Post by djehuti on Apr 30, 2014 14:31:29 GMT -5
Many of you are familiar with the Qustul incense burner which was initially thought to be the earliest depiction of a pharaoh. But more recently (just a couple of years back) a pre-dynastic rock painting was discovered which predates the Qustul censer:
news.discovery.com/history/oldest-pharaoh-found-121228.html
The site of the rock painting is in Nag el-Hamdulab located in the west bank of the Nile just north of Aswan.
The rock art features a royal procession with two standard bearers in front (though the standards are not clear at least from the photos I can see) and the figure of a man holding a cane-like staff in one hand and perhaps a flail in the other and is presumably wearing a hedjet (white crown) who is then followed by a fan-bearer.
Yet the assumption is that the pharaoh is 'Egyptian' even though Egyptologists have long acknowledged that the southern periphery of Upper Egypt around the Aswan-Elephantine area was inhabited by ethnically 'Nubian' (A-Group) people since neolithic times.
And even this Yale article says the painting probably represents an Egyptian pharaoh's triumphal procession over the Nubians with possible tribute from Nubians. It becomes apparent that these scholars want the pharaonic kingship to be older in Egypt than in Qustul without substantial evidence. As Explorer states in his blog, it's rather strange that the earliest depiction of an Egyptian king is found so far from the actual centers of of pharaonic activity-- namely Abutu (Abydos), Nubt (Naqada), and Nekhen (Hierakonpolis)-- and much closer to cultural centers of Lower Nubia. What's more is that Explorer keenly points out the fact that always when an Egyptian pharaoh is depicted his Heru (Horus) or hawk totem is also depicted, yet nowhere is that animal shown in the rock art! Instead some other animal is shown directly in front of the kingly figure. This animal appears quadrupedal with a stocky body, long snout, point ears, and a tail curled over its back. Such an animal is not found in any of the later predynastic to proto-dynastic depictions of kings in Egypt. Yet it IS found somewhere else!...
Qustul Incense Burner
And NOWHERE is this animal represented in Egyptian pharaonic iconography!
That the Aswan-Elephantine area was culturally part of the A-Group (Qustul Culture) makes it hardly coincidence that the sepat (nome) of that area was also called *Ta-Seti*.
news.discovery.com/history/oldest-pharaoh-found-121228.html
The site of the rock painting is in Nag el-Hamdulab located in the west bank of the Nile just north of Aswan.
The rock art features a royal procession with two standard bearers in front (though the standards are not clear at least from the photos I can see) and the figure of a man holding a cane-like staff in one hand and perhaps a flail in the other and is presumably wearing a hedjet (white crown) who is then followed by a fan-bearer.
Yet the assumption is that the pharaoh is 'Egyptian' even though Egyptologists have long acknowledged that the southern periphery of Upper Egypt around the Aswan-Elephantine area was inhabited by ethnically 'Nubian' (A-Group) people since neolithic times.
And even this Yale article says the painting probably represents an Egyptian pharaoh's triumphal procession over the Nubians with possible tribute from Nubians. It becomes apparent that these scholars want the pharaonic kingship to be older in Egypt than in Qustul without substantial evidence. As Explorer states in his blog, it's rather strange that the earliest depiction of an Egyptian king is found so far from the actual centers of of pharaonic activity-- namely Abutu (Abydos), Nubt (Naqada), and Nekhen (Hierakonpolis)-- and much closer to cultural centers of Lower Nubia. What's more is that Explorer keenly points out the fact that always when an Egyptian pharaoh is depicted his Heru (Horus) or hawk totem is also depicted, yet nowhere is that animal shown in the rock art! Instead some other animal is shown directly in front of the kingly figure. This animal appears quadrupedal with a stocky body, long snout, point ears, and a tail curled over its back. Such an animal is not found in any of the later predynastic to proto-dynastic depictions of kings in Egypt. Yet it IS found somewhere else!...
Qustul Incense Burner
And NOWHERE is this animal represented in Egyptian pharaonic iconography!
That the Aswan-Elephantine area was culturally part of the A-Group (Qustul Culture) makes it hardly coincidence that the sepat (nome) of that area was also called *Ta-Seti*.