This is a diorama I made in a 10x6x6” cardboard box that depicts a skirmish between ancient Egyptian and Kushite troops out in the desert near the two civilizations’ border zones. As you can see, the Kushites have in their employ a mighty war elephant!
I would say the chronological setting is sometime between the second and first century BC, which corresponds to the Ptolemaic dynasty for Egypt and the Meroitic period for Kush (i.e. when the capital of Kush was the city of Meroe, as opposed to Napata or Kerma as in earlier periods). The reason I say this is that it’s during the Meroitic period when we have the clearest evidence for the Kushites using war elephants as indicated by the possible elephant stable found at the site of Musawwarat al-Sufa near Meroe. On the other hand, the Egyptians here would have to be native “machimoi” troops supplementing the otherwise Greco-Macedonian-dominated Ptolemaic army.
Most of the soldiers here are miniatures from a manufacturer called Expeditionary Force which I painted myself, but the Kushite mahout driving the elephant is a clay model I made myself. I also drew the desert landscape in the background.