Known to be a high-ranking priest in the theocratic state of Amon at Thebes, Harwa was also a king ruling southern Egypt during the obscure period of the so-called Black Pharaohs, the Nubian kings of the 25th Dynasty.
A fat, bald man with a large face, almond-shaped eyes and thin lips, as portrayed in a statue, Harwa was born in the 8th century B.C. into a family of Theban priests. He must have been at the beginning of his career when Piankhy, the black Sudanese (or Kushite) king, conquered Egypt and founded the 25th Dynasty of the Pharaohs. During the Nubian rule, Harwa rose to the highest ranks, researchers said.
"He was a king, the real governor of southern Egypt on the behalf of the Nubian pharaohs. The latest excavation of his tomb has shown plenty of evidence," Francesco Tiradritti, the archaeologist in charge of the excavation since 1995, told Discovery News.
According to Tiradritti, the vastness of the tomb, as well as an incredible number of limestone ushabtis (statuettes) found only in tombs of Pharaohs such as Tutankhamon, Sety I and Amenophi III, supported the theory that Harwa also was a king.
"One of the most important findings is a limestone funerary statuette holding the crook and the flail, the royal emblems. As far as it is known, it is the only example of non-royal ushabty displaying such a feature," said Tiradritti.
Harwa can't be considered a pharaoh, as the statuette would have needed to include the ureo, the royal cobra.
"Harwa was one of the 'kings without ureo' mentioned in the ancient text in which Piankhy recalls his victories," said Tiradritti.
According to the archaeologist, only a king would have been allowed to build his tomb beneath the hard limestone plateau of Assassif, on the western bank of the Nile, right in front of the imposing tomb of Queen-Pharaoh Hatshepsut. Indeed, Harwa's elaborate tomb later become the center of the whole Assassif necropolis.
The tomb is huge: 4500 square meters, and four levels deep up to 25 meters. So far, the archaeologists have found 240 ushabtis, and uncovered walls decorated with inscriptions and reliefs. In one room, Harwa is shown in the company of Maat, Goddess of truth and justice, Hu, God of authority, and Sia, God of the mind — the three privileges of the Egyptian king.
"I do not know if Harwa was a real king, but I am sure about the great importance of the discovery. The ushabty with regalia is indeed a special thing. I do not know ushabtis of non-royal person with these insigna," Egyptologist Jean Luc Bovot of the Louvre museum told Discovery News.
