Giants of the sands: the giraffe and its place in symbolic vocabulary in the Kingdom of Kush, Sudan
Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Kilroe, Loretta
Date published
December 18, 2023
Abstract
The image of a giraffe was added to both wheelmade and handmade pottery, faience plaques, temple walls and rock art in the Meroitic period of the Kingdom of Kush ( 570 – 550), located in modern-day Sudan. However, giraffes do not appear in contemporary royal and elite art and architecture. This article explores the giraffe motif in Kush and compares this to its use earlier in Sudanese history as well as in neighbouring Egypt. The use of this motif on specific media suggests it was important in the symbolic language shared in the Middle Nile Region, but not in the elite canon, meaning it may be a window into understanding oral traditional practices of this time, that perhaps evolved and circulated over a long time period.
Journal title
Journal of African Archaeology
Volume
21
Issue
2
Publisher
Brill
ISSN
1612-1651
eISSN
2191-5784
Official URL