In adherence to Egyptian tradition, the Kushites included funerary stelae as an integral part of the burial equipment. They were either erected before the west wall of the offering chapel or interred with the burial itself. The stela of Queen Tabiry, a queen of King Piye and daughter of Alara and Kasaqa, the first ruler of Napata, is our earliest example. Beneath the lunette, in which Tabiry is shown worshipping Osiris and Isis, nine lines offering prayer are inscribed in ancient Egyptian. She bears the title "first great king's wife of the majesty of Piye," and the epithet "great (lady) of the foreigners."
The names of Alara, Kasaqa and Piye are enclosed in cartoushe.
Tabiry was buried at el Kurra.
From the book Sudan: Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile, Dietrich Wildung, 1997, p. 180
From Kurru, Tomb Ku 53 of Queen Tabiry, Chamber B; Harvard University -- MFA Boston Expedition, March 1919; Khartoum, National Museum
Amulet
Amulet is a symbol worn as a talisman against evil or injury, often wrapped with mummies to protect them on their journey through the Duat (underworld) where the sun traveled from west to east during the night and where dead souls were judged by Osiris, using a feather, representing Truth.
Faience; From Kurru, Tomb Ku 53, burial shaft A
The tomb of Queen Tabiry, wife of Piye, produced this amulet of a wing, naked goddess. As with many amulets of this type, the wings bend sharply downward. Uraeus serpents adorn the arms, and their bodies continue down the back side of the wings in incised decoration. The goddress's crown consists of cows' horns, sun-disk, and double plumes; these occur on too many goddesses to allow a secure identification of the deity represented here.
From the book Sudan: Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile, Dietrich Wildung, 1997, p. 182
