I did this illustration of an ancient Kushite soldier standing guard as a response to a work by another artist, a Spanish gentleman named Joan Francesc Oliveras. Although I like the majority of his historical depictions, I always felt his rendition of a Kushite warrior (while still cool-looking) was too tribal-looking to represent what was in actuality a sophisticated civilization with cultural as well as commercial ties to its downriver neighbor Egypt. Therefore, I wanted to do my own interpretation of the same subject matter that I felt was more historically accurate.