Alara of Nubia
Encyclopedia
Alara was a King of Kush
who is generally regarded as the founder of the Napatan royal dynasty by his 25th Dynasty Nubian successors and was the first recorded prince of Nubia. He unified all of Upper Nubia from Meroë
to the Third Cataract and is possibly attested at the Temple of Amun at Kawa
. Alara also established Napata
as the religious capital of Nubia. Alara himself was not a 25th dynasty Nubian king since he never controlled any region of Egypt during his reign compared to his two immediate successors: Kashta
and Piye
respectively. Nubian literature credits him with a substantial reign since future Nubian kings requested that they might enjoy a reign as long as Alara's. His memory was also central to the myth of the origins of the Kushite kingdom which was embellished with new elements over time. Alara was a deeply revered figure in Nubian culture and the first Nubian king whose name has come down to scholars.
's grandmother in inscriptions Kawa IV lines 16f (ca. 685 BC) and VI, lines 23f. (ca. 680 BC)
One Nubian archaeologist, Timothy Kendall, has claimed that Alara is the king 'Ary' Meryamun whose Year 23 is inscribed on a now fragmented stela from the Temple of Amun
at Kawa. However, the Hungarian Egyptologist László Török rejects this view in his 1997 book The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization. (Handbuch der Orientalistik 31) and believes that Ary was rather Aryamani
who was a much later Kushite post-25th dynasty king who ruled from Meroë
due to the text and style of his stela. Kendall's epigraphic arguments here are also not accepted by other scholars.
who extended Nubia's influence to Elephantine
and Thebes
. Alara's wife, Queen Kasaqa, was buried in tomb Ku.23 (or El-Kurru 23). Her tomb was located right next to tomb Ku.9—which is presumed to belong to Alara himself.
Kendall notes that the occupant of Ku.9 (likely Alara):
Török concurs and writes that "the mortuary cult chapel of Ku.9 seems to have been the first to be provided with a tomb stela and a funerary offering table" in el-Kurru, the royal burial grounds of the early Kushite kings.
Kingdom of Kush
The native name of the Kingdom was likely kaš, recorded in Egyptian as .The name Kash is probably connected to Cush in the Hebrew Bible , son of Ham ....
who is generally regarded as the founder of the Napatan royal dynasty by his 25th Dynasty Nubian successors and was the first recorded prince of Nubia. He unified all of Upper Nubia from Meroë
Meroë
Meroë Meroitic: Medewi or Bedewi; Arabic: and Meruwi) is an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah...
to the Third Cataract and is possibly attested at the Temple of Amun at Kawa
Kawa, Egypt
Kawa is a town in Sudan. Located in ancient Nubia between the Third and Fourth Cataracts of the Nile. Noteworthy archaeological discoveries include several Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt era steles .-References:...
. Alara also established Napata
Napata
Napata was a city-state of ancient Nubia on the west bank of the Nile River, at the site of modern Karima, Northern Sudan.During the 8th to 7th centuries BC, Napata was the capital of the Nubian kingdom of Kush, whence the 25th, or Nubian Dynasty conquered Egypt...
as the religious capital of Nubia. Alara himself was not a 25th dynasty Nubian king since he never controlled any region of Egypt during his reign compared to his two immediate successors: Kashta
Kashta
Kashta was a king of the Kushite Dynasty and the successor of Alara. His name translates literally as "The Kushite".-Family:Kashta is thought to be a brother of his predecessor Alara. Both Alara and Kashta were thought to have married their sisters...
and Piye
Piye
Piye, was a Kushite king and founder of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt who ruled Egypt from 747 BCE to 716 BCE according to Peter Clayton. He ruled from the city of Napata, located deep in Nubia, Sudan...
respectively. Nubian literature credits him with a substantial reign since future Nubian kings requested that they might enjoy a reign as long as Alara's. His memory was also central to the myth of the origins of the Kushite kingdom which was embellished with new elements over time. Alara was a deeply revered figure in Nubian culture and the first Nubian king whose name has come down to scholars.
Alara in the historical records
Alara's existence is first documented in the Egyptian hieroglyphic stela of Queen Tabiry who was Alara's daughter by Queen Kasaqa, Alara's wife. Since Tabiry was the wife of Piye whereas Piye's direct predecessor on the throne of Kush was Kashta, Alara was most likely Kashta's predecessor in turn. While Alara was not assigned a royal title in Queen Tabiry's stela, his name was written in the form of a cartouche which confirms that he was indeed a Kushite king. Alara is also mentioned as the brother of TaharqaTaharqa
Taharqa was a pharaoh of the Ancient Egyptian 25th dynasty and king of the Kingdom of Kush, which was located in Northern Sudan.Taharqa was the son of Piye, the Nubian king of Napata who had first conquered Egypt. Taharqa was also the cousin and successor of Shebitku. The successful campaigns of...
's grandmother in inscriptions Kawa IV lines 16f (ca. 685 BC) and VI, lines 23f. (ca. 680 BC)
One Nubian archaeologist, Timothy Kendall, has claimed that Alara is the king 'Ary' Meryamun whose Year 23 is inscribed on a now fragmented stela from the Temple of Amun
Amun
Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...
at Kawa. However, the Hungarian Egyptologist László Török rejects this view in his 1997 book The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization. (Handbuch der Orientalistik 31) and believes that Ary was rather Aryamani
Aryamani
Aryamani was a Nubian king-Titles:*Horus name: Kanakht Meryre *Prenomen: Usermaatre Setepenre...
who was a much later Kushite post-25th dynasty king who ruled from Meroë
Meroë
Meroë Meroitic: Medewi or Bedewi; Arabic: and Meruwi) is an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah...
due to the text and style of his stela. Kendall's epigraphic arguments here are also not accepted by other scholars.
Tomb
Alara was succeeded in power by KashtaKashta
Kashta was a king of the Kushite Dynasty and the successor of Alara. His name translates literally as "The Kushite".-Family:Kashta is thought to be a brother of his predecessor Alara. Both Alara and Kashta were thought to have married their sisters...
who extended Nubia's influence to Elephantine
Elephantine
Elephantine is an island in the River Nile, located just downstream of the First Cataract at the southern border of Ancient Egypt. This region is referred to as Upper Egypt because the land is higher than that near the Mediterranean coast. The island may have received its name because it was a...
and Thebes
Thebes, Egypt
Thebes is the Greek name for a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile within the modern city of Luxor. The Theban Necropolis is situated nearby on the west bank of the Nile.-History:...
. Alara's wife, Queen Kasaqa, was buried in tomb Ku.23 (or El-Kurru 23). Her tomb was located right next to tomb Ku.9—which is presumed to belong to Alara himself.
Kendall notes that the occupant of Ku.9 (likely Alara):
- "was interred in the traditional Nubian manner, lying on a bed and placed in a small enclosed side-chamber at the bottom of a vertical shaft, the visible tomb superstructure incorporated many Egyptian features. The apex seems to have been adorned with a crudely-cast, hollow bronze baEgyptian soulThe ancient Egyptians believed that a human soul was made up of five parts: the Ren, the Ba, the Ka, the Sheut, and the Ib. In addition to these components of the soul there was the human body...
statue...The chapel had contained a plain, hard stone Egyptian-style offering table, and the chapel walls had been adorned with crude low relief. One block preserved what appeared to be the upper part of a male head, wearing a crown with a superstructure and streamers and a loop-like ornament over the brow, imitative of a uraeusUraeusThe Uraeus is the stylized, upright form of an Egyptian spitting cobra , used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity, and divine authority in ancient Egypt.The Uraeus is a symbol for the goddess Wadjet, who was one of the earliest Egyptian deities and who...
...This feature suggests either that the owner of the tomb, by the end of his reign, had come close to identifying himself as a true pharaoh, or that his successor (Kashta?) who would have built the tomb and authorized the reliefs, provided such sentiments in the posthumous depiction."
Török concurs and writes that "the mortuary cult chapel of Ku.9 seems to have been the first to be provided with a tomb stela and a funerary offering table" in el-Kurru, the royal burial grounds of the early Kushite kings.