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Ninhursag › Who Was
Definition and Origins
Ninhursag (also Ninhursaga) is the Sumerian Mother Goddess and one of the oldest and most important in the Mesopotamian Pantheon. She is known as the Mother of the Gods and Mother of Men for her part in creating both divine and mortal entities.She had many different names given in various myths according to her particular role or the theme of the story. She was originally known as Damkina and Damgalnuna in Sumer, a nurturing mother goddess associated with fertility in the city of Malgum. Her husband/consort was Sul-pa-e, a minor god associated with the underworld, with whom she had three children (Asgi, Lisin, and Lil). She is far more frequently depicted as the wife/consort of Enki, god of wisdom among many other attributes.
'Ninhursag' means 'Lady of the Mountain' and comes from the poem Lugale in which Ninurta, god of war and hunting, defeats the demon Asag and his stone army and builds a mountain of their corpses. Ninurta gives the glory of his victory to his mother Ninmah ('Magnificent Queen') and renames her Ninhursag. She is also known as Nintud/Nintur ('Queen of the Birthing Hut') and, to the Akkadians, as Belet-ili ('Queen of the Gods'). Her other names include Makh, Ninmakh, Mamma, Mama, and Aruru.In iconography she is represented by a sign resembling the Greek symbol Omega often accompanied by a knife; this is thought to represent the uterus and the blade used to cut the umbilical cord thus symbolizing Ninhursag's role as mother goddess.
She first appears in written works during the Early Dynastic Period I (c. 2900-2700 BCE), but physical evidence suggests worship of the Mother Goddess dating back to at least 4500 BCE, during the Ubaid Period, before the Sumerians had come to the region of southern Mesopotamia. Ninhursag is among the most likely candidates for the original "mother earth" figure as she is associated with fertility, growth, transformation, creation, pregnancy, childbirth, and nurture. Another of her early names, Ki or Kishar, identifies her as 'mother earth.' She was often invoked by mothers as she was thought to form and care for the child in the womb and provide food after he or she was born. Ninhursag is one of the four creating deities in Sumerian religious belief (along with Anu, Enlil, and Enki) and is frequently mentioned in many of the most important Mesopotamian myths.
ENKI & NINHURSAG
The Sumerian myth Enki and Ninhursag tells the story of the beginning of the world in the garden of paradise known as Dilmun. Ninhursag, depicted as a young and vibrant goddess, has retired for the winter to rest after her part in creation. Enki, god of wisdom, magic, and fresh water, finds her there and falls deeply in love with her. They spend many nights together, and Ninhursag becomes pregnant with a daughter they name Ninsar ('Lady of Vegetation'). Ninhursag blesses the child with abundant growth, and she matures into a woman in nine days. When spring comes, Ninhursag must return to her duties of nurturing living things on earth and leaves Dilmun, but Enki and Ninsar remain.
IN ALL THE MYTHS CONCERNING HER, NINHURSAG IS ASSOCIATED WITH LIFE & POWER, BUT ENKI COMES TO RIVAL AND, FINALLY, DOMINATE HER.
Enki misses Ninhursag terribly and, one day, sees Ninsar walking by the marshes and believes her to be the incarnation of Ninhursag. He seduces her, and she becomes pregnant with a daughter Ninkurra (goddess of mountain pastures). Ninkurra also develops into a young woman in nine days, and Enki again believes he sees his beloved Ninhursag in the girl. He leaves Ninsar for Ninkurra whom he seduces, and she gives birth to a daughter named Uttu ('The Weaver of Patterns and Life Desires'). Uttu and Enki are happy together for a while, but just as with Ninsar and Ninkurra, Enki falls out of love with her once he realizes she is not Ninhursag and leaves her, returning to his work on earth.
Uttu is distraught and calls upon Ninhursag for help, explaining what has happened. Ninhursag tells Uttu to wipe Enki's seed from her body and bury it in the earth of Dilmun. Uttu does as she is told, and nine days later, eight new plants grow from the earth. At this point, Enki returns along with his vizier Isimud. Passing by the plants, Enki stops to ask what they are, and Isimud plucks from the first and hands it to Enki, who eats it. This, he learns, is a tree plant and finds it so delicious that Isimud plucks the other seven, which Enki also quickly eats. Ninhursag returns and is enraged that Enki has eaten all of the plants. She turns on him the eye of death, curses him, and departs from paradise and the world.
Enki becomes sick and is dying, and all the other gods mourn, but no one can heal him except for Ninhursag, and she cannot be found. A fox appears, one of Ninhursag's animals, who knows where she is and goes to bring her back. Ninhursag rushes to Enki's side, draws him to her, and places his head against her vagina. She kisses him and asks him where his pain is, and each time he tells her, she draws the pain into her body and gives birth to another deity. In this way, eight of the deities most favorable to humanity are born: Abu, god of plants and growth; Nintulla, Lord of Magan, governing copper & precious metal;Ninsitu; goddess of healing and consort of Ninazu; Ninkasi, goddess of beer ; Nanshe, goddess of social justice and divination; Azimua, goddess of healing and wife of Ningishida of the underworld; Emshag, Lord of Dilmun and fertility; and Ninti, 'the Lady of the rib,' who gives life. Enki is healed and repents for his carelessness in eating the plants and thoughtlessness in seducing the girls. Ninhursag forgives him, and the two return to the work of creation.
The myth represents Ninhursag as all-powerful in that she is able to inflict death on one of the most potent gods and is also the only one who can heal him. Enki and Ninhursag has also been cited, however, as the basis for the biblical story of creation found in Genesis. Orientalist Samuel Noah Kramer writes:
Perhaps the most interesting result of our comparative analysis of the Sumerian poem is the explanation which it provides for one of the most puzzling motifs in the biblical paradise story, the famous passage describing the fashioning of Eve, "the mother of all living", from the rib of Adam - for why a rib? Why did the Hebrew storyteller find it more fitting to choose a rib rather than any other organ of the body for the fashioning of the woman whose name, Eve, according to the biblical notion, means approximately "she who makes live". The reason becomes quite clear if we assume a Sumerian literary background, such as that represented by our Dilmun poem, to underly the biblical paradise tale; for in our Sumerian poem, one of Enki's sick organs is the rib. Now the Sumerian word for "rib" is ti (pronounced tee); the goddess created for the healing of Enki's rib was therefore called in Sumerian Nin-ti "the Lady of the rib". But the Sumerian word ti also means "to make live" as well as "the Lady of the rib". In Sumerian literature, therefore, "the Lady of the rib" came to be identified with "the Lady who makes live" through what may be termed a play on words. It was this, one of the most ancient of literary puns, which was carried over and perpetuated in the biblical paradise story, although there, of course, the pun loses its validity, since the Hebrew words for "rib" and "who makes live" have nothing in common. (149)
Aside from the influence on the later biblical tale, the myth makes clear the power of the mother goddess in Sumerian belief.None of the male gods who have participated in creation - not even the most powerful such as Anu or Enlil - can do anything to heal Enki; only the mother goddess can draw out the sickness and turn death into life. In all the myths concerning her, Ninhursag is associated with life and power, but Enki comes to rival and, finally, dominate her.
ENKI & NINMAH
In the myth of Enki and Ninmah, Ninhursag begins on equal footing with the god, but by the end, loses her status. It is known that the female deities in Mesopotamia were overshadowed by the males during the reign of Hammurabi of Babylon (1792-1750 BCE). If it could be authoritatively determined that the story of Enki and Ninmah dated from this time, then the myth would correspond to the overall decline in stature and equality goddesses (and women) were then experiencing. No firm date has been established for the work, however. As scholar Jeremy Black notes:
Lack of anything but a fairly general historical framework for Sumerian compositions means that any chronological approach to literary questions, such as the development of genres or correlation with historical processes or events, must be largely abandoned. (Reading Sumerian Poetry, 23)
It is possible that the story comes from the later period in Mesopotamian history, however, and given the loss in stature of the goddess in the myth, a later date is most likely. Although one may be tempted to locate this tale prior to Enki and Ninhursag, because she is known by her earlier name in this story, any such claims are untenable. The names of the goddess changed from story to story and are no aid in dating a particular text, save, perhaps, in those identifying Ninhursag as the earlier Damgalnuna.
The story opens with the younger gods weary from all their endless toil. They are forced to dig canals and harvest fields and engage in all kind of menial labor, which prevents them from greater work or any kind of leisure. They cry out to Enki to do something to help them, but Enki, represented as a supreme god, is resting after the effort of creation and will not wake. Enki's mother, Namma (another ancient Sumerian mother goddess) hears their cries and carries their tears to Enki, waking him. Enki is annoyed with the request but consents to his mother's wishes that he create beings who will ease the gods' burden. He instructs her to work with Ninmah and other fertility goddesses to create human beings and give them life.
Imdugud Copper Frieze from the Ninhursag Temple
Once humans have been created, Enki holds a great banquet in celebration. All the older gods praise his wisdom, and the younger gods are relieved of their labors. Enki and Ninmah sit drinking beer together and eventually become quite drunk.Ninmah challenges Enki to a contest of sorts saying how the humans' bodies - Enki's design - may be either good or bad but their fates will be good or bad depending entirely on her will. Enki accepts her challenge saying, "Whatever fate you decide, good or bad, I will improve it." Ninmah makes a man whose hands are weak and Enki improves his life by making him a servant to a king because he would not be able to steal. She then makes a man and blinds him, but Enki improves his life by giving him the gift of music and making him minstrel to the king. This same pattern goes on with Ninmah giving Enki greater and greater challenges, which he meets. She finally creates a being with neither penis nor vagina, but Enki finds a place for this creature as a eunuch to the king who will watch over him.
Ninmah is frustrated and throws her next lump of clay to the ground, but Enki picks it up and resumes the game, telling her how he will now fashion a creature and she must improve its fate as he has done. He creates a man afflicted in every area of his body and hands it to Ninmah. She tries to feed it, but it cannot eat, neither can it stand, walk, talk, or function in any way.She says to Enki, "The man you have fashioned is neither alive nor dead. He cannot support himself." Enki objects, pointing out that she presented him with a number of challenging creatures and he was able to improve on them all. Ninmah's response to this is lost because the tablet is broken at this point, but when the story resumes, Enki is obviously the winner of the challenge, and the work ends with the lines, "Ninmah could not rival the great lord Enki. Father Enki, your praise is sweet!"
Although in this myth the goddess loses stature, she was still regarded as a powerful deity one could turn to in times of trouble and rely on for protection and guidance. Every myth, poem, or story Ninhursag appears in she is linked with life, caring, creation, and the role of the mother goddess.
NINHURSAG, THE GREAT MOTHER
Ninhursag also appears in The Atrahasis where she fashions humans out of clay mixed with the flesh, blood, and intelligence of one of the gods who sacrifices himself for the good of the many. The Atrahasis also gives Enki as the creator of humans who devises them as a means to relieve the gods of the burden of work. In this myth, when the great flood is released on the world by Enlil and humanity is destroyed, all the gods mourn but Ninhursag is specifically mentioned crying for the death of her children.
In some myths, presumed to be earlier works, she is the consort of Anu and co-creator of the world. In still others, she is identified with Kishar (also known as Ki), mother earth. Kramer notes how Ninhursag is listed last of the four creating deities, but how "in an earlier day this goddess was probably of even higher rank and her name often preceded that of Enki when the four gods were listed together" (122). Ninhursag as the Great Mother presided over all, commoner and king alike. She was primarily seen as the protector of women and children, who presided over conception, gestation, and birth but also held a position of high honor among the gods.
The Atrahasis III Tablet
Scholar EA Wallis Budge notes how she "created the gods and sucked kings and terracotta figures of her represent her suckling a child at her left breast" (84). In ancient Mesopotamia, as elsewhere, the left side was considered feminine and "dark" while the right side was masculine and "light" (a concept familiar to anyone in the modern day acquainted with Reiki).Statuary representing the goddess always emphasizes the left side in one way or another. In the example Wallis Budge gives, it is a child at the left breast, but the symbolism could also be an uncovered left breast, raised left arm, or some other detail.
Ninhursag was worshiped at the city of Adab and was also associated with Kesh (as one of her names, Belet-ili of Kesh, confirms), not Kish, as is often incorrectly cited. She was further honored with temples at Ashur, Ur, Uruk, Eridu, Mari, Lagash, and many other cities throughout Mesopotamia for thousands of years. Kramer notes how "the early Sumerian rulers liked to describe themselves as 'constantly nourished by Ninhursag with milk.' She was regarded as the mother of all living things, the mother-goddess pre-eminent" (122). The people would worship the goddess as they did any other Mesopotamian deity through private ritual and sacrifices/donations made to the temple. There were no temple services in which congregants gathered for weekly worship, but the many festivals held throughout the year provided opportunity for expressing one's devotion publicly.
In the second millennium BCE, as noted, feminine deities experienced a loss in status as the male gods of the Amorites of Babylon under Hammurabi took precedence. Following Hammurabi's reign, from c. 1750 BCE onwards, male deities would dominate the pantheons of Mesopotamia, and even after the Amorites were defeated, this same paradigm continued. The immensely popular goddess Inanna / Ishtar would become secondary to male gods like the Assyrian Assur, and the powerful goddess Ereshkigal, who ruled the underworld, would be given a male consort ( Nergal ) to reign with her.
In time, the left side associated with the goddess concept would be connected with darkness and evil as can be seen in the word 'sinister,' which originally was Latin for 'left' but came to signify 'threatening,' 'evil,' and similar concepts long before the word appears with such connotations in Late Middle English (c. 1375-1425 CE). The practice of wearing a wedding ring on the left hand originated in Rome to ward off evil powers associated with the left. It is no accident that, in the Hebrew legend of Lillith, the rebellious first wife of Adam emerges from his left side to later fly away from paradise with her demons; the goddess figure and her symbols had to be inverted and charged with negative associations for the male gods to achieve dominance.Ninhursag experienced this same decline as the other goddesses, and by the time of the fall of the Assyrian Empire in 612 BCE, she was no longer worshiped. Her influence is considered significant, however, in the development of later goddesses as she has been associated with Hathor and Isis of Egypt, Gaia of Greece, and Cybele of Anatolia, the later Magna Mater of Rome.
Senusret III › Who Was
Definition and Origins
Senusret III (c. 1878-1860 BCE, also known as Senwosret III, Sesostris III) was the 5th king of the 12th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (2040-1782 BCE). His reign is often considered the height of the Middle Kingdom which was the Golden Age in Egypt ’s history in so far as art, literature, architecture, science, and other cultural aspects reached an unprecedented level of refinement, the economy flourished, and military and trade expeditions filled the nation's treasury.
In Senusret III the people found the epitome of the ideal warrior-king who embodied the Egyptian cultural value of ma'at as expressed in a balanced and harmonious state and whose reign was characterized by military skill, decisive action, and efficient administration. At the head of his army, he was considered invincible; he led his troops by example and always from the front. His campaigns into Nubia expanded Egypt's boundaries, and the fortifications he built along the border fostered lucrative trade.
Although he defeated them numerous times in battle, the Nubians so respected him that he was venerated in their land as a god. He also led expeditions into Palestine and Syria and afterwards increased trade relations with those regions who respected him equally. The Egyptians conferred upon him the rare honor of deifying him while he still lived and his cult operated at the same level, and received the same recognition, as any of the great gods of Egypt.
Considering the immense honor and respect paid to him while he lived, it is little wonder that Senusret III is considered the most likely inspiration for the legendary figure of Sesostris made famous by Herodotus ' account in his Histories (II.102-110).Sesostris, according to Herodotus and others, was a great Egyptian king who conquered and colonized Europe and, according to Diodorus Siculus, dominated the known world of his day. Scholars in the present day have identified this figure with a number of Egyptian kings such as Senusret I, Senusret II, Ramesses II, and Thutmose III, but Senusret III is always included in the list with distinction as the probable source of the legend.
He is also associated with the nameless pharaoh from the biblical book of Genesis, chapters 39-47, in which Joseph is sold into servitude in Egypt and wins his freedom through his ability to interpret dreams accurately. The pharaoh in these chapters elevates Joseph to a position of power second only to his own and entrusts to him the salvation of Egypt from famine.
However this association came to be made, it has no bearing on the historical Senusret III or actual Egyptian history. There is no widespread famine recorded during Senusret III's reign nor any indication he had a foreigner as vizier. Further, the motif used in the biblical narrative of seven years of plenty followed by seven lean years was common in Egyptian narratives and most likely taken from them by the Hebrew scribe who wrote the story of Joseph.
NAME, FAMILY, & RISE TO POWER
Senusret was the king's birth name and means 'Man of the Goddess Wosret'. Wosret was the goddess of Thebes whose name meant 'powerful', and she was honored by a number of Middle Kingdom monarchs who hailed from her city (such as Senusret I and Senusret II). Senusret III's throne name was Kha-khau-ra ('Appearing Like the Souls of Ra'). Usually a monarch put aside his birth name when he came to the throne, but Senusret departed from this tradition and ruled under his own name.
THE EGYPTIANS CONFERRED UPON HIM THE RARE HONOR OF DEIFYING HIM WHILE HE STILL LIVED.
His father was the king Senusret II (c. 1897-1878 BCE) and his mother the queen Kenemet-nefer-hedjet-weret (usually given as Kenemetneferhedjet-weret and meaning 'united with the white crown-great one', a reference to the white crown of Upper Egypt). He was raised at the court of Thebes and would have been educated with his eventual succession to the throne in mind. When he was not in school, he would have engaged in athletic training with an emphasis on physical prowess and military skill.
His father, Senusret II, forged especially strong relations with the nomarchs (district governors) who were often quite powerful and had their own militias. The position of the nomarch was hereditary, initiated during the Old Kingdom of Egypt, and these governors had gained in power centuries before as the government of the Old Kingdom declined and then collapsed c. 2181 BCE. During the era known as the First Intermediate Period of Egypt (2181-2040 BCE) these nomarchs were more powerful than the central government and commanded the same respect previously accorded the kings of the Old Kingdom.
When the Middle Kingdom began, Mentuhotep II (c. 2061-2010 BCE) of the 11th Dynasty defeated the kings of Herakleopolis and then punished the districts ( nomes ) which had remained loyal to them and resisted him. He unified Egypt with a strong central government located at Thebes. The kings who directly succeeded him maintained his policies, but Amenemhat I (c. 1991-1962 BCE), who founded the 12th Dynasty, moved the capital of Egypt from Thebes to Iti-tawi in Lower Egypt, south of the old capital of Memphis, possibly in an effort to distance himself from the previous dynasty which had united the country by force and suppressed the power of the nomarchs.
Amenemhat I encouraged the nomarchs to develop their regions and allowed them significant autonomy in governing. His policies were followed by his successors and expanded upon by Senusret II. This policy allowed for significant developments in regional styles in the arts and innovations in other areas but posed a potential threat to the crown should any given nomarchbecome strong enough to challenge the government. By the time of Senusret II's death, the power and wealth of the nomarchs was at the same strength it had been before Mentuhotep II and rivaled the crown's. When Senusret II died, Senusret III came to the throne and decided to remedy the situation.
SOCIAL REFORMS
The king's problem with the power of the nomarchs had to do with the central Egyptian cultural value of ma'at (harmony and balance). The king was supposed to maintain ma'at in a unified land, and this could not be accomplished if certain districts were powerful enough to do as they pleased if they chose to. Senusret III redistricted the country to decrease the number of nomes, and of course, this reduced the number of nomarchs.
He divided the country into three large districts – Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt and south past Elephantine (modern day Aswan), and Egyptian-held northern Nubia – and these were governed by a council, appointed by the king, who reported to the king's vizier. This policy disenfranchised most of the nomarchs but, interestingly, there is no evidence of resistance to it, nor is there any indication that the king was resented for a move which should have significantly affected the standard of living of a number of formerly powerful families. Inscriptions on the tombs of these nomarchs at Beni Hassan repeatedly give evidence that these people continued to be employed by the state and took pride in their positions and their king.
Senusret III
This policy resulted in a much stronger and more secure central government. The militias of the different nomes were disbanded and absorbed into the standing army of the king and the removal of the nomarchs facilitated greater wealth for the crown. Senusret III's redistricting also had the unforeseen effect of creating a segment of the population which had not existed previously: the middle class.
Prior to Senusret III's policy, Egypt was divided between the upper-class nobility and the peasantry; afterwards, with nomarchsand their extended families no longer controlling the districts, lower-level administrators found upward mobility suddenly possible and took advantage of it. More people were now working at higher-paying jobs as administrators and bureaucrats, which enriched the individual nomes and provided a greater amount of disposable income. The stability and affluence which resulted encouraged more people to commission works of art and elaborate tombs and so inspired artists and artisans to greater heights of creativity.
ART & CULTURE
The art of the Middle Kingdom as a whole is far more intricate and impressive than in previous eras but, during Senusret III's reign, is marked by greater realism and attention to detail. Ancient Egyptian art was functional, not simply aesthetic. The concept of 'art for art's sake' would have been unimaginable for an ancient Egyptian artist. Every work, no matter the size, was made for a specific practical purpose: statues served the spirit of the person or god depicted, temples and monuments did the same, paintings and reliefs related important historical or religious narratives, combs, boxes, jars, brushes, amulets, swords, armor, all were designed with a purpose in mind; but they still had to be aesthetically pleasing.
An example of this on a small scale is a pectoral (a brooch worn suspended on the chest) of Meretseger (also given as Mereret), one of Senusret III's lesser wives. The piece depicts Senusret III's victories over the Nubians and Libyans in symbolic form: Senusret III appears as a griffon destroying the enemies of Egypt while the goddess Nekhbet, in the form a vulture, hovers over his royal cartouche in the center. The pectoral is made of gold with detailed work in cornelian and lapis lazuli. On one level, it is a simple depiction of Senusret III's accomplishments, but on a more significant level, it would have served as a protective amulet, with the Nubian and Libyan figures representing threats of any kind and Senusret III-as-griffon neutralizing those threats.
Pectoral of Mereret
The best-known works from his reign are his own statues. Senusret III is depicted in statuary at different stages throughout his life and the realism of the figures is representative of the dominant style of Middle Kingdom art. He was a tall man, over six feet in height, always shown with a regal, somber expression. Egyptian statuary, on the whole, avoids expressive depictions because the works were made to represent the totality of the individual, not that person at any given time. Emotional states were recognized to be fleeting, and so one would not want an eternal representation of one's self smiling, frowning, jubilant, or in mourning. Senusret III's statues, however, depict the king as he would have looked at different times in his life, from his youthful confidence (the statue wears the trace of a smile) to the most famous work showing the aged king weathered by the affairs of state.
In keeping with tradition, Senusret III commissioned a number of impressive building projects. He added significantly to the growing Temple of Amun at Karnak, built an elaborate temple to the Theban war god Montu, renovated and expanded upon Abydos, and commissioned a pyramid complex at Dashur. He was also responsible for the construction of a number of forts in Nubia and along the southern border of Egypt, which regulated immigration, monitored, protected, and participated in trade, and served as supply depots for his military campaigns in that country.
MILITARY CAMPAIGNS
Like the later pharaoh Thutmose III (1458-1425 BCE), Senusret III is best known for his great military skill and succession of victories even though his accomplishments in other areas were more significant. He expanded the southern border of Egypt into Nubian territory and the north-east into Canaan through direct military engagement while the western border toward Libya was extended through negotiation. His campaign in Canaan was successful but he never seized on his victory to exploit it.
He led campaigns to Nubia in c. 1872, c. 1870, c. 1868, c. 1862, and c. 1860 BCE and was victorious in each except the last, which he aborted. Exactly why the last expedition was considered necessary is unclear, but Senusret III led his army toward Nubia when upon reaching the Nile crossing he found the water level lower than expected. His campaign relied on his ships being able to cross and return easily, and recognizing his army could be trapped in hostile territory if the Nile fell still lower, he turned them around and went home. Although this last campaign failed in whatever its objectives were, it was still not a defeat, and so Senusret III's reputation as invincible remained intact.
These Nubian expeditions are the victories which gave rise to the legend of the great conqueror Sesostris recorded in the works of Herodotus and others. Egyptologist David P. Silverman writes:
In late antiquity, Egyptian priests regaled Greek and Roman visitors with tales of the fabulous exploits of a pharaoh called "Sesostris". His conquests, they said, had ranged from deep inside Africa to the Near East and even into Scythia (southwestern Russia) which no later conqueror – not even Darius I of Persia or Alexander the Great – had been able to subdue. This image of "Sesostris" is manifestly an amalgam of several warrior-pharaohs in Egyptian history. However, he can ultimately be traced to the three Twelfth-Dynasty kings called Senwosret. (29)
Although Senusret I and Senusret II extended Egypt's borders and established fortifications, they did not have the same reputation for greatness accorded to Senusret III. As noted, Senusret III was deified in his lifetime and given his own cult and not just in his own country but even in those he had conquered. Although Senusret I and Senusret II engaged in Nubian campaigns, they never extended the border as far as Senusret III; this makes him the most likely historical basis for Sesostris.
Red Granite Offering Table of King Senusret III
His primary focus throughout his reign was on the south, and his victory stele at Semna (in Nubia) claims: "I have made my boundary further south than my fathers. I have added to what was bequeathed to me. I am a king who speaks and acts. What my heart plans is done with my arm" (Lewis, 87). His four campaigns against Nubia opened up the rich gold mines to Egypt, which contributed to the prestige of Egypt in foreign trade and commerce.
With the southern border secure, Senusret III commissioned a canal enlarged at Sehel to facilitate trade between Nubia and Egypt, which allowed merchants traveling by water to avoid the perils of the Nile rapids at the First Cataract. The canal, as well as the forts strung along the border and throughout northern Nubia, allowed for a mutually beneficial trade arrangement between the two countries, which also naturally resulted in cultural diffusion.
CONCLUSION
Nubians served in the Egyptian army as mercenaries, as the core of the Egyptian police force, and as guards for royal and non-royal trade expeditions. Although in official Egyptian inscriptions the Nubians, like all non-Egyptians, are regularly depicted in negative terms, in reality they were an integral aspect of Egyptian life and admired the Egyptian culture.
The clearest evidence for this is the veneration of the god Amun in Nubia and the construction of temples and buildings modeled on Egyptian architecture. The Cult of Amun in Egypt was the most powerful and wealthy throughout the country's history. From the Old Kingdom onwards, Egyptian kings struggled with this particular cult which, at times, was more powerful than the crown. One of the most interesting aspects of Senusret III's reign is his patronage of the Amun cult. Instead of tolerating or resisting their influence, he worked with them and supported their efforts at Thebes.
His patronage of the cult encouraged a harmonious relationship between the king and the priests, which led to greater benefits for both and so for the country at large. Further, the Nubian respect for Senusret III naturally led to a greater veneration for his god, which resulted in religious harmony between the two countries.
Although there were many great kings throughout Egypt's history who honored and adhered to the concept of ma'at, few exemplified that principle of divine balance as closely as Senusret III. Pharaohs of the New Kingdom of Egypt would emulate his reign, and centuries after his death he was still prayed to and worshiped as a divine representative of the best gifts the gods gave to the Egyptian people.
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