ruined and inconspicuousthat I themwas as largeas the Nun'pyramids,and that
regardedthemas the verylast resortin oursearch looked to me to be much later than the time of
for the tombs of the First Dynasty of Ethiopia. the First Dynasty of Ethiopia. A preliminary
This field lay on the right bank of the Nile, examination of the chapel,two of the foundation
behind a village called El-Kur'uw,about as far deposits, and part of the stairway,proved this
" north" of Barkalas Nun'was " south" of it. In *Sce Bulletin No. 97, October, 1918.
XIX, 22 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN

XI

14~0

The cemetery after excavation, looking "southeast "from the top of the later pyramid, No. I

surmiseto be correct. The largest of the El- pyramidsis thus: A gang of trainedworkmenis
Kur'uw pyramidswas to be dated between the putto workto clearthe stairway. These stairways
nineteenthand twentiethkingsat Nuri. Therefore had been filledin after the funeralwith the clean
I concluded that the small moundsof disturbed debris left from the excavationof the rock-cut
rubble behind the pyramidof this late kingwere chambersand the buildingof the pyramid. Then
the ruinedpyramidsof his queens,situatedas at the plundererscame and dug a hole in the clean
Nuri. They appeared not to have the least fillingof each stairway,which afterwardsbecame
importance. But duringthese preliminaryworks stoppedup, partlywiththe thingsthe thievesthrew
at PyramidI, threeor four fragmentsof the small away, and partlywith driftsand. Thus it is very
blue faiencefigurescalledshawwabtiwere found, easy to distinguish between the originalfillingand
and these were inscribedwith the words: " King the debrisof the thieves'hole. The objectsfound
of Upper and Lower Egypt, Piankhy." At that in the earthof the thieves'hole came usuallyfrom
time historiansbelieved there were two or even the burial-chamber of the kingor queen,and in our
more kings called Piankhy, and I thoughtthese recordshave to be distinguished carefullyfromthe
figuresmighthave comefromthe tombof Piankhy other objects. When the doorwayat the foot of
1I (so-called). But the season of 19 17- 19 18 the rock-cutstairwayhas been reached,the gang
was at an end. of workmenis then taken out and put to clearing
W
When we returnedto the Sudanfor the season the pyramidabove or anotherstairway,until the
of 19 18-1 9 19, I plannedto resumethe excavation recordof the door-blockingand the measurements
of the great temple of Amon at Gebel Barkal, of the stairshave been made. After that, the
the Napata of the ancients,and meanwhile,as a sand which has always washed into the burial-
secondaryundertaking,I began a search for the chamber is removed,leaving only about twenty
pyramidof the Piankhywhose funeraryfiguresin centimeters(eight inches)of the floordebrisintact.
blue faience had been foundat El-Kur'uw. Fol- Whatever is found in the sand--and it is little
lowingthe planof the royal cemeteryat Nuri,the enough is countedas havingbeen washedin from
tombs of the kingsshould have been in the fore- the thieves'hole outside. When the sandis out,
held. This was searched with trenches cut to then the seriousand difficultworkof examiningand
bed-rockover an area about half a mile square, removingbit by bit the floordebrisbegins,and for
with the idea that a largepyramid,or even several thisonly the mostskilfulof our Egyptianworkmen
pyramids, mighthave been carriedaway as building are used. This floor debrisis to us what "pay-
stone, leaving only the stairway. But it was in dirt"is to the gold miner.
vain. There were no pyramids at El-Kur'uw Thus at El-Kur'uw,the preliminarywork was
except the miserablelittle heaps of ruinsbehind begunby attackingthe stairwayof a ruinedpyramid
and beside the large pyramidof the late king. which I numberedKu XV. To my surprisethe
Left withoutany alternative,I gave the apparently stairwayprovedunusuallylarge for the size of the
hopelessorderto excavatethe stairwaysof these. pyramid,which was only twelve meterssquare;
Now the mannerin which we excavate royal but ourmenhavehad longpracticein clearingsuch
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN XIX, 23

- .

Xlii 6o4iL g4$,*o Xli -.

~~CY~~
o- ?ws
L *;

- *~~~~~~~~~~~~~-
J

The stone-cased tumulusNo. 6, the mastabasXII and XIII, the pyramidsof King Piankihyand
King Shabuka, looking '' west," with the tilloge, El-KurIuw, in the background

places,and afterthreedays were close to the door- between the SudanGovernmentand the Museum
way, where the greaterpartof the objectsthrown of Fine Arts. Some pieces of sculpturemay yet
away by the plundererslay scattered. On Febru- be foundin Ethiopiantemples,but very few of the
ary 2 a fragmentof a blue faience figure was fine productsof the othercraftsmay be expected,
foundon which,writtenin ink,I read: "The kingof --those of the goldsmiths,the coppersmiths,the
Upper and Lower Egypt, Shabaka." In amaze- ivory-carvers,the makers of stone vessels, the
ment I suddenlyrealized that these poor ruined faience-workers,and the amulet-cutters.In other
pyramidsat El-Kur'uwmust be the tombsof the words, the expeditionhas establisheda practical
Twent)-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, the firstDynasty monopolyof the royalworksof Ethiopia.
of Ethiopia. I ordered the whole forceof work- With this explanationthe unique characterof
men to the pyramidsof El-Kur'uw. The excava- the collectionof Egypto-Ethiopianantiquitiesob-
tionof the pyramids,Ku XVII, XVI, XVIII, and tained by the expeditionis made clear. At the
VIII, was begunat almostthe same time. On the same time the historicalmaterialhas opened up a
9th of February,Ku XVIII was identified,again new chapterin the historyof the ancient world
by a brokenshawwabti-figure foundin the thieves' and revealsthe storyof a greatfamilywhich began
hole,as the tombof Shabataka,the sonof Shabaka. as a wanderingtribe in the Libyan desert,estab-
On the 15th,Ku XVII was foundto be the tomb lisheda kingdomin Ethiopia,conqueredan empire
of the long-soughtPiankhy,and on the 17th, Ku in Egypt, and lost its empire,but not its kingdom,
XVI, the tombof Tanutaman. But Ku Vill was to the greatestrace of conquerors of antiquity,the
never identifiedby an inscription, and it was not Assyrians,at the heightof theirpower.
until the end of the season that I realized that When one walks throughthe stragglingmodern
Ku VIII mustbe the burial-placeof King Kashta, village of El-Kur'uwstretchingalong the desert
the fatherof Piankhy. The identificationof the edge only a hundredyards fromthe bank of the
tombsof four kings of Egypt in fifteen days was Nile, the rock-desertrises gently before one, cut
one of the mostamazingseriesof discoverieswhich by water-coursesrunningdown to the alluvial
has ever fallento the lot of any expedition,and it valley. Just to the left of the broadestof these
gave us the distinctionof having recovered the wadys lies the highestof the knolls,with the late
tombsof all the kings of Ethiopiafromthe found- pyramidabouthalf way up the slope. The other
ing of the monarchyuntilits power passed to the pyramidsare hardlyvisiblefromthe village. But
kingdomof Meroe, from750 B. C. to about 250 the summitof the knoll is crowned with a low
B. C., a period of five hundredyears. All the heap of rubble, which markedfor trained eyes
worksof the royalcraftsmenwhich were placedin fromthe firstsight a tumulus-grave of the Nubian
these tombs,in so faras they have been preserved type. On each side of thistumulus,and in front
to the presentday, have passed into the records down the slope towardsthe river,stand five other
of the expedition,and have been divided fairly tumuli-graves,and then about half way between
XIX, 24 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN

* ~~~~~~~~~~xvPi

k-.:-I

Tfe mastaba of King Kashta ( A),Io. VIII, and be-hindii the pyramidof King Shabaiaka,
No. XVIII, looking - east '

the summitof the slope and the largelate pyramid contained in them. In the previous reports the
a row of eight squarestone tombs, mastabasor form of the royal pyramid of Nuri has been fully
littlepyramids,crossthe slope fromwady to wady. described, with its chapel and enclosing wall above
In frontof thisrow lie the remainsof the pyramids ground, its stairway and three burial-chambers
of Piankhy,Shabaka,and Tanutaman,and behind underground. The tomb of the great ancestor of
its "northern" end standsthe pyramidof Shabataka. this long line of kings, situated on the top of the
Acrossthe greatwaly on the "south"are situated knoll in the royal cemetery at El-Kur'uw, was
threeisolatedgroupsof smalltombsof queensand entirely different. A simple rectangular shaft,
a cemeteryof royalhorses. To the "north"across orientated "north-south," had been sunk in the
the smallerwady, extends a row of five queens' soft rock to a depth of about two meters (six feet)
pyramids,in frontof which standthe pyramidsof and at its bottom on one side a narrow burial-
the queen of the late king buried in the large chamber had been hollowed. The chamber had
pyramid. Curiouslyenoughthe "northern"group been closed with a wall of mud-bricks protected
of queens' pyramidsis called at the presentday by stone slabs, and the shaft filled in with earth.
"Tombs of the daughtersof the Sheikh,"by the Over the whole a simple rubble tumulushad been
people of the village,and on top of the pyramidof built of a type which is well known in earlier times
the late king stands a little rubble shrine with in Ethiopia. Anything more different from the
flutteringflags to which the native women make royal stairway-pyramidscould not well be imagined.
vows and bring small gifts, usuallynickel coins, Nevertheless, when the excavation of the whole
which they throw amongthe stonesof the shrine. cemetery at El-Kur'uw had been completed the
Taking the main field, that of the kings of tombs of the ancestorsand the early kings presented
Egypt, and consideringit in the light of other every stage in the development, and proved that
cemeteries,it is clear thatthe royal tombs are the this tumulus-grave was the historical ancestor of
latest in a cemetery which extended througha the three-room stairway-pyramid. Moreover, the
long periodand which mustcontainthe ancestors successive stages of this development follow the
of the kings. There can be no doubt that the growth of the cemetery as presupposed from the
crownof the knollis the site whichwouldnaturally relative positions of the tombs, and especially in
be selectedfor thefirsttombmade in the cemetery, the case of the royal tombs, where the order is
as that site is the most advantageous,the primary known from the Egyptian inscriptions.
site in the field. From that point, it would be The second generationof the ancestorsimproved
assumedon generalprinciples,the cemeterygrew the simple rubble tumulusby casing it in fine white
downwardsto the great row of mastabas and stone, adding a horseshoe-shaped enclosing wall,
finallyto the royal pyramids. The excavationof also of stone, and erecting a single-room mud-brick
thesetombsconfirmedfullythisa priorisupposition, chapel on the side towards the valley. The third
both by the formsof the tombsand by the objects generation, using the same masonry and the same
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN XIX, 25
form of pit as the first,built square mastabas
above the grave insteadof round tumuli. The
fourth and fifth generations made no change
in the superstructure,but the fifth changed
the burial-chamberto a simple open pit roofed
with a corbel vaultof masonry. The sixth, the
generation of Kashta, the father of Piankhy,
adopted the "east-west"orientation,which be-
came traditionalin Ethiopia and was dictated
by the Egyptian belief that the west was the
land of Osiris, the god of the dead. The corbel
and the change in orientationwere no doubt
- due to Egyptian influence,which was increas-
ing at that time, owing to the fact that Kashta
had extended his sovereigntyas faras Thebes.
The seventh generationis represented by the
pyramid of Piankhy, which covered a
corbel-vaulted pit, in essentials like the tomb
of Kashta, but with a rude stairway added
to give access to the burial-chamberthrough
the " west" wall and to permitthe construc-
tion of the pyramid before the burial. The
chapel of Piankhy had been built on the
filling of the stairway, with the result that its
foundations had given way, bringing down
the whole structure. Shabaka, the successor
of Piankhy, corrected this fault by leading
the end of the stairway through a sloping
tunnel, thus leaving a solid rock foundation
for his chapel. He also cut his chamber
The stairway and vaulted burial chamber of King Piankhy, entirely in the rock, but retained the arch of
looking down to "Ieast the old corbel vault, and even the structural

The burialchamberof King Shabataka with brokencoffin-bench,looking "east"


XIX, 26 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN

Palintings on end wvall and rooj'of tomb oJ'Kina7 Tanutaman, in red, yellow), blue, w)hile, and black

offsetof the corbel at the base of the arch, and knoll. If about thirty years be allowed for a
this latterfeaturewas copied blindlyin the royal generation,and the date of Piankhybe taken at
tombsfor more than two centuriesafterits struc- about 744-7 10 B. C., six generationswould give
tural origin was forgotten. Shabaka made the us the approximate date of 920-890 B. C. for the
tunnelmoreconvenientby cuttingit with a hori- matureactivityof the manburiedin the firsttumu-
zontal roof and a flat floor. Tirharqa,whose lus. Who was this manwho foundeda familyof
pyramidwas at Nurn,changedthe tunnelinto an kings,and what was his race? The grave had
anteroom,and thus establishedthe type of two- been completelyplundered,and indeed all the
room stairway-pyramid which was used by the gravesat El-Kur'uwhad sufferedgrievouslyat the
nexttwo kings,Tanutaman(El-Kur'uwXVI) and handsof spoilers. Not a namewas foundof any
Atlanersa(NurnXX) and by all the queens of of the ancestors. But archaeology is not entirely
the later ages of Ethiopia. The check in the helplesseven in the face of such difficulties. The
developmentat thisstage was due probablyto the spoilersalways dropped or overlookedsomething,
blow dealt the materialprosperityof the kingsby and in the debrisof the plunderedgraveof the
the loss of Egypt. In the reignof the succeeding firstancestorwe found a numberof very fine flint
king, Senkamanseken,Ethiopianprosperityhad and chalcedonyarrow-pointsand a number of
revived,and his pyramid(NurnIII), ostentatious in heavy gold beads, equal to thirty-eightEnglish
both structureand furniture,gave the final tradi- sovereignsin weight,besidesfragmentsof pottery,
tionalformto the Ethiopianroyaltombby adding alabaster,and faience. These arrow-headsare of
a thirdroom,a wide shortroombetween the ante- characteristicLibyan form, inconceivablein the
roomandthe innerburial-chamber,-aroomwhose tomb of an Egyptian,inconceivablein the tomb
functionwas to bear the "negative confession" of any one who had become habituatedto the
fromthe Book of the Dead inscribedon its walls use of Egyptianweaponsof the period. The first
for the well-beingof the kingin the life afterdeath. ancestorcame, therefore,from a more primitive
An examinationof the contentsof the tombs conditionof life thanprevailedin Egypt, and from
bearsout to the fullthe orderbasedon theirrelative an area under the influence of Libyan forms.
situationsand the developmentof theirform. The Other tumuliof the firstand second generations
detailsof thisexamination and the reasonson which also containedexamplesof these Libyan arrow-
I base the divisionof the tombsinto six generations points,and show thatfor two generationsat least
of ancestorspreviousto Piankhy,would be of little the familywas not faradvancedfromthe primitive
interestin thisplace. Nor need the tombsof the stateindicatedby the use of flint. This conclusion
queens of Piankhyand his successorsbe further is confirmedby the onlyinscription withan historical
described except to state that they present a contentfoundat El-Kur'uw. In the firstgroupof
parallelline of developmentto that shown by the tombs of the queens on the " south" of the
tombs of the kings. The whole field centered ' southern" ravine, five of the royal ladies of
aboutthe simpletumulus-grave of the firstancestor Piankhywere discovered. The middletombwas
buried at El-Kur'uw that on the top of the that of a queen named Tabiry,and containeda
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN XIX, 27

'00--

* A. AL , i

Ci "n hwQ a

> r
* .....--.a'.,,.,.'--o , > ,.-!

Painting on south w)allof tombof Queen Qaihata

i-l it f\ 94 - s$;

rh o

Painting on south wall of tomb of King Tanutaman


XIX, 28 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN

1A

".7.~4
Flint and chalcedony arrow-pointsof Libyanforms from the early tumuli
Also one ivorypoint

funeral stela of considerable interest. It says that largefor such smallgraves. Moreover,fragments
Tabiry was (1) the foremost great queen of His of finevesselsof alabasterand decoratedfaienceof
Majesty, Piankhy, endowed with life, (2) the Egyptian manufactureindicated a rich outfit of
daughter of the Princess Alara, who was a suchobjects. Thus it is clear that the chiefs of
daughter of Kashta, and (3) in her own right the these early generationshad the controlof large
great chieftainess of the Temehuw, or Southern supplies of gold, and also access to Egyptian
Libyans. It may be that Tabiry held her place exports.- The secretof the importanceof Ethiopia
among the Temehuw by inheritance from her in the Middle and New Empiresof Egypt and of
father and not from her mother, Alara, or her the power of the Ethiopianmonarchylay in the
grandfather Kashta. But the intimate relations geographicalsituationof this barrenland,a situa-
between the early generations of the royal family tion which gave the rulingpower the controlover
of Ethiopia and the chief family of the Southern
Libyan tribes is clear, and, as far as the Egyptian
inscriptionspreviously known inform us, there were
no intermarriagesbetween the Ethiopian family
and the Egyptian royal family. The only plausible
explanation of these facts is that the royal family
of Ethiopia was Libyan in origin and had settled
at Napata while still in a primitive way of life,
probably as a wild nomadic tribe from the western
desert. The road by which they came would
have been that through the Selima Oasis, used
during the war by raiding parties of Senussi
Arabs.
I have stated above that the gold beads dropped
by the spoilers in the grave of the first ancestor
equalled in weight thirty-eight English sovereigns.
In two other of the early tumuligold beads of great
intrinsicvalue were also gleaned from the debris,
and in one a small statuette of solid gold, three
centimetershigh, and a large gold nugget inscribed
with a magical text. The original weight of pure Blue faience bowl with bulls in relief, from tomb of a
gold in these tumuli must have been astonishingly queen of Piankhy
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN XIX, 29

Ar~

Necklaces and ornamentsfrom the early lumuli. Countingdown the middlefrom


above, Nos. 1, 2 (a seven-fold necklace), 3, 4, 6, and 8 are of gold; No. 5 is of gold
eye-amulets and garnet ball-beads; Nos. 7, 9, and 10 are of gold and red carnelian

.1

-ip-

-- - "--". ~ . .e:
Silerfgur ofIsi, fomtom fQenKahaeeuk
3 7

Two amuletsfrom tombof Queen Koashtaneferuwka


(Piankhy group). On right, a figure of Isis
in silver; on left, a silverhawk with details
in gold inlaid with coloredpaste
XIX, 30 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN

Silver vesselsfrom the tomb of Queen Khenensaiuw Hand-carved amulet-Ploque of blue faience from
the tomb of a queen of Piankhy

-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
,
- mm m

2 3 A" S 7 S I

Amulet of crystal and gold from tomb Stone jars fromiLmbs of the Piankhy queens
of a queen of King Piankhy

4zj r h b Q K n

Quartzite jars from the tomb of Quecn Klienensatuw


MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN XIX, 31

B n 6 Q

Blue 'faience neckla'ces from tomb of Queen Qaihata

the exploitationof the gold fields of the eastern had won the southernprovincesof Egypt fromhis
desert and over the trade routes between Egypt Libyan cousin and possessed enough power to
and Central Africa. The fragmentsof objects forcethe adoptionof his daughterAmenirdisI by
foundin the tomb of the firstancestorshow that Shepenwepet 1, the daughterof OsorkonIII, as
he must have exercisedsome sort of powerover her heir and successor in the office of High
this land of roads,perhapsat firstmerely as the Priestessof Amon at Karnak. Piankhy,the son
triballeaderof a few hundredfightingmen levying of Kashta,claimedthe sovereigntyof Egypt, and
blackmailon the trafficof Egypt. It was probably enforcedhis claimby a militaryconquest,of which
the old story,often repeatedin the historiesof the he has left us a fullaccounton a stela foundover
great worldempires,of a fresh and vigoroustribe fifty years ago at Barkal. Thus it came about
from the outer wildernessforcingits way to the that Egypt passedfromthe hands of the Libyan
enjoymentof the resourcesof an ancientempire Twenty-thirdDynasty into those of the Libyan
which had become softenedby centuriesof pros- Twenty-fifthDynasty,which was called Ethiopian
perity. Long beforethe time of the firstancestor by the ancientssimplybecauseit seized Egypt after
at El-Kur'uw,the NorthernLibyans had pressed havingfirstestablisheda monarchyin Ethiopia.
into lower Egypt, and about 945 B. C. one of To one who has lived in the sun-bakeddistrict
themhad finallygainedthe throneas SheshonqI. of Napata with its hot springwinds,it is a con-
From the facts discoveredat El-Kur'uw,it was tinualsource of wonderto findthat a familybred
probablyin the reign of this Sheshonq,or soon in this desolation should have reached such a
after, that the SouthernLibyans,the Temehuw, height of power, and a still greaterwonder that
began to press into Ethiopiaas theirbrethrenhad they preferredto inhabitthis remotespot while
done in the north. While the NorthernLibyans governingthe rich and pleasantland of Egypt.
were rulingin Egypt as the kingsof the Twenty- As the king of Egypt of a precedingage had
second and Twenty-thirdDynasties,the Southern administeredEthiopiathrougha viceroy,so now
Libyans, led by the chief buried at El-Kur'uw, the king of Ethiopia ruled Egypt through his
were consolidatingtheirpositionsin Ethiopiaand officers. The king'smessengerswent forth from
their controlof the gold fields and the southern Napata and traverseda thousandmilesof the river
trade. After about two centuries,for reasonsyet valley before they reached the old capital at
obscure,the NorthernLibyans,the rulersof Egypt, Memphis. His namewas known throughoutthe
had declinedin vigorand in unity. Egypt splitup ancient world, and his ambassadors passed safely
into a numberof small, practicallyindependent under its protectionto the powers of Westem
kingdoms,and in thistimeKashta,or his immediate Asia. At Nineveh, in the royal archives of
predecessor,also made himself practicallyinde- Assyria,an impression on clay of the royal seal of
pendent. Certainit is thatKashtabeforehe died Shabaka was found many years ago, which was
XIX, 32 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN

.{ A , II

JI}W!;;X
V~~~~~V f

i~~~~ ')W
i
A

j~~~~~~~~~~~~O1 le V"
Y~ V!-

.-
<~~~~~~~~ r7<~ K'JhY se r Y

W V- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ _

I i- .,..

he Pinl queen
Blue fuencamults frm toms of

Blue faience amulets from tombs of the Piankhy queens


MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN XIX, 33

~.
|&|.
-~ 1-NS

Bronze balls and faience necklacesfrom grave of a horseof King Shabaoaka

probablypartof a letterfrom Shabakato Sargon, of Egypt and opened a new chapterin the history
kingof Assyria. Possiblythe counterpartto that of Egyptian arts and crafts. The scholarswho
letterwas broughtto Napata and may even now have endeavoredto arrangethe list of kings of
lie buriedin some of the ruined buildingsof that Egypt have been led astrayby the unexpected
capital. It was a great-grandsonof Sargonwho use of a multiplicityof names by Piankhy, and
finallydrovethe son of Shabakafrom Egypt and have set forthas manyas four differentPiankhys
reduced Ethiopia again to a simple monarchy. and three Kashtas. Every Egyptian king had
The imperialperiodof the EthiopianLibyanswas five names, of which the two most used were
short only abouteightyyearsin length,-but the those which followed the titles "King of Upper
characterof that great family was more clearly and Lower Egypt" and " Son of Ra." Piankhy,
developed by adversitythan by prosperity. For whose knowledge of Egyptian traditionswas
they held their Ethiopiankingdomfor manygen- gained from life in Napata, a provincialtown
erationsafter their defeat by the Assyrians,and lying beyond the bordersof Egypt proper,and
passed their royal power to a line of kingswho froma corpsof servile scribesto whom his merest
ruled Ethiopiaand Meroe for eight centuriesor nod was life or death, appearsto have indulged
more. himself with two names for the "Son of Ra"
Archaeological researchis fraughtwith surprises. title,and his example was followed by Shabaka
The historyof the royal familyof Ethiopiais far and Shabataka. Piankhy, indeed, had two full
differentfrom that which had been imagined. sets of five names,except that the name Piankhy
But the mostcuriousillustrationof the chancesof was commonto each; and one set he had adopted
excavationsis the fact that an obscure village, from the older stelae of Thothmes III, which he
hundredsof miles beyond the bordersof Egypt, found in the temple of Amon at Barkal,and set
has at last yielded a clear insightinto the number up again in the outer court when he rebuiltthe
and orderof the kingsof the Twenty-fifthDynasty temple. The solutionis now quiteclear. Kashta,
XIX, 34 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN

Ivryad boyinay ro tm o

Ivoryand ebonyinlaysfrorntombof King Shabataka

x~~~~~~

-d

Ivory game-piecefrom Ivory iniay from tomb


tombof King Shabaka of King Shabaka

J
Ivory inlays from tomb of King Shabalaka

Ivory inlay-plaque with name of King Shabaka

l,
AlabastcrCanopic head from tomb of Kin8 Shabaka~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alabaster
C
Alabaster Canopic head from tomb of King Tanutaman
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN XIX, 35

Gold collar of an unknownqueen, time of King Shabataka

Piankhy, Shabaka, Shabataka, Tirhaqa, and delicacy that amounts almost to effeminacy. Some
Tanutamanare all to be reckonedas kingsof the of the portrait statues, on the other hand, show a
Egyptian Twenty-fifth Dynasty in this order. surprisingvirility,as if the natural lines of the face
There was no otherKashtaand no otherPiankhy. had been copied without the slightest consideration
The tombs at El-Kur'uwhad been completely for anything but the truth. It has been often
looted in ancient times. Spoliationwas the com- assumed that this apparent revival of Egyptian art
mon fateof allrichtombsin the Nile valley,-spoli- was a real re-birth of the genius of the Egyptians
ation which began soon after the sealing of the under the stimulusof national independence, modi-
chambers,and was repeated at intervalsdown to fied in later years by the influence of Greek art.
the presenttime. The Mayer papyriand other In exactly what manner the Greeks affected the
legal documentsgive evidence that even the royal traditional forms and methods of the Egyptian
tombsin a cemeterylike that at Thebes could not craftsmenis a question which requires a much more
be protected. At El-Kur'uw,the comparatively exact marshallingof the facts than is now at our
small size of the burial places permitteda more disposal; but it is quite clear from the works of the
completesearch by the plunderersthan is usualin Twenty-fifth Dynasty found at El-Kur'uw, and
royal tombs. Nevertheless,a numberof objects from the statuary of that period found in Egypt
and fragmentsof objects were found which were and in Ethiopia, that the revival of Egyptian
not only interestingas specimensof the royalwork art had begun, and the naturalistic tendency in
of the Twenty-fifthDynasty,but also threwa new portraiturewas well developed before the revival
light on the rise of the Egyptian Renaissance. of Egyptian political power at Sais. Piankhy's
When, in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, a native great temple at Barkal, with its Egyptian reliefs,
Egyptianfamilyhad once more taken the throne the statues of Tirhaqa and his man, Menthuemhat,
of Egypt after three centuriesof dominationby the ivory carvings of Shabaka and Shabataka, the
men of foreignblood,a markedchange,apparently polished jasper cat of Queen Khenensaiuw, the
a revivalof all classesof Egyptianart,is shownby bronze gazelle of Queen Pekankhary, the electrum
the remainswhich have come down to us. In the mirror-handleof Shabaka, the faience bowls with
reliefs especially, traditionalforms of an earlier bulls in relief of a queen of Piankhy, the amulets
period appear to have been deliberatelycopied. of faience, stone, gold, and silver of the various
The small figuresin stone and faience exhibit a queens, and many other objects,- all present the
XIX, 36 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN

Alabaster altar of Queen Nenpery

fineworkmanship of the traditional


artsand craftsof art from 1000 B. C. to 300 B. C. followed a
Egypt. The kings of the Twenty-fifthDynasty course somewhatdifferentfromthat supposedby
were Libyansbornin an Egyptianizedprovinceof most historians. The revivalin the Saite Period
Egypt. The kings who preceded them were was quantitative and perhaps
ratherthanqualitative,
Libyans born in Egypt itself. It may therefore not even vaguely affected by Greek influence.
justifiablybe inquiredwhether the declineof art With the cessation of foreigncomplications,the
in Egypt between the New Empireand the Saite naturalfertilityof the land restored the general
Period has not been somewhatexaggerated. It prosperity. The meansof generalostentationin-
may be that the paucity of works of art in one creasedand produceda widespreaddemand for
periodand theirabundancein anotheris partlythe the productsof the artsand crafts. That craftsmen
resultof accidentsof preservationand partlydue in response took a professionalinterest in the
to variationsin the materialprosperitydepending ancientmonumentsstillexposedto view was inevi-
on climaticconditionsin the valley or on the table, and thatin some cases reliefsor otherworks
efficiencyof administration.In the causes of the of mucholderperiodswere copied was only to be
EgyptianRenaissancethere was certainlyno con- expected. But the archaisingtendencyhas been
nectionbetween the race of the rulinghouseand exaggerated. As far as I can see, the borrowing
the vitalityof Egyptianart. I am inclinedto think fromantiquitywas not a consciouseffortto revive
at presentthat the old traditionsof the Egyptian the formsand the traditions of moreancientperiods.
craftsmennever entirelydied out, nor the old skill, The Egyptiansin all times believed in the divine
but there may have been fewer skilledmen and originof thingsand held always,like otherancients,
fewer works of meritin periodsof governmental thatthe oldera monument,the closerit was to the
infficiencyor economicdepression. times of the "Followers of Horus." The true
One of the difficultiespresentedby the material courseof Egyptianart was in all probabilityquite
hithertorecorded from the period between the parallelto thatof the magicaltextsnow called"The
Twentieth and the Twenty-sixth Dynasties has Book of the Dead." These texts firstappearin
been to date exactly the objectsascribedapproxi- the pyramids of the SixthDynasty,and againa few
matelyto that time. We have not a singleroyal centurieslater,considerablyaltered,in the coffins
tomb of the Libyan kings of the Twenty-second of the Middle Empire. From that point certain
and Twenty-thirdDynasties. Until the royalwork chapterscan be tracedfromperiodto perioddown
of those dynasties has been recoveredand until to Saite times,in which theyare manifestlyderived
some certaintyhas been broughtto the datingof fromthe texts of the late New Empire,not from
ordinarytombsof that period,it would be unwise the older texts. A great misapprehensionhas
to concludethatEgyptianarthad suffereda decline been createdconcerningthe so-calledsacredbooks
in workmanshipor a loss of traditionalforms. of the Egyptians,which has affectedour views of
El-Kur'uwhas shown thatthe historyof Egyptian Egyptianartand religion. Clemensof Alexandria
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN XIX, 37

minds steeped in the modern analysis of European


history and unable to comprehend the simple
psychology of a more primitivecivilization.
Of considerable interest, but of less historical
importance, was the discovery of a cemetery of
horse-graves,-the firstwhich has ever been found
in the Nile valley. The site was on the "southern"
bank of the "south" wady, about one hundred
and twenty meters in front of the tombs of the
Piankhy queens. The graves were in four rows
which ran parallel to the wady. The row nearest
the wady contained four graves of the horses of
Piankhy; the second and third rows, eight graves
each of the horses of Shabaka and Shabataka;
and the fourth row, four graves of the horses of
Tanutaman. All the graves had been plundered,
most of them grievously so. But enough was pre-
served to show that each horse was buried upright
with its head towards the "south." The horses
were clearly of a short, rather small breed, not
unlike the Arabian. As far as is known, horses in
that period were always driven in a chariot, never
ridden, but in these deep, narrow graves there was
no room for a chariot; nor was any trace of a
chariot found in the royal tombs. The trappings
Bronze bed-legsfrom tombof a queenof King Shabataka found in the graves include a plume-carrier of
gilded silver from the top of the bridle, a silver
speaks of the forty-two sealed books of the head-band, four stringsof very large bronze balls,
Egyptians,six of which dealt with medicine,and which appear to have been fastened to the bridle
it has been supposedthat these writingswere fixed and to have hung down the front of the neck,
in text and in content like the ChristianScriptures. passing between the forelegs like a martingale,and
But the texts which have come down to us, such also a large numberof stringsof beads and amulets.
as the bookson medicineand those of the magical All these were found at the head-end of the
textsof the lifeafterdeath,entirelybelie the alleged graves, having fallen down from the head or neck
fixed characterof these scriptures. On nearer of the horses. These horses were manifestly
approach,muchof the mysteryand of the inscru- sacrificed at the funeral of the king in order that
table wisdomof the Egyptiansfades into ordinary their spirits might accompany his into the other
humanintelligenceboundto "the wheel of material world. The basic idea was widespread, but this
things." The idealismof the Orientalof the Near particularexpression of it has not heretofore been
East is only a materialismso crass,so natural,so observed in the Nile valley. The sacrifice of men
unconsciousof the existenceof trueidealism,as to and animals at funeralsis now well established as
escapedetectionby Occidentalcomprehension.So an ancient Ethiopian custom by our excavations at
it is with ancientEgyptianartand religion. Their Kerma. But that was a thousand years before the
historyand theircharacterelude the perceptionof beginning of the Ethiopian monarchy, and in all

|~~~- - -_ - V \
(b) (c)
Heart scarab of King Shabaka: (a) side; (b) back; (c) bottom
XIX, 38 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN

V 40-

S-l

- - -rn-r -
2.1 3 'f Sb ,; 7
Bronz
gaze o 3t a 7

Silv)ermirror-handlefrom tombof King Netakiabat at Nunr Bronze gazelle from tombof a queenof King Tanufaman

the royaltombsof Napata no othersurvivalof the of the siege -an anger that came near costing
customwas detected. Thus to find animalssacri- Namiat his life. Piankhypictureshorseson the
ficed in thismannerat El-Kur'uw,and above all famousConquestStela and even on the walls of
horses,comesas a surprise. Piankhyundoubtedly the great hall which he built in the temple of
fitting,
institutedthe custom,and thatis particularly Amon at Gebel Barkal. It is an interestingreve-
for Piankhy w is a great connoisseurof horses. lation of the characterof Piankhy,of his pride
In his accountof the siege of the Egyptiancity of and mental boldness,that to please himself he
Eshmunhe tellsof his angerat findingthe horses should have instituted a new funeral custom
of Namlat,kingof Eshmun,starvedthinas a result unsanctionedby previoususage.
REISNER.

(') (b) (c)


Heart scarab of King Tanutaman: (a) side; (b) back; (c) bottom

Synopsis of History central space inscribed with the dates by half


millennia from 3500 to 2000 (1800) B. C.
with special reference to Painting, Sculpture and
the Derivative Arts and thence by centuries to A. D. 1900. As
THE Museumis preparinga folder,extending the items are approximately in their place within
the singlepage of the Handbook bearingthe the centuries, the table offers a synchronology
above title to a sheet of six leaves closing to of such events in recorded history as are of
the size of the Handbook page. The table main importance from the point of view of the
of events is divided into columnsdenoting geo- fine arts.
graphical regions, arranged on either side a It is a matter of significance and interest that

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