TAHARQA
It was dark and rainy night when my grandfather shouted “story time”, I ran into his room and I sat down wondering “what is the story will about in this scary night”. That was the beginning of every night scenario with my grandfather, almost all my childhood. And it was obvious he is serious this time, because he sat down on the floor in front of me for the first time. I felt the excitement running in my blood, and exit through my eyes as a look of a child waiting for his biggest treat. In unusual event he started by asking me a question “what do you know about king Taharqa?” I did not say a word until he finished the story. When I grew up, I forget most of the details and the characters in every story, but there is one story I would never forget. The story of the greatest king, Taharqa, one of the most influencing leaders in the history, he dominated the largest empire in African Ancient times. In fact Taharqa’s story didn’t leave my mind, because he is the epitome of my tribe (Nubian).
According to Wikipedia.com, there were several events that led Taharqa to be the greatest Nubian pharaoh in the history. First, he ruled Egypt and Sudan as one empire. In fact Taharqa took control of Palestine too. Second, Taharqa saved Palestine and the Hebrew society from the Assyrians. For that he had been called “Jerusalem Savior” and mentioned in the Bible. And there nothing has higher greatness than mentioning my hero’s name in the Holy Bible. In addition, Taharqa’s victory over the Assyrian in the battle of Aletkh, brought many territories under his empire. Last of all, Taharqa’s final days were full of great work; he built the first tomb in the city of Nuri northern Sudan, and built the largest pyramid in the Nubian reign (Kush kingdom in Sudan). I never imagined that one day I will be related to a famous person, however, I found my roots linked back to the hero of an entire nation. It’s a pleasant known that I’m related to a hero; otherwise, I would be still dreaming about imaginary heroes, as I used to fantasies fictional stories when I was a child. For example, I imagined myself as Superman fighting the crime in my small village, sometimes during the day I occupied with fake weapons, in the realty they are just toys, but there’s nobody could tell me the truth, because I was blind by the power I had in that period of time. Furthermore, I had been in a costumes of many heroes, but I never felt the kind of excitement, I felt it when I knew the connection between me and Pharaoh Taharqa. I used to think that I’m satisfied with my imaginary heroes. On the other hand, the reality of Taharqa introduced me to the existent life of heroes.
Every stage of life and every culture have its own hero. In some times or places in my whole life, heroes have the upper hand controlling a number factors in my simple life. For instance, one day I had to be a super hero to protect my family. Because I grow up in a rough neighborhood, I had to find a way to stop the crime around my town, and that was my only solution as a kid. Next, in elementary school I acted as the smart hero to the new subjects we took in the class. I was trying to impress my teachers by doing my homework in the class, and try to solve small problems as fast as I could. In did all of that just for the kind of gift a student has to get when he amuse his teacher. Finally, in high school I jumped many steps ahead of age, and acted as a handsome hero, by taking care of my look and the way I appear in front of the people. Especially in a situation involved a female student. Just like a hero in a deadly battle, my mind refused to believe that I’m still a teenager.
Now, I’m a middle age father I thought I should let my kids take care of the hero train, however, I forget that the hero train does not have a final station. And it’s going around for the last day of everybody’s life. That means I’m still imagining myself as a hero in this age. I imagined myself in place of a grown up hero, who’s responsible of his family, and protecting them from the complications of life. Every morning, I wake up wondering about the right way to put a smile on my family member’s faces. I know for sure if I was a hero, I’m not going to struggle to transform my dreams into reality. And make many people blissful by knowing there’s somebody taking care of their wishes too. When I look deep into Taharqa’s life story, I find a relief to my situation by knowing that all the people are the same, but the different is the way they see each other. From this moment I will put an idea in my mind, not a dream, and do my best to watch growing into a goal that would make all my dreams come true.
As a result I am proud of being Nubian, knowing that I finally can answer my grandfather’s question by saying; I know a lot about Taharqa, the greatest forebear of our tribe and a historical figure. And I will add an example to his greatness was his emperor it stretches from Palestine to the confluence of the Blue and the White Nile in Sudan. Taharqa, who is between the historians famous by “The Last pharaoh”, because for several centuries after his region Egypt rulers controlled weakened territories and had a slighter power? And his name will no doubt become universally known with the release of Will Smith upcoming movie The Last Pharaoh.