Nubian and Egyptian Ethnicity 207represents a selective adaptation of Egyptian ideas rather than simple imitation (Smith
1998; Török 2008). As Gates-Foster (Chapter 12 in this volume) points out for Persia,
Nubian rulers did not simply emulate Egyptian forms, but rather deployed and manip-
ulated Egyptian iconography in a complex process of cultural and ethnic entanglement
resulting in acceptance, rejection, and adaptation of different features from Egypt, trans-
forming Nubian identity but filtered through an underlying Nubian sensibility (Smith
1998; Török 2008; cf. Dietler 2010). For example, Nubian rulers such as Tanutamani
were represented with distinctly Kushite features and created new regalia based on Egyp-
tian themes, such as the cap crown with its double Uraeus (cobra) and ram-head amulet
representing Amun-Re (see Figure 13.6). Since they were modeled on the tombs of the
elite New Kingdom nobles, the Napatan royal pyramid tombs are as much an innovation
coming out of their colonial entanglement with Egypt as an imitation of any Egyptian
royal monument. Nubian queens also played a more important political and ideological
role than their Egyptian counterparts, as is evident in their interment in separate pyra-
mid tombs on a par with those of their contemporary kings. This serves as a reminder
that ethnic identities are not static, especially in the context of cultural interaction (see
Chapter 3 in this volume, by Bernard Knapp), but change with the demands of new social
contexts and, in our case, political contingencies, both internal and external.
Burial Practice at Napatan Tombos
Many of the Napatan elite followed the royal example by adopting Egyptian practices, but
in contrast to models stressing Egyptianization based on the royal practices that provided
an ethnic legitimacy to their claims to rule Egypt, the cemetery at Tombos continued in
use through the Napatan period, with mixed elements that reflect a diversity of practices.
On the one hand, the continuing construction of pyramid tombs and re-use of older
Egyptian-style tombs for multiple burials commemorated ties to an Egyptian past and
to the new Napatan social order. Decorated and inscribed coffins and high-quality grave
goods such as the heart scarab of a scribe named Tuwy (perhaps the primary owner of
the pyramid) would have been on display during funerals and signaled the owner’s, and
perhaps most importantly their relative’s, affiliation with the new Napatan order, as well
as their ties to an older Egyptian colonial identity. Evidence of mummification and the
inhumation of large numbers of individuals in single tombs are other examples of very
overt Egyptian practices.
In contrast, a new area made up of tumuli (circular burial mounds) appeared just to
the southeast of the older cemetery, tying the owners to an older, Nubian past (see
Figure 13.7a). Other traditional Nubian practices that would have evoked primordial
ties include the placement of the deceased on beds (a practice that continues to this day)
and the interment of only one or two individuals in each tomb. Although single inhuma-
tions are not uncommon in Egypt, the exclusive use of this traditionally Nubian practice
among the tumuli contrasts to the common utilization of multiple burials in crypts in the
more Egyptian part of the cemetery. At the same time, however, the burials are almost
all supine, with the only exception a female who was buried in flexed position, and many
showed evidence of mummification and/or had traces of coffins. Additionally, Egyptian
amulets, including scarabs, were found in many of the tombs, but the range of deities