Tiber7 Posted April 21, 2017 Report Share Posted April 21, 2017 (edited) @Sundiata , I really like what you're doing here but you should really use spoilers because the pages become quite long and it takes time because everything has to load I'm looking forward to seeing what you what you post next time Btw sorry for that little off topic Edited April 21, 2017 by Tiber7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundiata Posted May 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2017 The Kingdom of Kush: Unit: Meroitic Pikeman 0 A.D.-Dedicated Art by Sundiata The third in this series of ancient Kushite warriors, depicts a Meroitic Pikeman. Probably due to both New Kingdom Egyptian influence as well as later Hellenic influences, the rulers of Kush were able to field pikemen, fighting in phalanx. The unit I depicted is referenced in part by the Egyptian Nakhtu-aa "strong arm boys". Parallels of the general shape of the shield can be found on the graffito of Musawwarat. In this context, the leopard skin covering the wooden shield can be seen as a sign of devotion to Amun. His cotton armor showcases a variation of the type I already depicted in the two previous units. The tightly fitting blue skullcap (bronze cap, covered by padded cotton) is amply attested in Kushite reliefs, and seems to have been a prized object. The pike he wields is copied from a relief depicting Queen Amanishakheto executing prisoners, and the thick bronze or golden necklace is also attested in a variety of Kushite reliefs, indicating some level of nobility. Meroitic Pikeman, by Malcolm Kwadwo Kwarte Quartey (Sundiata) [Licensed CC BY-SA 3.0] @Tiber7 You're absolutely right, in future I will be making more use of spoilers if I share a large quantity of images again. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrannosaurus Posted May 15, 2017 Report Share Posted May 15, 2017 (edited) Nice art and research you've shared! I totally support introducing the kingdom of Kush into 0 AD. I'd even go so far as to say it should be added to the base game. BTW I am the artist of a couple of the pictures you shared on the last page, and I'm thankful for the attention. Here are a handful of more recent images of Kushites I've produced: Reveal hidden contents (The Kushite is to the right, Egyptian to the left) Edited May 15, 2017 by Tyrannosaurus 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balduin Posted May 15, 2017 Report Share Posted May 15, 2017 (edited) @Tyrannosaurus Thanks for your support. Your pictures look very nice. However, if you want to share it with the 0 A.D. community please use CC BY-SA 3.0 or 4.0 (see for more information https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Edited May 15, 2017 by balduin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundiata Posted May 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 (edited) @Tyrannosaurus Thank you for your support and contributions! I love your illustrations, and they are quite useful as well.. I would like to see a bigger drive of historical artists contributing towards the visualization of ancient Kush (and other African civilizations for that matter), and your work goes a long way, partly because of the rarity of it. [By the way, I really like the Ram's head outline on the shield embossment of the two spearmen, representing Amun.] Using our references, do you think we might expect more work from you? I'd love to see what you'd make of it... Reveal hidden contents Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm assuming you're also known as Tyrannoninja? I actually used one of your raw drawings of elephant units as my first attempt at coloring a drawing in photoshop. Seeing your sketches evolve into finished colored illustrations partially inspired me to attempt creating fully original, and colored content myself, just a few months ago. I hope you don't mind what I did to your drawing :-/ Seen as you've clearly developed as an artist since this sketch, maybe an updated version of this elephant unit would be a nice start (perhaps with a Nubian archer on his back). Or anything you feel like creating really, just remember to try to keep it as referenced as possible. The following posts are particularly useful as reference guides for attire, weapons and armor. And of course the final part in the very first post "Something on weapons and armor". Edited May 16, 2017 by Sundiata 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niektb Posted May 16, 2017 Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 @balduin: as long as it's only being used as reference it can be any license. However, when it (or parts of it) actually will be used in the game it should be a CC-BY-SA or CC0 or something 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion.Kanzen Posted May 16, 2017 Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 On 15/05/2017 at 6:33 PM, balduin said: @Tyrannosaurus Thanks for your support. Your pictures look very nice. However, if you want to share it with the 0 A.D. community please use CC BY-SA 3.0 or 4.0 (see for more information https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Expand That guy was one first to make a proposal mod, part of his work inspired the creation of Aristeia. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrannosaurus Posted May 17, 2017 Report Share Posted May 17, 2017 On 16/05/2017 at 11:50 AM, Sundiata said: @Tyrannosaurus Thank you for your support and contributions! I love your illustrations, and they are quite useful as well.. I would like to see a bigger drive of historical artists contributing towards the visualization of ancient Kush (and other African civilizations for that matter), and your work goes a long way, partly because of the rarity of it. [By the way, I really like the Ram's head outline on the shield embossment of the two spearmen, representing Amun.] Using our references, do you think we might expect more work from you? I'd love to see what you'd make of it... Reveal hidden contents Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm assuming you're also known as Tyrannoninja? I actually used one of your raw drawings of elephant units as my first attempt at coloring a drawing in photoshop. Seeing your sketches evolve into finished colored illustrations partially inspired me to attempt creating fully original, and colored content myself, just a few months ago. I hope you don't mind what I did to your drawing :-/ Seen as you've clearly developed as an artist since this sketch, maybe an updated version of this elephant unit would be a nice start (perhaps with a Nubian archer on his back). Or anything you feel like creating really, just remember to try to keep it as referenced as possible. The following posts are particularly useful as reference guides for attire, weapons and armor. And of course the final part in the very first post "Something on weapons and armor". Expand You know, I'd love to contribute concept art to this proposal of yours. And I am flattered by your coloring my old artwork! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundiata Posted May 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2017 Cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundiata Posted May 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2017 (edited) The Kingdom of Kush: Sophie Hay photography & The Lions of Kush In anticipation of more dedicated art, I will use this post to highlight some beautiful photography of Kushite reliefs by Sophie Hay, providing some nice details on Kushite attire. I will also share a collection of depictions of lions, some of them on a leash, indicating the probability of lions being kept as exotic pets (show-animals) and possibly even being used in a military context, reminiscent of the days of Ramesses and finding parallels in much more modern Ethiopian examples of royals keeping pet lions. Seen as Kush was a known exporter of exotic animals (including giraffes, elephants, leopards, cheetah's and monkeys), it seems natural that lions were among them. Perhaps one of the Kushite Heroes, maybe the queen Amanirenas, or her son, prince Akinidad, could recruit a lion or two as their bodyguard? Here's a pic of Queen Amanitore smiting her enemies, with her pet lion: Sophie Hay photography & The Lions of Kush: Reveal hidden contents Sophie Hay Photography: Detail of a Kushite Ruler in a relief from Musawwarat es Sufra Detail of a Kushite King holding an Ankh Detail on relief of king Arnakhamani and goddess Isis standing side by side, holding Ankhs The Godess Isis in Naqa with milk giving breast to signify victory and eternity, offering prisoners to a Kushite King The God Amun in his full glory in a Naqa relief Kushite ruler in Naqa Column with a relief depicting a Kushite ruler with Horus and Isis in Musawwarat es Sufra Relief of a crocodile with tied up mouth on the lion temple in Musawwarat es Sufra Horus on a Meroitic pyramid wearing scale armor Jebel Barkal pyramids, 3d century BC Egyptian motifs on the lintel of the Hathor chapel at Naqa, the sacred ureaus cobra carvings clearly shown "Throne room" of the Amun temple at Dangeil Column capitals of the temple of Mut at Jebel Barkal, Napata The Lions of Kush Apedemak walking a lion by a leash, lion temple Musawwarat Lion relief in lion temple at Musawwarat Between the legs of King Natakamani, a lion mauls a prisoner Lion lies at the feet of a Kushite King Lions adorning the entrance of a Kushite temple in Naqa Edited May 25, 2017 by Sundiata 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundiata Posted May 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 The Kingdom of Kush: The Story of Queen Amanirenas and the war with Rome An illustrated short, by Jason Porath Reveal hidden contents http://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/amanirenas Here are three more interesting ideas of what Amanirenas might have looked like: Reveal hidden contents 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowgetoffyourcellphone Posted May 28, 2017 Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 (edited) Yeah, we need to make this civ. There's no question. Edited May 28, 2017 by wowgetoffyourcellphone 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balduin Posted May 28, 2017 Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 @Sundiata One of the heros will be Amanirenas. What will be her strength? A battle bonus and the ability to recruit lions (similar to war dogs, but slower and stronger)? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan` Posted May 28, 2017 Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 If you have some simple tasks I could probably help with some props, swords, barrels, crates, jars, helmets, spears, khopesh etc, I could do buildings and complex stuff, but my time is too much limited by c++. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balduin Posted May 28, 2017 Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 @stanislas69 Are you talking about coding or art? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan` Posted May 28, 2017 Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 (edited) Art ofc, not much coding needed for that faction AFAIK. I'm just coding and learning c++ now for the game hence my last line. Edited May 28, 2017 by stanislas69 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balduin Posted May 28, 2017 Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 @stanislas69 Art is perfect. However, there are still several open questions regarding units. As soon as those questions are resolved we will try to create smaller tasks out of them. We will keep you posted. Until then I am happy that you work on the main game . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowgetoffyourcellphone Posted May 28, 2017 Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 On 28/05/2017 at 5:55 PM, balduin said: @stanislas69 Art is perfect. However, there are still several open questions regarding units. As soon as those questions are resolved we will try to create smaller tasks out of them. We will keep you posted. Until then I am happy that you work on the main game . Expand A thread each for: Weapons Helmets Typical building props 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundiata Posted May 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 @stanislas69 I'm honored you're offering your help. I really admire your work on Rise Of The East, and we could definitely use somebody like you, who is so familiar with 0AD, and modding in particular. You can make any props you feel would be useful to this faction, or anything really, that can be referenced. I'll try to provide you with a list of possible props in the coming week, or maybe you already had something in mind? @balduin 3D Artists are some of the most valuable (and scarce) resources in the creation of new content. Please just let the artists be artists, and do their thing. There's 11 pages of reference material on this thread alone, hundreds of uselful images and page after page of written texts and sources (I'm sure Stanislas69 will find something to do). Sure, we don't know every little detail about every possible unit, but that's not necessary information for the creation of props. In addition, I'm working in conjunction with another artist to visualize all the possible units. This other artist is considerably more skilled than me, and we have both spent considerable time familiarizing ourselves with all the weapons and attire used by the Kushites… Don't worry too much about the "open questions", this faction is already quite thoroughly researched, and more is coming. We might not be able to implement any of these models yet, in an actually playable mod, but it will be good to already have a "library" of models, which will speed up the work once we get to that stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan` Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 (edited) A list would be perfect I prefer to work that way. It's easier to keep track of everything that way as long as the list is maintained. Also if done properly it could work as a roadmap. Moreover if some props like scabbards and stuff can benefit the main game it's great. Edited May 29, 2017 by stanislas69 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundiata Posted June 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2017 (edited) The Kingdom of Kush: Documentaries (screenshots) In this post, I will be discussing three different documentaries about the Kushites, and providing screenshots. The documentaries featured are: Discovery Channel - Nubia, The Forgotten Kingdom PBS/National Geographic - Rise of the Black Pharaohs PBS - Africa's Great Civilizations (ep. 1- 2) All three of these documentaries will offer a concise description of Kushite/Nubian history and offer rich visuals, as well as archaeological excavations. A good stop for anyone trying to get a quick insight in to this complicated history. One of the most useful references I was able source from these docu's, is a complete three-dimensional reconstruction of the Amun Temple in Dangeil, including the temenos walls and gorgeous pylon gate: Nubia, The Forgotten Kingdom (2003) This one hour documentary about the history of the Nubian Kingdom (Kush) features two archaeologists, Julie Anderson and Salah Ahmed, as they unearth a massive temple to Amun in the ancient Kushite city of Dangeil. It also narrates the history of the war with Rome and features some modest historic reenactments, as well as impressive 3d reconstructions of the entire Amun temple complex, both exterior and interior decorations are clearly shown. They made one major mistake, in erroneously identifying the reigning queen at the time of the Roman war as Amanishakheto, while in actuality it was Amanirenas, probably due to the documentary being made in 2003, when the exact dating of the ruling monarchs was more sketchy. Reveal hidden contents A religious procession leading to the entrance of a large, walled temple complex to Amun 3d overview of the Amun temple in Dangeil. The Kiosk, in front of the main temple. These type of kiosks seem to have been a common feature for large temples in Kush Exterior of the Amun temple at Dangeil, with a walkway flanked by a row of Ram statues. The colorful interior of the Holy of Holies in the Amun temple, accessible only to priests, and perhaps kings and queens. Detail of a relief depicting Amanishakheto A detail of Amanishakheto's enemies, wearing a variety of headgear, about to be executed. Column capitals depicting the goddess Mut. @stanislas69How about one of the following jars as a standard building prop? Salah Ahmed presenting a freshly excavated Kushite pot, with dirt still in it, as if it was buried just last week. Another example of Kushite pottery being excavated by archaeologist Salah Ahmed. A grave-good, used to keep liquids, in a surprisingly intact state. A collection of some of the finest examples of intact Kushite pottery ever excavated. Archaeologist Julie Andersen examining amazingly intact 2 millennia old, cut stone flooring in one of the inner courtyards of the Amun Temple in Dangeil. Kushite masonry skills still clearly attested in the solid brick wall behind her. The High priest of Amun, offering libation to the state god of Kush. Queen Amanitore Jebel (Gebel) Barkal and it's spiraling peak. One of the holiest places in the entire Nile-Valley. The home of Amun, and the site of Napata. This is were the Kings and Queens of Kush were crowned. Rise of the Black Pharaohs (2014) A more recent, and visually compelling documentary about the history of Kush, centering on the 25th dynasty and the Napatan period. This 54 min long docu focusses on the earliest archaeological excavations, and the controversial history behind this history. The archaeologists Geoff Emberling and Tim Kendall re-examine an ancient Napatan pyramid and the spiraling peak of Jebel Barkal, still bearing 2700 year hieroglyphs commissioned by Taharqa himself. Reveal hidden contents The 25th dynasty's conquest of Egypt At the pinnacle of the spiraling peak of Jebel Barkal, overlooking Napata, Taharqa had a hieroglyphic text inscribed on a massive plate of gold, visible from miles around because of the reflective glare of the sun. Parts of the inscription are still visible, as well as the holes in the rock, where the golden plate was fastened, as well as the holes where massive wooden poles were placed, that functioned as a scaffolding. A shaduf-inspired type of leverage system was used to haul building materials up to this considerable height. Africa's Great Civilizations (ep. 1- 2) In Africa's Great Civilizations, Louis Henry Gates travels all corners of the continent, visiting archaeological sites and talking to experts and historians about a number of great African civilizations. The first two episodes talk extensively about Kush, and features some very nice cinematography, and shots of statues and reliefs. The narrater over-emphasises the blackness and Africanness of the people he's discussing (as if to prove the point that Africans achieved high levels of civilization throughout history), but a lot of really nice information is shared. Definitely worth a watch. Reveal hidden contents 3D reconstruction of the central area of ancient Kerma (2500 BCE) Quality torrents of all three documentaries exist, but shhh, you didn't hear that from me…. Edited June 1, 2017 by Sundiata 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balduin Posted June 5, 2017 Report Share Posted June 5, 2017 (edited) I updated the specification. My goal was to structure the content @Sundiata posts and figure out for which units information are missing. In the village phase most civilizations can train the following units: Worker (Woman) Archer Spearmen Ranged Cavalry (throwing javelins or mounted archer) Fishing Boat the structure for the kushits will be: Archer -> Nubian Bowmen Spearman -> Nubian Spearman Worker (Woman) ? Ranged Cavalry? Fishing Boat -> Wooden canoe or papyrus boat? The first question is how did the woker woman look like? The next question is what kind of ranged cavalry should the kushites have? Should the ranged cavalry throw javelins or shoot with the bow? Is the unit sitting on a horse or a camel? The final questions is in regards to the fishing boat. @Sundiata posted already some information on boats: However, the remaining question is should the boat be a wooden canoe or a papyrus boat? To answer the question we should first answer the question if papyrus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyperus_papyrus) can grow on the riverbanks of the Nile in Sudan. Papyrus can only grow in shallow water in areas such as lakes and river deltas. The Nile in Sudan is quite fast. Based on this blog entry: http://fishconsult.org/?p=11511 I would assume the kushites used wooden canoes. Here are more information about fisheries in Sudan: http://www.environmentservices.com/projects/programs/RedSeaCD/DATA/Module06/M06_box_sudan_fisheries.html. And I found some images showing fisherboats and boats in today's South Sudan: https://journeyswithjesusalongtheuppernile.wordpress.com/gallery-2/. Edited June 5, 2017 by balduin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balduin Posted June 6, 2017 Report Share Posted June 6, 2017 Thanks to @Lion.Kanzen, we now have a Spanish translation in our README.md. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion.Kanzen Posted June 7, 2017 Report Share Posted June 7, 2017 @fabio know Portuguese 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabio Posted June 7, 2017 Report Share Posted June 7, 2017 Unfortunately I don't speak Portuguese... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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