Sudan, Egypt and Nubia

The Hamadab stela preserves lines of Meroitic writing beneath the remains of carved figures. Its inscription names Amanirenas and Akinidad, rulers associated with the kingdom of Kush. The script survives more clearly than our full understanding of the language. Room 65 follows the histories of Sudan, Nubia and Egypt through their connections along the Nile. Trade and migration shared that corridor with Egyptian occupation and periods of Kushite rule. Pottery, burial material, sculpture and later religious objects carry different parts of the account. The sphinx of Taharqo offers another royal image within those histories. Follow the sculpture, writing and smaller objects through the room’s distinct Sudanese and Nubian histories. Communities farther south along the Nile had their own rulers, traditions and changing relations with Egypt.