Naqa
Encyclopedia
Naqa or Naga'a is a ruined ancient city of the Kushitic Kingdom
of Meroë
in modern-day Sudan
. The ancient city lies about 170 kilometers north-east of Khartoum
and about 50 kilometers east of the Nile River. Here smaller wadis meet the Wadi Awateib coming from the center of the Butana
plateau region and further north at Wad ban Naqa
from where it joins the Nile. Naqa was only a camel or donkey's journey from the Nile, and could serve as a trading station on the way to the east so had strategic importance.
Naqa is one of the largest ruined sites in the country and indicates an important ancient city once stood in the location. It was one of the centers of the Kingdom of Meroë, which served as a bridge between the Mediterranean world and Africa.
The site has two notable temples, one devoted to Amun
and the other to Apedemak
which also has a Roman kiosk nearby.
in 1837. In 1843, it was visited by Richard Lepsius and his Prussian Egypt-Sudan expedition. He copied some of the inscriptions and representations of the temple standing here. In 1958 a team from Berlin
's Humboldt University visited Naqa and documented the temple and restored part of the site along with the nearby site of Musawwarant es Sufra in the 1960s.
Since 1995 Naqa has been excavated by a German-Polish team with the participation of the Egyptian Museum of Berlin
and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. It is directed by Professor Dietrich Wildung and is financed by the German Research Council (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and also includes Polish archaeologist Lech Krzyżaniak and a small group of Polish archaeologists from Poznań
.
temple and the Apedemak
temple (also known as the Temple of the Lion), both of which are still well preserved.
was a deity
in Egyptian mythology
who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt
. Whilst remaining hypostatic deities, Amun represented the essential and hidden, whilst in Ra he represented revealed divinity. As the creator deity "par excellence", he was the champion of the poor and central to personal piety. Amun was self created, without mother and father, and during the New Kingdom
he became the greatest expression of transcendental
deity in Egyptian theology
. His position as King of gods developed to the point of virtual monotheism
where other gods became manifestations of him. With Osiris
, Amun-Ra is the most widely recorded of the Egyptian gods.
The Amun temple of Naqa was founded by King Natakamani
and is 100 metres in length and has several statues of the ruler. The temple is aligned on an east-west exis and is made of sandstone, which has been somewhat eroded by the wind. The temple is designed in the Egyptian style, with an outer court and colonnade of rams similar to the Temple of Amun at Jebel Barkal
and Karnak
, and leads to a hyopstyle hall containing the inner sanctuary (naos). The main entrances and walls of the temple contain relief carvings.
In 1999 the German-Polish archaeology team explored the area of the inner sanctuary of the temple where the main statue of the god was originally kept. They discovered an undamaged painted "altar", which includes iconography and names written in hieroglyphs of the king Natakamani and his wife Amanitore
, and founders of the temple. The altar is considered unique for Sudan and Egypt in that time period. A fifth statue of the king Natakamani was also discovered in this chamber along with a commemorative stone stela of Queen Amanishakheto
who is believed to have been ruling the Meroites prior to the reign of Natakamani and Amanitore. The obverse shows a delicate sunken relief of the queen and a goddess who was a partner of the Meroitic lion god Apademak. The reverse and sides of the stela contain undeciphered Meroitic hieroglyphs and is considered by the discovery team to be one of the best examples of Meroitic art found to date. After excavation, reconstruction and measurement of the temple of Amun for over a decade, on 1 December 2006, the Sudanese authorities regained management, giving responsibility to the Ministry of Culture.
Another Amun temple, named Naqa 200 has been excavated since 2004. It was built by Amanikhareqerem
and is similar to the Temple of Natakamani very similar and is dated to the 2nd or 3rd century AD although some finds may be contradictory to the precise dating, adding to an already fuzzy understanding of Nubian chronology.
. Apedemak was a lion
-headed warrior god worshipped in Nubia
. The god was used as a sacred guardian of the deceased hereditary chief, prince or king. Anyone who touched the chief's grave was said to be cursed by this Apedemak.
The temple is considered a classic example of Kushite architecture. The front of the temple is an extensive gateway, and depicts Natakamani and Amanitore on the left and right exerting divine power over their prisoners, symbolically with lions at their feet. Who the prisoners are exactly in unclear, although historical records have revealed that the Kushites frequently clashed with invading desert clans. Towards the edges are fine representations of Apedemak who is represented by a snake emerging from a lotus flower. On the sides of the temple are depictions of the gods Amun, Horus
and Apedemak keeping company in the presence of the king. On the rear wall of the temple is the largest depiction of the lion god, and is illustrated receiving offering from the king and queen. He is depicted as a three-headed god with four arms. Inside the temple is a carving of the god Serapis
who is depicted with Greco-Roman style beard. Another god with a crown is depicted but is unidentified, but believed to be of Persian origin.
Although the architecture of the main Apedemak temple is strongly influenced by Ancient Egyptian architecture, exhibiting some classic Egyptian forms, some of the depictions of the king and queen are fine examples of the differences between Egyptian and Kushite art. King Natakamani and Queen Amanitore are depicted with round heads and broad shoulders, with the relief of Amanitore having unusually wide hips, which is more typical of African art. So the temple of Apedemak illustrates profoundly the fusing together of artistic influences by the Kushites, especially when taking into account the nearby Roman kiosk which clearly is influenced by Ancient Greece and Rome (as discussed below). The depiction of Apedemak displaying a lotus flower is also somewhat unusual, and initially led early archaeologists of Naqa to speculate that the temple had Indian influences, given that trade routes from India led to the ancient Red Sea
port of Adulis
, in modern day Eritrea
. However, these possible connections have been dismissed after extensive analytical study.
s) but the sides consists of columns with florid Corinthian capitals arched windows in the Roman style. Recent excavations at the building showed that it was probably devoted to the worship of Hathor
. Testament to this is the discovery of a statue of Isis
, a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world
. Isis is the Goddess of motherhood and fertility
who was worshiped as the ideal mother, wife, matron of nature and magic. The goddess Isis was known to have absorbed some characteristics of Hathor.
around 135 BC, making it the oldest building on the site. The texts on the temple walls are the oldest known writings in Meroitic
hieroglyphs. Judging by the reliefs, the temple was dedicated to the Theban
triad of Amun
, Mut
, and Khonsu, as well as Apedemak
. In 1834, Giuseppe Ferlini
discovered treasure which was severely damaged. A thorough excavation and restoration has been made since.
Kingdom of Kush
The native name of the Kingdom was likely kaš, recorded in Egyptian as .The name Kash is probably connected to Cush in the Hebrew Bible , son of Ham ....
of Meroë
Meroë
Meroë Meroitic: Medewi or Bedewi; Arabic: and Meruwi) is an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah...
in modern-day Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. The ancient city lies about 170 kilometers north-east of Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
and about 50 kilometers east of the Nile River. Here smaller wadis meet the Wadi Awateib coming from the center of the Butana
Butana
Butana is a region in Sudan. It is bordered by the Nile from Khartoum to Atbarah, by the Atbarah River from Atbarah to Ethiopia, by the Ethiopian border from the Atbarah River to the Blue Nile, and by the Blue Nile from Ethiopia to Khartoum. It includes most of the state of Al Qadarif plus parts...
plateau region and further north at Wad ban Naqa
Wad ban Naqa
Wad ban Naqa is the name of an ancient town of the Kushitic Kingdom of Meroë in present-day Sudan. The village lies on the eastern bank of the Nile, about 80 kilometers upstream of Meroë and about 40 km southwest of Shendi...
from where it joins the Nile. Naqa was only a camel or donkey's journey from the Nile, and could serve as a trading station on the way to the east so had strategic importance.
Naqa is one of the largest ruined sites in the country and indicates an important ancient city once stood in the location. It was one of the centers of the Kingdom of Meroë, which served as a bridge between the Mediterranean world and Africa.
The site has two notable temples, one devoted to Amun
Amun
Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...
and the other to Apedemak
Apedemak
Apedemak, alt Apademak, was a lion-headed warrior god worshiped in Nubia by Meroitic peoples. A number of Meroitic temples dedicated to Apedemak are known from the Butana region: Naqa, Meroe, and Musawwarat es-Sufra, which seems to be his chief cult place...
which also has a Roman kiosk nearby.
Research
The first European travelers reached Naqa in 1822, including Hermann von Pückler-MuskauHermann von Pückler-Muskau
Prince was a German nobleman, who was an excellent artist in landscape gardening and wrote widely appreciated books, mostly about his travels in Europe and Northern Africa, published under the pen name of "Semilasso".- Life :He was born at Muskau Castle in Upper Lusatia, then ruled by...
in 1837. In 1843, it was visited by Richard Lepsius and his Prussian Egypt-Sudan expedition. He copied some of the inscriptions and representations of the temple standing here. In 1958 a team from Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
's Humboldt University visited Naqa and documented the temple and restored part of the site along with the nearby site of Musawwarant es Sufra in the 1960s.
Since 1995 Naqa has been excavated by a German-Polish team with the participation of the Egyptian Museum of Berlin
Egyptian Museum of Berlin
The Egyptian Museum of Berlin is home to one of the world's most important collections of Ancient Egyptian artifacts.The collection is part of the Neues Museum.-History:...
and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. It is directed by Professor Dietrich Wildung and is financed by the German Research Council (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and also includes Polish archaeologist Lech Krzyżaniak and a small group of Polish archaeologists from Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
.
Structure
Naqa comprises several Meroitic temples dating back to 4th century BC - 4th century AD, and the ruins of an apparent urban agglomeration and several burial grounds. Archaeologists have cited Naqa as one of the most important centres of this first civilization of Black Africa. The remains of various temples have been found, but the two largest and most significant temples of Naqa are the AmunAmun
Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...
temple and the Apedemak
Apedemak
Apedemak, alt Apademak, was a lion-headed warrior god worshiped in Nubia by Meroitic peoples. A number of Meroitic temples dedicated to Apedemak are known from the Butana region: Naqa, Meroe, and Musawwarat es-Sufra, which seems to be his chief cult place...
temple (also known as the Temple of the Lion), both of which are still well preserved.
Temple of Amun
AmunAmun
Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...
was a deity
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
in Egyptian mythology
Egyptian mythology
Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals which were an integral part of ancient Egyptian society. It centered on the Egyptians' interaction with a multitude of deities who were believed to be present in, and in control of, the forces and elements of nature...
who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
. Whilst remaining hypostatic deities, Amun represented the essential and hidden, whilst in Ra he represented revealed divinity. As the creator deity "par excellence", he was the champion of the poor and central to personal piety. Amun was self created, without mother and father, and during the New Kingdom
New Kingdom
The New Kingdom of Egypt, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt....
he became the greatest expression of transcendental
Transcendence (religion)
In religion transcendence refers to the aspect of God's nature which is wholly independent of the physical universe. This is contrasted with immanence where God is fully present in the physical world and thus accessible to creatures in various ways...
deity in Egyptian theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
. His position as King of gods developed to the point of virtual monotheism
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...
where other gods became manifestations of him. With Osiris
Osiris
Osiris is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He is classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and...
, Amun-Ra is the most widely recorded of the Egyptian gods.
The Amun temple of Naqa was founded by King Natakamani
Natakamani
Natakamani was a King of Kush who reigned from around or earlier than 1 BC to circa AD 20. Natakamani is the best attested ruler of the Meroitic period. He was born to queen Amanishakheto....
and is 100 metres in length and has several statues of the ruler. The temple is aligned on an east-west exis and is made of sandstone, which has been somewhat eroded by the wind. The temple is designed in the Egyptian style, with an outer court and colonnade of rams similar to the Temple of Amun at Jebel Barkal
Jebel Barkal
Jebel Barkal or Gebel Barkal is a very small mountain located some 400 km north of Khartoum, in Karima town in Northern State in Sudan, on a large bend of the Nile River, in the region called Nubia....
and Karnak
Karnak
The Karnak Temple Complex—usually called Karnak—comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings, notably the Great Temple of Amun and a massive structure begun by Pharaoh Ramses II . Sacred Lake is part of the site as well. It is located near Luxor, some...
, and leads to a hyopstyle hall containing the inner sanctuary (naos). The main entrances and walls of the temple contain relief carvings.
Amanitore
Amanitore was a Nubian Kandake of the ancient Kushitic Kingdom of Meroë, which also is referred to as Nubia in many ancient sources. An alternate spelling is Kandace, Kandake, or Kentake. In Egyptian hieroglyphics the throne name of Amanitore reads as Merkare...
, and founders of the temple. The altar is considered unique for Sudan and Egypt in that time period. A fifth statue of the king Natakamani was also discovered in this chamber along with a commemorative stone stela of Queen Amanishakheto
Amanishakheto
Amanishakheto was a Kandake of Nubia. She seems to have reigned from 10 BC to 1 AD, although most dates of Nubian history before the Middle Ages are very uncertain.In Meroitic hieroglyphs her name is written as Amanikasheto...
who is believed to have been ruling the Meroites prior to the reign of Natakamani and Amanitore. The obverse shows a delicate sunken relief of the queen and a goddess who was a partner of the Meroitic lion god Apademak. The reverse and sides of the stela contain undeciphered Meroitic hieroglyphs and is considered by the discovery team to be one of the best examples of Meroitic art found to date. After excavation, reconstruction and measurement of the temple of Amun for over a decade, on 1 December 2006, the Sudanese authorities regained management, giving responsibility to the Ministry of Culture.
Another Amun temple, named Naqa 200 has been excavated since 2004. It was built by Amanikhareqerem
Amanikhareqerem
Amanikhareqerem was a King of Kush who ruled towards during the 2nd century AD or possibly earlier.Until recently not much was known about Amanikhareqerem...
and is similar to the Temple of Natakamani very similar and is dated to the 2nd or 3rd century AD although some finds may be contradictory to the precise dating, adding to an already fuzzy understanding of Nubian chronology.
Temple of Apedemak
Located to the west of the temple of Amun is the temple of ApedemakApedemak
Apedemak, alt Apademak, was a lion-headed warrior god worshiped in Nubia by Meroitic peoples. A number of Meroitic temples dedicated to Apedemak are known from the Butana region: Naqa, Meroe, and Musawwarat es-Sufra, which seems to be his chief cult place...
. Apedemak was a lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
-headed warrior god worshipped in Nubia
Nubia
Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...
. The god was used as a sacred guardian of the deceased hereditary chief, prince or king. Anyone who touched the chief's grave was said to be cursed by this Apedemak.
Horus
Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in the Ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists...
and Apedemak keeping company in the presence of the king. On the rear wall of the temple is the largest depiction of the lion god, and is illustrated receiving offering from the king and queen. He is depicted as a three-headed god with four arms. Inside the temple is a carving of the god Serapis
Serapis
Serapis or Sarapis is a Graeco-Egyptian name of God. Serapis was devised during the 3rd century BC on the orders of Ptolemy I of Egypt as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in his realm. The god was depicted as Greek in appearance, but with Egyptian trappings, and combined iconography...
who is depicted with Greco-Roman style beard. Another god with a crown is depicted but is unidentified, but believed to be of Persian origin.
Although the architecture of the main Apedemak temple is strongly influenced by Ancient Egyptian architecture, exhibiting some classic Egyptian forms, some of the depictions of the king and queen are fine examples of the differences between Egyptian and Kushite art. King Natakamani and Queen Amanitore are depicted with round heads and broad shoulders, with the relief of Amanitore having unusually wide hips, which is more typical of African art. So the temple of Apedemak illustrates profoundly the fusing together of artistic influences by the Kushites, especially when taking into account the nearby Roman kiosk which clearly is influenced by Ancient Greece and Rome (as discussed below). The depiction of Apedemak displaying a lotus flower is also somewhat unusual, and initially led early archaeologists of Naqa to speculate that the temple had Indian influences, given that trade routes from India led to the ancient Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
port of Adulis
Adulis
Adulis or Aduli is an archeological site in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, about 30 miles south of Massawa. It was the port of the Kingdom of Aksum, located on the coast of the Red Sea. Adulis Bay is named after the port...
, in modern day Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
. However, these possible connections have been dismissed after extensive analytical study.
Roman kiosk
The so-called Roman kiosk is a small temple near the main temple building, which has strong Hellenistic elements. The entrance to the kiosk is Egyptian and is topped by a lintel with a row of sacred ureaus (cobraCobra
Cobra is a venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. However, not all snakes commonly referred to as cobras are of the same genus, or even of the same family. The name is short for cobra capo or capa Snake, which is Portuguese for "snake with hood", or "hood-snake"...
s) but the sides consists of columns with florid Corinthian capitals arched windows in the Roman style. Recent excavations at the building showed that it was probably devoted to the worship of Hathor
Hathor
Hathor , is an Ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of love, beauty, music, motherhood and joy. She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt...
. Testament to this is the discovery of a statue of Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
, a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world
Greco-Roman world
The Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman culture, or the term Greco-Roman , when used as an adjective, as understood by modern scholars and writers, refers to those geographical regions and countries that culturally were directly, protractedly and intimately influenced by the language, culture,...
. Isis is the Goddess of motherhood and fertility
Fertility
Fertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...
who was worshiped as the ideal mother, wife, matron of nature and magic. The goddess Isis was known to have absorbed some characteristics of Hathor.
Other
Finally, standing at the foot of the sandstone cliffs of Jabal Naqa the temple named "500". It was built by ShanakdakheteShanakdakhete
Shanakdakheto or Shanakdakhete was a Black African ruling queen of Kush, when the Kingdom was centered at Meroë. She is the earliest known ruling queen of Nubia, and reigned from about 177 to 155 BC...
around 135 BC, making it the oldest building on the site. The texts on the temple walls are the oldest known writings in Meroitic
Meroitic
Meroitic is an adjective referring to things related to the kingdom of Meroë in pre-Islamic Sudan.* The Meroitic period was approximately 300 BC to 400 AD.* The Meroitic script was their writing system....
hieroglyphs. Judging by the reliefs, the temple was dedicated to the Theban
Theban
Theban can refer to:* A thing or person of or from the city of Thebes, Greece.* A thing or person of or from the city of Thebes, Egypt.* The occult Theban alphabet...
triad of Amun
Amun
Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...
, Mut
Mut
Mut, which meant mother in the ancient Egyptian language, was an ancient Egyptian mother goddess with multiple aspects that changed over the thousands of years of the culture. Alternative spellings are Maut and Mout. She was considered a primal deity, associated with the waters from which...
, and Khonsu, as well as Apedemak
Apedemak
Apedemak, alt Apademak, was a lion-headed warrior god worshiped in Nubia by Meroitic peoples. A number of Meroitic temples dedicated to Apedemak are known from the Butana region: Naqa, Meroe, and Musawwarat es-Sufra, which seems to be his chief cult place...
. In 1834, Giuseppe Ferlini
Giuseppe Ferlini
Giuseppe Ferlini , of Bologna, Italy, was an Italian doctor turned explorer and archaeologist who destroyed over 40 pyramids in a quest for treasure in the 1820s in Egypt and Sudan. He served as surgeon the Egyptian army, occupying Sudan...
discovered treasure which was severely damaged. A thorough excavation and restoration has been made since.
