Calliope articles from October 2003

Calliope archives from October 2003

The king...is a knowledgeable person, capable in every kind of work:--inscription on stone monument of King Taharqo that dates to around 685 B.C.(Musings)
October 1, 2003... ANYONE WHO HAS EVER TRAVELED ON THE NILE RIVER KNOWS WELL THE DANGERS OF THE WHIRLING WATERS AT EACH OF THE SIX CATARACTS LOCATED IN SOUTHERN EGYPT AND NORTHERN Nubia (present-day Sudan). Since ancient times, the treacherous waters at each...

The conquest of Egypt.(Nubia takes over Egypt)
October 1, 2003... Throughout ancient times, Egypt and Nubia shared a common boundary. When the leadership in one country was weak, the other would invade and conquer what land it could. For the Nubians, the greatest expansion north came in the eighth century...

The rise of Taharqo.(ruler of Nubia and Egypt)(Cover Story)
October 1, 2003... How did Taharqo envision his kingship? Was he content to rule just Nubia and Egypt? Or, did he plan to extend his rule even farther north? For the answers, historians often turn to time media records of the time: inscriptions. The earliest...

Make yourself ruler of Egypt and Nubia.(Activity)
October 1, 2003... Make the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt and pretend you are the pharaoh, just like Taharqo! You can wear the crowns separately or together as Taharqo did. You Need: * piece of white felt, 24" wide and 5" longer than the...

Arch rivals.(Nubians and Assyrians)
October 1, 2003... Taharqo rose to power during a period of great conflict with the Assyrians. The security of Egypt's northeast border region and Assyrian control of the trade routes in the Middle East worried both the Egyptians and Taharqo. The Assyrian ruler...

Footrace in the desert.
October 1, 2003... A hieroglyphic inscription cut into a stele at Dahshur around 685 B.C. tells of a marathon footrace across Nubia's desert. Taharqo sponsored the contest so that his soldiers could show their athletic skills. Both the Egyptians and Nubians...

Horses and camels play a key role.(used by Nubians)
October 1, 2003... In Egypt, Nubia, and Assyria, skill in handling war chariots was definitely the key to military success in the first millennium B.C. The Egyptian cavalry was well trained by this time. Egyptian troops had already been riding horses into battle...

Jebel Barkal.(religious center in the Nubian kingdom)
October 1, 2003... The most important religious center of Taharqo's Nubian kingdom lay at "the Pure Mountain." Known today in Arabic as Jebel Barkal ("Mount Barkal"), this spectacular, 320-foot-high landmark is really a small, steep, sandstone hill. It rises all...

A tomb for all time.(pyramid tomb of Taharqo, king of Egypt, in Nubia)
October 1, 2003... OF ALL TAHARQO'S GREAT BUILDINGS, NONE MORE DELIBERATELY BLURS THE boundaries between myth and reality than his pyramid tomb. It was built at Nuri, a royal cemetery that Taharqo founded on the other side of the Nile River some six miles...

A love of building.(building ordered by Taharqo, king of Egypt)
October 1, 2003... When Taharqo succeeded his uncle Shebitqo, he immediately started an ambitious building program in both Egypt and Nubia. The first 17 years of his reign as king of Egypt witnessed great prosperity. His long reign and foreign conquests fostered...

Loved by the gods.(achievements of Taharqo, king of Nubia)
October 1, 2003... Since the First Time, it was the sacred duty of every ruler to build new temples to the ancient gods and restore old ones. Taharqo knew this well. He also knew that, in the centuries before his rule, weak kings had neglected this...

The ram reigns supreme.
October 1, 2003... Two types of rams roam the Nile Valley. Those with horizontal, corkscrew-shaped horns (Ovis longipes) were the first to arrive in the region. Scholars believe this happened sometime in the fifth millennium B.C. The Nubians associated this...

Make your own ram amulet.(Activity)
October 1, 2003... The ram that symbolizes the supreme god Amun is found in reliefs, sculptures, and jewelry that have been found throughout Egypt and Sudan. You can make your own ram amulet using polymer clay. DIRECTIONS: 1. Take a piece of polymer clay...

Word origins.(Fun With Words)
October 1, 2003... Ebony Ebony is the hard, heavy, dark, strong wood of a variety of trees native to tropical Africa (including Nubia), Asia, and Sri Lanka. The term traces its roots to the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic term for the wood, hbn. As hieroglyphs...

Word stories.(Fun With Words)(Glossary)
October 1, 2003... Levant History books often refer to the countries of Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt--the lands bordering the eastern Mediterranean between Greece and Egypt--as the Levant. "Levant" was an appropriate term as it...

Glossary.(Fun With Words)(Glossary)
October 1, 2003... Ethiopia The Greeks and Romans used the Greek name "Ethiopia" to refer to the land south of Egypt. A derivative of the Greek word aethiops, Ethiopia translates as "Land of the Burnt-Face [People]." The country known today as Ethiopia lies to...

A record in stone.(Ancient Egyptian inscriptions )
October 1, 2003... There are many surviving examples of inscriptions dedicated to Taharqo. They have been found on large columns and sculptures as well as on rare, tiny scarabs, and shawabtis. Some are as short as the few letters that fit in a cartouche; others...

Demotic to the rescue.(writing style of Ancient Egyptians and Nubians)
October 1, 2003... Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs passed through several distinct phases. The most ancient version dates to around 5,000 years ago and was pictographic. That is, it consisted of images that could mean exactly what they appeared to be, or they could...

A traveler in Nubia.
October 1, 2003... THE YEAR WAS 1847, AND THE FRENCH ARCHITECT PIERRE TREMAUX WAS IN NUBIA. He had come to sketch sites and scenes in North Africa and along the Nile River. At the time, the area was controlled by the Ottoman Empire, whose capital was...

Ask Calliope.(carbon-14 dating; conservators; Book of the Dead)
October 1, 2003... Why did carbon-14 dating cause a revolution when it was first used? --Ronald, Web post In 1947, an American chemist named Willard F. Libby developed a system of dating most organic remains. These include charcoal, bones, shells, and...

Books.(Bibliography)
October 1, 2003... Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors: An Activity Guide by Marian Broida (Chicago Review Press, 1999) accompanies directions for historically related, fun-filled activities with informative introductions and sidebars. Also included in this...

On the net.(Off the Staff)
October 1, 2003... For the Egyptian government Web site on Nubia, with a great variety of links to other sites that detail the land and its history, as well as a site on the Nubia Museum, go to: www.sis.gov.eg/nubia/html/nubia00.htm For a wide variety of...

Cobblestone resources.(Bibliography)
October 1, 2003... Materials that complement this issue's theme, "Taharqo, Ruler of Nubia and Egypt," and are available from Cobblestone Publishing (www.cobblestonepub.com) include: CALLIOPE Magazine Africa's Carthage (Sept/Oct 1992) Ancient Nubia...

Qasr Ibrim.(From Past to Present)
October 1, 2003... Unlike most settlements in Nubia, Qasr Ibrim was not located beside the Nile. Rather, it was situated on top of a sheer cliff about 200 feet above the river. From this point, there is a clear, long-distance view up and down the river. While its...