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The Kingdom of Kush: A proper introduction [Illustrated]


Sundiata
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The Kingdom of Kush:

A kingdom of silver horse trappings

Boston Museum of Fine Arts collection

 

In Meroitic Kush, horses were important, and nothing attests to that more than the silver horse-equipment, used by it's rulers. Ornately decorated silver and bronze plaques, carved with images of lions, rulers, gods and other symbols like the Ankh, were sewn to leather bands, running across the length of the horse, sometimes hinted at in the various graffito of horse-men. They would have looked magnificent...

Spoiler

Bronze, interlocking plaques, and buckle, part of elaborate horse trappings. 

Bronze_horse_trappings_Meroitic_Kush.thumb.jpg.e51cd338c085ef5367f7f658f7dca361.jpg

 

The rest is all silver:

Bounding lions, remarkably similar to an example I shared earlier

59914d8a50f2d_Boundinglionsilverhorsetrappingsmeroitickush.thumb.jpg.06f5e183903678a24497fcfcd3941440.jpg

 

A repost of the earlier set I shared, to show that they are in fact belonging to unique sets

5991502a61483_Oncepartofanelaboratelydecoratedhorseharnessthisisoneofagroupofplaquesshowingabounding-nraisedrelief.AllwereoriginallygildedMeroepyramid16II.thumb.jpg.c819358cab837938768c5c02172b8afb.jpg

 

And more silver plaques:

"Bronze bells with representations of bound enemies accompanied the gilded silver plaques on the horse trappings"

59914da923bd5_SilverhorsetrappingsmeroiticKush2.thumb.jpg.23b4e730a28bef88ce5f035448dd6a75.jpg

59914da2bb9f1_Silverhorsetrappingsmeroitickush.thumb.jpg.db9d61e08530749f002afe6cafcf5ca2.jpg

 

Magnificent silver Lion heads:

59914d8f25689_SilverhorsetrappingslionreliefmeroiticKush.thumb.jpg.2ada6df795be172b4d16c4a0730445a5.jpg

59914dad75c54_SilverhorsetrappingsoflionsinreliefmeroiticKush2.thumb.jpg.ebbc9d29c9204791f3354d9a0f91675e.jpg

 

I know this might be confusing.. How in the world were these silver plaques part of horse trappings? Luckily for us, we have completely intact, less ornate, post Meroitic examples to compare it with. From the graves of Ballana, lower Nubia, Nobatian royals continued many of the traditions started by their Meroitic predecessors, including the use of elaborate silver horse trapping. This will be one of the references for Meroitic cavalry:

(repost) The Horses of Ballana, from the Nubian museum in Aswan:

59914dd1e7e1d_HorsesfromBallana.thumb.jpg.bb75ba68304db277ef88e0021eb5f2cd.jpg

 

 

And the source: http://www.mfa.org/search?search_api_views_fulltext=MEROITIC+silver+horse

Edited by Sundiata
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Ooooh..... Nice!

Yeah, definitely, only a large first pylon entrance, leading to an inner courtyard, and a second pylon entrance, leading to holy of holies, like almost all of the Amun temples.

The one at Napata with 4 pylon gates is a unique variation, because it was the main temple to Amun. Only need to use the front part as reference, the back part of it are just some unnecessary additions...

Here's the one from Kawa:

Spoiler

59923ea582059_KawaAmuntemple.jpg.a509f7b34b3edb2494e7bf16fd004eb9.jpg

Kawa.thumb.png.1c7090a33d74106f971a2b769037b110.png

 

In response to your (fantastic) model, I'd suggest that the elevated roof on that back part is replaced by a (narrow) opening in the roof, reaching almost halfway the back. 

Spoiler

599240501128c_TempletoAmunNapata.thumb.jpg.399e47ed08a36590ef9d3a897dad700f.jpg

 

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57 minutes ago, LordGood said:

The Egyptians everyone wanted but we couldn't deliver lol. I would like to push these guys for vanilla, they're too close and the broader 0 A.D. audience would love this.

You're definitely not the only one thinking this... They're very relevant, add a nice cultural balance, and look absolutely gorgeous. 

Good luck with Musawwarat, by the way!

Edited by Sundiata
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9 hours ago, LordGood said:

It may be my ego speaking but i really like how these guys are turning out.

The Egyptians everyone wanted but we couldn't deliver lol. I would like to push these guys for vanilla, they're too close and the broader 0 A.D. audience would love this.

Yes, i also really like where they are going to, and agree they would be a nice addition to vanilla. Maybe you could start a discussion about it within the team?

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5 hours ago, niektb said:

The same thing was suggested for the Han Chinese, yet never made it through :) (not to mention the amount of civ proposals that were denied because 'no new factions will be added for 0 A.D. part 1'...)

It's regrettable the Chinese didn't make it through, but there were arguable reasons, in terms of historical connectivity to the existing civs. Adding minicivs or full blown civs like Xiognu & Scythians connects them.

The same line of argument doesn't apply to the Kushites. They had at least three wars, against three civs already in the game! They fought Persians, Ptolemies and Romans. In addition, Greek and Galatian mercenaries fought against Kushites in the deserts of Sudan, and Kushite mercenaries fought as far as the Greek mainland during the Persian invasion of Greece.

They also fought wars against the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Saite Dynasty Egypt. Alexander the Great even received an embassy from Kush.

None of the other civilisations that were proposed are comparable to Kushites (architecture, units, political coherence, relevance, level of sophistication, gameplay...). The others were all lacking in one department or another. Kush is simply the last remaining powerhouse from classical antiquity that hasn't been added... "The Forgotten Kingdom".

"no new factions will be added for 0 A.D. part 1"  (sounds oddly dogmatic and irrational when the faction in question will be finished in a matter months)

Let me quote the late Ken Wood when he said: "The fate of 0 A.D. is in the hands, of those who have vision and perseverance"

I believe adding the Kushites demonstrates both vision and perseverance.

Edited by Sundiata
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