Representations of Asia(tics) in Kushite Royal Inscriptions

 = Paper = 

Several kings of the ancient state Kush (modern-day Sudan) ruled also over Egypt, forming Egypt’s 25th dynasty. Unsurprisingly then, Egypt is highlighted in the ideological representations of lands outside Kush in Kushite sources as well as in research on the foreign relations of Kush. By contrast, this paper focuses on how Asia and Asiatics are portrayed in historically oriented Kushite royal inscription, thus taking into account the great impact Asia in general and Assyria specifically had on the Kushite state. Asia and Asiatics feature as toponyms, ethnonyms, and epithets in the inscriptions of the Kushite rulers Piye, Shabaqo, Taharqo, and Tanutamon. Asiatics are here represented as uncivilized, violent, rebellious, cowardly, docile, weak, and (easily) subjugated, while Asiatic lands are portrayed as distant and exotic, and (above all) as resources in the context of Kushite building projects.