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57-504: Meroë ( / ˈ m ɛr oʊ iː / ; also spelled Meroe ; Meroitic : Medewi ; Arabic : مرواه , romanized :  Meruwah and مروي , Meruwi ; Ancient Greek : Μερόη , romanized :  Meróē ) was 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

114-483: A formidable wall, and governed by a renegade king. To ensure the safety of his men who traversed that desert country, Moses had invented a stratagem whereby the Egyptian army would carry along with them baskets of sedge, each containing an ibis, only to be released when they approached the enemy's country. The purpose of the birds was to kill the deadly serpents that lay all about that country. Having successfully laid siege to

171-614: A new indigenous alphabet , the Meroitic , consisting of twenty-three letters, replaced Egyptian script. The Meroitic script is an alphabetic script originally derived from Egyptian hieroglyphs, used to write the Meroitic language of the Kingdom of Kush. It was developed in the Napatan Period (c. 700 – 300 BC), and first appears in the 2nd century BC. For a time, it was also possibly used to write

228-578: A party of Praetorian soldiers under the command of a tribune and two centurions into this country, who reached the city of Meroë where they were given an escort, then proceeded up the White Nile until they encountered the swamps of the Sudd . This marked the limit of Roman penetration into Africa. The period following Petronius' punitive expedition is marked by abundant trade finds at sites in Meroë. L. P. Kirwan provides

285-413: A period of more than three centuries, from circa 670 BCE for the oldest (pyramid of Taharqa ), to around 310 BCE (pyramid of king Nastasen ). The earliest known pyramid (Nu. 1) at Nuri belongs to king Taharqa which measures 51.75 meters square by 40 or by 50 metres high. The pyramid of Taharqa was situated so that when observed from Jebel Barkal at sunrise on Egyptian New Year's Day, the beginning of

342-507: A series of early states located within the middle Nile. It was one of the earliest and most advanced states found on the African continent. Looking at the specificity of the surrounding early states within the middle Nile, one's understanding of Meroë in combination with the historical developments of other historic states may be enhanced through looking at the development of power relation characteristics within other Nile Valley states. The site of

399-515: A short list of finds from archeological sites in that country. The kingdom of Meroë began to fade as a power by the 1st or 2nd century AD, sapped by the war with Roman Egypt and the decline of its traditional industries. Meroë is mentioned briefly in the 1st century AD Periplus of the Erythraean Sea : 2. On the right-hand coast next below Berenice is the country of the Berbers. Along the shore are

456-414: A word, as opposed to the word's phonemic representation. All non-syllabic, non-vocalic signs are written with their inherent ⟨a⟩ in parentheses. All ⟨e⟩ signs are written in parentheses (or brackets if in a word in parentheses) because of not knowing whether the ⟨e⟩ is a non-phonemic placeholder to preserve the syllabicity of the script or is actually vocalic. It

513-444: Is a matter of debate in modern scholarship). The centralized control of production within the Meroitic empire and distribution of certain crafts and manufactures may have been politically important with their iron industry and pottery crafts gaining the most significant attention. The Meroitic settlements were oriented in a savannah orientation with the varying of permanent and less permanent agricultural settlements can be attributed to

570-486: Is known that the final ⟨e⟩ in Kandake/ Kentake (female ruler) is vocalic and the initial vowel in ⟨yetmde⟩ , ⟨edxe⟩ , and ⟨erike⟩ is vocalic. Since those are known to be vocalic, they are not in parentheses. Any known ⟨n(a)⟩ signs resyllabified into coda position are written. Nuri Nuri is the second of three Napatan burial sites and

627-455: Is made up two morphemes, - ⟨l(a)⟩ (determinant) + ⟨o⟩ (copula). The language likely became fully extinct by the 6th century when it was supplanted by Byzantine Greek , Coptic , and Old Nubian . During the Meroitic period, Meroitic was written in two forms of the Meroitic alphasyllabary : Meroitic Cursive, which was written with a stylus and was used for general record-keeping; and Meroitic Hieroglyphic, which

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684-411: Is named for one of the sons of Cush (see Genesis 10:7). The presence of numerous Meroitic sites within the western Butana region and on the border of Butana proper is significant to the settlement of the core of the developed region. The orientation of these settlements exhibit the exercise of state power over subsistence production. The Kingdom of Kush which housed the city of Meroë represents one of

741-506: Is of much importance due to the annual flooding of the Nile river valley and the connection to many major river systems such as the Niger which aided with the production of pottery and iron characteristic to the Meroitic kingdom that allowed for the rise in power of its people. According to partially deciphered Meroitic texts, Meroitic "d" was transcribed in foreign languages as "r", with the native name of

798-602: Is poorly understood, owing to the scarcity of bilingual texts. Meroitic is also referred to in some publications as Kushite after the apparent attested endoethnonym Meroitic qes , qos (transcribed in Egyptian as kꜣš ). The name Meroitic in English dates to 1852 where it occurs as a translation of German Meroitisch . The term derives from Latin Meroē , corresponding to Greek Μερόη . These latter names are representations of

855-607: Is related to the Nubian languages and similar languages of the Nilo-Saharan phylum . The competing claim is that Meroitic is a member of the Afroasiatic phylum . Rowan (2006, 2011) proposes that the Meroitic sound inventory and phonotactics (the only aspects of the language that are secure) are similar to those of the Afroasiatic languages , and dissimilar from Nilo-Saharan languages. For example, she notes that very rarely does one find

912-548: Is the most recent proponent of the Nilo-Saharan idea: he proposes, based on its syntax, morphology, and known vocabulary, that Meroitic is Eastern Sudanic , the Nilo-Saharan family that includes the Nubian languages. He finds, for example, that word order in Meroitic "conforms perfectly with other Eastern Sudanic languages, in which sentences exhibit verb-final order (SOV: subject-object-verb); there are postpositions and no prepositions;

969-579: The Blue Nile . The city of Meroë was on the edge of Butana . There were two other Meroitic cities in Butana: Musawwarat es-Sufra and Naqa . The first of these sites was given the name Meroë by the Persian king Cambyses , in honor of his sister who was called by that name. The city had originally borne the ancient appellation Saba , named after the country's original founder. The eponym Saba , or Seba ,

1026-556: The Nobiin language , instead belongs to the Eastern Sudanic branch of the Nilo-Saharan family. The site of Meroë was brought to the knowledge of Europeans in 1821 by the French mineralogist Frédéric Cailliaud (1787–1869), who published an illustrated in-folio describing the ruins. His work included the first publication of the southernmost known Latin inscription. As Margoliouth notes in

1083-631: The Nubian language of the successor Nubian kingdoms. It is uncertain to which language family the Meroitic language is related. Kirsty Rowan suggests that Meroitic, like the Egyptian language , belongs to the Afro-Asiatic family. She bases this on its sound inventory and phonotactics , which, she proposes, are similar to those of the Afro-Asiatic languages and dissimilar from those of the Nilo-Saharan languages. Claude Rilly, based on its syntax, morphology, and known vocabulary, proposes that Meroitic, like

1140-721: The Pyramids of Meroë , containing the remains of the Kings and Queens of Meroë from c. 300 BC to about 350 AD. The seat of government and the royal palace are in Meroë. Kings and many queens are buried in Meroë , in the South Cemetery. Napata remained relevant for the Amun Temple. The first King of the period was Aktisanes (Early 3rd century BC) and the last king of the period was Sabrakamani (first half 3rd century BC). The seat of government and

1197-494: The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica , small scale excavations occurred in 1834, led by Giuseppe Ferlini , who, as Margoliouth states, "discovered (or professed to discover) various antiquities, chiefly in the form of jewelry, now in the museums of Berlin and Munich ." Margoliouth continues, The ruins were examined in 1844 by C. R. Lepsius , who brought many plans, sketches and copies, besides actual antiquities, to Berlin. Further excavations were carried on by E. A. Wallis Budge in

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1254-461: The Axumites destroyed the Kingdom of Kush, others note that archeological evidence points to an economic and political decline in Meroë around 300. Jewish oral tradition avers that Moses , in his younger years, had led an Egyptian military expedition into Sudan (Kush), as far as the city of Meroë, which was then called Saba. The city was built near the confluence of two great rivers and was encircled by

1311-528: The Egyptian execration texts concerning Kerma . Meroitic names and phrases appear in the New Kingdom Book of the Dead (Book of Coming Forth by Day) in the "Nubian" chapters or spells (162–165). Meroitic names and lexical items, in Egyptian texts, are most frequently attested during Napatan Kushite control of some or all parts of Egypt in the late 3rd Intermediate and Late Periods (ca. 750–656 BC). Both

1368-657: The Fish-Eaters, living in scattered caves in the narrow valleys. Farther inland are the Berbers, and beyond them the Wild-flesh-Eaters and Calf-Eaters, each tribe governed by its chief; and behind them, farther inland, in the country towards the west, there lies a city called Meroe. Kings were buried in Meroë , in the North Cemetery, and Queens in West Cemetery. In 350 AD Meroë was destroyed by Axum . The first king of

1425-542: The Meroitic Period and the Kingdom of Kush itself ended with the fall of Meroë (ca. 350 AD), but use of the Meroitic language continued for a time after that event as there are detectable Meroitic lexemes and morphological features in Old Nubian . Two examples are: Meroitic: ⟨m(a)s(a)-l(a)⟩ "the sun" → Old Nubian: mašal "sun" and Old Nubian: -lo (focus particle) ← Meroitic: - ⟨lo⟩ which

1482-459: The Meroitic empire and their subsequent distribution provides insight into the social and political workings of the Meroitic state. The major determinant of production was attributed to the availability of labor rather than the political power associated with land. Power was associated with control of people rather than control of territory. The sakia , was used to move water, in conjunction with irrigation, to increase crop production. At its peak,

1539-536: The Roman borders. In 23 BC, in response to a Nubian attack on southern Egypt, the Roman governor of Egypt, Publius Petronius , invaded Nubia to end the Meroitic raids. He pillaged northern Nubia and sacked Napata (22 BC) before returning home. In retaliation, the Nubians crossed the lower border of Egypt and looted many statues from the Egyptian towns near the first cataract of the Nile at Aswan. Roman forces later reclaimed some of

1596-496: The annual flooding of the Nile , the sun would rise from the horizon directly over its point. Tantamani , successor of Taharqa, was buried at el-Kurru , but all following Napatan kings and many of their queens and children until Nastasen (Nu. 15) (about 315 BC) were buried here, some 80 royals. The pyramids at Nuri are, in general, smaller than the Egyptian ones and are today often heavily degraded (caused by both humans and nature), but often still contained substantial parts of

1653-582: The city being Medewi . The Kings ruled over Napata and Meroë. The seat of government and the royal palace were in Meroë . The Main temple of Amun was located in Napata . Kings and many queens are buried in Nuri , some queens are buried in Meroë , in the West Cemetery. The earliest king was Analmaye (542–538 BC) and the last king of the first phase is Nastasen (335–315 BC) In the fifth century BC, Greek historian Herodotus described it as "a great city...said to be

1710-531: The city of Meroë is marked by more than two hundred pyramids in three groups, of which many are in ruins. They have the distinctive size and proportions of Nubian pyramids . Meroë was the southern capital of the Kingdom of Kush . The Kingdom of Kush spanned the period c. 800 BC – c. 350 AD. Initially, its main capital was farther north at Napata . King Aspelta moved the capital to Meroë, considerably farther south than Napata , possibly c. 591 BC, just after

1767-638: The city, the city was eventually subdued by the betrayal of the king's daughter, who had agreed to deliver the city to Moses on condition that he would consummate a marriage with her, under the solemn assurance of an oath. Meroë was the base of a flourishing kingdom whose wealth was centered around a strong iron industry. Metalworking is believed to have taken place in Meroë, possibly through bloomeries and blast furnaces . Archibald Sayce reportedly referred to it as "the Birmingham of Africa", because of perceived vast production and trade of iron (a contention that

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1824-501: The construction of pyramids at Nuri began when there was no longer enough space at El-Kurru . More than 20 ancient pyramids belonging to Nubian kings and queens are still standing at Nuri, which served as a royal necropolis for the ancient city of Napata , the first capital of the Nubian Kingdom of Kush. It is probable that, at its apex, 80 or more pyramids stood at Nuri, marking the tombs of royals. The pyramids at Nuri were built over

1881-515: The exploitation of rainlands and savannah-oriented forms of subsistence. At the time, iron was one of the most important metals worldwide, and Meroitic metalworkers were among the best in the world. Meroë traded ivory, slaves, rare skins, ostrich feathers, copper, and ebony. Meroë also exported textiles and jewelry . Their textiles were based on cotton and working on this product reached its highest achievement in Nubia around 400 BC. Furthermore, Nubia

1938-451: The far north were much smaller and may have been built for wives of lesser rank. It was also found by Dows Dunham , an experienced archaeologist, that there were references to two other kings in three of the pyramids including King Taharqa. But, if they are buried there, their tombs have yet to be located and excavated. Numerous artifacts were found in the Nuri tombs, mainly excavated in 1916 by

1995-452: The fourth period was Shorkaror (1st century AD), while the last rulers may have been King Yesebokheamani or King Talakhidamani in the 4th century AD. The Aksumite presence was short lived before Meroë was taken by the Kingdom of Alodia . A stele of Ge'ez of an unnamed ruler of the Kingdom of Aksum thought to be Ezana was found at the site of Meroë; from its description, in Greek , he

2052-603: The funerary equipment of the Kushite rulers who were buried here. During the Christian era, a church was erected here. The church was built at least in part from reused pyramid stones, including several stelae originally coming from the pyramid chapels. The pyramids were partially excavated by George Reisner in the early 20th century. In 2018, a new archaeological expedition began work at the site, directed by Pearce Paul Creasman . The pyramids of Nuri, together with other buildings in

2109-594: The genitive is placed before the main noun; the adjective follows the noun." The Meroitic period began ca. 300 BC and ended ca. 350 AD. Most attestations of the Meroitic language, via native inscriptions, hail from this period, though some attestations pre- and post-date this period. The Kushite territory stretched from the area of the First Cataract of the Nile to the Khartoum area of Sudan. It can be assumed that speakers of Meroitic covered much of that territory based on

2166-724: The language contact evidenced in Egyptian texts. Attestations of Meroitic in Egyptian texts, span across the Egyptian Middle Kingdom , the New Kingdom , and the late 3rd Intermediate , Late , Ptolemaic , and Roman periods – respectively corresponding to the Kushite Kerman (ca. 2600–ca. 1500 BC), Napatan (ca. 900/750–ca. 300 BC), and Meroitic periods. The Meroitic toponym ⟨qes⟩ , ⟨qos⟩ , as well as Meroitic anthroponyms, are attested as early as Middle Kingdom Egypt's 12th Dynasty (ca. 2000 BC) in

2223-535: The mother city of the other Ethiopians." Excavations revealed evidence of important, high ranking Kushite burials from the Napatan Period (c. 800 – c. 280 BC) in the vicinity of the settlement called the Western Cemetery. The importance of the town gradually increased from the beginning of the Meroitic Period , especially from the reign of Arakamani (c. 280 BC) when the royal burial ground was transferred to Meroë from Napata ( Gebel Barkal ). Royal burials formed

2280-676: The museum at Khartoum . In 1910, in consequence of a report by Professor Archibald Sayce , excavations were commenced in the mounds of the town and the necropolis by J[ohn] Garstang on behalf of the University of Liverpool , and the ruins of a palace and several temples were discovered, built by the Meroite kings. In June 2011, the Archeological Sites of Meroë were listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. Meroitic language The Meroitic language ( / m ɛr oʊ ˈ ɪ t ɪ k / )

2337-426: The name of the royal city of Meroë of the Kingdom of Kush . In Meroitic, this city is referred to as bedewe (or sometimes bedewi ), which is represented in ancient Egyptian texts as bꜣ-rꜣ-wꜣ or similar variants. The classification of the Meroitic language is uncertain due to the scarcity of data and difficulty in interpreting it. Since the alphabet was deciphered in 1909, it has been proposed that Meroitic

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2394-420: The people of Meroë also had southern deities such as Apedemak , the lion-son of Sekhmet (or Bast , depending upon the region), they also continued worshipping ancient Egyptian gods that they had brought with them. Among these deities were Amun , Tefnut , Horus , Isis , Thoth and Satis , though to a lesser extent. The collapse of their external trade with other Nile Valley states may be considered one of

2451-504: The prime causes of the decline of royal power and disintegration of the Meroitic state in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. The Meroitic language was spoken in Meroë and the Sudan during the Meroitic period (attested from 300 BC). It became extinct around 400 AD. The language was written in two forms of the Meroitic alphabet : Meroitic Cursive, which was written with a stylus and was used for general record-keeping; and Meroitic Hieroglyphic, which

2508-514: The region around Gebel Barkal, have been placed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Site since 2003. The royal family of Kush was buried in the cemeteries of Nuri and el-Kurru . The King's Mothers were buried in the southern group, but this is not an area exclusively used for the burial of King's Mothers. Most of the King's Wives were buried in the parallel rows just north of Taharqa's tomb. The tombs to

2565-505: The reliefs on the chapel walls, already described by Lepsius, and containing the names with representations of queens and some kings, with some chapters of the Book of the Dead ; some steles with inscriptions in the Meroitic language, and some vessels of metal and earthenware. The best of the reliefs were taken down stone by stone in 1905, and set up partly in the British Museum and partly in

2622-494: The royal palace are in Meroë . Kings are buried in Meroë , in the North Cemetery, and Queens in West Cemetery. Napata remained relevant for the Amun Temple. Meroë flourished and many building projects were undertaken. The first king of the period is Arakamani (270–260 BC), the last ruler is Queen Amanitore (mid/late 1st century AD) Many artifacts were found in Meroitic tombs from around this time. Rome's conquest of Egypt led to border skirmishes and incursions by Meroë beyond

2679-535: The rulers of Meroë controlled the Nile Valley north to south, over a straight-line distance of more than 1,000 km (620 mi). The King of Meroë was an autocratic ruler who shared his authority only with the Queen Mother, or Candace . However, the role of the Queen Mother remains obscure. The administration consisted of treasurers , seal bearers, heads of archives and chief scribes , among others. Although

2736-550: The sack of Napata by Egyptian Pharaoh Psamtik II . Martin Meredith states the Kushite rulers chose Meroë, between the Fifth and Sixth Cataracts , because it was on the fringe of the summer rainfall belt, and the area was rich in iron ore and hardwood for iron working . The location also afforded access to trade routes to the Red Sea . The city of Meroë was located along the middle Nile which

2793-483: The sequence C V C, where the consonants (C) are both labials or both velars, noting that is similar to consonant restrictions found throughout the Afroasiatic language family, suggesting that Meroitic might have been an Afroasiatic language like Egyptian. Semitist Edward Lipiński (2011) also argues in favour for an Afro Asiatic origin of Meroitic based primarily on vocabulary. Claude Rilly (2004, 2007, 2012, 2016)

2850-516: The site is a group of villages called Bagrawiyah ( Arabic : البجراوية ). This city was the capital of the Kingdom of Kush for several centuries from around 590 BC, until its collapse in the 4th century AD. The Kushitic Kingdom of Meroë gave its name to the "Island of Meroë", which was the modern region of Butana , a region bounded by the Nile (from the Atbarah River to Khartoum ), the Atbarah and

2907-404: The statues, and others were returned following the peace treaty signed in 22 BC between Rome and Meroë under Augustus and Amanirenas , respectively. One looted head , from a statue of the emperor Augustus , was buried under the steps of a temple in Meroë; it is now kept in the British Museum . The next recorded contact between Rome and Meroë was in the autumn of 61 AD. The Emperor Nero sent

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2964-461: The years 1902 and 1905, the results of which are recorded in his work, The Egyptian Sudan: its History and Monuments … Troops were furnished by Sir Reginald Wingate , governor of the Sudan, who made paths to and between the pyramids, and sank shafts, &c. It was found that the pyramids were regularly built over sepulchral chambers, containing the remains of bodies either burned or buried without being mummified. The most interesting objects found were

3021-723: Was "King of the Aksumites and the Omerites ," (i.e. of Aksum and Himyar ) it is likely this king ruled sometime around 330. Another inscription in Greek gives the regnal claims of Ezana : I, Ezana , King of the Axumites and Himyarites and of Reeidan and of the Sabaites and of Sileel (?) and of Hasa and of the Bougaites and of Taimo... While some authorities interpret these inscriptions as proof that

3078-423: Was a language of uncertain linguistic affiliation spoken in Meroë (in present-day Sudan ) during the Meroitic period (attested from 300 BC) and became extinct about 400 AD. It was written in two forms of the Meroitic alphabet : Meroitic Cursive, which was written with a stylus and was used for general record-keeping; and Meroitic Hieroglyphic, which was carved in stone or used for royal or religious documents. It

3135-417: Was carved in stone or used for royal or religious documents. It is not well understood due to the scarcity of bilingual texts. The earliest inscription in Meroitic writing dates from between 180 and 170 BC. These hieroglyphics were found engraved on the temple of Queen Shanakdakhete . Meroitic Cursive is written horizontally, and reads from right to left like all Semitic orthographies. By the 3rd century BC,

3192-467: Was carved in stone or used for royal or religious documents. The last known Meroitic inscription is written in Meroitic Cursive and dates to the 5th century. Below is a short list of Kushite words and parts of speech whose meanings are positively known and are not known to be adopted from Egyptian. Angle brackets ( ⟨...⟩ ) represent the graphemes , or orthographic letters, used to write

3249-608: Was very rich in gold . It is possible that the Egyptian word for gold , nub , was the source of name of Nubia . Trade in "exotic" animals from farther south in Africa was another feature of their economy. Apart from the iron trade, pottery was a widespread and prominent industry in the Meroë kingdom. The production of fine and elaborately decorated wares was a strong tradition within the middle Nile. Such productions carried considerable social significance and are believed to be involved in mortuary rites. The long history of goods imported into

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