Aegyptisches Museum Berlin InvNr7261 20080313 Barkenuntersatz Natakamani Amanitore aus Wad Ban Naga 2

Wad ben Naga (also Wad Ban Naqa or Wad Naga) is the name of an ancient town of the Kushitic Kingdom of

Meroë Meroë (; also spelled ''Meroe''; Meroitic: or ; ar, مرواه, translit=Meruwah and ar, مروي, translit=Meruwi, label=none; grc, Μερόη, translit=Meróē) was an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east ...

in present-day Sudan. The village lies on the eastern bank of the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest riv ...

, about 80 kilometers upstream of

and about 40 km southwest of

Shendi Shendi or Shandi ( ar, شندي) is a small city in northern Sudan, situated on the southeastern bank of the Nile River 150 km northeast of Khartoum. Shandi is also about 45 km southwest of the ancient city of Meroë. Located in the ...

History

The place is so far little explored. The earliest known building on the site is a very large, two-story brick palace built by Queen

Amanishakheto Amanishakheto was a Kandake of Kush. She seems to have reigned from 10 BC to 1 AD, although most dates of Kushite history before the Middle Ages are very uncertain. In Meroitic hieroglyphs her name is written "Amanikasheto" (''Mniskhte'' or ''( ...

(first century AD) whose large pyramid in the royal cemetery at Meroe (BEG N 6) contained a hoard of gold jewellery found in the early 19th century by the Italian treasure hunter, Giuseppe Ferlini (NB: several references to this site erroneously identify the pyramid as having been built at Wad ben Naga).Wildung (1997), p. 256 South of the palace is a circular building of unknown function, whose walls are still up to 5 m high. There was a temple of

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

that has now been destroyed. Nearby was small temple with columns with the god Bes carved on them that might have functioned as a divine birth house ( mammisi). It was probably built by Natakamani and

Amanitore Amanitore (early or mid-1st century CE), also spelled Amanitere or Amanitare, was a Nubian Kandake, or queen regnant, of the ancient Kushitic Kingdom of Meroë, which also is referred to as Nubia in many ancient sources. Alternative spellings in ...

(first century AD). There are the remains of several other unexplored temples at the site in addition to the one dedicated to Isis. New excavations at the site began in 2009 under the direction of the National Museum of the Czech Republic.

Notes and references

Bibliography

* *Wenig, Steffen : ''Die meroitische Königin Amanitore. Barkenuntersatz aus Wad Ban Naqa (Sudan), um 20 u.Z., Nr. 7261''. Neue Museumskunde 20 (2) (1977), S. 82 *''The temple of Apedemak in Naqua''. In S. 226f. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wad Ban Naqa Archaeological sites in Sudan Former populated places in Sudan Kingdom of Kush