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Nastasen was a king of Kush who ruled the Kingdom of Kush from 335 to 315/310 BCE. According to a stela from Dongola, his mother was named Queen Pelkha and his father may have been King Harsiotef. His successor was Aryamani.
Nuri is a place in modern Sudan on the west side of the Nile, near the Fourth Cataract. Nuri is situated about 15 km north of Sanam, and 10 km from Jebel Barkal.
Atlanersa was a Kushite ruler of the Napatan kingdom of Nubia, reigning for about a decade in the mid-7th century BC. He was the successor of Tantamani, the last ruler of the 25th Dynasty of Egypt, and possibly a son of Taharqa or less likely of Tantamani, while his mother was a queen whose name is only partially preserved. Atlanersa's reign immediately followed the collapse of Nubian control over Egypt, which witnessed the Assyrian conquest of Egypt and then the beginning of the Late Period under Psamtik I. The same period also saw the progressive cultural integration of Egyptian beliefs by the Kushite civilization.
El-Kurru was the first of the three royal cemeteries used by the Kushite royals of Napata, also referred to as Egypt's 25th Dynasty, and is home to some of the royal Nubian Pyramids. It is located between the 3rd and 4th cataracts of the Nile about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the river in what is now Northern state, Sudan. El-Kurru was first excavated by George Reisner in 1918 and 1919 and after his death his assistant Dows Dunham took over his work and published the excavation report on El-Kurru in 1950. The El Kurru cemetery was primarily used from about 860 BC until 650 BC. The first tomb with a name attached to it is that of King Piye dating to about 750 BC, the sixteen earlier tombs possibly belong to Piye's royal predecessors. The last 25th dynasty king, Tantamani, was buried at El Kurru around 650 BC. The subsequent Napatan rulers chose to be buried at the royal cemetery at Nuri instead. However, in the mid-4th century the 20th king, whose name is unknown, chose to have his tomb, as well as that of his queen, built at El Kurru.
Siaspiqa was a ruler of the Kushite kingdom of Meroë reigning for close to twenty years in the first half of the 5th century BC. Very little is known of Siaspiqa's activities beyond the construction of his pyramid at Nuri, now known as Nuri 4. The pyramid and its chapel have yielded several inscribed stelas bearing his name as well as numerous artefacts suggesting a once rich burial. Nothing is known for certain on the relations between Siaspiqa and his predecessor Amaniastabarqa and successor Nasakhma. Equally uncertain is the identity of his consort, with queen Pi'ankhqewqa buried in the nearby Nuri 29 conjectured for that role.
Piankhher (Pi-ankh-her) was a Nubian queen with the Egyptian title king's wife. Her royal husband is not known for sure, but may have been Aramatle-qo based on chronology. Piankhher is known solely from her burial at Nuri. Her burial consisted of a pyramid, that was completely gone when excavated. There is a staircase going down to the two burial chambers that were found to have been looted. Some golden and silver amulets were found. About 200 shabtis, many only in fragments, were discovered too. They provided her name and title.
Atmataka was a Nubian queen, so far only known from her burial in the royal cemetery of Nuri. She was perhaps the wife of king Aramatle-qo. Her only known title is king's wife. Her burial consisted of a pyramid and the underground burial rooms. There was a staircase going underground and leading to the two burial chambers. The burial was found robbed, but fragments of at least 158 shabtis were found. They bear the name and the title of the queen. Her heart scarab was found in Nuri burial Nu. 47. The owner of this burial is not known.
Madiqen was a Nubian queen with the Egyptian titles king's wife, king's wife of the living and king's sister. Her mother was queen Nasalsa. Her father was most likely king Senkamanisken. Her royal husband is not known for sure, but Aspelta and Anlamani are most likely options. Madiqen is known from her burial at Nuri. Her burial consisted of a pyramid with a small chapel in front of it. There is a staircase going down to the two burial chambers that were found looted. Gold foil and alabaster vessels were found. There were also 80 shabtis providing her name and title. On a stela of Aspelta is mentioned that she was promoted by the king to the position of a songtress of Amun at Napata. This position was then given to her daughter Henuttakhebit.
Maletasen was a Nubian queen, so far only known from her burial in the royal cemetery of Nuri. She was perhaps the wife of king Aramatle-qo. Her only known title is big king's wife.. Her burial consisted of a pyramid with a chapel and the underground burial rooms. There was a staircase going underground and leading to the two burial chambers. The burial was found robbed, but fragments of at least 123 shabtis were found. They bear the name and the title of the queen.
Maletaral was a Nubian queen with the Egyptian title king's mother. She was perhaps the wife of king Atlanersa and the mother of king Senkamanisken. Maletaral is known from a heart scarab found in a burial at Nuri. Her burial consisted of a pyramid with a small chapel in front of it. There is a staircase going down to the two burial chambers that were found looted. Gold foil and pottery vessels were found. There were also 283 shabtis. They were uninscribed. Burial goods from different tombs in the cemetery of Nuri were often found far away from the actual burial. Therefore it must remain uncertain whether tomb Nuri 41 really belonged to Maletaral, as only one object with her name was found.
Asata was a Nubian queen with the Egyptian titles king's wife and Person of Egypt. She was presumed to have been the wife of the king Aspelta. Asata is mainly known from her burial at Nuri . Her burial consisted of a pyramid with a small chapel in front of it. The pyramid was found heavily destroyed, and the chapel was completely gone. There is a staircase going down to two burial chambers that were found to have been looted, but still contained a high number of objects, including the heart scarab of the queen, at least 270 shabtis, several stone vessels, amulets and other fragments that must have covered the mummy.
Artaha was a Nubian queen with the Egyptian title king's wife. She was perhaps the wife of king Aspelta, although this is only a guess. Artaha is only known from her burial at Nuri. Her burial consisted most likely of a pyramid with a small chapel in front of it, but those were totally gone. There is a staircase going down to the one burial chamber that was found looted. The walls were once plastered and painted but the decorated was very much faded when found. Alabaster vessels were found. There were also at least 180 inscribed shabtis, providing her name and title.
Meqemale (Makmalo) was a Nubian queen, so far only known from her burial in the royal cemetery of Nuri. She was perhaps the wife of king Aspelta, but this is only a guess. Her only known title is big king's wife, Hmt-niswt aAt.. Her burial consisted of a pyramid with a chapel and the underground burial rooms. There was a staircase going underground and leading to the two burial chambers. The burial was found robbed, but fragments of at least 108 shabtis were found. They bear the name and the title of the queen. Several vessels and an offering table were found too. A shabti with the name of the queen was also found at Sanam.
Akhrasan was a Nubian queen, so far only known from her burial in the royal cemetery of Nuri. She was perhaps the wife of king Malewiebamani, althouɥgh this is not securely confirmed. Her only known title is king's wife. Her burial consisted of a pyramid and underground burial rooms, with a staircase leading to two underground burial chambers. The burial was found robbed, but fragments of at least 45 shabtis were found. They bear the name and the title of the queen. Several pottery vessels and smaller objects were found, as well.
Tagtal was a Nubian queen with the titles king's wife and Egyptian. Her husband is not known for sure. Malonaqen had been proposed although this is only a guess. So far she is only known from her burial at Nuri. Tagtal is also known from her burial at Nuri. The latter consisted of a pyramid with a chapel and one underground burial chamber. The pyramid and chapel were found totally destroyed. There was a staircase going underground and leading to the burial that was found heavily looted. Fragments of 15 shabtis preserved her name that was difficult to read due to their bad preservation. There appears also her titles, king's wife and a second one, perhaps to be read as Egyptian. The inscriptions there are made in Egyptian hieroglyphs, but the texts are hard to read.
Masalaye was a Nubian royal lady known only from her burial at Nuri. Her burial consisted of a pyramid, a chapel in front of the pyramid and of tow burial chambers under the pyramid, that were reached via a staircase. The burial chamber was found heavily looted, but still contained at least 50 shabti figures that provide her name. Several shabtis of queen Nasala were found too, that might have come into the tomb due to the general looting of the whole cemetery. Masalaye does not bear any title. Her name is written within a cartouche indicating a royal status. It had been proposed that she was the wife of Senkamanisken.
Henutirdis was a Nubian royal lady with the title king's wife, although the reading of the title is uncertain. Her husband was perhaps Harsiotef. So far she is only known from her burial at Nuri. It is remarkable that she bears an Egyptian name. Most other royal Nubian royal women bear Nubian names.
Malaqaye was a Nubian queen with the title king's wife. Her husband was presumed to have been Tantamani. So far she is only known from her burial at Nuri.
Akheqa was a Nubian queen with the Egyptian titles king's wife and king's sister. Her royal husband is not known for sure. Perhaps she was the daughter of Aspelta and wife of Aramatle-qo, as proposed by Dows Dunham and M. F. Laming Macadam.
Henuttakhebit was a Nubian queen with the Egyptian titles king's wife, king's daughter and king's sister. Her royal husband is not known for sure. Perhaps she was the wife of Aspelta and daughter of Senkamanisken, as proposed by Dows Dunham and M. F. Laming Macadam. This is not certain. She was the daughter or adopted daughter of queen Madiqen and followed her as songstress of Amun in Napata.
References
- ↑ Dows Dunham and M. F. Laming Macadamː Names and Relationships of the Royal Family of Napata, in The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology˞, Vol. 35 (Dec., 1949), pp. 148, pl. XVI (no. 79)
- ↑ Dows Dunhamː The Royal cemeteries of Kush, vol. II, Nuri, Boston 1955, pp. 35-30 (Nu 53) online
- ↑ F. Ll. Griffith: Scenes from a Destroyed Temple at Napata, in The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 15, No. 1/2 (May, 1929), pp. 26-28
- ↑ Angelika Lohwasser: Die königlichen Frauen im antiken Reich von Kusch. 25. Dynastie bis zur Zeit des Nastasen. Harrassowitz, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-447-04407-1
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