New Hero Portrait: King Nastasen
By Sundiata (Malcolm Quartey)
King Nastasen, a late Napatan Period ruler of the Kingdom of Kush, Sudan (4th Century B.C.).
King Nastasen Ankhkhare was a Napatan Period ruler of the Kingdom of Kush (Sudan), ruled c. 335 B.C. - 315/310 B.C. His mother was Queen Pelkha and his father may have been King Harsiotef. Married to Queen Sekhmakh, and succeeded by King Aryamani. Nastasen is noted for defeating an Upper Egyptian invasion of Kush by Khabbash "taking many fine boats" and putting down many rebellions, thereby consolidating Harsiotef's earlier conquests. Most of what we know about Nastasen comes from the rather lengthy, and well preserved Stela of Nastasen.
The submerged tomb underneath his pyramid at Nuri (Nuri 15) is currently under excavation by the Nuri Archaeological Expedition. Early results (remnants of gold) are indicating the real possibility that his tomb has not been looted, and his sarcophagus may still be intact! Because of high water levels the tomb is currently under water and archaeologists have to resort to underwater excavations with scuba gear, a first in Sudan. @OptimusShepard, I started this portrait exactly one day before you shared that documentary in the above post, half of which is about those very excavations! So that was really an incredible coincidence! Watching that docu was a bit surreal for me. And also a great source of inspiration!
Nastasen's Pyramid Nuri 15
The Nastasen Stela:
Some translated excerpts from the Nastasen Stela:
Clearly, humility was not a thing Kushite kings were concerned with...
Funnily, Nastasen is mounted on a horse in-game. From the stela we actually find this excerpt: "I went off on a great horse and I reached the Great House. They made obeisance' to me, all the notables and priests of Amun". Got to love 0 A.D....
The rest of the Stela is about Nastasen slaughtering rebels, taking loot, defeating an invasion from Egypt, bigging up his mom, listing his donations to the temples etc, etc...
@Stan`, here is a perfectly square PNG version for you:
Also, I just registered a personal ArtStation account. Please feel free to head on over there to check out some of my other art and give me some views
https://www.artstation.com/malcolmquartey