The Kingdom of Kush: The Napatan and Meroitic Empires
...a reliable, up-to-date guide....Welsby's book presents the archaeological evidence extensively in illustrations and plates. Welsby's early and concluding chapters (1-3, 9) trace the rise, greatness, and "fall" of the Kushite kingdom in great detail and with frequent reference to points of scholarly disagreement. The book's middle chapters (5-8) treat a variety of topics: "Religion and Funerary Ritual", "Architecture", "Urban and Rural Settlement", "The Economy", and "The Arts and the Art of Writing". They rely heavily on architectural remains and plans and on artefacts excavated in temples, palaces, towns, and cemeteries.Kushite pyramids and tombs (and their grave goods), inscribed stelae, statues, reliefs, skeletons, and pots [and] such objects of daily life as clothing, musical instruments, toys, and cosmetics.[Welsby's] aim...is to "provide a balanced account of the history of the Kingdom of Kush and the lifestyle of its inhabitants throughout its thousand-ye!  ar history". In this The Kingdom of Kush admirably succeeds....it is hard not to agree with the author that "[s]tudying the Kingdom of Kush is like a detective story" full of "intriguing problems"...   --Classical Bulletin 75, no. 2 - 1999