upepo
Elder Lister
Ancient Egyptians are known for the monumental feats of engineering that continue to confound many people to this day. One of the widely accepted facts is that Ancient Egptians extracted labour from the surrounding communities either as slaves, paid laborers, indentured laborers, war prisoners, and possibly through many other complex arrangements, including naturalization of foreigners. For instance, Nubian Pharaohs are known to have existed despite Nubia forming part of the subjugated communities at some point. They also sourced manpower from as far as the general Middle East, including Hebrews and Hittites.
Figure 1: The Nubian Pharaoh Taharka
The African neighbors to the South of Ancient Egypt were known as the Nubians. This group may have at some point been incorporated into ancient Egypt or established kingdoms modeled after Egypt. The Egyptian wall relief in Fig.2 below depicts what could be nine seated Nubian workers /laborers/prisoners/subjects in the company of four standing Egyptians. Some of the easily discernible attributes of the Nubians can be matched to today’s Dinka tribe from South Sudan. This could mean that the Nubians depicted here were the people who gave rise to future communities spread across the region and up along the Nile river to Lake Victoria.
Figure 2: Nubian subjects (seated) in the company of Egyptians (standing)
A number of interesting observations can made from this relief. One is the scarification of the forehead with parallel lines in some of the seated Nubian characters. This practice is still common among the Dinka of South Sudan, who form a closely-related conglomerate of tribes in South Sudan. Some of these groups migrated upstream the Nile River to form settlements all the way to Lake Victoria. The other noticeable feature is the marked height and tall limbs of the subjects. Their seated height is almost chest-high to the standing Egyptians. It means they would be towering above the Egyptians when standing. To this day, the Dinka maintain the reputation being the tallest people in the world. The hair styling that gives it a cap-like shape can still be found among the Dinka in the present day. The ear bracelets, made from ivory, were also a common try of body adornment that survived to modern times.
Figure 3: A Dinka man with a scarified forehead
Figure 4: A Dinka man with the cap-like hair styling
Given the interactions of the Nubia with ancient Egypt, they were most likely responsible for the spread of metal and stone working skills to the rest of Africa, including the extensive 1500 year old stone irrigation canals found in Marakwet.
Figure 5: A 1500 year-old stone water canal in Marakwet
Figure 1: The Nubian Pharaoh Taharka
The African neighbors to the South of Ancient Egypt were known as the Nubians. This group may have at some point been incorporated into ancient Egypt or established kingdoms modeled after Egypt. The Egyptian wall relief in Fig.2 below depicts what could be nine seated Nubian workers /laborers/prisoners/subjects in the company of four standing Egyptians. Some of the easily discernible attributes of the Nubians can be matched to today’s Dinka tribe from South Sudan. This could mean that the Nubians depicted here were the people who gave rise to future communities spread across the region and up along the Nile river to Lake Victoria.
Figure 2: Nubian subjects (seated) in the company of Egyptians (standing)
A number of interesting observations can made from this relief. One is the scarification of the forehead with parallel lines in some of the seated Nubian characters. This practice is still common among the Dinka of South Sudan, who form a closely-related conglomerate of tribes in South Sudan. Some of these groups migrated upstream the Nile River to form settlements all the way to Lake Victoria. The other noticeable feature is the marked height and tall limbs of the subjects. Their seated height is almost chest-high to the standing Egyptians. It means they would be towering above the Egyptians when standing. To this day, the Dinka maintain the reputation being the tallest people in the world. The hair styling that gives it a cap-like shape can still be found among the Dinka in the present day. The ear bracelets, made from ivory, were also a common try of body adornment that survived to modern times.
Figure 3: A Dinka man with a scarified forehead
Figure 4: A Dinka man with the cap-like hair styling
Given the interactions of the Nubia with ancient Egypt, they were most likely responsible for the spread of metal and stone working skills to the rest of Africa, including the extensive 1500 year old stone irrigation canals found in Marakwet.
Figure 5: A 1500 year-old stone water canal in Marakwet
