Around 3100 BCE, a rich royal culture flourished in what is today Southern Egypt. Recent finds have concluded that these people called their region Ta-Seti, meaning "Land of the Bow." Later rulers of the region would give Ta-Seti new names- Kash, Wawat and more. To ancient Egypt, the land of Ta-Seti would become associated with wealth and their word for gold- "nub"- thus giving us its most famous name, Nubia.

In 1962 Keith C. Seele, director of the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute Nubia Expedition, made a fascinating find at a site called Qutsul. In what would have been Lower (Northern) Nubia, near the modern Egyptian-Sudanese border, Qutsul was home to what archaeologists called the A-Group culture.

Seele uncovered a cemetery of A-Group tombs at Qutsul which he designated Cemetery L. Given the vast amount of artifacts recovered at Cemetery L, only a preliminary analysis could be made on the 33 tombs and associated artifacts. Seele's analysis led him to conclude that he had uncovered evidence of pre-dynastic princes and kings.

The archaeological world was skeptical of Seele's suggestions. It had been concluded long ago that A-Group Nubia was too simple a culture to support the complexity of a pharaonic dynasty. Thus any evidence of A-Group culture was thought to represent at best scattered chiefdoms or kin groups.

It was not until 1977, fifteen years since Seele's initial excavation and two years after his death, that a systematic analysis of the Cemetery L artifacts was carried out by archaeologist Bruce Williams. The Qutsul site contained more than 1,000 completed and fragmented painted pots as well as over 100 stone vessels. After months of analysis, Bruce Williams began to see in the artifacts what he described as, "a wealth and complexity that could only be called royal."

Nubia A-Group vessel decorated with a rowing boat with multiple oars, ostriches and undulating lines symbolizing water.

And there is interesting evidence for Williams' claim. There are for instance the distinctive A-Group incense burners found at Qutsul in large numbers. Williams states that these incense burners, "were incised and carved with representations and symbols of Egyptian royalty--a decisive indication of the true meaning of the size and wealth of the Qutsul tombs".

On several incense burners symbols of Egyptian royalty appear in late pre-dynastic times in the form of Serekhs. Serekhs appear often in late pre-dynastic times surmounted by a falcon, the symbol of the god Horus. These falcon-Horus symbols were representative of the pharaoh. They were later used to enclose the Horus name of first and second Egyptian dynasty rulers.

Recreated sketch of incense burner found in one of the earliest and wealthiest tombs of Cemetery L. Note seated figure with conical crown similar to Upper Egypt with beard, flail and nearby Falcon image.

The incense burner (laid out above) shows a procession of three ships moving towards a palace facade. The first ship features a kneeling prisoner held by a rope in the grasp of a guard. It is the middle ship however that is most intriguing. Though the figure in the middle ship is nearly destroyed, the white conical crown that would later become representative of dynastic Upper Egypt is seems evident. Of this symbolism Williams states, "the crown indicates that the figure is a king, and the falcon should be seen as perched on a serekh, together a characteristic representation in early dynastic Egypt". As Williams further states, "the Qutsul burner furnishes the earliest definite representation of a king in the Nile Valley or anywhere".

Thus, if Williams interpretations can be verified, we have here the symbols of Egyptian kingship, complete with crown, flail and religious symbolism existing in Lower Nubia earlier than, or at the least contemporaneous with, the first reputed king in Egyptian history. Williams argued that this this was evidence of three separate kingdoms existing in the Nile Valley in pre-dynastic times: Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia, with Lower Nubia perhaps being the oldest.

Royal Incense burner Qustul, 3100BCE

At an A-Group storage cache at Siali, which lies north of Qutsul, Williams finds more evidence of royalty. On a portion of a seal from this find is a man saluting a bow and a palace façade with the Horus-falcon. Williams states, "the obvious interpretation is that the man is saluting the name for Nubia - Ta-Seti, or 'Land of the Bow.'" This would indicate that Ta-Seti was indeed an established kingship and state. It is of note that in later history, Nubian archers would be greatly prized in Egyptian armies, where their skills with the bow earned them a deadly reputation and title--"the smiters of pupils."

Other evidence pointed out by Williams show Ta-Seti kings engaged in military campaigns in Upper Egypt and Libya. Williams states the following in regards to this:

"the fallen enemy is labeled Ta-Shemau or Upper Egypt. Although the second group remaining on this bowl is fainter than the first, it can be seen that 'the enemy' has fallen on his back rather than forward. The long flat sign (land) extends from the enemy's knee and the unimpeded vertical identifying sign appears to make a kind of question above - this, in all probability, is the label Ta-Tjemeh or Libya".

This passage, taking into account other evidence of artifacts of Syrian-Palestinian manufacture, displays a powerful kingdom conducting military, diplomatic and trading activities well beyond its borders.

Thus archaeological evidence would seem to point to a well-defined culture existing before Egypt's first dynasty, and contemporary with other pre-dynastic cultures in the region. What is more, they illustrate what would appear to be important cultural icons like the Horus-falcon and the conical white crown of Upper Egypt - which will appear in Egypt beginning in its formative dynasties. These discoveries led Dr. Williams to propose that, "the idea of a pharaoh may have come down the Nile from Nubia to Egypt that would make Nubian civilization the ancestor of Egypt's at least in one critical aspect".

The question of whether Qutsul in Nubia could very well be the seat of Egypt's founding dynasty, is still in dispute. Contemporaneous finds in Egypt that are dated similar to Qustul contradict that contention and at the least leave the matter undefined. However, in Africa, ideas of divine kingship were by no means exclusive to either Nubia or Egypt.

Many other later African cultures traditionally imputed the souls of dead ancestors a godlike ability to bring good fortune or dire consequences. The souls of dead kings were said to be especially important. Among Ifa practicing Yoruba the Orisas are said to be ancestral spirits, many of them past rulers, who determine human life. In Uganda, kings were believed to continue watching over their people long after death. Special temples were even built through which their spirits can be consulted for advice. The "Souls of Neken," legendary pre-dynastic rulers worshipped in Egypt, are now thought to have actually existed.

Thus Ta-Seti, whatever its place and role in the history along the Nile, would lay the foundation for later Nilotic kingdoms that would produce a long line of divine rulers, kings who would one day conquer Egypt, and queens who would challenge much later newcomers like Rome. It is a land that would in time raise its own pyramids and build temples in the desert sand. Its rich history would send music, soldiers, servants, wealth, gods and more up the Nile, providing a distinct cultural impact that would be felt across the region for well over 3,000 years.

Notes and Resources:

Williams, Bruce Beyers 1980- "The Lost Pharaohs of Nubia" Archaeology 33 (Sept.-Oct. 1980).

Williams interpretation of Qustul burners and the meaning of Ta-Seti royal tombs was lambasted in the Journal of Near Eastern magazine, for not paying attention to clear distinctions between Nubia and Egyptian royalty, and ignoring other contemporary evidence in Upper Egypt:

W.Y. Adams, "Doubts About the Lost Pharoahs," JNES 44 (1985)

Wiliams rebutted and "clarified" his statements in a 1987 article, stating that he was only speaking of "linkages" between Ta-Seti and Egyptian royalty, and not a direct line of descent:

Bruce Williams, "Forbears of Menes in Nubia: Myth or Reality?" JNES 46 (1987): 15-26.