Black Pharaoh Trove Uncovered

BBC ^ | 1-20-2003 | Ishbel Matheson

[blam]

Monday, 20 January, 2003, 17:47 GMT

Black pharaoh trove uncovered

The Nubian kings ruled 2,500 years ago

By Ishbel Matheson
BBC, Nairobi

A team of French and Swiss archaeologists working in the Nile Valley have uncovered ancient statues described as sculptural masterpieces in northern Sudan.

The archaeologists from the University of Geneva discovered a pit full of large monuments and finely carved statues of the Nubian kings known as the black pharaohs.

The Swiss head of the archaeological expedition told the BBC that the find was of worldwide importance.

The black pharaohs, as they were known, ruled over a mighty empire stretching along the Nile Valley 2,500 years ago.

Breathtaking

The pit, which was full of ancient monuments, is located between some ruined temples on the banks of the Nile.

It had not been opened for over 2,000 years.

Inside, the archaeologists made a breathtaking discovery.

The statues of the black pharaohs are highly polished, finely carved and made of granite.

The name of the king is engraved on the back and on the feet of each sculpture.

The head of the expedition, Charles Bonnet, described them as very beautiful.

He told the BBC they were sculptural masterpieces.

They were important not just for the history of Sudan but also for world art.

Savagely destroyed

The Nubians were powerful and wealthy kings who controlled large territories along the Nile.

Their land was known as the Kingdom of Kush.

They controlled the valuable trade routes along the river but were eventually conquered by their neighbours from the north.

The ancient Egyptians made the pit into which the monuments and statues were piled.

Many of the sculptures were savagely destroyed, with smashed heads and broken feet.

Professor Bonnet says that this shows that the Egyptians were not content with simply conquering Kush.

They also wanted to obliterate the memory of the black pharaohs and their unique culture from the face of the earth.

[swarthyguy]

Ping.

[spetznaz]

ping.

[jimtorr]

""Many of the sculptures were savagely destroyed, with smashed heads and broken feet.
Professor Bonnet says that this shows that the Egyptians were not content with simply conquering Kush. They also wanted to obliterate the memory of the black pharaohs and their unique culture from the face of the earth.""

Is Prof. Bonnet accusing the Egyptians of genocide?

I would imagine that the Egyptians wanted to erase the memory of their humiliation at the hands of what they would have considered the barbarians from the south.

[Havoc]

Standard Egyptian approach, to truly kill someone, you have to destroy their likeness and remove any mention of their name. I wouldn't immediatly buy into the dating on the find without hearing the facts; but, the initial summation sounds reasonable as to why the feet and faces were smashed.

[Publius]

Any statues marked "Aida" or "Amonasro"?

[DreadCthulhu]

Black Pharoh- don't these guys know better than to mess with Nylarlothotep

[Thinkin' Gal]

Those Nubians should have steered clear of France.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_255113.html

[yankeedame]

Good grief what is with the formating of this article? Every sentence is its own paragraph? What was this written for, "Fun Facts on the World Around Us?"

[What Is Ain't]

Did they find any schematics of flying machines?

[Happy2BMe]

Fun Facts 'R Us - - Hehe...

Check the Black Diana. How'd she get in here?

[Happy2BMe]

"Good grief what is with the formating of this article? Every sentence is its own paragraph? What was this written for, "Fun Facts on the World Around Us?"

I checked the article soure.

The post is almost identical to the original article in format.

The also found this:

[blam]

"The post is almost identical to the original article in format."

Almost? I didn't change a thing, it's exact.

[blam]

The Nubians And Olmecs

Afro-centrist view.

[muleskinner]

Nylarlothotep

It's been awhile. What was his m.o.?

[yankeedame]

Oh, I never doubted that for a minute! (Sorry if I gave the impression that I suspected you have somehow "modified" the lay out of the article.) I was grouching at whoever originally wrote the article, and the editor who let is through.

[okie01]

"I was grouching at whoever originally wrote the article, and the editor who let is through."

That would be BBC.

Web editors, as a rule, have a loathing for long paragraphs. There is an unattributed suspicion that web readers are converts from TV and, thus, have short attention spans. It must be the video monitor vs TV set thing.

I'm a writer and, up to a point, I agree with them. I try to keep my paragraphs in compact four and five line groups -- just so that the format is more inviting, graphically. It is, by the way, also a good way to discipline your self-editing.

But some web editors (like this one, evidently) are incapable of distinguishing between the definition and purpose of a sentence vs a paragraph.

[genefromjersey]

Holy Pthok !!

Does this mean the brothers were being profiled back in Ancient Egypt ??

[Happy2BMe]

From "The Nubians and Olmecs" link above.

[JoeA]

What you're looking at is AP style, written to make editing easier for the newspapers that pick up Associated Press stories. It's common for news paper writers to format their stories this way.