Academic working in the field of ancient Nubian Studies with a focus on Meroitic art and religion. Member of the QMPS/DAI team for the pyramids of the Sudan.
The entry on Nubian Religion for the Atlas of Ancient Nubia (written for general public/undergrad... more The entry on Nubian Religion for the Atlas of Ancient Nubia (written for general public/undergraduate text) focuses on the Napatan (c. 850-350 BC) and Meroitic (c. 350 BC-AD 350) periods. It combines established information pertaining to elite Nubian religion with new research about the ...
The earliest of the three royal cemeteries at Meroe, the Western Royal Cemetery (early 9th centur... more The earliest of the three royal cemeteries at Meroe, the Western Royal Cemetery (early 9th century bce) had elite Napatan and Meroitic burials including those of Meroitic queens and princes, while the slightly later Southern Royal Cemetery had elite Napatan and Meroitic burials as well as the first two generations of royal burials at Meroe. Both have areas in which smaller pyramids belonging to family members and dependents surrounded larger (patron) ones. The Northern Royal Cemetery (ca. 270 bce–350 ce), inaugurated when the southern one filled, has the pyramid burials of Meroitic kings, ruling queens, and important (crown?) princes. The small chapels abutting royal and important elite pyramids had reliefs showing funeral rites and the establishment of their owners’ mortuary/ancestor cults. These burials and their decorations are important for understanding Meroitic history, social organization, art, and religion.
The history of Kush is a complex one in which the polities of Egypt, Kerma, Napata, and Meroe sha... more The history of Kush is a complex one in which the polities of Egypt, Kerma, Napata, and Meroe shaped the culture and historical trajectory of the Middle Nile Valley. During the Meroitic Period appropriations and adaptations of art from pharaonic and Greco-Roman Egypt and to a lesser extent from the Mediterranean world obscure its art’s fundamental qualities. Because Meroitic artists enjoyed a degree of autonomy, different visual styles and standards of quality coexisted without following particular paths of stylistic development. Michel Baud aptly described Meroitic art as multivalent in nature. Examples of art and architecture have typically been studied and published as individual artifacts without systematically contextualizing them within broader study of Meroitic aesthetics, exploring the nature of Meroe’s appropriations of Egyptian and classical styles and iconography, creating a history of their stylistic development, or considering how the circumstances of their manufacture impacted their appearance. This entry offers a preliminary examination of these as prolegomena to the development of a history of Meroitic art.
As our understanding of Kushite culture deepens, the view promulgated by early scholars of Meroe,... more As our understanding of Kushite culture deepens, the view promulgated by early scholars of Meroe, many of whom trained as Egyptologists, that Kushites follow Egyptian cultural traditions as closely as possible is increasingly revealed as flawed. Innovative re-workings of Egyptian sources, including images, and the introduction of Kushite ideas can be identified through a careful comparison of Egyptian sources and Meroitic use of them. A close analysis of early Meroitic pyramid chapels reveals that the priests who selected images for these monuments acted with comprehension of and an unexpected independence from Egyptian religion. They chose and sometimes manipulated Egyptian vignettes to express a combination of Kushite and Egyptian mortuary beliefs and also included scenes of Kushite libations and processions on chapel walls. Their program of decoration reveals focused beliefs based on an Osirian afterlife and a pragmatic sometimes non-Egyptian approach to providing for it. A desir...
The entry on Nubian Religion for the Atlas of Ancient Nubia (written for general public/undergrad... more The entry on Nubian Religion for the Atlas of Ancient Nubia (written for general public/undergraduate text) focuses on the Napatan (c. 850-350 BC) and Meroitic (c. 350 BC-AD 350) periods. It combines established information pertaining to elite Nubian religion with new research about the ...
As our understanding of Kushite culture deepens, the view promulgated by early scholars of Meroe,... more As our understanding of Kushite culture deepens, the view promulgated by early scholars of Meroe, many of whom trained as Egyptologists, that Kushites follow Egyptian cultural traditions as closely as possible is increasingly revealed as flawed. Innovative re-workings of Egyptian sources, including images, and the introduction of Kushite ideas can be identified through a careful comparison of Egyptian sources and Meroitic use of them. A close analysis of early Meroitic pyramid chapels reveals that the priests who selected images for these monuments acted with comprehension of and an unexpected independence from Egyptian religion. They chose and sometimes manipulated Egyptian vignettes to express a combination of Kushite and Egyptian mortuary beliefs and also included scenes of Kushite libations and processions on chapel walls. Their program of decoration reveals focused beliefs based on an Osirian afterlife and a pragmatic sometimes non-Egyptian approach to providing for it. A desir...
Six essays about six major ancient Nubian archaeological sites, dating from Neolithic to Early Ch... more Six essays about six major ancient Nubian archaeological sites, dating from Neolithic to Early Christian period are part of a definitive, well-illustrated volume presenting the art, history and archaeology of Nubia (American University in Cairo Press) to the general public. Each ...
In 2014, Qatar Museums started the Qatari Mission for the Pyramids of Sudan (QMPS) to revive rese... more In 2014, Qatar Museums started the Qatari Mission for the Pyramids of Sudan (QMPS) to revive research and conservation at the royal cemeteries of Meroe. This ambitious project aims at archaeological, architectural and culture-historic investigations combined with the preservation and presentation of this World Heritage site.1 While the introduction to the QMPS and first project results were reported in Sudan & Nubia 20 (Riedel et al. 2016), the Kirwan Memorial Lecture in September 2017 and the present article focus on the project’s progress since the summer of 2016. Significant milestones in several key aspects of the mission’s program have been reached during these two years. Archaeological research and documentation at Queen Khennuwa’s tomb Beg. S.503 as well as the iconographical and epigraphic studies of its burial chamber decoration have been completed and the post-excavation analysis started. After the implementation of the first technical safeguards to prepare for the reexcav...
The earliest of the three royal cemeteries at Meroe, the Western Royal Cemetery (early 9th centur... more The earliest of the three royal cemeteries at Meroe, the Western Royal Cemetery (early 9th century bce) had elite Napatan and Meroitic burials including those of Meroitic queens and princes, while the slightly later Southern Royal Cemetery had elite Napatan and Meroitic burials as well as the first two generations of royal burials at Meroe. Both have areas in which smaller pyramids belonging to family members and dependents surrounded larger (patron) ones. The Northern Royal Cemetery (ca. 270 bce–350 ce), inaugurated when the southern one filled, has the pyramid burials of Meroitic kings, ruling queens, and important (crown?) princes. The small chapels abutting royal and important elite pyramids had reliefs showing funeral rites and the establishment of their owners’ mortuary/ancestor cults. These burials and their decorations are important for understanding Meroitic history, social organization, art, and religion.
The absence of securely dated texts and monuments has been an obstacle in establishing the sequen... more The absence of securely dated texts and monuments has been an obstacle in establishing the sequence and dating of Meroitic rulers. To compensate a chronology of rulers has been created by hypothetically associating them with a relative sequence of monuments especially the forty-one royal pyramids at Meroe. This lack of firm dating and attributions has led to a degree of circular reasoning in the creation of Meroe's chronology. Investigating degrees of continuity and change in the royal pyramid chapel decorations offers a tool for sequencing pyramids that avoids iterative reasoning. Based on a visual analysis of chapel reliefs in combination with data from Reisner's excavations plausible solutions to some of the problems in Meroe's relative chronology are presented; the correct sequence for BEG N 8, N 9 and N 10, the attribution of BEG N 12 to King Taneyidamani, and the relative dating of BAR 2 that challenges its attribution to King Teriteqas. DOI:10.2458/azu_jaei_v06i1_...
... or d;r Sti (figs. i and 2), and which I translated either as 'Subduer of the Setiu-Nubia... more ... or d;r Sti (figs. i and 2), and which I translated either as 'Subduer of the Setiu-Nubians', or, because of the hlst determinative following the word Sti, as 'Subduer of the Seti-land'. K 4-3 I:2 F I6 I:I FIG. I FIG. 2 If there were any doubt ...
Six essays about six major ancient Nubian archaeological sites, dating from Neolithic to Early Ch... more Six essays about six major ancient Nubian archaeological sites, dating from Neolithic to Early Christian period are part of a definitive, well-illustrated volume presenting the art, history and archaeology of Nubia (American University in Cairo Press) to the general public. Each ...
The entry on Nubian Religion for the Atlas of Ancient Nubia (written for general public/undergrad... more The entry on Nubian Religion for the Atlas of Ancient Nubia (written for general public/undergraduate text) focuses on the Napatan (c. 850-350 BC) and Meroitic (c. 350 BC-AD 350) periods. It combines established information pertaining to elite Nubian religion with new research about the ...
The earliest of the three royal cemeteries at Meroe, the Western Royal Cemetery (early 9th centur... more The earliest of the three royal cemeteries at Meroe, the Western Royal Cemetery (early 9th century bce) had elite Napatan and Meroitic burials including those of Meroitic queens and princes, while the slightly later Southern Royal Cemetery had elite Napatan and Meroitic burials as well as the first two generations of royal burials at Meroe. Both have areas in which smaller pyramids belonging to family members and dependents surrounded larger (patron) ones. The Northern Royal Cemetery (ca. 270 bce–350 ce), inaugurated when the southern one filled, has the pyramid burials of Meroitic kings, ruling queens, and important (crown?) princes. The small chapels abutting royal and important elite pyramids had reliefs showing funeral rites and the establishment of their owners’ mortuary/ancestor cults. These burials and their decorations are important for understanding Meroitic history, social organization, art, and religion.
The history of Kush is a complex one in which the polities of Egypt, Kerma, Napata, and Meroe sha... more The history of Kush is a complex one in which the polities of Egypt, Kerma, Napata, and Meroe shaped the culture and historical trajectory of the Middle Nile Valley. During the Meroitic Period appropriations and adaptations of art from pharaonic and Greco-Roman Egypt and to a lesser extent from the Mediterranean world obscure its art’s fundamental qualities. Because Meroitic artists enjoyed a degree of autonomy, different visual styles and standards of quality coexisted without following particular paths of stylistic development. Michel Baud aptly described Meroitic art as multivalent in nature. Examples of art and architecture have typically been studied and published as individual artifacts without systematically contextualizing them within broader study of Meroitic aesthetics, exploring the nature of Meroe’s appropriations of Egyptian and classical styles and iconography, creating a history of their stylistic development, or considering how the circumstances of their manufacture impacted their appearance. This entry offers a preliminary examination of these as prolegomena to the development of a history of Meroitic art.
As our understanding of Kushite culture deepens, the view promulgated by early scholars of Meroe,... more As our understanding of Kushite culture deepens, the view promulgated by early scholars of Meroe, many of whom trained as Egyptologists, that Kushites follow Egyptian cultural traditions as closely as possible is increasingly revealed as flawed. Innovative re-workings of Egyptian sources, including images, and the introduction of Kushite ideas can be identified through a careful comparison of Egyptian sources and Meroitic use of them. A close analysis of early Meroitic pyramid chapels reveals that the priests who selected images for these monuments acted with comprehension of and an unexpected independence from Egyptian religion. They chose and sometimes manipulated Egyptian vignettes to express a combination of Kushite and Egyptian mortuary beliefs and also included scenes of Kushite libations and processions on chapel walls. Their program of decoration reveals focused beliefs based on an Osirian afterlife and a pragmatic sometimes non-Egyptian approach to providing for it. A desir...
The entry on Nubian Religion for the Atlas of Ancient Nubia (written for general public/undergrad... more The entry on Nubian Religion for the Atlas of Ancient Nubia (written for general public/undergraduate text) focuses on the Napatan (c. 850-350 BC) and Meroitic (c. 350 BC-AD 350) periods. It combines established information pertaining to elite Nubian religion with new research about the ...
As our understanding of Kushite culture deepens, the view promulgated by early scholars of Meroe,... more As our understanding of Kushite culture deepens, the view promulgated by early scholars of Meroe, many of whom trained as Egyptologists, that Kushites follow Egyptian cultural traditions as closely as possible is increasingly revealed as flawed. Innovative re-workings of Egyptian sources, including images, and the introduction of Kushite ideas can be identified through a careful comparison of Egyptian sources and Meroitic use of them. A close analysis of early Meroitic pyramid chapels reveals that the priests who selected images for these monuments acted with comprehension of and an unexpected independence from Egyptian religion. They chose and sometimes manipulated Egyptian vignettes to express a combination of Kushite and Egyptian mortuary beliefs and also included scenes of Kushite libations and processions on chapel walls. Their program of decoration reveals focused beliefs based on an Osirian afterlife and a pragmatic sometimes non-Egyptian approach to providing for it. A desir...
Six essays about six major ancient Nubian archaeological sites, dating from Neolithic to Early Ch... more Six essays about six major ancient Nubian archaeological sites, dating from Neolithic to Early Christian period are part of a definitive, well-illustrated volume presenting the art, history and archaeology of Nubia (American University in Cairo Press) to the general public. Each ...
In 2014, Qatar Museums started the Qatari Mission for the Pyramids of Sudan (QMPS) to revive rese... more In 2014, Qatar Museums started the Qatari Mission for the Pyramids of Sudan (QMPS) to revive research and conservation at the royal cemeteries of Meroe. This ambitious project aims at archaeological, architectural and culture-historic investigations combined with the preservation and presentation of this World Heritage site.1 While the introduction to the QMPS and first project results were reported in Sudan & Nubia 20 (Riedel et al. 2016), the Kirwan Memorial Lecture in September 2017 and the present article focus on the project’s progress since the summer of 2016. Significant milestones in several key aspects of the mission’s program have been reached during these two years. Archaeological research and documentation at Queen Khennuwa’s tomb Beg. S.503 as well as the iconographical and epigraphic studies of its burial chamber decoration have been completed and the post-excavation analysis started. After the implementation of the first technical safeguards to prepare for the reexcav...
The earliest of the three royal cemeteries at Meroe, the Western Royal Cemetery (early 9th centur... more The earliest of the three royal cemeteries at Meroe, the Western Royal Cemetery (early 9th century bce) had elite Napatan and Meroitic burials including those of Meroitic queens and princes, while the slightly later Southern Royal Cemetery had elite Napatan and Meroitic burials as well as the first two generations of royal burials at Meroe. Both have areas in which smaller pyramids belonging to family members and dependents surrounded larger (patron) ones. The Northern Royal Cemetery (ca. 270 bce–350 ce), inaugurated when the southern one filled, has the pyramid burials of Meroitic kings, ruling queens, and important (crown?) princes. The small chapels abutting royal and important elite pyramids had reliefs showing funeral rites and the establishment of their owners’ mortuary/ancestor cults. These burials and their decorations are important for understanding Meroitic history, social organization, art, and religion.
The absence of securely dated texts and monuments has been an obstacle in establishing the sequen... more The absence of securely dated texts and monuments has been an obstacle in establishing the sequence and dating of Meroitic rulers. To compensate a chronology of rulers has been created by hypothetically associating them with a relative sequence of monuments especially the forty-one royal pyramids at Meroe. This lack of firm dating and attributions has led to a degree of circular reasoning in the creation of Meroe's chronology. Investigating degrees of continuity and change in the royal pyramid chapel decorations offers a tool for sequencing pyramids that avoids iterative reasoning. Based on a visual analysis of chapel reliefs in combination with data from Reisner's excavations plausible solutions to some of the problems in Meroe's relative chronology are presented; the correct sequence for BEG N 8, N 9 and N 10, the attribution of BEG N 12 to King Taneyidamani, and the relative dating of BAR 2 that challenges its attribution to King Teriteqas. DOI:10.2458/azu_jaei_v06i1_...
... or d;r Sti (figs. i and 2), and which I translated either as 'Subduer of the Setiu-Nubia... more ... or d;r Sti (figs. i and 2), and which I translated either as 'Subduer of the Setiu-Nubians', or, because of the hlst determinative following the word Sti, as 'Subduer of the Seti-land'. K 4-3 I:2 F I6 I:I FIG. I FIG. 2 If there were any doubt ...
Six essays about six major ancient Nubian archaeological sites, dating from Neolithic to Early Ch... more Six essays about six major ancient Nubian archaeological sites, dating from Neolithic to Early Christian period are part of a definitive, well-illustrated volume presenting the art, history and archaeology of Nubia (American University in Cairo Press) to the general public. Each ...
The history of Kush is a complex one in which the polities of Egypt, Kerma, Napata, and Meroe sha... more The history of Kush is a complex one in which the polities of Egypt, Kerma, Napata, and Meroe shaped the culture and historical trajectory of the Middle Nile Valley. During the Meroitic Period appropriations and adaptations of art from pharaonic and Greco-Roman Egypt and to a lesser extent from the Mediterranean world obscure its art's fundamental qualities. Because Meroitic artists enjoyed a degree of autonomy, different visual styles and standards of quality coexisted without following particular paths of stylistic develop ment. Michel Baud aptly described Meroitic art as multivalent in nature. Examples of art and architecture have typically been studied and published as individual artifacts without systematically contextualizing them within broader study of Meroitic aesthetics, explor ing the nature of Meroe's appropriations of Egyptian and classical styles and iconogra phy, creating a history of their stylistic development, or considering how the circum stances of their manufacture impacted their appearance. This entry offers a preliminary examination of these as prolegomena to the development of a history of Meroitic art.
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