The Nubians discipline.

The Nubians

The Nubians are the great borrowers of civilization. They came to Egypt conquered it and then adopted its rich culture as their own. This is an amazing story because it flies in the face of Hegel’s theory of history. If a major theme tying all of history together is man’s desire for recognition then how does a culture who borrows another civilization’s art, science, and belief system take borrowing as their primary characteristic?

Borrowing can be interpreted as teach ability. When borrowing is interpreted in this way the people of Nubia will not be considered mooches. They will be considered students. Another word for a student in Christian circles is called a disciple. So we see that the Nubians were disciples of Egyptian civilization. Discipleship and teach ability are elements of discipline which is our third virtue.

It is interesting to note that many of the virtues put forward in this document will be found in religious writings. This is not by accident. The contention of this author is that we have spent too much time forcing reason into the history of man and not enough time on experience and emotion. Religion on the other hand attempts to address the emotional side of man with and with out reason as a guide post. The desire of this paper is to merge reason and emotion together in a language of virtue.

The Nubians have taught us that man can be content to take from others learning and build upon it. The ideas of mankind do not have to be constantly original as they progress and fall backward in the development of virtue throughout history. This process requires discipline. Discipline is the first noun in the language of virtue. I suppose our first sentence could be interpreted, "Devoted discipline villigences." Which could be interpreted, "The Disciple is always watching." in English. Without the discipline necessary to learn from other men; man can not make progress.


Ivory decoration in the form of a fly
Dimensions: Height 6.8 cm; Width 3.3 cmLocation: KermaDates: ca.1900-1650 BCEWhere held: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MFA 20.1775a

These objects are sometimes found worn around the necks of men buried in the Kerma graves (about 1900-1650 BCE). A wall painting in the tomb of the Egyptian vizier ("prime minister") Rekh-mi-re (about 1500-1460 BCE) actually shows a Nubian man wearing such a pendant.

I believe this pendant to be a warrior pendant. It resemble the celtic warrior pendant. The discipline of the nubian warrior made their civilization great.