When the Egyptians occupied Nubia, they believed that Jebel Barkal, at Napata, had on its corner a natural statue of a rearing cobra, which was the emblem worn by kings on their foreheads and on their crowns. When Jebel Barkal was seen in profile at sunset, in fact, it had the outline of a king's head with a cobra emblem. Since the Egyptians and Nubians believed in the magic of images, even natural ones, they came to believe that the mountain was the source of kingship and the crown.
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| Profile view of Jebel Barkal at sunset, as seen from the east. The Kushites believed that the crown-shaped mountain was the place where the gods brought kingship to earth. They modeled their own crown after the shape of the mountain. |
| Photo: T. Kendall. |
Shortly after 750 BCE, a Nubian king named Piankhy (or Piya) became king of Kush at Napata. He announced that the god of Jebel Barkal gave him the only true kingship of the world, and he adopted a crown shaped like Jebel Barkal. With this he claimed the kingship of both Egypt and Kush.
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Profile of a Kushite king wearing the special crown that copied the profile of Jebel Barkal. |
| Photo: K. Mycliewicz. |
Piankhy invaded Egypt and became pharaoh. His dynasty is remembered in Egyptian history as Egypt's 25th Dynasty. We know about Piankhy's reign because of two inscribed stone stelae (flat, round-topped stones bearing writings of events), which were found at Jebel Barkal. These inscriptions show that Piankhy was very religious, that he forgave his enemies, and that he loved horses.