Aryamani was a
Nubia
Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...
n king.
Titles
*
Horus name
The Horus name is the oldest known and used crest of ancient Egyptian rulers. It belongs to the " great five names" of an Egyptian pharaoh. However, modern Egyptologists and linguists are starting to prefer the more neutral term: the "serekh nam ...
: Kanakht Meryre ("Mighty Bull, beloved of Re")
*
Prenomen: Usermaatre Setepenre ("Re is one whose equity is mighty, chosen one of Re")
*
Nomen: Son of Amun Aryamani (''Sa-en-Amun Iry-Amun'') with epithet Meryamun ("Beloved of Amun")
[László Török, The kingdom of Kush: handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization]
Monuments and inscriptions
He is attested by one
stela found at
Kawa. The stela provides a text in poor Egyptian language and is, therefore, for the most part, not fully understandable. However, it provides a Year 9 date from his reign. At Kawa, a second stela was also found dated to Year 24 of a king whose name is destroyed. On stylistical grounds, it has been assumed that this stela also belongs to Aryamani who, therefore, must have reigned in Nubia for at least 23 years.
The main stela, now in Copenhagen, shows the king at the top in front of
Amun-Re,
Mut and
Khons. In the lower part there is the text, partly destroyed and therefore increasing the problems of understanding the poor Egyptian. The text starts with the year 3 and the partly lost titulary of the king. It follows a prayer to Amun-Re and in the remaining lines donations of the king to the god seems to be listed. They are arranged in an annal style, year 8 and year 9 of the king are also preserved. Furthermore, there appears a year 21 but it remains doubtful whether it relates to Aryamani. The two fragments of the second stela relate to similar donations between year 9 and 23 of an unknown king. A year 24 can be reconstructed but its meaning or context is now lost. The text might be the follow-up of the first stela.
Date of reign
The position and dating of the king is highly problematic. The style of Aryamani's stela, his throne and Horus names show Ramesside influences. Therefore, he was placed at the beginning of the third century BC when there were also
Ramesside
The New Kingdom, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in ancient Egyptian History of Ancient Egypt, history between the sixteenth century BC and the eleventh century BC, covering the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth, Ni ...
influences visible in
Ptolemaic Egypt and when Nubian kings, such as
Aktisanes
Aktisanes is a Nubian king who is mentioned by the Greek historian Hecataeus of Abdera. He is perhaps identical with Menmaatre-Setepenamun Gatisen known from Nubian sources.
Titles
*Horus name: Kanakht Merymaat ("Mighty Bull who loves Equity")
...
also copied Ramesside patterns. The poor Egyptian language seems to place him around or after
Nastasen. Laszlo Török maintains that
:"the Ramessid-style names and the monuments of Aryamani and some other
ubianrulers with similar names (Aktisanes, Irike-Piye-qo, Sabrakamani) are to be dated to the end of the 4th and the first half of the 3rd century BC."
Other researchers, such as
Robert Morkot regard the Ramesside style as an indication that the king ruled shortly after the Ramesside period. Morkot identifies him with
Alara.
[R. Morkot: ''The Black Pharaohs, Egypt's Nubian Rulers'', London 2000, 147-49 ]
Burial
Aryamani is thought to have been buried at
Jebel Barkal. Pyramid 11 or 14 may belong to this king.
References
Literature
* Laszlo Török, in: ''Fontes Historiae Nubiorum, Vol. II'', Bergen 1996, 521-532, {{ISBN, 82-91626-01-4
3rd-century BC monarchs of Kush