Prosopography and Propaganda: The Self-Representation of the King as Exhibited in Three Key Texts of the Kushite Twenty-Fifth Dynasty of Egypt

Abstract

This thesis examines the representation of each king in three key texts from the Kushite Twenty-Fifth Dynasty of Egypt. The depiction of the king upon public monuments was an essential feature of the propaganda of kingship throughout ancient Egyptian history. However, the recognition of why and how representations of the king were considered propagandistic has been somewhat neglected. This paper analyses the “Triumphal Stela” of Piye (representing the beginning of the Twenty- Fifth Dynasty), Stela Kawa IV of Taharqa (illustrating the mid-point of this Kushite rule), and the “Dream Stela” of Tanutamani (delineating the end of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty). Many scholars have analysed these stelae, and their historical and socio-political frameworks. However, this thesis examines how elements of language within these documents (including iconography and rhetoric) functioned as royal propaganda in response to their historical contexts. This complements previous studies by analysing fundamental aspects of how and why these stelae are considered propagandistic. By implementing deep-reading, this work analyses how each king is represented, his potential motivations and their relation to his socio-political context, how these representations might be considered propagandistic, and how these depictions changed during the Kushite rule. These factors are then compared with earlier propagandistic representations of native Egyptian kings, to facilitate suggestions regarding the significant influence of ideology, religion, archaism of language, and royal iconography, and the past on these Kushite texts. The “Triumphal Stela” depicts Piye as an aloof Kushite monarch with significant Egyptian cultural affectations, whose subjugation of Egypt is relatively bloodless. Stela Kawa IV describes Taharqa in terms which are predominantly New Kingdom Egyptian. The “Dream Stela” represents Tanutamani as a New Kingdom Egyptian warrior-king, evoking the Ramesside kings. The potential reasons for these representations are discussed within this thesis. These examinations introduce new understandings of these kings, and another approach for considering ancient Egyptian and Kushite kings: men motivated by politics, cultural mores, and personal contexts. It would be profitable to closely re-examine other royal Egyptian and Kushite texts in a similar fashion, in order to gain a better understanding of the individuals portrayed within them, and how these documents functioned as propaganda.