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Solange Ashby, Adjunct Professor, Department of Classics and Ancient Studies, Barnard College
The prominence of powerful goddesses and queens in the Nubian Kingdom of Kush (now Northern Sudan) highlights the unusually high status of women in this ancient African society and serves as a fitting focus for the study of female power in the ancient world. Using temple inscriptions found in Egypt and Nubia, the rich funerary goods found in royal burials, and temple and tomb imagery, Solange Ashby will discuss how ancient Africans of the Nile Valley understood female power and presence. Songs from Beyoncé’s recent production “Black Is King” will be woven into this presentation on Kushite queens to emphasize the power and centrality of the African queen mother in her royal family and kingdom.
ORGANIZER: Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East