Page 19 - The Sloughi Review - Issue 2 - Final Copy
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T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 1 9
Sighthound and monkey mummies, found in Tomb KV50, Cairo Museum © Els Siebel
Who was Maherpra?
On the objects of his tomb, Maherpra is His age at the time of his death has been
frequently referred to as “Child of Kap”, an set at between 25-30 years old. In his
institution tied to the Royal Palace and to “Book of the Dead”, he is presented with
which many royal children belonged as dark skin, short hair, thick and curled.
well as other youngsters, oftentimes of
foreign origin. Since Maherpra is never These representations as well as the
cited as “Son of King”, it is likely - given his choice of being interred with a typically
ethnicity- that he was a foreigner who was non-Egyptian wig, constitutes a clear
subjected to Egyptian education as a signal from the holder of the tomb to keep
protégé of the Crown. the memory of his origins. This is a sort of
“statement of one’s own ethnic origins,”
The studies carried out on his mummy which brings him closer to other
define him as being “Nubian” or, more foreigners well integrated in the Egyptian
generically, from a sub Saharan elite.
ascendance.
