From 10696743435f6b1bba82e3ec9c053a9898bfd4af Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei" Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2022 18:10:43 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 1/3] added miscellanea and Tsakos article --- content/article/tsakos.md | 1002 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ content/author/alexandrostsakos.md | 7 + content/editor/_index.md | 2 +- content/issue/dotawo8.md | 2 +- content/issue/misc.md | 7 + content/journal/index.md | 2 +- 6 files changed, 1019 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) create mode 100644 content/article/tsakos.md create mode 100644 content/author/alexandrostsakos.md create mode 100644 content/issue/misc.md diff --git a/content/article/tsakos.md b/content/article/tsakos.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..520eab7 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/article/tsakos.md @@ -0,0 +1,1002 @@ +--- +title: "Words on Warfare from Christian Nubia" +authors: ["alexandrostsakos.md"] +abstract: +keywords: [] +--- + +The purpose of this paper is to present textual evidence from Christian +Nubia relating to issues of warfare, weaponry, and military functions. +This evidence will be gleaned mainly from manuscripts, and secondarily +from monumental epigraphy. From the four languages used in Christian +Nubia, the present study will focus primarily on Old Nubian and partly +on Greek, while occasionally evidence from sources in Arabic and Coptic +will also be used. Although the material is not particularly rich, it +may add to and/or nuance the picture of warfare in Nubia during the +medieval era (ca. 5th to 15th centuries), which otherwise lacks a +systematic study. + +Moreover, evidence of warfare in the archaeological record from Nubia is +scarce.[^2] One of the major reasons is the abandonment of the ancient +custom of accompanying the dead with tomb furnishings already from the +very beginnings of the Christian era in Nubia,[^3] whereas it was +precisely tombs that provided the richest material evidence for warfare +in terms of weaponry, as can be seen in A-Group,[^4] Kerma,[^5] +Napatan,[^6] Meroitic,[^7] and post-Meroitic burials.[^8] Wars were, +however, far from absent from Christian Nubia. + +Warfare in Nubia is marked on the landscape by the numerous castles and +forts of the Middle Nile region,[^9] although their function was also as +sites of power, sights of might, centers of authority[^10]; it was +witnessed by the historians who recorded the frequent wars between +Christian Nubia and the Caliphate[^11]; it is related with slavery and +slaving expeditions that have impregnated the image of the past in Sudan +from prehistory until modernity[^12]; it was recorded implicitly on the +walls of the Nubian churches, where military saints, most often on +horseback, parade as martyrs of the Christian faith and as guarantors of +the security, longevity and prosperity of the Makuritan realm. + +These military saints will set off the presentation of the textual +evidence on warfare in Old Nubian,[^13] because there has also been +preserved textual evidence of their cult, in the form of both shorter +texts (dedications, prayers) and longer hagiographic works,[^14] as well +as legal documents. From the sanctified humans that populated the +celestial army, we will then move to the *archistratēgos* of the +heavens, the archangel Michael, whose cult in Nubia has produced texts +that offer important insights into the military organization of the +Makuritan state. Finally, a question about the possibility of discerning +evidence of Makuritan naval forces in our epigraphic material will +conclude this modest contribution on warfare in Christian Nubia. + +# The Protector of the Four Corners of the Nubian Nation + +One of the most impressive documents of legal practice from Christian +Nubia is a Royal Proclamation found at Qasr Ibrim (P.QI 3 30) and dated +to the 23^rd^ of August 1155.[^15] Through this legal act, king Moses +George proclaims the rights and privileges of the church of Saint +Epimachos at Ibrim West.[^16] The king threatens anyone who "speaks +against and denies my statement" (P.QI 3 30, l. 30) that Epimachos will +"stab him with his spear" (ll. 30-1). The action is described by the +verb ϣⲁⲅ and the weapon by the noun ϣⲓⲅⲣ̄, but whether the latter refers +to the "spear" indeed and not to any other weapon is uncertain. Without +parallel texts in other languages, it is difficult to confirm the +definitions in OND, which seem to try to conform with the fact that the +spear was the diagnostic iconographic attribute of Epimachos in Nubian +iconography (see below). There is moreover another word in the OND for +"spear" or "lance," i.e. ϣⲁ, which possibly has a related root, but +again it does not necessarily mean "spear." Finally, it should be noted +that an Old Nubian term for "ruler" is ϣⲓⲕⲉⲣⲓ, and although in the OND +this is etymologically linked with a variant ϣⲏⲕⲕ of the term ϣⲁⲗ for +"administrative unit," a verb ϣⲓⲕ, meaning "to rule" has recently been +identified in P.QI 4 93.4 and P.QI 4 108.7. It is tempting to associate +this verb with the noun ϣⲓⲅⲣ̄ and thus suggest that ϣⲓⲕⲉⲣⲓ was a military +ruler, but for the time being this hypothesis remains speculative. + +In any case, the king's threat to invoke Saint Epimachos is presented in +the royal proclamation from Qasr Ibrim as even more powerful than the +King's curse; a heart attack; the sharing of Judas Iscariot's faith; and +the rejection of the trespasser by the society. Again, after all these +threats/curses, it is Epimachos who is called upon "on the day of +judgment" to "come great in battle against him" (ll. 34-5). Here, the +Old Nubian word for battle is used, i.e. ⲡⲛ̄ⲅ. There is also attested a +verb form ⲡⲛ̄ⲕ, i.e. "to fight," as well as a synonym ⲇⲓⳟⲉ (or +ⲇⲓⳟⲁⲣ).[^17] One instance of the use of the latter term in the Old +Nubian corpus translates the Greek participle πολεμουμένων, which +derives from the term πόλεμος, i.e. "war." In Nobiin, the verb ⲇⲓⳟ also +translates as "Krieg führen," [^18] and it is not inconceivable that a +derivative of the root ⲇⲓⳟ was also used to define "war" or "warfare." A +military victory can also be discerned behind the meaning of the term +ⲇⲓⳟⲁⲣⲧ, attested once in the OND translating the Greek word νῖκος.[^19] +In the same semantic field as ⲇⲓⳟⲉ (or ⲇⲓⳟⲁⲣ), there is the verb ⲉⲥⲕ +meaning "to conquer," which seems rather related with the ability to win +rather with the fight necessary to mark a military victory. However, in +one instance, the term is directly linked with the quality of a weapon, +namely a shield (about the Old Nubian terms for this weapon, see below): +P.QI 1 11.ii.2 ⲥⲟⲩⲇⲇⲟⲩ ⲙⲉⲇⲇⲕ̄ⲕⲧⲓⲛⲁ *ⲅⲟⲩⲉⲓⲟⲩ ⲉⲥⲕⲓϭⲣⲉⲛⲛⲗ̄*, that can be +translated as "the staff which is the victorious *shield* of readiness." + +Conversely, the Greek term for "war," i.e. πόλεμος, was surely known in +Christian Nubia, since it appears several times in the Septuagint and +the New Testament. It is important to note that the Greek term is also +used in the Sahidic New Testament, suggesting that it is not impossible +that it had remained untranslated in the Old Nubian version of the Bible +too (for further evidence, see the section on Saint George). + +Moreover, the adjective πολέμιος for "enemy," deriving from the noun +"πόλεμος" is attested in a prayer to Raphael from Banganarti, composed +in "extremely corrupted" Greek. In the same text, a participle +"πολεμόντων" (sic) also appears.[^20] From the rich textual corpus +recorded at the same site one can also glean a couple of instances of +the use of the Greek noun ἐχθρὸς, meaning «enemy».[^21] These instances +seem to rather refer, however, to the devil and other demonic forces as +the *par excellence* enemies of the Christians. + +The term πολέμιος -- denoting real, earthly enemies -- is read in the +text on the back of a small wooden plaque found at the late Christian +settlement of Attiri, where Saint Epimachos is called upon "to protect +the roads from the enemies." [^22] At the same time, there is also an +Old Nubian term for "enemy," i.e. ⲟⲩⲕⲕⲁⲧⲧ stemming apparently from the +verb ⲟⲩⲣ meaning "to oppress." + +The reference to "the roads" in the text of the Attiri plaque seems to +invest Epimachos with the role of the protector of the territory that +the ruler and/or the inhabitants of Attiri controlled. This role is +confirmed and expanded to the entire Makuritan realm in the text of P.QI +3 30.26-7, where the king makes an invocation "in order that Epimachos +might arise, come and place the four corners of the nation for care +under my feet." + +Although there are several saints with the name Epimachos, it is +generally thought that the Nubian Epimachos is the same with Epimachus +of Pelusium, who was not initially a warrior-saint, but a weaver from +Pelusium who martyred for the Christian faith under Diocletian.[^23] +Perhaps through his association with other martyrs under Diocletian, +like Saint George, Epimachos became a warrior saint in the belief system +of the Christian Nubians; perhaps this was due to his name, including +the Greek word for battle, i.e. μάχη; or perhaps thanks to some local +miracle that was not preserved to us due to the loss of the relevant +written source. In any case, the cult of Epimachos was widespread at +least in Lower Nubia and in the later centuries of Christianity there +(first half of the second millennium CE), as can also be seen from a +fragment of a stela in Coptic,[^24] two fragmentarily preserved texts +witnessing an Old Nubian version of his Martyrdom,[^25] as well as from +two painted representations at Aballah-n Irqi and Abu Oda, where the +saint is spearing a fallen figure, like in the plaque from Attiri.[^26] + +There were, however, other military saints who were at least equally +venerated in Christian Nubia as Saint Epimachos, and it seems that the +idea of Epimachos spearing the enemies is inherently linked with the +function of such saints who speared the adversary, in the form of a +dragon, a pagan or an apostate, symbolizing in general terms the evil +itself. + +# The Saint *Stratēlates* Mercurios and George + +The spearing of an adversary of the Christian faith is exemplified in +the Acta of Saint Mercurios.[^27] Mercurios was a Roman soldier who +martyred under Decius. The locality of his martyrdom was near Caesarea +in Cappadocia. Thence, he was linked in one legend with Saint Basil of +Caesarea. Basil was a contemporary of Julian the Apostate and, according +to a version of his Life, during Julian's Persian campaign, Basil was +informed in a dream that Mercurios was chosen by the Theotokos to kill +the emperor. Basil rose and went to the martyrion of Mercurios, but +neither his body nor his weapons were there. Later on, the news of +Julian's death reached him. + +An exegesis for this miracle may be linked with the report by Ammianus +Marcellinus that Julian was killed by a lance "no one knows whence" (Res +Gestae XXV.3.6: incertum inde).[^28] Obviously, this vagueness gave room +to speculation for divine intervention, while the reason that Mercurios +was chosen may allegedly be linked with the role of Basil and the +geographical proximity of the martyrion with Julian's Persian campaign. + +In any case, when the narrative about the assassination of Julian +reached Egypt, it was still linked with both the dream of Basil and the +spear of Mercurios, but rather seen as part of the History of the +patriarchate of Athanasios, apparently in order to invest the miracle +with local references. An even further alienation from the narrative in +Basil's Life is to be found in a Greek version of the Acta of Saint +Mercurios discovered at Qasr Ibrim. There, Basil has disappeared from +the miracle story, and the person who sees the dream is Pachomios. When +this dream comes, the father of coenobitic monasticism is together with +Athanasios, during the exile of the latter in the second half of +Julian's reign, i.e. 362-3 CE. The Theotokos has also disappeared from +the narrative and it is now an angel of God who reveals things to +Pachomios. Whether this new narrative is a local, i.e. Nubian, invention +or an Egyptian contextualization of the legend around the assassination +of the Emperor Julian cannot be investigated in this context. + +It can be mentioned, however, that while Mercurios is represented in +Egyptian iconography both as a holder of a spear,[^29] and as Abu +Sayfayn, i.e. the Father with the two swords,[^30] in Nubia he appears +as the slayer of Julian with his spear in all known mural +representations, i.e. from Faras, Abdel Qadir and the Central Church of +Abdallah-n Irqi.[^31] The mural from Faras is of special importance, +because it has been suggested that the story of Abu Sayfayn was already +part of the complete iconographical concept in that section of the +cathedral (see below). Thus, the iconography of Mercurios spearing +Julian unites a type of weapon with the miracle story of the saint and +underlines the identification of Mercurios with the act of eliminating +pagans and the threat of the old religion. + +This identification is relevant for the purpose of this paper, when one +considers that Mercurios was the name of a very important royal figure +in the history of medieval Nubia: King Mercurios ruled during the turn +from the 7^th^ to the 8^th^ century and the *History of the Patriarchs +of Alexandria* calls him the New Constantine, who "became by his +beautiful conduct like one of the Disciples".[^32] Although this +characterization has been linked with the annexation of Nobadia by +Makuria and the integration of the united kingdom in the hierarchy of +the Coptic Patriarchate of Alexandria, I have suggested that the name +Mercurios might have been given to him as indeed a New Constantine who +turned away from heathen practices the Nubian people remaining to be +Christianized, stamping out paganism like his name-sake saint speared +the last pagan emperor.[^33] In sum, for Christians of the Nile Valley, +the name Mercurios must have sounded extremely heroic, belligerent and +war-like. + +Finally, there are three words that are attested in the Greek version of +the Acta S. Mercurii from Qasr Ibrim, which are of direct relevance for +the present investigation, namely: + +\- the noun πόλεμον for "war" commemorating the Persian campaign of +Julian and confirming the knowledge that the Nubians must have had of +this term. + +\- the noun λόγχαριν for "spear" identifying the miraculous weapon of +the martyr in Greek. About the Old Nubian term, see discussion in +previous section. + +\- the adjective στρατηλάτης for "general" referring to Mercurios and +linking him with the other famous "general" of the Christian faith, +saint George. + +Saint George is perhaps the most renowned military saint. He belongs to +the circle of Roman soldiers who martyred for the Christian faith under +Diocletian, but his fame far surpassed that of others, for reasons that +also surpass the scope of this article. His cult reached of course +Christian Nubia too, as is witnessed by fragments of both a Greek and an +Old Nubian version of his Acta that have been unearthed at Qasr Ibrim +and Kulubnarti respectively.[^34] + +The Old Nubian fragments of the Martyrdom of Saint George have been +reconstructed on the basis of the Greek *editio princeps*, but find also +parallels in witnesses in several other languages.[^35] As to the Greek +version, it exhibits a text written in a Greek language characteristic +of late Christian Nubia,[^36] while its content seems to be a +combination of Greek and Coptic versions. This observation led the +editor of the Qasr Ibrim fragments to the hypothesis that the text is +either the result of a free choice from both sources or a Nubian edition +of an original narrative of the martyrdom antedating the Greek *editio +princeps*.[^37] + +In terms of vocabulary, the Martyrdom of Saint George offers interesting +attestations in both versions: + +In the Greek one, the term κομητοῦρα,[^38] a Latin loan-word also +attested in the *editio princeps*, is worthwhile to comment upon, +because it confirms the acquaintance of Nubians with Latin military +jargon, most probably as a result of an influx of Latin terms in +medieval Greek. Moreover, it is interesting that Roman military +correspondence has been unearthed at Qasr Ibrim,[^39] the site of +provenance of the Greek version of the Nubian martyrdom of Saint George. +The influence of Roman military practices in the Middle Nile region has +also been marked on the ground through the apparent similarities between +Roman forts and those built in the Middle Nile region during Late +Antiquity.[^40] + +As far as the Old Nubian version of the Acta S. Georgii is concerned, +the most interesting term is ⲡⲁⲇⲁⳡⳝⲁⲣⲓ\[ⲗⲅⲟⲩⲗ\], which stands for the +Greek term σπαθάριος, or etymologically "those (soldiers) who carry +sword," combining the terms ⲡⲁⲇⲁⳡ for "sword" and ⳝⲁⲣ from ⲕⲁⲣⲣ for "to +grasp, hold".[^41] The shift from *kappa* to *jima* can be explained as +progressive assimilation under influence of the palatal nasal *nia*, +while the phenomenon of the incorporation of a noun into a verbal root +complex is attested in Old Nubian.[^42] + +This etymological analysis may be compromised by the existence of the +Old Nubian word ⲕⲁⲣ meaning "shield," which could translate the term as +"the holder (sic) of the sword and the shield," but without any morpheme +explicating the coining of the two terms, unless it can be found in the +reconstructed part of the manuscript. Moreover, the existence of a Greek +Vorlage for the Acta S. Georgii gives good ground for accepting the +original etymological analysis, while the term ⲕⲁⲣ is only attested in a +passage of the Stauros-text, that the Coptic parallel text does not +preserve.[^43] + +Finally, the analysis of ⲡⲁⲇⲁⳡⳝⲁⲣⲓ\[ⲗⲅⲟⲩⲗ\] as "those (soldiers) who +carry sword" opens the path for a new interpretation of another office +from the titulature used in Christian Nubia, namely ⲅⲟⲩⲕⲁⲣⲕⲟⲗ. + +This term is attested in P.QI 3 30.37 & 41 and seems to derive its +etymology from the word ⲅⲟⲩⲉⲓ for "shield" or "armor" more generally. +The last element ⲕⲟⲗ defines "the one who has," forming a sort of a +participle. And the remaining three letters could again be interpreted +either as ⲕⲁⲣ meaning "shield" or as ⲕⲁⲣⲣ meaning "to grasp/hold". In my +opinion, it makes better sense to use the latter etymology and to see +ⲅⲟⲩⲕⲁⲣⲕⲟⲗ as a term defining the officer who is wielding the +shield.[^44] For this etymology to work, one must account for the +dropping of the final glide, a phenomenon which is not unattested. + +The relation of this office with the "shield" brings to mind the Greek +title ὑπασπιστής, which means "the one who is under the shield" and +derives from the Macedonian military organization, where the hypaspistēs +were a sort of esquires.[^45] The office continued into the Byzantine +period and, according to Maspero the hypaspistēs were the guard of the +duces in Egypt,[^46] often composed of mercenaries, also including +"Ethiopians", a term used for the peoples leaving south of Egypt, but +which remains vague whether it denoted in the medieval era the Nubians +or the inhabitants of modern-day Ethiopia or both.[^47] The meaning +"guard" for hypaspistēs appears also in Byzantine sources of the 11^th^ +century,[^48] while in later times the hypaspistēs were important +individuals close to the ruler, sort of retainers of the king. +Interestingly, the most renowned chronicle of the Fall of Constantinople +in 1453 was written by Georgios Frantzis who was -- among other things +-- the hypaspistēs of the last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine +Paleologos.[^49] + +This interest lies with the fact that both instances of the term +ⲅⲟⲩⲕⲁⲣⲕⲟⲗ in the Old Nubian corpus derive from the royal proclamation +from Qasr Ibrim, examined in the section about Epimachos. Now, the first +instance is only preserved partially as ⲅⲟⲩⲕ ̀ⲕ ́ and has been +deciphered based on the second one, although they apparently refer to +different persons, first to someone called Papasa and then to someone +called Ounta. The first one accumulates several titles, mainly monastic, +palatial, and bureaucratic; the second one is a scribe. It is not +improbable that such individuals in Christian Nubia may also have +exercised military functions, as the etymology based on ⲅⲟⲩⲉⲓ for +"shield, armor" may indicate and the history of the term hypaspistēs in +Byzantine Egypt underlines, but it is equally probable that the office +meant in Makuria the same as in the later centuries in Byzantium, namely +an esquire. At least this seems, in my opinion, more fitting with Papasa +and Ounta in the service of king Moses George. + +In any case, a military aura of the Makuritan royal court is very +plausible, given, among other things, the certainly important role that +the king played in warfare, as is attested in the Arabic sources +referring to Christian Nubia, where the king always appears as the +leader of the Nubian armies. We could look for example at this same king +Moses George who stamped with hot iron a cross on the hand of the +emissary of none less than Saladin, when he was asked to subdue and +convert to Islam[^50]; or much earlier in the 8^th^ century, when king +Kyriakos invaded Egypt and caused chaos there attempting to liberate the +imprisoned patriarch Michael[^51]; or even in the heroic defense of +Dongola in the 7^th^ century by king Qalidurut who signed the +much-discussed *baqt* with Abdalla ibn Sa'd.[^52] During the siege, the +world came to know the might of the Nubian archers who were praised by +the Arabic chroniclers and poets for centuries to come. The Old Nubian +word for bow is attested once in a passage translated from Greek +Patristic literature: ⲇⲁⲙⲁⲣ. Interestingly, in the OND, this term is +linked etymologically with the Dongolawi/Andaandi *tungur*, which has a +striking phonetic similarity with the Old Nubian toponym for the +Makuritan capital, namely ⲧⲟⲩⲅⲅⲟⲩⲗ. Although the term tungur for "bow" +seems unrelated to the accepted etymologies of ⲧⲟⲩⲅⲅⲟⲩⲗ,[^53] it cannot +be excluded that the inhabitants of Dongola associated their city with +the war technique that their ancestors became famous for, and they +themselves surely still practiced. This is a line of thought that might +be worth investigating further in a future study. + +# The ⲥⲟⳟⲟⳝ of Heavens and the Archistratēgos of the Makuritan King + +Mercurios and George were sanctified and as stratēlates were +posthumously surely manning the celestial hosts in their perennial and +eternal fight against evil, along with Epimachos and the other military +saints of Nubia. In this superhuman afterlife, the martyrs would thus be +expected to join forces with the archistratēgos of heavens, the leader +of the angelic hosts, the archangel Michael. + +Characteristically, the swords that Mercurios holds in his +representations in Coptic art as Abu Sayfayn are given to him by Michael +as narrated in the *Encomium of Acacius, Bishop of Caesarea, on +Mercurius the Martyr*.[^54] It seems that the Nubians were aware of that +story and while preserving the spear as weapon of the mounted Saint +Mercurios in the cathedral of Faras, they represented on the adjoining +wall Michael offering the sword to the saint.[^55] + +The archangel Michael is the most venerated celestial being in the +Christian pantheon of medieval Nubia with innumerable sources dedicated +to his cult.[^56] One of the most popular aspects of the archangel's +cult is an apocryphal work called "The Book of the Investiture of the +Archangel Michael," which describes -- among other things -- the fall of +Mastema (i.e. the devil) from Heaven due to his objection to venerate +Adam as an image of God and his replacement by Michael who thence +becomes protector of the humans and leader/archistratēgos of the angelic +hosts.[^57] + +A lot has been written about the importance of this work in Nubia.[^58] +One important element in the discussion is the coincidence that the +focal passage of the entire work -- the scene of the Investiture of +Michael -- is the only thing narrated in the two versions fragmentarily +preserved in two Nubian manuscripts: one in Greek from Serra East and +one in Old Nubian from Qasr Ibrim.[^59] Among other insights that this +coincidence offers, there is one that obtains a special importance in +the context of the present paper, namely that the word that translates +the Greek term ἀρχιστράτηγος in Old Nubian is ⲥⲟⳟⲟⳝ, which is most +probably the term used to define an Eparch of the Makuritan +kingdom,[^60] more often than not (but not exclusively) linked with the +Late Antique kingdom of Nobadia controlling between the 4^th^-5^th^ and +the 6^th^-7^th^ centuries Lower Nubia. + +There are, however, more Eparchs attested in the Nubian sources than +just the Eparch of Nobadia. Whether all Eparchs were Songoj or whether +all Eparchs had (also) a military function, it is impossible to +ascertain. The Eparch of Nobadia though (the Migin Songoj of the Nubian +texts) seems to be the same term as the "Lord of the Mountain," which is +attested in Arabic sources and although apparently linked with economic +activities (an idea based on the nature of the documents in which the +title appears) he was also understood as a military officer and also +called "Lord of the Horses."[^61] Suffice to be reminded here that +military saints in Nubia were mostly depicted on horseback.[^62] + +One more detail from the field of Nubian iconography: a mural from Faras +housed at the National Museum of Warsaw represents an unnamed Eparch who +holds a bow,[^63] perhaps the weapon par excellence of Nubians, as we +mentioned in the reference to the successful defense of Dongola against +the invading Islamic army in the 7^th^ century. Admittedly, this is not +the only representation of an Eparch from Christian Nubia, but the sole +iconographic witness of the links between the Eparch and warfare. + +So, although the title of the Eparch may have been used for a variety of +functions in the Makuritan state, the military one should not be doubted +based on the translation of ἀρχιστράτηγος as ⲥⲟⳟⲟⳝ in the Book of the +Investiture of the Archangel Michael. All this is of course the result +of the identification of the titles Eparch and ⲥⲟⳟⲟⳝ. This +identification is quite certain for some contexts, but during the +centuries (at least six) that it was in use the terms may have shifted +semantic fields. So, it is plausible that the term ⲥⲟⳟⲟⳝ translating the +Greek ἀρχιστράτηγος was a military office that supplemented the civil +functions of the Eparch, an office for which the Old Nubian term is +unknown -- if it ever existed. On the same token, one may be reminded of +the existence of the offices of *peseto* and *pelmos* in Meroitic Lower +Nubia, the former having civil functions and the latter military +ones.[^64] + +Leaving aside this necessary and eventually inevitable nuancing for a +different venue, it may be concluded in the context of the present paper +that the Songoj/Eparch was (also) the archistratēgos of the Makuritan +king, a sort of a *præfectus prætorio* or ἔπαρχος στρατευμάτων.[^65] + +Hence, a complementary working hypothesis can be advanced. In the Greek +version of the Book of the Investiture of the Archangel Michael, we get +a detailed description of the celestial ceremony of investiture, where +Michael is receiving the garments of his new function, the uniform of +the archistratēgos. In the first instance that the military character of +the archangel's dress is mentioned, the garments are called +στρατοπεδαρχίας ἀμφιάσματα, "the clothes of the chief of the military +encampment." The Old Nubian text prefers again to state that Michael was +dressed in the garment of the office of the ⲥⲟⳟⲟⳝ. So, it seems that for +the Makuritans the Songoj was an army general presiding over an +encampment. Was this encampment permanent? Or did the role apply to the +leadership of a special type of unit stationed at a given locality? And +to what degree such στρατοπεδαρχίαι reflect the local authority that +eventually the various Eparchs attested in our sources had? These +questions should remain open until new discoveries and a more thorough +study of the material takes place. + +# War on the Nile + +There is a last aspect that is worthwhile a comment in the framework of +the present paper. The dimensions of warfare discussed hereby all seem +to refer to land forces. However, the most characteristic element of the +Nubian civilization is its relation with the River Nile. Therefore, its +navigation cannot have left unaffected the military exploits of +Christian Nubians. Actually, it has already been suggested that the +placement of the fortresses of Makuria along the banks of the Nile +necessitated the existence of a fleet which could transport the army and +vital provisions in case of a land attack from intruders, be they desert +marauders or the Egyptian army.[^66] Unfortunately, there is very little +in our sources that gives information about the naval forces of the +Makuritans. Moreover, what is known about navigation on the Nile in +terms of Old Nubian vocabulary has already been presented and this +material includes nothing that points with certainty to warfare.[^67] + +There exists, however, one title in Greek, namely ναυάρχης, for +ναύαρχος, meaning "admiral," who has been already seen as the leader of +the fleet transporting goods and military units to the Makuritan +fortresses.[^68] Furthermore, there should be no doubt that an "admiral" +was always in existence in Nubia, since we know of a "strategos of the +water" from Meroitic times.[^69] Now, it has been shown in an early +study of the titles and honorific epithets from Nubia that ναυάρχης, +albeit of apparently Byzantine inspiration, was not the preferred +*terminus technicus* for a Byzantine "admiral," but it was mainly to be +found in literary works.[^70] Thus, it is worthwhile enquiring whether +the Makuritans did not make some bookish research in order to find the +term that they would use for their admiral, as it seems that they have +done in other occasions, like in the accumulation of terms for "king" in +the renowned Kudanbes inscription, which -- rather unsurprisingly under +this light -- is one of the places where the term ναυάρχης is being +attested.[^71] + +# Concluding Remarks + +It would be difficult to pronounce a set of conclusions from this study +that aimed primarily at assembling lexicographical data about warfare in +Christian Nubia. Previous research has already traced the outlines of +the influence of Greek terminology upon the way Nubians created their +own titles and honorific epithets and there has not been found any new +military terms or words of weaponry that can be added to OND. However, +new apprehension of a couple of words on war was proposed here, while +the revisiting of both literary and documentary sources has offered a +reappraisal of some others and the nuancing of their contextualization +against the background of the Makuritan Christian kingdom, undoubtedly +involved in wars along its history and across the classes of its social +stratification. Finally, it is perhaps the main contribution of this +paper to show the potential of teasing out information about neglected +aspects of the Nubian past from a careful and educated but also bold and +imaginative reading of the available material. + +# References + +Browne, Gerald Michael. *Old Nubian Texts from Qasr +Ibrim*, volume 3. 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The Napatan and +Meroitic Empires*, London: British Museum Press, 1996. + +--------- . *The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia. Pagans, Christians and +Muslims along the Middle Nile*, London: British Museum Press, 2012. + +[Zielińska, Dobrochna and Alexandros [Tsakos. +"Representations of the Archangel Michael in Wall Paintings from +Christian Nubia", In *The Archangel Michael in Africa: History, Cult and +Persona*, edited by Ingvild Sælid [Gilhus, Alexandros +[Tsakos and Marta Camilla [Wright, pp. 79-94. +London-New York-Oxford-New Delhi-Sydney: Bloomsbury Academics 2019. + +[Żurawski, Bogdan. "Strongholds on the Middle Nile: Nubian +Fortifications of the Middle Ages", In *The Power of Walls -- The +Fortifications of Ancient Northeastern Africa: Proceedings of the +International Workshop Held at the University of Cologne 4^th^-7^th^ +August 2011*, edited by Friedrike [Jesse and Carola +[Vogel, pp. 113-43. Cologne: Heinrich Barth Institut 2013. + +[^1]: The author would like to thank Adam [Łajtar and + Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei for their reviews of this study. + +[^2]: For a general presentation, see [Welsby, *The + Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia*, pp. 78-82. + +[^3]: Edwards, "The *Christianisation* of *Nubia*: some + archaeological pointers", p. 89 + +[^4]: Hafsaas-Tsakos, *War on the Southern Frontier of the Emerging + State of Ancient Egypt*. + +[^5]: Hafsaas-Tsakos, "Edges of bronze and expressions of masculinity: + The emergence of a warrior class at Kerma in Sudan". + +[^6]: [Welsby, *The Kingdom of Kush*, pp. 39-50. + +[^7]: [Francigny, *Les coutumes funéraires dans le royaume + de Méroé*. + +[^8]: [Lenoble, *El-Hobagi*. + +[^9]: [Crawford, *Castles and Churches in the Middle Nile + Region.* + +[^10]: [Drzewiecki, *Mighty Kingdoms and their Forts.* + +[^11]: [Vantini, *Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia*; + [Seignobos, *L'Égypte et la Nubie à l'époque + médiévale.* + +[^12]: [Edwards, "Slavery and Slaving in the Medieval and + Post-Medieval Kingdoms of the Middle Nile". + +[^13]: All the Old Nubian words assembled in this study can be found in + [Browne, Old Nubian Dictionary (hence OND). + +[^14]: [Frend, "The Cult of Military Saints in Christian + Nubia". + +[^15]: For the correction of the date from 1156, see + [Ruffini, *Medieval Nubia: A Social and Economic + History*, pp. 265-70. + +[^16]: The same church may be the object of two more documents, i.e. + P.QI 3 40 & P.QI 3 53. + +[^17]: Here a corrigendum to P.Attiri 1.ii.1 from \[ⲁⲛ\] to \[ⲇⲓ\] + should be noted, see [Van Gerven Oei e.a., *The Old + Nubian Texts from Attiri*, p. 39. + +[^18]: [Khalil, *Wörterbuch der nubischen Sprache*, p. 41. + +[^19]: The word ⲇⲓⳟⲧ̄ for "wrestling" is totally reconstructed in OND and + is not considered in the present discussion. + +[^20]: [Łajtar, *A Late Christian Pilgrimage Centre in + Nubia. The Evidence of Wall Inscriptions in the Upper Church at + Banganarti*, pp. 383-385 (inscription nr. 578). The citation is from + p. 384. + +[^21]: Idem, p. 562-3 and inscription 964. + +[^22]: [Tsakos, "Miscellanea Epigraphica Nubica III: + Epimachos of Attiri: a Warrior Saint of Late Christian Nubia", pp. + 215-7. + +[^23]: [Esbroeck, "Epimachus of Pelusium, Saint", *Coptic + Encyclopedia*, pp. 965b-967a. + +[^24]: [Van der Vliet, *I. Khartoum Copt.*, pp. 83-4 (nr. + 24). + +[^25]: [Browne, "An Old Nubian Version of the Martyrdom of + Saint Epimachus" and "An Old Nubian translation of the Martyrdom of + Saint Epimachus". + +[^26]: See [Tsakos, "Miscellanea Epigraphica Nubica III: + Epimachos of Attiri: a Warrior Saint of Late Christian Nubia", p. + 213 with an image of the plaque and pp. 220-1 for the other + representations with references + +[^27]: [Frend, "The Cult of Military Saints in Christian + Nubia", pp. 156-8. + +[^28]: For the reference, see Idem, p. 157 and note 9. + +[^29]: [Piankoff, "Peintures au monastère de Saint + Antoine", p. 160 and ill. IV. + +[^30]: [Esbroeck, "Mercurius of Caesarea, Saint", pp. + 1593b-1594a. + +[^31]: See [Frend, "The Cult of Military Saints in + Christian Nubia", p. 157 for references. + +[^32]: [Vantini, *Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia*, p. + 40; [Seignobos, *L'Égypte et la Nubie à l'époque + médiévale*, p. 96. + +[^33]: [Tsakos, "The Christianization of Nubia". + +[^34]: For the find from Qasr Ibrim, see [Frend, "Fragments + of a version of the Acta S. Georgii from Q\'asr Ibrim". For the find + from Kulubnarti, see [Browne, *The Old Nubian Martyrdom + of Saint George*. + +[^35]: [Browne, ibid., p. 1-3. + +[^36]: For the general characteristics of Greek in Late Christian Nubia, + see [Łajtar, *A Late Christian Pilgrimage Centre in + Nubia. The Evidence of Wall Inscriptions in the Upper Church at + Banganarti*, pp. 20-30. + +[^37]: [Frend, "Fragments of a version of the Acta S. + Georgii from Q\'asr Ibrim", pp. 103-4. + +[^38]: Idem., p. 94. + +[^39]: See [Derda and [Łajtar, "Greek and + Latin papyri from the Egypt Exploration Society excavations at Qasr + Ibrim: A testimony to the Roman army in Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia + in the first years of Augustus", p. 185; [Derda and + [Łajtar, "The Roman Occupation of Qasr Ibrim as + Reflected in the Greek Papyri from the Site", pp. 105-6 and notes 1 + and 2 for references. + +[^40]: [Drzewiecki, "Roman Type Forts in the Middle Nile + Valley. Late Antique Fortlets between Patterns of Roman Military + Architecture and Local Tradition". + +[^41]: [Browne, *The Old Nubian Martyrdom of Saint George*, + p. 11. + +[^42]: For the phenomenon of "incorporation", see [Van Gerven + Oei, *A Reference Grammar of Old Nubian*, §15.1.3.4. + +[^43]: This passage has been interpreted as a later interpolation by the + copyist of the original work in Old Nubian, see [Van Gerven + Oei and [Tsakos, "Apostolic Memoirs in Old + Nubian". + +[^44]: It should be noted that two more terms may be linked with ⲅⲟⲩⲉⲓ + for "shield": the first is ⲅⲟⲩϣ (or ⲅⲟⲩⲥ), perhaps from ⲅⲟⲩⲉⲓ for + "shield" and ϣⲁ for "spear", but [Osman, "The + Post-Medieval Kingdom of Kokka: A Means for a Better Understanding + of the Administration of the Medieval Kingdom of Dongola", p. 191 + proposes an alternative explanation of the word, albeit still + interpreted as a military title; and the second is ⲅⲟⲩⲁⲇ, about + which there is even less certainty. + +[^45]: [Foulon, "Hypaspistes, peltastes, chrysaspides, + argyraspides, chalcaspides". + +[^46]: [Maspero, *Organisation militaire de l'Égypte + byzantine*, pp. 66-68. + +[^47]: For an up-to-date discussion of the issue, see + [Simmons, *Nubia, Ethiopia, and the Crusading World, + 1095-1402*. + +[^48]: [Ostrogorsky, "Observations on the Aristocracy in + Byzantium", pp. 13-14 + +[^49]: [Koukounas, *Georgios Phrantzes, Chronicon*. + +[^50]: [Vantini, *Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia*, p. + 369-70. + +[^51]: [Vantini, *Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia*, p. + 329; [Seignobos, *L'Égypte et la Nubie à l'époque + médiévale*, p. 93-112. + +[^52]: [Vantini, *Oriental Sources Concerning Nubia*, p. + 639; [Seignobos, *L'Égypte et la Nubie à l'époque + médiévale*, p. 53-91. + +[^53]: [Łajtar, "On the Name of the Capital of the Nubian + Kingdom of Makuria". + +[^54]: [Budge, *Miscellaneous Texts in the Dialect of Upper + Egypt*, pp. 858-61. + +[^55]: [Zielińska and [Tsakos, + "Representations of the Archangel Michael in Wall Paintings from + Christian Nubia", pp. 85-6. + +[^56]: [Tsakos, "Sources about the cult and persona of the + archangel Michael in Nubia". + +[^57]: For the use of the title archistratēgos for the archangel + Raphael, see [Łajtar, *A Late Christian Pilgrimage + Centre in Nubia. The Evidence of Wall Inscriptions in the Upper + Church at Banganarti*, p. 46. + +[^58]: [Tsakos, "The Liber Institutionis Michaelis in + Medieval Nubia". + +[^59]: About this coincidence, see [Browne, "Old Nubian + literature", p. 382 and [Tsakos "Textual finds from + Cerre Matto". + +[^60]: [Ruffini, *Medieval Nubia: A Social and Economic + History*, pp. 34-5. + +[^61]: [Seignobos, *L'Égypte et la Nubie à l'époque + médiévale*, p. 198 and note 158. + +[^62]: For examples of the contrary, see + [Martens-Czarnecka, *The Wall Paintings from the + Monastery on Kom H in Dongola*, pp. 207-13. + +[^63]: [Michalowski, *Faras - Wall Paintings in the + Collection of the National Museum in Warsaw*, nr. 61, p. 263; + [Jakobielski e.a., *Pachoras/Faras: The Wall Paintings + from the Cathedrals of Aetios, Paulos and Petros*, nr. 138, pp. + 419-22. + +[^64]: For a discussion framed as background for an analysis of the + title "Eparch of Nobadia," see [Hendrickx, "The "Lord + of the Mountain". A Study of the Nubian *eparchos of Nobadia*". + +[^65]: [Mason, *Greek Terms for Roman Institutions: A + Lexicon and Analysis*, pp. 138-40. + +[^66]: [Żurawski, "Strongholds on the Middle Nile: Nubian + Fortifications of the Middle Ages", pp. 115-8. + +[^67]: [Tsakos, "Terms for Boats and Navigation in Old + Nubia". + +[^68]: [Żurawski, "Strongholds on the Middle Nile: Nubian + Fortifications of the Middle Ages", p. 116. + +[^69]: [Welsby, *The Kingdom of Kush*, p. 40 + +[^70]: [Hägg, "Titles and honorific epithets in Nubian + Greek texts", pp. 161-2. + +[^71]: [Griffith, "Christian Documents from Nubia", pp. + 134-45; [Łajtar, "The so-called Kudanbes Inscription in + Deir Anba Hadra (St. Simeon Monastery) near Aswan: An Attempt at a + New Reading and Interpretation". diff --git a/content/author/alexandrostsakos.md b/content/author/alexandrostsakos.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2e63ac9 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/author/alexandrostsakos.md @@ -0,0 +1,7 @@ +--- +title: Alexandros Tsakos +--- + +# Biography + +Bio. diff --git a/content/editor/_index.md b/content/editor/_index.md index e0c28ad..2078300 100644 --- a/content/editor/_index.md +++ b/content/editor/_index.md @@ -1,3 +1,3 @@ --- -title: "List of authors" +title: "List of editors" --- diff --git a/content/issue/dotawo8.md b/content/issue/dotawo8.md index f02b3b4..f8b6071 100644 --- a/content/issue/dotawo8.md +++ b/content/issue/dotawo8.md @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ --- title: "Dotawo 8: War in the Sudan" editors: ["henriettehafsaas.md"] -has_articles: ["matic.md"] +has_articles: ["matic.md", "tsakos.md"] --- # Preface by the Editor diff --git a/content/issue/misc.md b/content/issue/misc.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e88db4 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/issue/misc.md @@ -0,0 +1,7 @@ +--- +title: "Miscellanea" +editors: [] +has_articles: [] +--- + +Miscellanea blabla over time, issue will be released. diff --git a/content/journal/index.md b/content/journal/index.md index f6e1d87..00b0354 100644 --- a/content/journal/index.md +++ b/content/journal/index.md @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ --- title: Dotawo - A Journal of Nubian Studies -has_issues: ["dotawo7.md", "dotawo8.md"] +has_issues: ["dotawo7.md", "dotawo8.md", "misc.md"] --- # About Dotawo From 8b0df2236b32240a0881fda72550f2116143231a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei" Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2022 18:41:41 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 2/3] added Honegger article --- content/article/honegger.md | 705 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ content/author/matthieuhonegger.md | 7 + content/issue/dotawo8.md | 2 +- 3 files changed, 713 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) create mode 100644 content/article/honegger.md create mode 100644 content/author/matthieuhonegger.md diff --git a/content/article/honegger.md b/content/article/honegger.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e18b05 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/article/honegger.md @@ -0,0 +1,705 @@ +--- +title: "The Archers of Kerma: Warrior Image and Birth of a State" +authors: ["matthieuhonegger.md"] +abstract: A research programme conducted by the Swiss archaeological mission in +the oldest sectors of the Eastern Cemetery of Kerma has uncovered +several dozen archers\' tombs. The appearance of these armed warriors +dating from ca. 2300 BC onwards can be put in parallel with the +resumption of commercial activities between Egypt and Nubia, illustrated +by the Harkhuf expeditions. The archers and their warrior attributes +probably participate in the emergence of kingship ca. 2000 BC, which +takes control of the commercial axis along the Nile and is illustrated +by the accumulation of wealth and the development of servitude. This +article proposes to describe these Kerma archers, and then to look at +the evolution of funerary rites that show in their own way how a social +hierarchy emerges that will lead to the birth of a state, in this +instance the kingdom of Kerma. +keywords: [] +--- + +# Introduction + +It is known that at the time of the Egyptian Kingdom, Nubia represented +a neighbouring and often rival entity, extending from the 1^st^ to the +5^th^ cataract. Its renowned warriors are represented by archers and are +depicted on numerous occasions in the Nile valley, on stelae or engraved +rocks, on bas-reliefs or painted tomb walls. As early as the Old +Kingdom, they were enrolled in the Egyptian armies as mercenaries and +probably formed troops, as shown in the model representing them in the +tomb of Prince Mesheti (11^th^ Dynasty). The territory of Nubia is +itself designated from the beginning of the 3^rd^ millennium by a +hieroglyph in the shape of a bow, *Ta-Sety*, which means the land of the +bow. Despite this evidence of the importance of these warriors and their +weapons, archaeological finds of Nubian archers\' tombs contemporary +with the Egyptian Kingdom are anecdotal. Only a few tombs from the Kerma +period (2550-1480 BC) have been reported by Charles Bonnet in his +excavation reports on the Eastern Cemetery of Kerma.[^1] His most +important discovery consists of an almost intact tomb of an naturally +mummified archer (Fig. 1). Also dating from the *Kerma ancien II* phase +(2300-2150 BC), this grave contained the body of a young man, whose head +had been displaced by grave-robbers.[^2] He was accompanied by arrow +remains and two bows of simple curvature, 120 cm long. One of the bows +was decorated with a plume of ostrich feathers. + +The Eastern Cemetery of the Kingdom of Kerma[^3] is known for the +abundance of weapons found in its tombs[^4] as well as for the numerous +traumas present on its skeletonsy.[^5] These observations led to the +view of this society as a warlike aristocracy, where testimonies of +violence were common. These reflections have so far focused on the final +phase of the cemetery and of the Kingdom (1750-1500 BC), best known +thanks to the work of George A. Reisner, undertaken at the beginning of +the 20^th^ century.[^6] Since then, excavations were undertaken between +1979 and 1999 by Charles Bonnet, who investigated 27 sectors spread over +its entire surface (Fig. 2), and between 2008 and 2018, we have +undertaken systematic excavations in sectors of the early stages of the +cemetery (2550-1950 BC), that correspond to the formation of the Kingdom +of Kerma.[^7] They provide previously unpublished information on the +appearance of the first warriors in the form of the famous Nubian +archers, on cases of violence, as well as on the phenomena of servitude, +wealth, and funerary ostentation that was co-eval with the birth of the +kingdom and its domination over a large part of Upper Nubia. + +**The Eastern Cemetery of Kerma and its new excavation** + +As part of our programme on the evolution of society in Early Kerma, we +have reinvestigated and completed the excavations of Sectors 23, 27, and +8, and have opened Sectors 28, 29, 30, and 31 (Fig. 3). The tombs have +been systematically excavated, taking into account information on the +surface (burial mounds, ceramic deposits, bucrania, fireplaces, and post +holes) and collecting the material contained in the tombs and infill of +the pits. Knowing that more than 99% of the graves dating from this +period of the necropolis\'s utilisation were subsequently looted, the +infill of the pits is often the only way to get an idea of the contents +of the tomb and of the ceramics placed on the surface beside the mound. + +The work undertaken in recent years has made it possible to build a +precise chronology for the early phases of the cemetery, from the +beginning of Early Kerma to the beginning of Middle Kerma. The study and +spatial distribution of the 409 tombs excavated since 2008 allows us to +follow in detail each stage from the evolution of funeral rites. An +absolute chronology was constructed using 23 14C dates that were +confronted with the typology of Kerma pottery and Egyptian imports, and +this makes it possible to distinguish five successive phases between +2550 and 1950 BC: *Kerma ancien 0, I, II, III,* and *Kerma moyen I* +(Fig. 3).[^8] We thus have a relatively precise chronological framework +which highlights five distinct phases of relatively short duration from +the beginning of Early Kerma to the Middle Kerma. Regarding the spatial +analysis, the first observable tendency during this evolution appears to +be the progressive increase in the size of the graves' pits. These are +small and rectangular during *Kerma ancien 0* (average surface of 0.9 +m^2^), becoming oval and only marginally larger during *Kerma ancien I* +(average surface of 1.2 m^2^). It is only from *Kerma ancien II* that +they mostly become larger and more circular (average surface of 4.2 +m^2^), with this tendency continuing in *Kerma ancien III*, with the +larger pits attaining a diameter exceeding 4 metres, occasionally more +quadrangular than circular (average surface of 5 m^2^). Then, in *Kerma +moyen I* appeared the first royal graves with a diameter ranging between +7 to 10 metres. + +In the oldest sectors (*Kerma ancien 0* and *I*), the tombs are all of +equal size and their contents do not give the image of strong social +distinction. As is the rule in the Kerma period, the bodies are laid on +their right side, head towards the east. The objects found in the tombs +are not very abundant, metal (gold, copper alloy) is very rare. As +regards pottery, there is a marked presence of C-Group pots, which will +become more discrete over time.[^9] + +The *Kerma ancien II* phase shows spectacular changes in the funerary +rites, compared to the earlier phases in the cemetery. The tombs are +generally larger and contain more objects. Metal is more regularly +attested, notably in the form of bronze mirrors and gold necklaces or +pendants. Animal sacrifices make their appearance (dogs, caprines) as +well as bucrania in front of some tumuli. Tombs with multiple burials +are also more frequent, indicating the development of accompanying or +sacrificed people, which will increase significantly in the succeeding +periods. The distinction between male and female graves becomes +systematic and stereotyped (Fig. 4). If the buried women are +systematically endowed with a stick, an ornament, and sometimes +particular objects or tools such as potter\'s tools, the male tombs are +systematically endowed with a bow.[^10] + +During the *Kerma ancien III* phase, the same tendencies identified in +the previous phase continued. In the sectors of this period, we noticed +that young boys\' graves were also accompanied by bows (Fig. 5). The +four youngest individuals with a bow are less than 4 years old, and the +one in Figure 5 has a bow that is too large for his size. This +observation and their age -- less than two years for two of them -- +shows that these bows are not necessarily placed in tombs to express the +activity of the deceased, but also have a symbolic connotation related +to male status. The richest graves sometimes distinguish themselves in a +more spectacular manner. One of them had 50 aligned bucrania to the +south and 38 decorated pots on the surface. It is at the beginning of +Middle Kerma (*Kerma moyen I*) that the first royal graves appeared, +like that recently discovered in Sector 31, whose diameter exceeds 10 +metres, and which has over 1400 bucrania laid out in front of the +tumulus.[^11] + +Differences between burials increase during Middle Kerma and, for this +period, it is not rare to find grave-pits of up to 10-15 meters in +diameter. This ranking between burials suggests a stratified society +which would culminate at the end of the Kingdom of Kerma. The central +inhumations in the largest tumuli are supposed to be the graves of the +rulers, the other tumuli could belong to high status individuals or to +free men and women.[^12] In certain instances, a mud-brick chapel was +erected on the west side of the tumulus (Fig. 6).[^13] + +During Classic Kerma, the diameter of the largest graves is between 30 +and 90 meters in diameter. The three most famous ones were built to a +uniform size with tumuli approximately 90 meters in diameter (KIII, IV, +X). Composed of a complex internal structure of mud-brick walls with a +corridor giving access to a central vaulted chamber, they are assumed to +belong to the most powerful rulers of Kerma[^14] (Kendall 1997). The +grave goods found in these burials and in some subsidiary ones were +particularly elaborate and the proportion of Egyptian imports high.[^15] +Two monumental funerary temples (KI, KXI) were erected north-west of the +tumuli KIII and KX. The Eastern Cemetery was abandoned as a location for +royal burials during the conquest of Kush by the Egyptians of the 18th +Dynasty, about 1500 BC. A last royal grave was erected 4 km to the west, +south of the ancient town of Kerma, and dates about 1480 BC.[^16] + +# The archers' graves + +From the *Kerma ancien II* to the *Kerma moyen I* phases onwards (Fig. +3), all male tombs that we excavated between 2008 and 2018 are equipped +with a bow, even those of children.[^17] Of course, many graves are too +looted to conclude that archery equipment was present, but as soon as +the grave is better preserved, the presence of archery elements is +attested, the smallest clue being the presence of the string made of +twisted sinews, probably from sheep or goats (Fig. 7). In view of the +number of graves excavated, we can therefore suppose that the presence +of men or boys with weapons is systematic for the earlier phases. +However, it is not possible to conclude definitively that the presence +of male archers was systematic for all phases of the Eastern Cemetery +without looking at the previous excavations of Reisner and Bonnet. + +The \"Cemetery North\", close to our excavations (2008-2018), was +excavated in 1915 by Reisner, then in 1916 by his assistant W. G. Kemp +(135 graves). The documentation[^18] published after the death of +Reisner, is of lesser quality than for the southern part of the cemetery +corresponding to Classic Kerma and excavated in 1913-1914.[^19] The +tombs excavated by Kemp have not been spatially located. Nevertheless, +we know from our excavations that the \"Cemetery North\" covers *Kerma +ancien III* and *Kerma moyen I* phases. The documentation identifies the +grave of a woman with a staff, but there is no evidence of bows. In view +of the discreet nature of the evidence for archery, we believe that it +has simply not been identified. It must be said that the tombs were +systematically excavated by Egyptians from the village of Kouft, +assisted by Nubians. It is therefore very likely that they simply did +not observe these fleeting remains. In the "Cemetery M" (Middle Kerma, +see fig. 3) which dates of Middle Kerma, the documentation, published +with that of the "Cemetery N" is not better than this latter. No archer +or bow was identified. It is only in Classic Kerma that this practice +seems to disappear, according to Reisner's documentation,[^20] which is +of much better quality than that published by Dunham.[^21] It must be +said that this part of the cemetery is different from that of Early and +Middle Kerma. Our demographic estimate for the Eastern Cemetery +concludes that there were at least 36,000 individuals buried, but the +part attributed to Classic Kerma yields only 700. Simulations of burial +recruitment show that this part of the cemetery is the most selective +and contains only a small section of the ruling class, in contrast to +earlier periods. At this time, the armed persons are accompanied by +daggers, which led Hafsaas[^22] to conclude that there was a warrior +elite displaying this type of weapon, as was the case in Europe in the +Late Bronze and Iron Ages. + +In the excavations of Bonnet, which involved just over 250 tombs, a few +archers were identified. Again, the excavations were carried out almost +systematically by Nubian excavators who were not trained to find small +remains as bow stings. Nevertheless, Bonnet reports the presence of some +archers in Early Kerma sectors, as well as in Middle Kerma sectors. The +famous mummy of an archer (Fig. 1) comes from Sector 4[^23] (*Kerma +ancien II*) and five other graves of archers were excavated in Sector 23 +(Kerma (*Kerma ancien II*).[^24] For Middle Kerma, two graves of archers +were discovered in Sector 9 and one in Sector 11 (*Kerma moyen I*), as +well as another in sector 20 (*Kerma moyen IV*).[^25] Finally, we had +the opportunity to excavate a grave in sector 24 (*Kerma moyen V*) which +contained 36 lunates corresponding to arrowheads.[^26] From all these +observations, we can assume that the tradition of male burials as +archers started in the *Kerma ancien II* phase and must have continued +until the end of Middle Kerma.[^27] + +Let us return to the archers\' graves of the oldest sectors.[^28] Their +equipment consists of: + +\- One or two bows, single or double-curved (Fig. 8). It seems to us +that not too much should be made of this distinction, because the double +curvature can be achieved by deformation. It does not necessarily +suggest a composite bow, attested in Egypt later and supposedly +introduced by the Hyksos.[^29] The bow with a double curvature does not +necessarily imply that it is composite, which is a far more +sophisticated manufacturing technique, since it is not attested in +Africa at this time. On the other hand, ethnographic material describes +simple techniques to obtain a strong incurvation of the extremities of +the bow, which consist in bending the wood by means of ligaments and +forms.[^30] It is probably the use of similar techniques which explain +the well-attested differences in the Nubian bows. The most common +dimension is 120 cm, but two larger bows, about 150 cm long, have been +found. In a child's tomb, a small model, about 90 cm long, was +discovered. The remains of bow-strings have often been found in situ +alongside the bow. In some instances, the extent of the bow's curvature +leads one to believe that it was strung when placed in the tomb. The bow +is always placed to the north of the body, close to the hands. It is +occasionally decorated with a plume of ostrich feathers at its extremity +(Fig. 9). It has not been possible to identify the species of wood used +to manufacture the bows, since these had been too severely damaged by +termites. + +\- Reed arrows with a tail and several embedded microliths, are similar +to the arrows of Naga-ed-Der in Egypt, dated to the 6^th^ to 12^th^ +Dynasty, i.e., a period contemporaneous with Middle Kerma.[^31] The +arrowheads are lunates made of quartz, carnelian, or sometimes flint +(Fig. 10). The few surviving examples correspond to the A3 type of +fitting defined by Clark et al.,[^32] with one placed at the tip of the +arrow and the other two at the sides. The arrows would have been +inserted in a quiver, but in at least one instance they were placed +directly in the archer\'s left hand. + +\- A goat-skin leather quiver. Its presence in the tombs is not +systematic, but we have been able to identify seven more or less +complete ones. They are sewn, some wide and rather short, while others +are slenderer, like the example in Figure 11. + +\- A leather archer\'s wrist-guard of a specific model that seems to be +typical of the Kerma tradition (Fig. 12). These have been found in a few +cases *in situ*, on the left wrist of the deceased (Fig. 13), they are +always of the same design, with the protective part provided with two +concave sides and a pointed end. Some similar specimens are known in +Egypt in the mass grave of soldiers found at Deir el-Bahari of the 12th +Dynasty.[^33] This type of wrist-guard is unusual in Egypt and some +authors considered it to have come from the north, but it probably +belongs to Nubian archers originally attached to the Kerma culture.[^34] + +These observations will be the subject of more detailed descriptions in +the future, especially the numerous leather objects, which are the +subject of a recently started PhD thesis.[^35] Of all the tombs +excavated, only two adult tombs were almost (Fig. 1) or completely +intact (Fig. 13). Enriched by the observations made on the other male +tombs, it is possible to reconstruct the appearance of these archers, +who resemble quite closely the representations made by the Egyptians, +notably those on the temple of Amun at Beit El-Wali, which describe the +expedition of Rameses II in Nubia (Fig. 14). Although later than the +tombs where we made our observations, the white earrings of the men +depicted in these frescoes are the same as those that first appear in +the *Kerma ancien II* phase and continue thereafter. In fact, these +earrings obtained from a Nile shell were found only in male tombs (Fig. +15). Similarly, the men of Kerma wear a sheep-skin loincloth that still +has its wool, which can be dark brown, beige, or quite frequently +bicoloured, with alternating black and beige spots (Fig. 16). This +bicoloured fur, which bears witness to a selection process resulting +from advanced domestication,[^36] could be a form of imitation of the +coat of leopards, such as those found on Egyptian frescoes. However, we +never found a leopard-skin loincloth during our excavations in the +Eastern Cemetery. Moreover, we cannot exclude that some archers were +naked and did not wear a loincloth, as suggested by an engraving from +Wadi Sabu at the 3^rd^ cataract (Fig. 17), where a series of six archers +wearing a feather on their head, are rendered in a figurative style very +close to that observed at Kerma;[^37] among this group, only one archer +is wearing a loincloth, while the others are naked. Finally, we did not +have occasion to observe the presence of a feather belonging to the +headdress of the buried, but Bonnet points out the trace of a headband +in the tomb of a mummified archer (Fig. 1) that could have served to +attach a feather.[^38] + +# Evolution of funeral rites and the emergence of a state + +At Kerma, men and boys of all ages are systematically buried with their +archers\' equipment from about 2300 BC onwards, and continues for +several centuries, probably until the end of the Middle Kerma about 1750 +BC. Clearly, there is a symbolic dimension to this display, underscored +by the fact that even children as young as 1.5 years old are equipped +with bows. Moreover, researchers have repeatedly pointed out that there +are numerous instances of evidence for violence in the Classic Kerma +part of the cemetery,[^39] and the anthropologist working on the +skeletons of Early Kerma has also noted the abundance of such evidence, +especially on young men.[^40] It must therefore be admitted that the +presence of archers cannot only be symbolic and that it also reflects +the status of these warriors, who were perhaps trained in the handling +of the bow from a very young age. As reported by the Egyptians, this +weapon was of major importance in Nubia and at the time of Early Kerma, +the hundreds of excavated tombs did not reveal many other kinds of +weapons. Mace heads are exceptional in this period, and we found only +one in 409 excavated tombs. The spears must have been made of wood or +composite material. We found a long point manufactured from a mammal +long bone that could have been the apex of a spear. As for copper alloy +daggers, they only appear at the end of Early Kerma and become more +numerous during Middle Kerma, becoming more elongated, to finally be +replaced by the daggers of Classic Kerma. We can also point out the +wooden throwing sticks or the several bronze spearheads, but the aim is +not to draw up a complete inventory of weapons, an exercise that has +already been done for weapons in this necropolis.[^41] + +If we have already underlined that it is from the *Kerma ancien II* +phase (2300-2150 BC) that the distinctions between the tombs begin to be +marked, this tendency will be reinforced thereafter to culminate with +the appearance of the first royal tombs of the *Kerma moyen I* phase +(2050-1950 BC). These tombs, unfortunately looted, are notable for their +size (7 to 10 m in diameter for the pit, 12 to 15 m for the tumulus), +for the hundreds or even thousands of bucrania deposited to the south of +the tumulus, but also for the quantity of fine ceramics laid out inside +the pit and around the tumulus. Other criteria, such as the animal and +human sacrifices -- which some prefer to call accompanying deaths -- +also underline the status of the individuals, insofar as their number is +proportional to the dimensions of the grave. Finally, the quantity of +Egyptian ceramics gives an idea of the intensity of the exchanges (Fig. +18). + +During the first phase of Eastern Cemetery, exchanges with Egypt are +already significant, and it is possible that the presence of several +C-Group features is evidence of important contacts between Upper and +Lower Nubia.[^42] During the next phase, exchanges decline, a sign of a +certain loss of Egyptian control over Lower Nubia, as has already been +pointed out.[^43] It is during the *Kerma ancien II* phase (2300-2150 +BC) that imports increase again. It is also from this time onwards that +the archers\' tombs appear, that the distinctions between the tombs +start to be significant, and that the wealth becomes more important, +notably through the presence of Egyptian copper alloy mirrors which will +attract the interest of the looters. + +It is precisely during this phase that Egyptian sources mention the +famous expeditions of Harkhuf,[^44] a high dignitary of Aswan. His tomb, +covered with inscriptions, relates the story of his three journeys to +Nubia commissioned by the pharaohs Merenre I and Pepi II, around 2250 +BC. These were obviously expeditions aimed at reopening trade routes by +making contact and trading with the Nubian populations located south of +the 2^nd^ cataract[^45]. The narrative tells us that several populations +or tribes populate Nubia and do not necessarily maintain peaceful +relations between them[^46]. These groups are already hierarchical with +dominant personalities capable of gathering armed men in quantity, +goods, and donkeys by the dozen, to accompany Harkhuf and his escort. It +is likely that Kerma then developed a coercive policy to ensure the +control of the lucrative trade with the Egyptians, in an atmosphere of +conflicts between tribes or lineages. The valorisation of the role of +warriors in funeral rites could be a consequence of this. + +From this point onwards, the indications of a more marked social +stratification increase rapidly with an increase in imports, in the +number of human sacrifices, in the number of bucrania in front of the +largest tombs, as well as in the number of red fine ware with black +rims, whose decorations multiply (Fig. 18). One can imagine a +competition between dominant lineages, as we have suggested in an +analysis of the significance of fine ceramics and their +decorations[^47]. This competition will lead to the emergence of a +dominant lineage that will concentrate the wealth and show it in the +funeral rites, as exemplified by the first royal tombs, which appear +around 2000 BC (Fig. 19). It is from this period onwards that the +necropolis will undergo a spectacular development, much more important +demographically than natural population growth could allow. Kerma must +therefore have been the centre of the kingdom from this period onwards +and attracted populations from its kingdom to settle in the region. + +# Bibliography + +[Bonnet]{.smallcaps}, Charles. "Rapport préliminaire sur les campagnes +de 1980-1981 et 1981-1982", in: Bonnet, C. & collab. Les fouilles +archéologiques de Kerma (Soudan), *Genava, n.s.,* 30 (1982): pp. 1-25. + +[Bonnet]{.smallcaps}, Charles. "Rapport préliminaire sur les campagnes +de 1982-1983 et 1983-1984", in: Bonnet, C. & collab. Les fouilles +archéologiques de Kerma (Soudan), *Genava, n.s.,* 32 (1984): pp. 5-42. + +[Bonnet]{.smallcaps}, Charles. "Rapport préliminaire sur les campagnes +de 1984-1985 et 1985-1986", in: Bonnet, C. & collab. Les fouilles +archéologiques de Kerma (Soudan), *Genava, n.s.,* 34 (1986): pp. 5-20. + +[Bonnet]{.smallcaps}, Charles. "Rapport préliminaire sur les campagnes +de 1993-1994 et 1994-1995", in: Bonnet, C. & collab. Les fouilles +archéologiques de Kerma (Soudan), *Genava, n.s.,* 43 (1995): pp. 31-64. + +[Bonnet]{.smallcaps}, Charles. *Edifices et rites funéraires à Kerma*. +Errance. Paris, 2000. + +[Bonnet]{.smallcaps}, Charles., [Honegger]{.smallcaps}, Matthieu. "The +Eastern Cemetery of Kerma", in Emberling, G., Williams, B. (eds.). *The +Oxford Handbook of Ancient Nubia* (2020): pp. 213-226. + +[Clark]{.smallcaps}, John. D, [Phillips]{.smallcaps}, James L., +[Staley,]{.smallcaps} Preston S. "Interpretations of prehistoric +technology from ancient egyptian and other sources, part 1: ancient +egyptian bows and arrows and their relevance for prehistory". +*Paleorient*, 2, 2 (1974): pp. 323-388. + +[Dunham]{.smallcaps}, Dows. *Excavations at Kerma. Part VI: subsidiary +nubian graves, excavated by the late George A. Reisner in 1915-1916, not +included in his Excavations at Kerma, I-III and IV-V, published by him +in the Harvard African Studies, V and VI, 1923*. Boston: Museum of Fine +Arts, 1982. + +[Gratien, B]{.smallcaps}rigitte. *Les cultures Kerma. Essai de +classification*. Université de Lille III, 1978. + +[Hafsaas-Tsakos]{.smallcaps}, Henriette. "Edges of bronze and +expressions of masculinity: the emergence of a warrior class at Kerma in +Sudan", *Antiquity* 87 (2013): pp. 79-91. + +[Honegger]{.smallcaps}, Matthieu. "Lunate microliths in the Holocene +industries of Nubia: Multifunctional tools, sickle blades or weapon +elements?". In: Pétillon J.-M. *et al.* (coord.). Projectile weapon +elements from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Neolithic (Proceeding of the +session C83 of the 15^th^ Congress of the IUPPS, Lisbon, 4-9 September +2006), *Palethnologie*, 1 (2009): pp.161-173. + +[Honegger]{.smallcaps}, Matthieu. "La plus ancienne tombe royale de +Kerma en Nubie", *Bull. Soc. Neuchâtel. Sci. Nat.* 138 (2018): pp. +185-198. + +[Honegger]{.smallcaps}, Matthieu. "New Data on the Origins of Kerma". +In: Honegger, M. (ed.), *Nubian Archaeology in the XXIst Century, +proceedings of the 13th International Conference of the Society for +Nubian Studies (Neuchâtel, 2014)*. Leuwen (2018): pp. 19-34. + +[Honegger]{.smallcaps}, Matthieu. "The Eastern Cemetery of Kerma and its +first Royal Grave", Kerma, document de la mission archéologique Suisse +au Soudan, 8 (2019): pp. 6-19. + +[Honegger]{.smallcaps}, Matthieu. "Style and identity symbols: an +attempt to define the social meaning of the Kerma funerary fineware and +its decorations", in Rondot, V. et al. (eds.) Etudes Nubiennes 2018, +Louvre Museum, 10-15 sept. 2018, forthcoming. + +[Honegger]{.smallcaps}, Matthieu, [Fallet]{.smallcaps}, Camille. +"Archers Tombs of the Kerma ancien", *Kerma, document de la mission +archéologique Suisse au Soudan* 6 (2015) : pp. 16-30. + +[Judd]{.smallcaps}, Margaret. "Ancient Injury Recidivism: An Example +from the Kerma Period of Ancient Nubia", *International Journal of +Osteoarchaeology* 12 (2002): pp. 89--102. + +[Kendall]{.smallcaps}, Timothy. *Kerma and the Kingdom of Kush 2500-1500 +B.C. The Archaeological Discovery of an Ancient Nubian Empire*. National +Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1977. + +[Lacovara]{.smallcaps}, Peter. "The Stone Vase Deposit at Kerma". In: +Davies, W.V. (ed.). *Egypt and Africa, Nubia from Prehistory to Islam*, +London: British Museum Press (1991): pp. 118-128. + +[Le Quellec]{.smallcaps}, Jean-Loïc. "Arcs et archers sahariens: les +représentations d'archers dans l'art rupestre du Sahara central", *Tir à +l'arc Magazine*, 25 (2014) : pp. 60-63. + +[Le Quellec]{.smallcaps}, Jean-Loïc. "Arcs et bracelets d'archers au +Sahara et en Égypte, avec une nouvelle proposition de lecture des +'nasses' sahariennes", *Cahiers de l'ARRS*, 15 (2011) : pp. 201-220. + +[Manzo]{.smallcaps}, Andrea. "Weapons, ideology and identity at Kerma +(Upper Nubia, 2500-1500 BC)", *Annali, sezione orientale* 76 (2016): pp. +3-29. + +[Minor]{.smallcaps}, Elizabeth. *The Use of Egyptian and Egyptianizing +Material Culture in Nubian Burials of the Classic Kerma Period*. Ph.D. +dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 2012: +. + +[Müller]{.smallcaps}, Hans W. *Der \'Armreif\' des Konigs Ahmose und der +Handgelenkschutz des Bogenschützen im alten Ägypten und Vorderasien.* +SDAIK, 25. Mainz, 1989. + +[Obsomer,]{.smallcaps} Claude. "Les expéditions d'Herkhouf (VIe +dynastie) et la localisation de Iam". In: Bruwier, M.-C. (ed.). +*Pharaons Noirs: Sur la piste des 40 jours*. Musée Royal de Mariemont +(2007): pp. 39-52. + +[Reisner]{.smallcaps}, George A. *Excavations at Kerma. Harvard African +Studies 5-6*. Peabody Museum of Harvard University, 1923. + +[Smith]{.smallcaps}, Stuart Tyson. "Nubia and Egypt: Interaction, +acculturation, and secondary state formation from the third to first +millennium BC", In: Cusick, James G. (ed.). *Studies in Culture Contact: +Interaction, Culture Change, and Archaeology*. Southern Illinois +University Press (1995): pp. 256-287. + +[Testart]{.smallcaps}, Alain. *Éléments de classification des sociétés*. +Errance. Paris, 2005. + +[Török]{.smallcaps}, László. *Between Two Worlds: The Frontier Region +between Ancient Nubia and Egypt 3700 BC - 500 AD*. Leiden, 2009. + +[Vogel]{.smallcaps}, Carola. "Fallen Heroes?: Winlock\'s \'Slain +Soldiers\' Reconsidered", *The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology*, 89 +(2003): pp. 239-245. + +[Walsh]{.smallcaps}, Carl. "Techniques for Egyptian Eyes: Diplomacy and +the Transmission of Cosmetic Practices between Egypt and Kerma", Journal +of Egyptian History (2021): pp. 295-332. + +[Winlock]{.smallcaps}, Herbert E. *The Slain Soldiers of +Neb-hepet-Re\'-Mentu-entu-Hotpe*. Publications of the Metropolitan +Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition, 16. New York, 1945. + +[^1]: Bonnet, "Les fouilles archéologiques de Kerma (Soudan) ", 1982, + pp. 15-19 ; 1984, p. 17 ; 1986, p. 12 ; 1995, p. 44. + +[^2]: Bonnet, "Les fouilles archéologiques de Kerma (Soudan) ", 1982, + pp. 15-19. + +[^3]: Kerma is the name of the village next to the city of Kerma and its + eastern cemetery. It gave its name to the culture of Kerma, defined + by its ceramics and its funeral rites (see Gratien, *Les cultures + Kerma. Essai de classification*). This culture is also referred to + as the Kingdom of Kerma. In the context of anthropological theories + on the evolution of societies, a kingdom can be equated with a state + (see Testart, *éléments de classification des sociétés*). It can + also be considered as a secondary state, insofar as it seems to + emerge as a result of its contacts with the Egyptian state, which + originated more than five centuries before (Smith, "Nubia and Egypt: + Interaction, acculturation, and secondary state formation from the + third to first millennium BC"). + +[^4]: Hafsaas-Tsakos, "Edges of bronze and expressions of masculinity: + the emergence of a warrior class at Kerma in Sudan", pp. 79-91; + Manzo, "Weapons, ideology and identity at Kerma (Upper Nubia, + 2500-1500 BC)", pp. 3-29. + +[^5]: Judd, "Ancient Injury Recidivism: An Example from the Kerma Period + of Ancient Nubia", pp. 89-102. + +[^6]: Reisner, *Excavations at Kerma. Harvard African Studies 5-6*. + +[^7]: This project was supported by the Swiss National Fund (SNF + 100011_163021/1), the State Secretariat for Education, Research and + Innovation of the Swiss Confederation, the Kerma Foundation, and the + University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland). We also thank Dr Abdelrahman + Ali, director of the National Corporation of Antiquities and Museums + of Sudan (NCAM) for his support. + +[^8]: Honegger, "La plus ancienne tombe royale de Kerma en Nubie", pp. + 189-194; Honegger, "New Data on the Origins of Kerma", pp. 21-24. + +[^9]: Honegger, "New Data on the Origins of Kerma", pp. 25-28. + +[^10]: Bonnet and Honegger, "The Eastern Cemetery of Kerma", pp. + 216-218. + +[^11]: Honegger "La plus ancienne tombe royale de Kerma en Nubie", pp. + 194-197. See also the end of this paper and figure 15. + +[^12]: Hafsaas-Tsakos, "Edges of bronze and expressions of masculinity: + the emergence of a warrior class at Kerma in Sudan", pp. 79-91. + +[^13]: Mud brick chapels were built in connection with the most + important and largest graves, Bonnet, *Edifices et rites funéraires + à Kerma*. + +[^14]: Kendall, *Kerma and the Kingdom of Kush 2500-1500 B.C. The + Archaeological Discovery of an Ancient Nubian Empire*. + +[^15]: See Minor, The Use of Egyptian and Egyptianizing Material Culture + in Nubian Burials of the Classic Kerma Period and Walsh, "Techniques + for Egyptian Eyes: Diplomacy and the Transmission of Cosmetic + Practices between Egypt and Kerma". + +[^16]: Bonnet and Honegger, "The Eastern Cemetery of Kerma", pp. + 223-224. + +[^17]: Sector 23 contained 122 individuals of which 90 were discovered + by our team. Of these 90 individuals, 49 were mature (25 female and + 20 male), 37 immature and 4 undetermined. The total number of + archers\' graves was 24, of which 15 were adult males, 3 were + children under 10 years of age, 5 were between 10 and 19 years of + age, and one grave did not yield enough human remains to determine + age and sex. In the Sector 29 (*Kerma ancien III)*, 18 archers were + identified on a total of 72 individuals. In the Sector 31 (*Kerma + moyen I*), 8 archers were identified on a total of 20 individuals. + The bio-anthropological data are provided by Agathe Chen, in charge + of the study of the skeletons of the Eastern Cemetery. + +[^18]: Dunham, *Excavations at Kerma. Part VI.* + +[^19]: Reisner, *Excavations at Kerma.* + +[^20]: Reisner, *Excavations at Kerma.* + +[^21]: Dunham, *Excavations at Kerma. Part VI.* + +[^22]: Hafsaas-Tsakos "Edges of bronze and expressions of masculinity: + the emergence of a warrior class at Kerma in Sudan", pp. 79-91. + +[^23]: Bonnet, "Les fouilles archéologiques de Kerma (Soudan) ", 1982, + p. 15-19. + +[^24]: They were excavated in January 1996 but remain unpublished. + +[^25]: Bonnet, "Les fouilles archéologiques de Kerma (Soudan) ", 1986, + p. 12 ; 1995, p. 44. + +[^26]: Honegger, "Lunate microliths in the Holocene industries of Nubia: + Multifunctional tools, sickle blades or weapon elements?", pp. + 169-171. + +[^27]: The number of archers for Middle Kerma may seem low. However, it + should be remembered that these tombs are often much more plundered + than those of Early Kerma, and that we did not have the opportunity + to excavate tombs later than Kerma moyen I during our programme + conducted between 1998 and 2008. + +[^28]: Honegger and Fallet, "Archers Tombs of the Kerma ancien", pp. + 16-30. + +[^29]: Le Quellec "Arcs et archers sahariens: les représentations + d'archers dans l'art rupestre du Sahara central", p. 62 ; Le Quellec + "Arcs et bracelets d'archers au Sahara et en Égypte, avec une + nouvelle proposition de lecture des 'nasses' sahariennes", pp. + 208-211. + +[^30]: Ibid. + +[^31]: Honegger, "Lunate microliths in the Holocene industries of Nubia: + Multifunctional tools, sickle blades or weapon elements?", pp. + 169-171. + +[^32]: Clark *et al*. "Interpretations of prehistoric technology from + ancient Egyptian and other sources, part 1 : ancient Egyptian bows + and arrows and their relevance for prehistory", fig. 9, p. 362. + +[^33]: The significance of this find of 59 soldiers is still debated and + authors have sought to link it to one of the many conflicts during + the 12th Dynasty, Winlock, *Slain Soldiers.* For a discussion on the + interpretations of this find, see Vogel "Fallen Heroes?: Winlock\'s + \'Slain Soldiers\' Reconsidered". + +[^34]: Müller describes 5 wrist-guards, all made of leather, similar in + shape to those of Kerma. He also presents another similar example + from Gebelin. *Der \'Armreif\' des Konigs Ahmose und der + Handgelenkschutz des Bogenschützen im alten Ägypten und + Vorderasien*, pp. 16-17 and pl. V. + +[^35]: Théophile Burnat, "Manufacture et usages du cuir dans le royaume + de Kerma (Soudan, IIIe et IIe millénaires av. n. è.) ", Université + de Neuchâtel. + +[^36]: Louis Chaix, pers. comm. + +[^37]: Honegger and Fallet, "Archers Tombs of the Kerma ancien", p. 20. + +[^38]: Bonnet, "Les fouilles archéologiques de Kerma (Soudan) ", 1982, + p. 15. + +[^39]: Cf. Judd, "Ancient Injury Recidivism: An Example from the Kerma + Period of Ancient Nubia", pp. 89--102. + +[^40]: Agathe Chen, pers. comm. + +[^41]: Manzo, "Weapons, ideology and identity at Kerma (Upper Nubia, + 2500-1500 BC)", pp. 3-29. + +[^42]: Honegger, "The Eastern Cemetery of Kerma and its first Royal + Grave", pp. 6-19; Honegger, "La plus ancienne tombe royale de Kerma + en Nubie", pp. 185-198. + +[^43]: Török, *Between Two Worlds*, pp. 53-73. + +[^44]: There is still some debate about the country of destination of + these expeditions, called *Iam* by the Egyptians. Kerma is one of + these possibilities, and one of the only ones that provides early + evidence of contact with the Egyptians in Upper Nubia. Other + scholars have proposed the Western Nubian Desert or a region further + south, towards Kordofan and Darfur. For a summary and discussion of + these different hypotheses, see Obsomer, "Les expéditions d'Herkhouf + (VIe dynastie) et la localisation de Iam", pp. 39-52. + +[^45]: Lacovara, "The Stone Vase Deposit at Kerma", pp. 118-128. + +[^46]: Török, *Between Two Worlds*, pp. 69-70. + +[^47]: Honegger, "Style and identity symbols: an attempt to define the + social meaning of the Kerma funerary fineware and its decorations", + forthcoming. diff --git a/content/author/matthieuhonegger.md b/content/author/matthieuhonegger.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c9af7e --- /dev/null +++ b/content/author/matthieuhonegger.md @@ -0,0 +1,7 @@ +--- +title: Matthieu Honegger +--- + +# Biography + +Bio. diff --git a/content/issue/dotawo8.md b/content/issue/dotawo8.md index f8b6071..9bf663b 100644 --- a/content/issue/dotawo8.md +++ b/content/issue/dotawo8.md @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ --- title: "Dotawo 8: War in the Sudan" editors: ["henriettehafsaas.md"] -has_articles: ["matic.md", "tsakos.md"] +has_articles: ["matic.md", "tsakos.md", "honegger.md"] --- # Preface by the Editor From 941e8ccfb1c1b4eb6a99c512682bbb106bc93d99 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei" Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2022 18:46:20 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 3/3] added Honegger article --- content/article/honegger.md | 6 +++--- 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/article/honegger.md b/content/article/honegger.md index 4e18b05..d677637 100644 --- a/content/article/honegger.md +++ b/content/article/honegger.md @@ -1,9 +1,9 @@ --- title: "The Archers of Kerma: Warrior Image and Birth of a State" authors: ["matthieuhonegger.md"] -abstract: A research programme conducted by the Swiss archaeological mission in +abstract: "A research programme conducted by the Swiss archaeological mission in the oldest sectors of the Eastern Cemetery of Kerma has uncovered -several dozen archers\' tombs. The appearance of these armed warriors +several dozen archers' tombs. The appearance of these armed warriors dating from ca. 2300 BC onwards can be put in parallel with the resumption of commercial activities between Egypt and Nubia, illustrated by the Harkhuf expeditions. The archers and their warrior attributes @@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ by the accumulation of wealth and the development of servitude. This article proposes to describe these Kerma archers, and then to look at the evolution of funerary rites that show in their own way how a social hierarchy emerges that will lead to the birth of a state, in this -instance the kingdom of Kerma. +instance the kingdom of Kerma." keywords: [] ---