Manga_zine launch of Kushite Kingdom manga

The comic book 'Kushite Kingdom manga', which was launched recently at UCL, forms part of PhD research by Amanda Ford Spora at the Institute of Archaeology.

The Manga_zine was developed collaboratively by teen artists from the Harris Academy Chobham, using 3D print replicas of ancient Sudanese funerary statuettes, together with Taylor Smith, an Art & Design specialist, and Amanda.

The cover of the comic book features the artists impression of a shabti of Queen Madiken, which was created using a 3D print replica; the original shabti was excavated at the site of Nuri in Sudan and is currently in the Petrie Museum collection UC13219.

• A short pictorial film about the project is available here

The comic book is intended as a companion in a museum or when learning about Napatan shabtis of the Kushite Kingdom used as part of ancient Sudanese heritage around 2,600 years ago.

The QR code enables users to access the Manga_zine e-flipbook and download a pdf.

• Alternatively, the comic book may be accessed here

The comic book is produced bilingually in Arabic and English. The fact that Manga is traditionally designed to be read right to left, resulted in a unique stacked bilingual presentation.   Thanks are given to Amanda's colleague in Sudan, Osman Khaleel, for the excellent translation, as well as all the project participants and their teachers.

Amanda was awarded UCL Public Engagement funding in 2020 to develop this project.