Archaeologists have discovered a monumental statue of an ancient black Egyptian pharaoh of the Nubian 25th Dynasty in Dangeil, Sudan, about 350 kilometres northeast of the capital, Khartoum.
The granite statue of the warrior pharaoh Taharqa weighs one ton, according to its discoverer, Dr Caroline Rocheleau of the North Carolina Museum of Art, who added it was:
More than life-size and weighs over one ton.
The statues of two other Nubian pharaohs were also discovered. Rocheleau’s blog is quoted on the DNA website describing the statues as having:
Great muscular bodies with an inscribed back pillar… and lovely feet on the statue base, but we are missing their heads and their lower legs.
Taharqa was ruler of both Egypt and Nubia (Kush) during the 25th Dynasty, which was based in Nubia, which had a long history of pyramid building, apparently independent of Egypt. His reign is dated from 690 BC to 664 BC. The pharaoh is mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Kings under the name ”Tirhakah.” 2 Kings 19:9 says:
Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king of Egypt, was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word:
”Kush” refers to areas south of Egypt, including Nubia.
A website dealing with ancient Nubia says it was the homeland of Africa’s earliest indigenous black culture, reaching back over 5,000 years. The site has a wealth of information and photos of this ancient kingdom.
The National Geographic magazine dealt in depth with Egypt’s neglected black pharaohs and described the majesty of Taharqa’s reign and his success against the mightiest power of the ancient Middle East at the time, Assyria. Eventually, King Essrhaddon of Assyria would defeat Pharaoh Taharqa, who continued to rule in Nubia, despite his defeat.
The little-known 25th Dynasty produced striking statues and paintings of its black rulers, as well as of their restoration of a declining Egyptian civilisation.
Modern-day Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt, a reflection both of the ancient Nubian culture and the later civilisation of Meroe.
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