Atlanersa

Atlanersa

Atlanersa was a Kushite ruler of the Napatan kingdom of Nubia, reigning for about a decade in the mid-7th century BC. He may have fathered his successor Senkamanisken with his consort Malotaral. His most-prominent construction is his temple to the syncretic god Osiris-Dedwen in Jebel Barkal called B700.

About Atlanersa in brief

Summary AtlanersaAtlanersa was a Kushite ruler of the Napatan kingdom of Nubia, reigning for about a decade in the mid-7th century BC. He may have fathered his successor Senkamanisken with his consort Malotaral. He built a pyramid in the necropolis of Nuri, now conjecturally believed to be Nuri 20 and may also have started a funerary chapel in the same necropolis. His most-prominent construction is his temple to the syncretic god Osiris-Dedwen in Jebel Barkal called B700, which he finished and had time to only partially decorate. This suggests that he died unexpectedly. It is unclear whether he ordered the destruction of this chapel. The choice of this location followed the closeness to the New Kingdom of Jebel Barkal—and the presence of a small chapel there followed the Assyrian conquest of Egypt. He was the son of king Taharqa or less probably of Atlanersa’s immediate predecessor Tantamani. His mother was a queen whose name is only partially preserved and is only known to have ended in salka. His sister Peltasen and queens K and Taba may have been his consorts. Amenirdis II, the Divine Adoratrice of Amun in Thebes, was married to Atlaner’s sister. One of his wives is known: Queen Nasalsa, sister-wife of Anlamani and mother of Senkmanisken and Aspelta. It’s also possible that Queen Amanimalisken was his daughter, but could have been instead his son, but instead of his brother.

The name of his son-in-law is not fully preserved, but he may have had a daughter named Khaliset, who was the mother of his heir SenkManisken. He also had a sister called Yeturow, who bore the title of \”wife of the king, daughter of theKing, sister of the King, mistress of Egypt\”, and another sister called Khaliset who was his wife. He is the second Nubian king to build a Pyramid in Nuri after Taharqa, and one of his most famous works is the B700 Temple. The temple entrance was to be flanked with two colossal statues of him, one of which was completed and set in place and is now in the National Museum of Sudan. He died unexpectedly, suggesting that he was too young to ascend the throne at the death of his father and that attempting a military reconquest of Egypt required a strong king. A cultural explanation is also possible: Napatan society might have recognized seniority and maturity as valid arguments for inheriting a throne. In this sense a young heir to the throne would be overlooked in favor of someone older until they reached maturity. At this point, if the king die, the original heir would be reinstated.