Victory Stela of Piankhi

The Victory Stela of Piankhi—also known as Piye, the name used on the stone slab—dates to Egypt's Twenty-fifth Dynasty (ca. 747–656 bce), during the twenty-first year of Piankhi's reign (ca. 747–716 bce). The Victory Stela of Piankhi was intended to justify his rulership over all of Egypt. The stela was designed to represent Piankhi, who was a Nubian, as a true Egyptian and as superior to his Libyan opponent in the Nile Delta. Nubia was located along the Nile River just south of Egypt in an area between modern-day Aswan and Meroë, Sudan. During the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, the capital of Nubia was located at Napata, from which Piankhi reigned.

The Victory Stela of Piankhi, made of dark-gray granite, was discovered in the temple of the god Amun (spelled “Amon” in the document) at Jebel Barkal in 1862. It measures approximately six feet in height; four feet, seven inches in width; and one foot, five inches in thickness and weighs some two and a quarter tons. The text on the...