Nubian and Egyptian Ethnicity 201Offspring of the Foriegn Lands Princes of Wawat (Lower Nubia)Princes of Kush (Upper Nubia)Prince of Miam,
HekaneferFigure 13.3 Hekanefer and the other princes of Lower and Upper Nubia pay homage to King
Tutankhamen in the annual ceremony of presentingInu(tribute) in the tomb of the viceroy of Kush
Huy. Source: Plate XXVII from Davies and Gardiner (1926). Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration
Society.
Darnell and Manassa (2007: 134) disagree with this interpretation, instead arguing that
Hekanefer’s appearance as Nubian in the tribute ceremony reflected the importance of his
position in the colonial hierarchy rather than his “otherness.” However, if Nubian-ness
were an important part of their identity, then the Nubian princes would have repre-
sented themselves as such in their tombs, since the purpose of such tomb scenes was
to commemorate and preserve the tomb owner’s identity (Hartwig 2004: 41). Instead,
we see a contradiction between their other-ascription as Nubian in the ceremony and
their self-identification as Egyptian in their own tombs. By appearing as atopicalNubian
at Thebes, Hekanefer and the other princes played a central role in the context of an
impressive manifestation of royal power and authority. As pacified ethnic Nubians, they
connected the king to the cosmological battle between order and chaos,Ma‘atandIsfet
(Assmann 1990). As noted earlier, this ideologically charged symbolism of the ethnic
“other” surrounded the king, and the appearance of the princes would have resonated
with this symbolism. For example, Akhenaton is shown at the “Window of Appearances”
during the presentation of the “Gold of Praise” to a loyal official with boundtopical
ethnic prisoners rendered below the balustrade while individuals dressed in the ethnic