"The Queen Mother in the Kingdom of Kush: Status, Power and Cultic Role" (original) (raw)

Some thoughts on Egyptian Elements in Kushite Religion and Rituals

Across the Mediterranean – Along the Nile: Studies in Egyptology, Nubiology and Late Antiquity Dedicated to László Török on the Occasion of His 75th Birthday, Vol. 1 (Budapest: Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Museum of Fine Arts, 2018

A question which is frequently discussed in Nubian scholarship is the degree of Egyptianization of the Kushite Elite during the millennia of Egyptian-Kushite interactions. While the ethnic make-up of the kingdom of Kush was non-Egyptian, its ideology and cultural aspirations seemed Egyptian in nature. The last thirty years have seen a shift from Egypto-centrism to Nubio-centrism. Recently we witness attempts of reinterpretation of textual and archaeological and iconographic evidence for the sake of a “Sudanic model”. It is the intent of this paper to reconsider the indigenous or Egyptian origin of several of these cultural and religious elements, such as the Nubian Gods, Kushite Temples, Burial practices, Priesthood, and the succession pattern in the 25th Kushite dynasty.