Alara of Kush

Alara
Alara
Kushite King of Napata
	The cartouche of Alara as appears on the much later stele of Nastasen
Successor	Kashta
Spouse	Kasaqa
Issue	Queen Abar, Queen Tabiry
nomen

Alara was a King of Kush, who is generally regarded as the founder of the Napatan royal dynasty by his 25th Dynasty Kushite successors and was the first recorded prince of Kush. He unified all of Upper Nubia from Meroë to the Third Cataract and is possibly attested at the Temple of Amun at Kawa. Alara also established Napata as the religious capital of Kush. Alara himself was not a 25th dynasty Kushite king since he never controlled any region of Egypt during his reign compared to his two immediate successors: Kashta and Piye respectively. Nubian literature credits him with a substantial reign since future Nubian kings requested that they might enjoy a reign as long as Alara's. His memory was also central to the origin myth of the Kushite kingdom, which was embellished with new elements over time.^[3] Alara was a deeply revered figure in Nubian culture and the first Kushite king whose name came down to scholars.^[4]

^ Dows Dunham and M. F. Laming Macadam, "Names and Relationships of the Royal Family of Napata", JEA 35 (Dec., 1949), p. 141; pl. 15
^ Kendall, Tim (1999). "The Origin of the Napatan State: El-Kurru and the Evidence of the Royal Ancestors". In Wenig, Steffen (ed.). Meroitica 15: Studien zum antiken Sudan. Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz. p. 64. ISBN 3447041390. Kendall's Meroitica 15 article gives this hieroglyphic arrangement for the written form of Alara's name
^ Török, László (1997). The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization. Handbuch der Orientalistik. Vol. 31. New York: Brill. p. 123. ISBN 9004104488.
^ Török, p.123

[1] Dows Dunham and M. F. Laming Macadam, "Names and Relationships of the Royal Family of Napata", JEA 35 (Dec., 1949), p. 141; pl. 15

[2] Kendall, Tim (1999). "The Origin of the Napatan State: El-Kurru and the Evidence of the Royal Ancestors". In Wenig, Steffen (ed.). Meroitica 15: Studien zum antiken Sudan. Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz. p. 64. ISBN 3447041390. Kendall's Meroitica 15 article gives this hieroglyphic arrangement for the written form of Alara's name

[3] Török, László (1997). The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization. Handbuch der Orientalistik. Vol. 31. New York: Brill. p. 123. ISBN 9004104488.

[Török,_p.123-4] Török, p.123

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