The Sudan

National Museum
in Khartoum

An illustrated guide
for visitors
 A short history of
the Sudan
To get a good overview of the history of the Sudan, it is quite handy to
start with a map. Geography explains the history of a country quite well, but
it is all the more true in Sudan, a wide desert spread crossed only by the thin
strip in the shape of an “S” that is the Middle Nile valley, interrupted by five
of the six cataracts. In the entrance of the exhibition hall of the Museum, a
big bilingual map (Arabic/English) was put up three years ago. There had to
be modifications to be made following the independence of South Sudan. As
far as archaeology is concerned, the main topic of this visit is Sudan proper.
Ancient remains have been found from the border with Egypt to the Khartoum
region and the Blue Nile, but not much to the south. In the South, the soil and
the climate do not allow a good preservation of artifacts and skeletons. The
cultures that have evolved there were using perishable building materials such
as wood that did not survive in the acid soil of the rainforest; whereas in the
North, like in Meroe for example, stone and brick architecture buried in the
sand can be preserved for millennia and it is the material that Egyptologists are
accustomed to study.
The border between Egypt and Sudan, today located slightly north
of the second cataract, is one of the oldest in the world. It has been there for
approximately 5000 years. Despite invasions from one side or another, it has
barely moved. In the Museum gardens, you will discover the most ancient
monument witnessing the conflicts regarding that border (Rock art from
Jebel Sheikh Suleiman 4 ). These conflicts were opposing Egypt and Sudan,
two enemy brothers, two civilizations that interpenetrated each other
continuously for millennia, that admired and loathed each other and that
fought a lot. At the dawn of historical times, ca. 3100 BC, Egypt is unified and
the two kingdoms are merged under the leadership of one man that will be
called “Pharaoh”.
The emergence of the kingdom of Egypt is mostly due to climate
change, a phenomenon that happened in Sudan 500 years later, namely the
Sahara desertification, with the same political consequences: the formation of
a large kingdom. Ca. 8000 BC, the climate is very humid: the Sahara is green,
Map of Sudan in the entrance of the exhibition hall of the museum the Nile is so large (this period is referred to as the “Wild Nile Period”) that
the Khartoum reach and Upper Nubia are covered in swamps infested by
1
mosquitoes, the river’s borders are often drowned during devastating floods.
Therefore, people prefer to settle far away from the Nile, as the river banks
are too dangerous. The Nile’s tributaries were far more hospitable, especially
the Wadi Howar, nowadays almost completely dry, that came from the Ennedi
(Chad) and flowed into the Nile at ed-Debba. The Sahara is therefore filled with
tribes that discover pastoralism from 8000-7000 BC, when the domestication
of cattle in Africa begins. Thanks to the recent excavations carried out by the
Swiss team directed by Matthieu Honegger in the area of Kerma, the local origin
of cattle in Nubia has been confirmed. Ca. 5000 BC, caprine and ovine were
introduced through the Sinai from the Near East. They are less demanding in
water and pastures than cattle and better adapted to a drying climate.
Around 4000 BC in Egypt and 3000 BC in Sudan, the Sahara was indeed
becoming the desert we know nowadays. The different peoples dwelling there
were then moving closer and closer to the Nile, then much more hospitable
during these less humid periods. This merging of peoples in Egypt eventually
led to the creation of a kingdom aiming to confederate all the different groups
that were living in the Nile valley, from then the only livable oasis. Ca. 2500 BC,
more than 500 years later given the latitude difference, the same phenomenon
happened in Sudan. A first state was created: the Kingdom of Kerma. The first
capital, Kerma, already existed for almost a millennium before that in the shape
of a large village called “Pre-Kerma” and located 4km from the Nile in the place
where the necropolis of the new Kerma will later be. The inhabitants moved
closer to the Nile, it was much lower then and less dangerous. But they reused
their former settlement as a graveyard, clearly showing the continuity between
Pre-Kerma and Kerma. Around the same time, the “C-Group” settled in the
North of Sudan, this population is likely to have been genetically close to the
newcomers that transformed the Pre-Kerma village into the Kerma Kingdom,
the “Pre-Meroites”. C-Group, Pre-Meroites and others came from Darfur and
Kordofan in several waves and were probably speaking related languages. The
C-Group never federalized into a kingdom and stayed a stockbreeders’ culture
with a few little semi-urban centres serving as markets. Eventually, it will
come under the influence of Kerma and will be completely assimilated by the
Kingdom.
The Kingdom of Kerma was founded ca. 2540 BC, when the desert was
almost completely dried off. It will extend thanks to the important agricultural
resources of the region: a very large green area several kilometres-wide, now
covered in palm groves. This rich agricultural potential allowed the kingdom General chronology of Sudan

2 3
 !
to develop until the 5th cataract. To the North, it had already seized the territory
of the C-Group, especially on the island of Sai. They were restlessly expanding
their territory, until they were confronted with a fierce resistance: the Middle

!
Kingdom Egyptians. The latter, seeing this fast growing and powerful kingdom
at their door decided to stop them. At the beginning of the 19th century BC, Five names for one country !
they installed a large separation line at the second cataract, about ten massive
mudbrick fortresses (Semna, Kumma, Ouronarti, Buhen, Shelfak, Mirgissa),
creating Egyptian colonies around the garrisons. In the end, this Maginot The names given to the Sudan have been numerous in the past and the
line will not prove very effective since in 1700 BC, the Kingdom of Kerma will modern name is quite recent. In Ancient Egypt, it was first referred to as the “Land
of the Bow”, Ta-Seti in Egyptian, simply because the inhabitants of Sudan have
invade the whole region.
always been skillful bowmen. Even in later times, in the relation of the storming of
The Egyptians were going through major difficulties at the time: they
Old Dongola during the first Muslim invasion, the Arab chroniclers call them “the
were occupied by a people of Cananaean origin, the Hyksos, ancient cousins pupil-smiters” to honour their skills. From 2000 BC, ancient Sudan will take the
of the Hebrews in a way, leaving only Upper Egypt to them around Thebes. name “Kush” in Egyptian texts and hence, later, in the Hebrew version of the Bible.
This 17th Dynasty composed of “broke” pharaohs, with poor sycamore wood It is likely to have been the name the Kushites gave themselves. It will be maintained
sarcophagi and small brick pyramids, tries to survive, stuck in between two until the very last Meroitic texts where “Kusha” (written Qes) is the name of the
major dangerous powers: the Hyksos to the North and the kingdom of Kerma kingdom. The Greeks first discover these populations in Lower Egypt, where they
to the South. We have copies of the letters sent by the king of the Hyksos to the settled since 650 BC in Naucratis. They call these black people “the burnt faces”,
king of Kerma in order to forge alliances against the kingdom of Thebes, that “Aethiops” that gave “Ethiopia”. This name will designate Ancient Sudan until the
was close to disappear. Thanks to an inscription discovered in 2003 in El-Kab, Second World War. It is found in Jean Leclant’s thesis in the 1950’s Enquête sur les
close to Thebes, we know that the Kerma raids were all the more dangerous sacerdoces et les sanctuaires égyptiens à l’époque “éthiopienne”. It was only much
more recently that the name “Ethiopia” was used to designate what used to be
because they had formed an alliance with neighbouring peoples, one of which
called Abyssinia. Emperor Haile Selassie overtook the name for it was mentioned
was the famous “Punt” (kingdom that is thought to have been around modern
in the Bible and he had the will to link Ethiopia to a glorious past. The name of
Eritrea), to invade Egypt. In the end, Egyptians escaped their fate with the Sudan comes from Arabic and means “the land of the Black people”. Another
help of their queens, who were taking care of internal state affairs while their name that was used is “Nubia”. It appeared in the medieval period. It comes from
husbands and sons were on the battlefield. These queens, between the 17th and the word “Nubian”, that the Meroites, the last Kushites, gave to their worst enemy:
18th dynasty may have led armies themselves, one of them Ahhotep, mother tribes that came from Darfur and Kordofan and that were nevertheless related to
of Ahmosis, founder of the 18th dynasty, received the highest existing order them in terms of language and ethnicity. These tribes probably called themselves
of valour for a warrior: a golden flies necklace that was found in her tomb. the “Magur” in their own language but the Meroites gave them as “slaves” that is
Ahmosis decided to attack Hyksos around 1550 BC. He was not the first one to translated “Nuba” in Meroitic, which has become the word “Nubian”. It has nothing
attempt this, his father died on the field and his brothers also fought them. He to do with Egyptian’s word for “gold” (“nebu”, Coptic: noub). The Egyptians didn’t
eventually managed to throw the invader out of Egypt and fight battles as far use the word “Nubia” or “Nubians”. But Egyptologists use it systematically even
to designate the ancient peoples of Sudan whereas “Nubians” proper appear much
as in Palestine to establish a sustainable power over Lower Egypt.
later in history. To sum up, “the Land of the Bow”, “Kush”, “Ethiopia”, “Nubia” and
Once the Northern issue was settled, the Egyptians looked to the South
“Sudan” are the five name that Sudan bore.
to settle its accounts with Kerma. This took them time. It was recently still
thought to have taken only one or two reigns. We now know that it demanded
more like five or six. Conquests were followed by insurrections and 150 years
were necessary to pacify the region, meaning to establish Pharaoh’s power.

4 5
 After several episodes, Kerma was destroyed and a new town was built nearby:
Dukki Gel, where the famous statues of “Black Pharaohs” were discovered in
2003. The Egyptians established themselves over the entire Kerma kingdom.
Thoutmosis I then Thoutmosis III had inscriptions engraved on rocks as
a frontier landmark in Kurgus, in the 5th cataract region that was already
delimitating the kingdom of Kerma. The whole territory was divided in two
provinces, Wawat to the North (Lower Nubia) and Kush to the South (Upper
Nubia and Central Sudan).
Let’s go back to the situation in Sudan in the 18th Dynasty, in ca. 1500
BC. Until 900 BC, Egyptians exploited the land in a colonialist way, stripping
it off of its ebony wood (no good wood can be found in Egypt), slaves, gold
(in large quantities in the Wawat region) and all the products that come from
Africa: panther’s skins, ostrich eggs, things that were not useful for daily
life but that were used in cultual context and for diplomatic gifts from the
Pharaohs to the rulers of the Near-East. At first, they placed a prince in Sudan,
“the Royal Son of Kush”, just a high rank official later on, that will settled first
in Aniba (nowadays in Egyptian Nubia) and later on in Tumbus, close to the
third cataract. Egyptian officials in Sudan built themselves pyramids: this type
of burial was abandoned long before by Pharaohs but was still in use by the
elite during the New Kingdom. They were sharper than those of the kings in
order to save some material and manpower. They will inspire the later Meroitic
pyramids.
Ca. 900 BC, Egyptians had to focus their attention to the North, because
of the Libyans who had invaded several cities in the Nile Delta and created
independent petty kingdoms. Therefore, they left Sudan, leaving behind them
a local elite that was deeply influenced by the Egyptian culture. Around a
spectacular mountain called today Jebel Barkal, the Egyptians had created a
small town. The Jebel however was considered to be the home of god Amun
because of the cobra-shaped pinnacle to the south of the Jebel. This town called
Napata (modern Karima) became the capital of a new local power. Napatans
grew in importance in the region, especially in terms of military skills. They
imitated the most efficient institutions of Egypt: Pharaonic administration,
religion, society and royal ideology. As early as the 9th c. BC, in Napata, there
was a king self-proclaimed “son of Amun” since they also borrowed this deity
from Egypt and placed it at the head of their pantheon, mixing it with one of
Map of the main archaeological sites theirs, who was represented by a ram in the Kerma period. The ram-god Amun
mentioned in the text thus became the tutelary deity of Napata.

6 7
 Taking advantage of the weakness of the Egyptians who were divided state that was the main predator of other peoples in these times, namely the
in the Nile Delta in several principalities, they recovered the whole of Lower Assyrians. Despite their military power, Assyrians had a hard time defeating
Nubia and started to expand on Egypt’s territory. Under the reign of their first the Kushites, but their king Assurbanipal forced the Sudanese Pharaohs to
great king Kashta, ca. 760 BC, they eventually took over Thebes and Upper retreat into their land twice. The second and last defeat of the Black Pharaohs
Egypt. The king set his own daughter as a “god-wife”, a sort of local popess. took place in 664 BC under the reign of Tanwetamani, whose reign over Egypt
The late kings of Egypt were used to being represented by their daughters in only lasted nine months. The ultimate catastrophe was the sack of Thebes by
Upper Egypt. These “god-wives” were virgins, considered to be the wives of the the Assyrians, as the town was never conquered in over a millennium and a
god Amun and placed at the head of a theocratic principality. They succeeded half. It was the first time that it was reached by enemies and all its treasures
to each other by adoption, more or less imposed when there was a dynasty plundered.
change. The Assyrians did not go any further to the south of Thebes. They
Piankhy, the son of Kashta, finally conquered the whole of Egypt, completely disappeared, swept away by the Babylonians. In the end, the territory
in its former frontiers, roughly as far as Palestine. But he made the mistake of Kush was delimited by the second cataract and went down to the Khartoum
of coming back in his capital city Napata after his conquests. As soon as he region but excluded Egypt. This did not prevent the following rulers of Kush
did, all the petty kings of the Nile Delta that has submitted themselves to to call themselves “king of Upper and Lower Egypt, son of Amun, pharaoh”.
Piankhy, knowing that he was living 2000 km away from them, took back their From 664 BC to the end of the Roman Empire, there were two pharaohs: one
independence. Shabaqo, Piankhy’s brother had therefore to repeat the conquest to the North that was most of the time a foreigner, Persian, Greek then Roman
during his reign. He then settled in Memphis in Egypt. Egyptian chroniclers and one Sudanese to the South. At the time of Cleopatra, there was a queen in
then considered him a real Pharaoh. It is from Shabaqo’s reign that the 25th Sudan that ruled over Kush and bore the exact same title as in Egypt.
Egyptian dynasty’s beginning is traditionally placed, formerly know as the This new era in the history of Sudan is called the Napatan period,
“Ethiopian dynasty”, and that we know prefer to call the “Kushite dynasty”, from Napata, the religious metropolis, around which the kings were buried
more commonly known as the “Black Pharaohs”. in three necropolises: El-Kurru, Nuri and Barkal. They built pyramids whose
The Kushite domination started de facto under the reign of Kashta ca. shape were inspired by the ones that the “royal sons of Kush”, viceroys of the
760 BC and lasted until 664 BC, therefore representing a close to 100 years Egyptian colonization, had built in the region of Wawat.
long Sudanese sovereignty in Egypt. These rulers were well perceived due to For a few reigns, the transition went on without problems. Despite the
their piety. They worshipped gods like Amun, whose cult was decreasing in eviction from Egypt, the kings of Napata were still rather powerful. However,
Egypt, where salvation deities like Isis or Osiris were then preferred. They after the death of Anlamani, there seems to have been a problem regarding his
restored temples, built new buildings, revived old traditions and even took succession. The king that was supposed to take over, Aspelta, was a child, and
their models in art from the ancient periods, setting an “archaizing” style that his mother putting him on the throne was probably contested. The Egyptians
would continue in the following dynasties. The Kushite Pharaohs were at the of the 26th dynasty, who had just got free from the Assyrian tutela, took the
head of a united kingdom that covered roughly the area from Jerusalem to opportunity to wage a preventive war against the kingdom which was still too
Khartoum. This territory was so huge that it took months to lead an army from powerful and therefore dangerous. Under the reign of Psamtik II, in 591 BC,
one side to the other. That is to say that African warriors, sometimes recruited the Egyptian army, reinforced by Greek mercenaries, went down to Napata
in the tribes of southern or western Sudan, were sent against the Assyrians in (and maybe as far as Dangeil) and destroyed everything that came across them,
Palestine. Imagine the distance covered by these armies, mostly by foot since including all the temples, which they burnt and sacked. They broke all the
the chariots were reserved for the officers and sailing the Nile was limited to statues of the “Black Pharaohs” and of their Napatan successors. They did not
Egypt only because of the cataracts. intend to stay in Sudan and came back to Egypt after this display of power.
In the Near East, the Kushites had to face an extremely powerful After that, the kingdom is in dismay. Everything had to be rebuilt. The

8 9
priests buried piously what was left of the statues in two pits at Jebel Barkal that first a very well organized one: the kingdom of Axum, the earliest Ethiopian
were discovered during excavations in the beginning of the 20th century. There kingdom with its Christian king Ezana; and secondly a gathering of nomadic
were beautiful pieces such as the statue of Taharqo, penultimate pharaoh of the tribes in Western Sudan called the “Nuba” by the Meroites, meaning “slaves”.
25th dynasty, now in the Museum exhibition hall facing the entrance. Another The Nuba got closer to the Nile Valley with their cattle because of the final
pit was dug in Kerma, where seven magnificent statues were unearthed in 2003 phase desertification of the Sahara. They were pushed back every time, but after
by the Swiss archaeologist, Charles Bonnet. trying so many times, the same phenomenon as the invasions of the Germanic
After this disaster, the Kushites were traumatized. The town of Kerma, peoples in the Roman Empire happened. This combination of Nubian tribes
the first capital of Sudan, was too close to Egypt; Napata was still too close to coming from Kordofan and from Axum, led to the fall of the Meroitic kingdom.
the hereditary enemy. In 591 BC following the campaign led by Psamtik II The Nubians, who had been waiting to access the Nile for a thousand years,
against king Aspelta, they chose to place their administrative capital 350 km to rushed to the valley and created three kingdoms over the ruins of the Meroitic
the southwest, in Meroe. After their death however, the kings continued to be state.
buried in the Napatan cemeteries of Nuri, then Barkal. Eventually, ca. 300 BC, These three kingdoms were: Nobadia (the word is Greek and comes
a local dynasty emerged in Meroe. After repeated marriages with princesses from ethnic Nuba), whose capital is in Faras; Makuria, with its capital Old
from local lineages, the kings ended up feeling closer links to Meroe than Dongola, and the southern kingdom of Alodia, whose capital Soba is just outside
to Napata. The so-called kingdom of Meroe begins around 300 BC, which is of Khartoum to the southwest. The elite changed, and this could be felt on a
nothing more than a shift of the royal necropolis from Barkal to Meroe. Napata cultural level: the Meroitic language declined superseded by Greek in writing
still existed, it remained an important religious centre but it did not represent and Old Nubian in speaking. Regarding religion, these kingdoms remained
as much as before at a political and dynastic level since almost all the kings faithful to Meroitic cults at first. For example, in the Northern kingdom, in
were buried in Meroe around the change of era. the cemetery of Ballana, the monarchs were discovered with crowns decorated
Until AD 350, the kingdom of Meroe was still strongly influenced by the with rows of cobras and the Amon ram. A pommel of a saddle was bearing Isis
Egyptian culture, albeit much less than in Napatan times. It had moved away with spread wings.
from Egypt, moreover Egypt itself went under so many foreign dominations Two hundred years later, ca. AD 550, this religion finally gave way. There already
that it could no longer serve as a model. Eventually, the Meroites started to were some Christians in the king’s court, but the Emperor of Byzantium,
include local deities in their official pantheon, worshipped by the inhabitants Justinian, sent a delegation to convert the Nubian kingdoms at the same time he
of the region but neglected by the royal cults until then. The lion-headed god commanded the closing down of Egypt’s last pagan temple, Philae, where only
Apedemak, worshipped in Naga and Musawwarat is a genuine Sudanese deity. Nubians were still going on pilgrimage. Justinian was married to Theodora,
Around 200 BC, the Meroites eventually wrote the language they had been a beautiful but obstinate woman who refused to give up her own religion,
speaking for several millennia: the Meroitic language, with signs borrowed from the Coptic religion, that is to say Monophysite Christianity. The competition
ancient Egyptian. The kingdom of Meroe was a continuation of the kingdom between Monophysites and Dyophysites (or Melkites) has been a major source
of Napata, but local traits were then more pronounced as Egyptian influence of conflict in Eastern Christianity. The difference however is rather small. The
recessed. On the other hand, it opened up to Greek and Roman influence, which Monophysites believe that Jesus has only one nature, being divine and human
finally touched this “kingdom of Ethiopians” admired by the Greeks. Homer at the same time, whereas the Dyophysites believe he has two separate ones:
mentioned them several times as well for their perfect hecatombs (sacrifices of one divine nature and one human nature. Presently, the Ethiopian and Coptic
a hundred bulls) as for their exemplary piety, so exemplary that Zeus and all (Egyptian) churches are monophysites. Let’s go back to Theodora. She sent her
the gods of Olympia visit them for dinner once a year. own mission to convert the Nubians to her faith: monophysite Christianity. She
Around AD 350, the Meroites were facing new enemies, no longer from sent a letter to the authorities of Upper Egypt, mainly Monophysites, to delay her
the North like the Egyptians, but from the south. Two formidable enemies, husband’s delegation. This stratagem proved effective, since the whole kingdom

10 11
of Nobadia was converted to Theodora’s monophysite Christianity. This means with Frédéric Cailliaud, a mineralogist from Nantes who would be the first to
that they depended on Alexandria’s patriarch and not on Constantinople’s. In describe the ancient monuments of Sudan. He was accompanied by Letorzec, a
the meantime, it seems that the kingdom of Makouria in the middle of the draughtsman and a midshipman, whose name is carved in some of the chapels
Nile valley, converted to dyophysite Christianity: they may have been visited by of Meroe. In 1826, they publish Voyage à Méroé. Western science discovered
Justinian’s delegation shortly after. But eventually, a few decades or centuries Sudan four years after Champollion deciphered the hieroglyphs and there was
later, monophysite Christianity was adopted in Makouria too. The kingdom at last some first-hand documentation available about the ancient civilizations
of Alodia, to the south, was also converted to monophysite Christianity by of this country.
Longinus, the first bishop of Nobadia, around 570.
Shortly after these episods, the northern kingdom, Nobadia, was
conquered by its southern neighbour. Therefore, there were only two kingdoms
in Nubia when the Arabs arrived in Egypt around AD 651: the kingdom of
Makuria including the province of Nobadia and the kingdom of Alodia. The
Arab armies marched down with the hope of conquering Sudan and then took
place the episode mentioned above: the fierce resistance of Nubian archers
during the Arab attempt to take Old Dongola. For once, conquering Islam was
stopped and it was decided to conclude a pact, called the “baqt”. Nubia wasn’t
going to be part of Islam’s friends, nor was it going to be part of its enemies.
The pact allowed the trade of goods: Egypt provided textiles and wheat; Sudan
supplied gold and 365 slaves, all in good shape and health. A letter of the Upper
Egypt Governor has recently been discovered, in which he complained about
the bad quality of the last delivery of slaves. This trade lasted until 1270 when
one of the Christian kings of Dongola tried to take over the port of Aydhab
on the Red sea. Egypt struck back immediately, Sultan Baybars sent an army,
which eventually came through. The Makurian kingdom was done and rapidly
converted to Islam. The Dongola royal throne-hall was turned into a mosque,
the first one in Sudan. To the south on the other hand, the kingdom of Alodia
held on until 1504. It only has been 500 years that people are Muslims and no
longer Nubian speakers in the area around Khartoum. In 1504, an Islamized
people, the Funj, who seem to have come from the border with Ethiopia,
decimated the kingdom of Alodia. Its capital, Soba, was burnt down. The Funj
sultans created a kingdom on the Blue Nile, with their capital set in Sennar,
that lasted until 1822.
In 1820, Egypt khedive, Mehemet Ali, decided that Egypt, almost an
independent state from the Ottoman Empire, would have its own colonies.
Moreover, the Mameluks, who found shelter in Sudan after Cairo was taken
over by Bonaparte, had to be chased. The fifth son of Mehemet Ali led the
expedition. The Turk-Egyptians marched down to the kingdom of Sennar along

12 13
 The beginnings of Egyptologist, hence the better handcopies. With these Denkmäler, there was
actual scientific documentation on Sudan made available at last.
A little later, came the time of the free-lance adventurers. One of
archaeology those was an Italian physician who decided that he would find treasures in
Meroe. He simply blew up the most beautiful pyramids with gunpowder and

in Sudan eventually found a small cauldron filled with jewellery that he would have a
hard time selling. These jewels were indeed so strange for those who know
Egyptian art that Lepsius had to prove that they were in fact Meroitic and not
Frédéric Cailliaud was the first western scholar to come to Sudan in crude fakes. One half was bought by the King of Prussia and the other by the
1820/1822, as he accompanied Ismaïl Pacha “general military commander of his King of Batavia, so that they are today kept in the Berlin Museum and in the
father Mehemet Ali”, just like the scholar squad that accompanied Bonaparte in Munich Museum. After Lepsius and Ferlini came the time of the Mahdiyya, a
Egypt. Mehemet Ali admired Bonaparte and wished to give a scientific colour time when Sudan rebelled against the Egyptian-Turkish power. The colonial
to his colonial expedition. Thus he invited severals scholars to his expedition, state was backed by the West, often Christian administrators. The Sudanese
some French, some English. This way, in 1820-1822, Cailliaud visited this reacted against this impious government and established an Islamic power for
Sudan that France and Europe would discover a few years later thanks to his a dozen years. The Mahdi died in 1885 but his right-arm Abdullahi took over.
illustrated volumes. If you happen to visit Musawwarat es-Sufra, go and see Archaeology was of course stopped during this time. Under the direction of
behind the largest terrace, two French inscriptions lost in the middle of the General Kitchener, between 1896 and 1898, the English vanquished the Mahdist
Sudanese savannah. One was written by Cailliaud and the other by Linant de army and Kitchener established a new colonial power, the “Anglo-Egyptian
Bellefonds, who accompanied Bankes’ expedition. It is the same formulation, Condominium”, associating the two countries. Archaeologists then started to
clearly showing the rivalry between the two scholars. The only considerable come back. They were at first mostly British, then German came along. The
difference is that Cailliaud wrote that he was sent by France whereas Linant de French were fascinated by Egypt and it will take a long time before they show
Bellefonds was sent by England. interest for Sudan. This explains why there are important Sudanese collections
During the time of the installation of the new Egyptian-Turkish in Berlin, at the British Museum but almost nothing in the Louvre.
colonization under Mehemet Ali, we have little evidence of archaeological
activity but in 1842, an expedition is launched by the king of Prussia, under
the direction of Carl Richard Lepsius, the best Egyptologist of his time and
German successor of Champollion. Richard Lepsius the Prussian went up the
Nile valley in Egypt, but this time he went upstream to the heart of Sudan.
Champollion had come to Egypt twenty years before with an expedition sent
by the king of France but had stopped at the second cataract. Lepsius went
down to Meroe and even a little farther, collecting all the antiquities that he
could find. This explains why the Berlin Museum is the richest in Europe
for Sudanese Antiquities. In 1845, the ships came back to Hamburg loaded
with objects. The publication of the Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Nubien
“Monuments of Egypt and Nubia” will allow the rediscovery of the region, as
it includes a lot of texts and a large amount of drawings, more precise than
Cailliaud’s. Cailliaud did not know Egyptian whereas Lepsius was an excellent

14 15
 The salvage of the the most ancient in the world represents a very short time, so many specialists
were needed. About 21 countries and 30 archaeological missions offered their
help: there were British, American, German, Spanish and even Indian, Argentine
temples of Nubia or Ghanaian teams.
The French were of course part of the project from the beginning.
In 1959, Nasser decided to build a huge dam in Aswan to control the high Sudan had become independent in 1956, and the Sudanese wished to have
floods and irrigate Egypt. It was to be impounded in 1964. In 1960, UNESCO a Commissioner for Archaeology that would not be an Englishman. They
launched a salvage campaign. Archaeologists had four years to scan the ancient asked a Frenchman while waiting for Sudanese specialists to be trained. This
sites and save the monuments of both Egyptian and Sudanese Nubia, before this Frenchman, Jean Vercoutter, professor at the University of Lille, created a French
dam would create a more than 500 km long lake (called Lake Nasser in Egypt Unit of Sudanese Antiquities, Section Française de la Direction des Antiquités
and Lake of Nubia in Sudan). Entire temples had to be displaced, representing a du Soudan (SFDAS). France enjoys a privileged position there, with offices in
huge amount of work in Egypt: the massive temple of Abu Simbel for example the precinct of the National Museum, thanks to a close collaboration with the
was moved by the French; the temple of Kalabsha by the Germans. The Philae Sudanese Service of Antiquities. Therefore, a large part of the authorities of
temple, the late great sanctuary of Isis, which was largely frequented by Meroites, Antiquities has taken a PhD at the University of Lille III. Here’s how France, after
was finally moved by the Italians as it was already submerged. having overlooked Sudan for a long time, became one of the most important
In Sudan, the temples were smaller but there was nothing in the vicinity, archaeological representations here.
no real institutions that could protect them. They were therefore transported to
Khartoum, three temples in all plus the remains of a few others. Since Khartoum The temples of the Museum garden were first erected at the time when
has a more abundant rainy season than Lower Nubia (150mm/year vs. 2.5 mm/ the pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom were building huge fortresses, and Egypt
year), they were rebuilt upon lead platforms and protected by hangars whose was trying to protect itself from the kingdom of Kerma ca. 2000 BC. Egyptians
sliding roof was originally supposed to stay open during the dry season. Because built temples to honor the gods of the cataract, mostly Khnum, the ram-headed
of the many birds that were leaving their droppings on the walls, it was decided deity represented here (picture), his wife Satis and their daughter Anukis. These
to leave the roofs closed all year long. gods of the cataract, who were associated with other deities, were worshipped
The place where the Museum stands today, next to the former zoologic in the garrison cities established around theses different fortresses. First, there
garden, was chosen to harbour the temples of Nubia and a new building that were sanctuaries built in bricks, and then, when the Egyptians destroyed the
could shelter the collections. Formerly, the antiquities were stored in an annex kingdom of Kerma, they came back and built the temples anew with sandstones.
at the University of Khartoum. The salvage of the monuments of Nubia with In the sanctuaries, the Pharaohs liked to write that they build a more solid
UNESCO support gave the opportunity to build a new National Museum. A temple than it was at the time of their predecessors. This took place at a time
great deal of this work was done by an Eastern German architect, Friedrich when Nubia was finally under the reign of Thutmose II, his wife, the famous
Hinkel, who had the idea to create a miniature replica of the Nile by digging queen Hatshepsut (see “The Temple of Buhen”) and her successor Thutmose III.
this sinuous basin, next to which each temple was replaced on the original bank
and in the original orientation it had in Lower Nubia. The inauguration of the
new museum took place in 1971. Once his work was done, Hinkel stayed at the
Sudanese Antiquities department. He particularly worked on the restoration of
the Meroe pyramids, most often with the help of private sponsors.
The rescue of the Nubia monuments brought many new archaeological
missions to Sudan. Four years to try and save the heritage of civilizations among

16 17
 Columns of the 2 Shelter 1
1
cathedral of Faras Wall of the temple of Aksha
Faras was the capital of Nobadia, which first was an independent The temple of Aksha, built by Ramses II (ca. 1250 BC) in the close
kingdom in the early Middle Ages, then the northern province of the Christian vicinity to the Nile, has suffered too much from the floods to make it possible
kingdom of Makuria from the 7th cent. BC. The cathedral was discovered in the to save it entirely. Only the remains of the western part of the pylon that
1960’s by the Polish, specialists, up until today, of the Christian archaeology constituted the entrance could be moved to Khartoum, with the financial
of Sudan. They presently excavate the city of Old Dongola, capital of Makuria, support of France, whereas the United States and the United Kingdom had
since Faras is now under water. These columns (a) were saved from the church, funded the transportation of the large temple of Buhen. On the part which is
they are made of granite coming from the cataracts, the only place in Sudan preserved entirely, the pharaoh is worshipping the dynastic god Amun (b). The
where one can find granite which is more solid than the sandstone with which temple was dedicated to him and to the “living
the temples of Nubia were built. The Poles also saved the splendid frescoes of the statue” of Ramses himself and the compound
cathedral, which are kept in the first floor of the permanent exhibition hall of called “the house of Ramses in Nubia”. He keeps
the National Museum. up the ancient tradition of temples built in Nubia
by kings to their own deified aspect, starting with
the great temple of Amenhotep III, two centuries
earlier, in Soleb.
The side elements, as in Soleb, detail the submitted
peoples (c), sometimes with great realism,
sometimes more symbolically. Each people is
represented with its physical characteristics, hands
tied and the torso bearing a escutcheon with their
name (actually a stylized form of a fortified city).
They are oriented according to their geographical
location: to the West, the Libyans, to the North, the
“A s i a n s ”,
(b) Pharaoh worshipping m e a n i n g
Amun the Near
Eastern nations and to the South, the
Nubians, with emphasized African
features. The first of them is a prisoner
designated as “wretched Kush”, where the
traditional adjective wards off the difficult
wars that opposed the fierce archers of
Kerma to Egypt three hundred years later.
(a) (c) The conquered nations
18 19
 soon became a full reign. She had herself depicted as a king, with a masculine
3 Temple of Buhen body, sometimes even slaying enemies with her own hand. This lasted long
after Thutmose’s age of majority. After his accession to the throne, following
the death of his aunt and stepmother, he obliterated her memory everywhere.
This temple is the best-preserved example of the sanctuaries of the When he did not order to hammer her image, he had her name erased. Nowhere
second cataract. It stood by one of the largest fortresses in Buhen. The temple will you find in these temples the name of Hatshepsut. At a closer look, the
was dedicated to god Horus. In the entrance, one can read: “Horus, master of cartouche where her name was engraved has been chiselled and that the name
Bhn”, where Horus is spelt with a falcon-sign. This temple was built by Queen of Thutmose III was engraved over it. This occurred several times during the
Hatshepsut. Daughter of Thutmose I, her beloved father, she decided to destroy 18th Dynasty, and happened again under Akhenaton’s reign. When he imposed
all his monuments to rebuild them better, as soon as she accessed the throne. the cult of one god only, he erased the name of the god Amun everywhere.
This filial zeal explains that we have almost no temple from Thutmose I’s reign. During the following reigns, from Tutankhamen, it is the name of Akhenaton
We also know that the columns (a) erected around a temple are characteristic on turn that will be erased. The scholars call it “damnatio memoriae”, latin for
of this transition between Thutmose I and Hatshepsut. It is the case here, this “condemnation of the memory”. This 18th Dynasty has been through quite a few
particular ground plan is called peripteral. It became later widespread in Greece, episodes, even if it coincides with the most magnificent and powerful period of
in the Parthenon among others and in every important Hellenistic sanctuary. the Egyptian history, when the country was at the top of its art and geopolitical
Hatshepsut marries her brother, Thutmose II, whose reign was to be influence.
Let’s go in. There, only priests, once purified, completely shaved and
dressed in white linen could enter. Note here the doorframe where the door was
once located and the place of the hinge-pins. The architecture of the sanctuary is
quite odd compared to the majority of Egyptian temples, which usually consist
of a succession of columned halls and square rooms in the same axis. Here, the
ground plan is conceived as a square spiral, characteristic of the monuments
built by Senenmut, the architect of Queen Hatshepsut. Very close to the queen,
he was more than his architect according to a very indiscreet graffito discovered
in the Valley of the Kings. Here appears the Queen at last (next page (a)) !

(a)

short. The determined widow, who only presented him with daughters took the
regency. The eldest son, also called Thutmose and the heir apparent was not her
son, but the child of a secondary wife. He was supposed to inherit the throne, but
Hatshepsut had time to enjoy the taste of power and what started as a regency

20 21
 (a) Scene of the coronation of Hatshepsout
If you visit Karnak and you observe the queen’s
obelisks, you will see the representation of god Amun (d)
crowning Hatshepsut. This is why she turns her back his footsteps. Here, there was a statue of the main god Horus. You can see the
to him: Amun is fixing the famous double crown amazing preservation of the pigments, though they were never restored! The
of the pharaohs on her nape. In front of her is the colours changed a little overtime, the blue turned to greenish for example, but
representation of Inmutef, the tutelary god of crown in general, their fresh condition is incredible. Hatshepsut is depicted as a king as
princes. It is therefore a representation of Thutmose III usual, never as a woman. Here, she is facing Horus (d), a table was dressed with
… waiting for his time! And he will remember this. Pay all sort of breadsand meat including a calf’s head, and most importantly vases
attention to how the cartouche was chiselled to engrave that she hands to the god, that bear the inscription redi irep “to give the wine”.
the ibis of Thut (b), beginning of the name of Thutmose This luxury beverage is one the main offerings from the pharaoh to the gods.
that replaced the name of Hatshepsut.
The Egyptian art during the reign of Hatshepsut In the last room located behind the sanctuary, appears the lord of the
is often termed as “feminine”, almost tender. It is the premises, Horus represented on the back wall (next page (a), the only one that
case here (c) where one of the cows of the sacred domain is preserved almost entirely. However, only the lower part of the texts is extant.
is licking her newborn calf whereas a little Nubian boy, (b) Cartouche
Oddly, the Pharaoh’s cartouche, which is facing, is not the one of Hatshepsut
recognizable by his African profile, took place in the large replaced by the name of Thutmose III, it is the crowning name of his father
lyre-shaped horns of the cow. (Aakheperenere‘), brother and husband of Queen Hatshepsut. Horus is the
Now we are in the mythical ancestor of all the pharaohs. According to the Egyptian mythology,
sanctuary, when only a priest his father Osiris who reigned over the earth, when he was murdered by his own
could enter everyday. In the brother Seth, god of the desert, and cut into pieces scattered all over Egypt. The
morning, he would take the wife (and sister) of Osiris, having collected all the fragments, swaddled them,
clothes off the statue of the god, thus making her husband’s body the first mummy, and gave life back to him by
he would wash it, anoint it with magic. She conceived his child, Horus, before Osiris went to the Netherworld,
precious oils and put new clothes where he became the sovereign of the dead. The form of Horus, represented here
on it as well as jewelry before is not Horus of Buhen. Although the upper part of the text describing him has
walking out backwards erasing (c)

22 23
 it is the sound “dj” (d). Here again, it is not only a letter but a real composition:
the dark scales form motifs that adorn its neck and head. Lastly, look at this
little quail chick (e) (the sound “w”), faithfully represented with its little juvenile
down.
On the wall on the left, the sovereign appears paying his respects to the
deities of Egypt (next page (a)). Unfortunately, the heads are now lost. We know
where the gods are because they are holding the symbol of life, the ankh. The
general public often imagines that it is a forerunner of the Christian cross, when
in fact it is simply a hieroglyph depicting a sandal strap. The loop was wrapped

(a)
disappeared, there still remains a sign picturing a papyrus thicket followed by (c) Hawk
two round signs (the hieroglyph for the city). These are the signs that end the
(b) Hieroglyph of the preposition “like”
name Khemmis, the mythical city of the Nile Delta, where Isis, after the death
of Osiris, raised their son Horus in the thickets, so that Seth could not find him.
When he became adult, Horus faced Seth in single combat and, after defeating
him, recovered his father’s heritage, the kingdom of Egypt.
You can admire the extraordinary quality of the hieroglyphs, heightened
by the preservation of the pigments. Each hieroglyph is a little painting. Here,
for example, is written “like the sun” mi Re‘. The preposition “like”, mi, is a
little round vase (b) in a red or orange basketry over a yellow background with
meticulous details. Here the representation of the object primes over its scribed
function. Observe also this hawk (c) with a fascinating head. An amusing detail:
a little pigment scale fell off and the white dot that appeared underneath turned
out to give life to the hawk’s eye. One can clearly see the wax-like parts around (d) Hieroglyph of sound “dj”
the eye, characteristic of the peregrine falcon. See also this snake for example; (e) Hieroglyph of sound “w”
24 25
around the ankle and the two bars are the straps attached to the sole. This sandal three other fan-bearing priests. It is not the same engraving style at all, nor is
strap was pronounced “ankh” in Egyptian and the same word also meant “life”. it the same composition than in the 18th Dynasty, when the temple was built.
Writing in rebus (sentences written with images) corresponds to the guiding We are at the time of Ramses, ca. 1200/1100 BC. Look at the three priests: none
principles of the Egyptian script. of them has the same size or the same position. There is a very studied sense
of composition. The hieroglyphs are highly simplified, incised energetically.
Later on, the viceroys of Nubia and the elite of the Egyptian colony each The scene is full of energy, but it is quite boldly drawn, more dynamic than the
came to worship Horus of Buhen and left later ex-votos on the columns of the representations in the temple. It is no longer the tender and still classicism of the
first room, which are completely different in style from the rest of the temple. time of Hatshepsut.
To the left of the door when walking out, on one of the higher panels of the first
column, is a scene depicting a priest called Bakwer (b), behind Horus, facing

(a) The pharaoh on the left, paying his respects to a god, holding the
symbol of life, on the right
(b) Priest Bakwer, god Horus and three fan-bearing priests
(from left to right)

26 27
 with arrows. On the lower scene, one can also see the hieroglyphic sign meaning
4 Shelter 2 “the city” with the palisade and the two main roads (it is not a wheel!), showing
the conquered cities. A small hieroglyph located over each one gives the names
Relief of Jebel Sheikh Suleiman of the cities, but we have too little reference to put them on a map. Here, we are
dealing with the description of the first war known so far between the Egyptians
Three monuments are gathered here. The one in the middle is a rock and a Sudanese people, most likely the so-called “A-Group”, who was be wiped
carving. It is not actually a masterpiece of Egyptian art, nor is it Kushite or later. out by the Egyptians. This relief comes from the second cataract. This is one of
It looks very clumsy, almost childlike. However, it is one of the most important the most ancient frontiers in the history of mankind, a place where conflicts
historical testimonies kept in the National Museum. The relief comes from between the two countries started about 5000 years ago. This frontier was to
Jebel Sheikh Suleiman, a cliff above the Nile river. It was taken from it since it remain unchanged until today, and animosity between Egypt and Sudan has
is a very archaic scene. If the engraving is clumsy, it is because the Egyptians been constant, even though it goes with some admiration on the Egyptian side
were only starting to carve low reliefs… and because they were not as good for the integrity and valor of the Sudanese and on the Sudanese side for the
as they will eventually become. This scene dates to ca. 3000 BC, i.e. the time brilliant Egyptian civilization. By the way, facing the Museum, the street where
of the first pharaohs, maybe more precisely to third king of the first Dynasty, the Egyptian Embassy is located received the name of “Taharqo’s street” (“Shar‘a
whose name should be written here. Unfortunately, the cartouche is destroyed, Tirhaka”), i.e. one the Sudanese pharaohs who reigned over Egypt and Sudan.
only the wings of the falcon Horus and the façade of a palace under it still Let us remind that in London, before the Eurostar, the French arrived at the
survive. It could be pharaoh Djer of the first Dynasty, around 3000 BC. The “Waterloo” train station. The same irony goes here.
falcon of Horus, the royal cartouche, holds an enemy with a rope with arms
tied behind him while beheaded corpses are thrown in the Nile, some pierced

(a) Engraving of Jebel Sheikh Suleiman

28 29
 Portico of Taharqo in Semna
and Boat Support

Next to the temple of Semna built under the reign of Hatshepsut and
Thutmose III, the Kushite pharaoh Taharqo (or less correctly Taharqa) built a
temple in bricks and sandstone around 700 BC, of which only two stone elements
remain. This rectangular block (a) was used as a stand for the sacred bark. This
block is often referred to as a naos by metonymy, since this boat, contained a
chest, called a naos (“sanctuary” in Greek) where the cult statue was kept.
It bears an inscription honoring Sesostris III deified: “The king of Upper
and Lower Egypt, Taharqo, may he live eternally, has made his monument for
the good god Khakaoure‘ (coronation name of Sesostris III), his father who loves
him”. The temple of Taharqo was therefore his predecessors’, dedicated to the
deified king. It is rather ironical that Sesostris III, the conqueror of Nubia (at
least down to the second cataract) in the 20th cent. BC, the one who described
the inhabitants of Kush as “broken-hearted” coward warriors in his steles,
(a)
is honoured here by a king descendant of the rulers who fought against the
Egyptians. But the Kushite pharaohs totally accepted the idea that they were
the legitimate successors (so why not the descendants?) of the great kings who
brought Egypt to fame. They clearly used this argument as a mean of propaganda
to justify their power over the whole Nile valley. Given how little they must
have known of the distant at the time, with the exception, possibly of a few
high learned scribes, it is not impossible that the kings themselves believed that
mythical filiation.
The same royal ideology presides over the depiction of the king on the
portico of the temple (b), located on the left under the shelter. Even though the
reliefs are not the most skillful, one will admire the figure of Taharqo (c), wearing
two big cobras (uraei) on his cap, typical of the “Black Pharaohs”. One of the
snakes wears the white crown of Upper Egypt, the other wears the red crown
of Lower Egypt. It actually represents a “double duplication” of the kingdom of
Taharqo, since these two cobras symbolize also and, above all, the duality of his
domination of Egypt and Kush.
The rest of the temple could not be saved, as all the other brick made
structures of the area submerged by the lake of Nubia, unfortunately including
the fortresses themselves, which were one of the world military architecture’s
masterpieces, just as the Hadrian’s Wall or the Great Wall of China.
(b) (c)
30 31
 5 Temple of Semna-West
A special feature of the façade of the temple is that it was carved in
sunk relief during several periods (a). It explains why the scenes are completely
fragmented. There are more than 600 years of the history of Nubia superimposed.
The temple was rebuilt under the reign of Thutmose III, ca. 1450 BC. Dating
from that time is the upper scene and the ex-voto of Viceroy Seni, on the lower
left. From the reign of Ramses III, ca. 1170 BC, Viceroy of Kush had himself
figured on the lower right. Finally, probably at the beginning of the Kushite
period (around 800 BC), a last inscription, devoted to the late queen Karimala,
was superimposed on the former panels. The hieroglyphs are rather crude and
the text is puzzling, as it includes historical elements without any context that
are unclear and acrobatic philosophical considerations (“the one that does good
does evil”, etc.). Prof. Philippe Colombert, a French specialist of late Egyptian, has
recently proposed new and convincing interpretations of this strange inscription.
The temple of Semna is dedicated to two deities, the god Dedun on
one hand, quite rare, who is always depicted as a man without a crown.
Here and in Kumma, he is described like “the one who presides over the
Land of the Bow”, i.e. Nubia. The second god is deified Sesostris III. This is
the pharaoh who erected most these famous fortresses who fought several
times against the kingdom of Kerma and was therefore adopted as a local
god first by the Egyptians. Strangely enough, he was also worshipped
by the Kushites later on although these Sudanese monarchs actually
descended from the same tribes against which the Egyptians fought.

(a) Façade du temple de Semna

32 33
 The statue of Sesostris III still stands in the long room of the sanctuary (a).
The carvings on the walls represent the procession of his effigy on a bark confined
in a naos (b). The deceased king is wearing the mantel and the high white crown
of Upper Egypt, and is tightly wrapped in a jubilee mantel. Even though the
scene was engraved by artists of the New Kingdom, six centuries after Sesostris’
reign, this “vintage” representation imitates the conventions of the 12th Dynasty.
On the left of the sanctuary, a door leads to a portico with beautiful
hieroglyphs. The text written on the upper part (c), in the name of Thutmose
III, reads “He made this monument for his father the king of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Khakaure‘ (coronation name of Sesostris III) so that he might be given
eternal life”. Strangely enough, the royal title has been obliterated. One will
especially note the perfect carving of a scarab on the portico’s jamb (d) in the
coronation name of Thutmose, Menkheperre‘. Representing the term kheper
“transformation”, this sign depicts the dung beetle. This insect rolling balls of
dung where it injects its eggs fascinated the Egyptians. To them, it represented
the image of the sun, pushed in the sky by a giant invisible scarab, god Khepri.

(b) Boat procession of the statue of Sesostris III in a naos

(c) Inscription of the external lintel, in the center : the chiseled royal title

(d) Right door-jamb, name of

(a) Statue of Sésostris III Thutmose III (Menkheperrê)

34 35
 6 Inscribed rocks 7 Frogs of Basa
At the time of the Middle Kingdom, at the level of the second
cataract, Egyptian nobility of the garrison cities had engraved their
titles or their biography (a) on the cliffs of the Nile. The fragments
of these inscriptions were cut away during the monuments of Nubia
rescue campaign and were very recently inserted onto fake rocks that
are rather ancient-looking after a few years’ patina. Not long ago,
this area of the Museum was a desert friche. Thanks to one of the rare
sponsorship from a Sudanese company, DAL, gardens were built, where
the company also helped to install the inscribed rocks were installed.
Beside biographic inscriptions, we also find testimonies of the
height reached by the flood, or “nilometres”. This nilometre (b) bears an
inscription (picture) written in clumsy Egyptian script. One can see the
symbols of the reed and the bee, representing royalty over Upper and
Lower Egypt, next to which is the name of a queen of the Middle
Kingdom, Neferusobek, one of the few women to have ruled over (c)
Egypt and whose reign, closing the 12th Dynasty, is little known.

The frog statue that closes the basin to the south (c) is of Meroitic date.
Another one closes the basin on the north side. They come from the Basa
complex, located east of Meroe like the lions of the monumental entrance of the
exhibition hall. The frogs represent Heket, the goddess-frog of the Egyptians,
one of the deities who participate in the protection of pregnant women and
(a) Biographic inscription of newborn babies. She is a water goddess, linked to the amniotic fluid.
of Egyptian nobility

(b) Nilometre

36 37
 Above this scene, under the cornice of the façade, visitors have carved
8 Temple of Kumma their names. Notice the name of Letorzec (b), the French draughtman who
accompanied Frédéric Cailliaud in 1820/1.
This first temple from Sudanese Lower Nubia, the only one preserved on
the east bank, was dedicated to god Khnum, that was associated with creation
and master of the cataracts. The main place where he was worshipped was
located in Elephantine on the first cataract. The entrance court of the temple of
Kumma is now lost, so that people enter directly the second room, supported by
columns. Facing the visitor, Khnum appears on the façade (a), welcoming the
pharaoh in his sanctuary. He is represented with the head of a ram of archaic
style, the horns spreading horizontally. His hands hold the sign of water (a little (b) Inscripton of Letorzec
wave) that he supplies Egypt with. Associated with the flood silt, he is also a
potter-god who fashioned the first human beings. As a matter of fact, his name
is written in hieroglyphs with a clay vase. The king is brought to him by another
One enters the following rooms through a door whose lintel bears the
god, Dedun (see “The Temple of Semna” 5 ), represented in an acrobatic pose
names of Thumose II on the exterior (c) and Thutmose III on the interior. The
since his head is turned back facing the king and his hand is reaching out
accompanying mention “the one loved by Khnum of Itjenou-Pedjout” yields
to him, offering the ankh, symbol of life, whereas the lower part of his body is
the ancient name of Kumma: Ijtenou-Pedjout, “the one who repels the bows”,
facing Khnum the other way.
meaning the archers of Kerma. Originally, it is the name of the fortress erected
in this place by the pharaoh Sesostris III, ca. 1850 BC. The door opens on two

(c) External face of the door lintel

(a) From left to right the king, god Dedun walking toward god Khnum who bears
the symbol of water in his left hand
38 39
contiguous rooms. On the wall of the first of these two rooms (on the right Another door on the left opens on the sanctuary of the god Khnum. In
(a) ), two pharaohs seated appear next to Khnum. One of them is Thutmose two small auxiliary rooms, colors have been preserved in cult scenes, performed
III, the living king. He receives the symbol of life (the ankh) from his remote by pharaoh Amenophis II. According to the Egyptian belief, the king is the only
predecessor, Sesostris III, who reigned 400 years before him and who was later legitimate servant of the gods. The priests who are but his substitutes perform
considered the patron saint of Nubia, an invited god in the temple of Khnum. every rite in his name. In the rooms, the panels on the left, the king is dressing
On the main wall of the room on the left, the same Thutmose III comes running the god Khnum. In the panels on the right, Khnum is bathed in lustral water (c).
with long strides to the goddess Hathor (b), to who he offers a lapwing, symbol of These two operations are part of the rites that were performed every morning on
the Egyptian people, and from whom he receives a necklace as a sign of victory. the cult statue of the deity.

(a) Thutmose III and Sesostris III seated next to Khnum

(c) God Khnum bathed in lustral water

(b) Thoutmose III running to Hathor

40 41
 9 Tomb of Djehouty-Hotep 10 Tabo Colossi
Facing the Tabo colossi a strange modern tumulus is visible. There, The first Greek statues were represented in this “stopped walk”, borrowed
the walls of Djehoutyhotep’s tomb were reinstalled after being dismantled. from Egyptian statuary, which is systematically used for the representation
This tomb was originally dug in the cliff of Jabal Dabarosa, roughly 20 of pharaohs. These two colossi were found unfinished, one was broken (you
km south of today’s border with Egypt. As the chief of the principality of can still see the break) and the other one was never erected. They come from
Teh-khet extending on both sides of the second cataract, Djehuty-hotep Tabo, a site now forgotten by the tourists,
belonged to this local aristocracy that was left in place by the Egyptian located on Argo Island, south of Kerma.
colonists, all the while under firm control and subjected to a yearly tribute. During Antiquity however, there was a
As they were acculturated, to the point of bearing Egyptian names, these chiefs large temple built by pharaoh Taharqo.
had their tombs made by artists from Egypt. The frescoes of Djehouty-Hotep’s The sanctuary still existed in the Meroitic
tomb, dated to the reign of Queen Hatshepsut, ca. 1460 BC, show the master, an period thanks to a remarkable couple of
Egyptian noble, in daily activities such as inspecting his orchards or participating builders, king Natakamani and queen
in banquets (a). All the scenes might as well have taken place in Thebes. Amanitore, most likely his mother and not
his wife. They will welcome you when you
visit Naga, on the main temple dedicated
to the god Apedemak. There on one side of
the pylon, you will see king Natakamani
slaying his enemies with his sword,
and on the other side, Amanitore, the
king’s mother, the Candace (Kandake in
Meroitic), a strong woman with generous
curves seizing some enemies and holding
them at bay with her weapon. These two
rebuilt the temple of Tabo, it is most likely
that the colossi date from that time, but
this cannot be ascertained. Since they
were not finished, the royal names don’t
appear on the statues’ backpillars where
they usually are inscribed in hieroglyphs.
These colossi were recently studied by
Dr. Vincent Rondot, former head of the
French Unit in Khartoum, who raised the
hypothesis that they are influenced by
Roman Egypt. Look at the knot closing
(a) Banquet scene in the tomb of Djehouty-Hotep
the loincloth, rather Roman or Hellenistic,

42 43
and especially the traditional double crown, the pschent, symbolizing the union his thumb. There is unfortunately no
of Higher and Lower Egypt. There is a laurel crown and a star on the higher inscriptions that allow us to assign them
rim of the pschent of the statue on the left (a), which isn’t Egyptian at all. The to a specific period. They are obviously
laurel crown is obviously Hellenistic and Roman. This crown and this star are Meroitic, but is it Natakamani’s epoch,
nonetheless found in the Fayum portraits, paintings made with wax and fixed ca. AD 60, at the same time as the
on the faces of the mummies, Hellenistic and Roman Egyptians. They wear Roman Emperor Nero, or more recent?
this crown, a symbol of victory for having passed successfully all the challenges
that await every Egyptian and every Kushite in the afterlife, the first being the
weighing of the heart to determine the probity of the dead. It is a sign found
associated with the glorified deceased. According to this theory, the statue on
the left would be the pharaoh’s father, already dead, whereas the one on the
right (c) would be the pharaoh himself, maybe Natakamani, accompanied
by the pharaoh-to-be represented as Horus-child (b), in Egyptian Har-pa-
khered, in Greek Harpocrates, who is always depicted like Egyptian princes,
with a shaved head except for a long braid falling on the shoulder and sucking

(c) Statue on the right

(a) Laurel-crown of the left statue (b) The pharaoh to-be at the
foot of the right statue
44 45
 11 Monumental Alley
Meroitic Rams
The alley that leads to the exhibition halls is inspired by the
monumental alleys (also called dromoi, sing. dromos) of the temples of
Amun, flanked with amazing statues. It starts with two Meroitic ram
statues. The one on the left is one of the first pieces to have entered the
archaeological collection of Sudan. It is said that it was brought from the
(b) Inscription in egyptian and meroitic on the right ram
ruins of the cathedral of Soba, where it was discovered, to the gardens of
the Governor of Khartoum at the time of Gordon Pacha, around 1880.
The Meroitic inscription it bears was the first one to be indexed. It gave the of the name, became one of the greatest builders of the kingdom of Meroe.
incomplete name of a king of Meroe called […]reqerem. The beginning of the The two rams were reunited in the National Museum in 2003 after a
cartouche, on the front of the statue, is destroyed. In 1999, the French excavations separation of more than a millennium. The inscription they bear, partly
directed by Vincent Rondot, former director of the French Archaeological Unit damaged, is however the same. It has the peculiarity to be a roughly
in Khartoum, started at el-Hassa (or Giblab), 40 km south of Meroe. These bilingual text. Around the cartouche, the mentions of “king of Upper and
excavations unearthed a temple of Amun, preceded by a ram alley, the animal Lower Egypt” and “May he live eternally” appear in Egyptian hieroglyphs,
that represents the god Amun in ancient Sudan. Five of these rams were whereas the meroitic text running on the other sides of the animal, as the
excavated. They look very much like the one from Soba, and bear the name of royal cartouche itself, are in Meroitic hieroglyphs, and proclame “Oh Amun
“Amun of Tabakha”. Tabakha then designates el-Hassa in Meroitic. Now this of Tabakha, give life to the king beloved of Amun, Amanakhareqem”.
name is also carved on the ram of Soba. The conclusion, as surprising as it may The Meroitic text is longer since the script is purely phonetic whereas the
be, is that the ram of Soba was taken from El-Hassa, probably by the Nile then Egyptian script is a composite system, where a sign often equals a word.
by the Blue Nile, until it reached the cathedral of Soba, more than 200 km south One will observe that the Egyptian signs and the Meroitic signs are not
of its original place. This reusing in the written in the same direction. In Egyptian, the animals (here the bee and
Christian period, perhaps as a mystic the snake) and the human characters have their heads oriented towards
lamb, may explain the obliteration of the beginning of the line, here to the left, whereas in Meroitic (owl, human
the standing king image between the characters, ram, goose) look towards the end of line, here to the right.
ram’s forelegs. Moreover, the rams
found in el-Hassa bore the complete
name of the king, Amanakhareqem,
who reigned around 90 BC. In 2003,
the German excavations of the Berlin
Museum, under the direction of
Dietrich Wildung, unearthed a temple
consecrated by the same king in Naga.
Therefore, in a few years, this forgotten
(a) king of whom we only knew half

46 47
 12 Monumental Alley 13 Monumental Alley
Lions of Basa Rams of Kawa
The monumental alley continues with six dark statues of lions The statues adorning the Meroitic temples dedicated to Amun were
in ferruginous sandstone. These lions were found, like the frog statues imitated from the Egyptians. Amenhotep III had placed several rams at
mentioned earlier, in Basa, to the south-east of Meroe. They represent the the entrance of the temple of Soleb around 1370 BC. The kings of Kush had
main deity of the local pantheon, the lion-god Apedemak, as Amun is the transported some of them from Soleb to the temple of Jebel Barkal, where
main deity of the pantheon imported from Egypt. Apedemak is the “god- they can still be seen today. The two statues adorning the stairs leading
creator” (its literal meaning in Meroitic), who brought sorghum to Meroe to the exhibition hall, are of a later date. They are wonderfully preserved
for example. He is also a warlike god who can eat the king’s enemies like since they come from the temple of Kawa close to Old Dongola, which was
this lion, called the “men-eating lion”. This latter statue was moved to the found completely covered in sand. The first English archaeologists had to
Louvre Museum for the 2010 exhibition “Meroe, an Empire on the Nile”. struggle against this sand, which could cover the excavations overnight. This
The lions of Basa are from the classical Meroitic period, at the beginning phenomenon is old since we have the consecration stele of King Taharqo (ca.
of the 1st cent. BC, as proven by the two cartouches engraved on the first 680 BC) telling us the following story which took place during the period of
statue on the right, celebrating the king Amanakhabale, “three times alive”. the Black Pharaohs (25th Dynasty) when the Sudanese kings ruled over Egypt.
The pharaoh was then Shabataqo and ruled from Memphis in Egypt.
Taharqo, his young cousin, had been raised in Napata, the ancestral city of
the dynasty. The complexity of the rules of succession of these kings had him
designated as a potential crown prince but his position as an heir apparent was
far from secure, as we will see. When Taharqo entered his twentieth year, the
king called him as a backup in Egypt. Time had come to show his valour. At the
head regiment of young recruits, he started the long and dangerous journey
from Napata to Memphis, some 1200 km north. Passing by Kawa, he deplored

(a)
(b)

48 49
 (b) Taharqo and his crown
with two standing cobras
(a) Ram on the right (left ram)

that the temple of Amun, built under the Egyptian colonization, was buried
under the sand, so much that the roof was partly covered in vegetation. He then
made a wish. If the god allowed him to access the throne one day, he would
rebuild his temple in Kawa and would adorn it magnificently. His wish was
granted and he succeeded his cousin to the throne of Egypt and Nubia twelve
years later. In accordance with the terms of the contract passed with Amun, he
sent the best craftsmen of Memphis to build a magnificent temple. The rams
that we see here are indeed modelled after pure Egyptian tradition, except for
one difference. Taharqo standing between the ram’s forelegs (b), wears a crown
decorated with two standing cobras on his forehead, not just one like the kings
of Egypt. One of the two snakes represents the power over Kush, the other the
domination on Egypt. If you ever go to Oxford, try and visit the Ashmoleum
Museum. There, filling a large room, you will see the shrine of the temple of
Amun, brought from Kawa and similarly in a wonderful state of preservation.

50 51
 Exhibition Hall
27 28 29 30 32 35

Sarcophagus
Stela of Stele from from Argin
Si’aspiqo Kingdom of Meroe Hamadab
Pyramids of Nuri

Sarcophagus of Anlamani 31
Statues from Naga
Statue of 26 33
25 Aspelta
34
Piankhy’s Stele of
Statue of Osiris Kingdom obelisk Piankhy Bark-stand
from Naga
36
(Nuri)
of Napata
37
Sarcophagus Statue
Stele of baboon
from Debeira Stele of
Sphinx of Taharqa
Senkamanisken
Temple of Soleb

Offering table Statue of

of Senkamanisken Vase of
Si’aspiqo Taharqa
Statue of king Statue of queen
Offering Tanwetamani Anlamalel
table Statue
of Ptah
Altar of
Statue of
Post-Meroitic
Atlanersa
24 Offering table Atlanersa
of Si’aspiqo Sphinx of
Difeira
Sarcophagus 16
from Soleb
Statue of
Sesotris III 22 Kerma Palaeolithic
Stele of
Debeira-W Culture A-Group Mesolithic
Middle & Neolithic
Jebel Barkal

Statue of
Sesostris III 17 Entrance
New 20 Map
Stele of
23 Sesostris III Kingdom of the
C-Group Sudan
Statue of
Sebekhotep III

21 21 19 19 18 15

38
To the Christian frescoes 40 and 41
39
of the cathedral of Faras

N 0 1 2 3 4 5 10 15m

52 53
 14 Colossal statue of Taharqo
Before we go through to thematic displays of the ground floor, laid
out clockwise in chronological order, let us greet the builder of Kawa, King
Taharqo, whose statue is facing the entrance. It comes from Napata and was
collected by the archaeologist George Reisner along with several others in
one of the pits where priests had piously buried them after the sack of the city
by the Egyptian troops of Psamtik II in 591 BC. This is the reason why you
can see traces of break. The crown, once adorned with four large feathers,
turned into a psychedelic construction and a lot of elements were deliberately
broken, as the nose for example, which receives the “breath of life” from the
gods. One of the two cobras was damaged, the one representing Egypt, since
the Egyptians of the 26th Dynasty did not accept the power that the Black
Pharaohs yet wielded over Egypt for about 70 years. The name of Taharqo is
on his belt as you can see, but also on the back pillar. The statue was made in
granite from the cataracts. The body was covered with a black patina and all
the dotted parts, the sandals, the bracelets, the loincloth, the crown and the
pupils were stuccoed and covered with gold leafs. This 3-meter high statue was
completely black and gold and probably radiated a strong visual magnetism.
It was made by Egyptian craftsmen, probably from Memphis, possibly the same
artist who built the temple of Kawa (see above). According to the Egyptian
tradition, the king stamps on nine broken bows, which are the emblems of
Egypt’s enemies. The irony is that the Land of the Bow is Sudan, famous for
the skills of its archers, and originally, these bows symbolized the Egyptian
power over Nubian enemies. But in the 25th Dynasty, the descendants of the
Nubian enemies were this time ruling over Egypt, through an unexpected
turn of events. Moreover, Taharqo is holding a kind of scroll in his hand, the
mekes case, containing the papyrus with which Osiris bequeaths the power
over Egypt to the pharaohs. It is therefore the title deeds of Egypt that he has
Charles Bonnet. As in Napata, the first king depicted was Taharqo and the
in his hands. The Napatan successors of Taharqa are also represented this
last one, the young Aspelta, during whose reign the expedition of Psamtik
way and one can understand the fury of the Egyptians of the 26th Dynasty
II took place. Brought up from the pit, these seven statues are now the pride
when seeing this statues. Thankfully, the Egyptian troops, mainly composed
of the museum of Kerma, which was especially designed to shelter them.
of Greek mercenaries, went back to the North after sacking the Kushite cities.
In 2003, a pit containing seven statues very similar to those of Napata was found
in the temple of Amun in Dukki Gel, close to Kerma, by Swiss archaeologist

54 55
 15 Neolithic 16 The “C-Group”
Neolithic in Sudan witnesses cultures that are already bright, and
where especially pottery, around 5000-4000 BC, is technically superior to After the Neolithic times, at the beginning of the historical period,
what exists at that time in Egypt. One will admire these geometric figures, two contemporaneous cultures appear, one quite modest, the C-Group, the
the engraving of which is heightened by the use of white pigments (a). These other prestigious, the kingdom of Kerma. The C-Group, limited to the north
little vases already present a large variety of forms and very imaginative of Nubia, appears around 2500 BC and merges into the kingdom of Kerma
patterns. But it must be said that the potters of that time already had when the latter expands to the North. The C-Group is composed of cattle
experienced skills since Sudan, with the appearance of pottery as early as the and livestock breeders, who attach so much importance to their animals that
9th millennium, is one the first places in the world where it is attested (8300 BC they are buried with hundreds of clay representations of it, especially their
on the site of Boucharia, region of Kerma, excavated by Matthieu Honegger). oxen (d). Some ram statuettes bear on their head a little clay ball pierced with
The taste for abstraction of these geometric patterns is also found in these two holes where ostrich feathers were inserted. The same tradition is attested in
feminine figurines carved in beautiful layered sandstone((b) and (c)). The dark Kerma, to the south, this time with actual rams in the funerary sacrifices. This
veins of the stone were skillfully worked by the artist to give relief to the very tradition is reminiscent of the so-called “rams with spheroids” represented
stylized forms of the statuettes. The eyes and the nose are barely sketched as in rock art in the Sahara as far as the Tassili. These peoples, who probably
two perpendicular incised lines. As most of the ceramics presented in this came from the drying savannahs of Kordofan to the Nile, had cultural
showcase, they were found in Kadruka, south of Kerma, by the French team traits in common with the civilizations that appeared in ancient Sahara.
of the former director of the French Unit in the 1990’s, Dr. Jacques Reinold.

(d)
(a) (b) (c)
56 57
 17 Kerma: funerary bed 18 Kerma: Inlays
The kingdom of Kerma develops from 2500 BC from a large village These inlays are presented here. They depict either elements that are
established some nine centuries before, which archaeologists call “Pre- typically Sudanese, like these little guinea fowls, these pelicans in the middle
Kerma”. It seems that, following the desertification of the Sahara around and like these stylized dum palm trees, or they imitate Egyptian representations
the mid-third millennium, the tribes of the western desert found shelter in like these two flies whose golden examples were given to victorious generals,
the Kerma plain, one of the most fertile in Nubia, and confederated around or the hippopotamus-headed goddess Thueris, protector of pregnant women.
the inhabitants of Pre-Kerma. Little by little, a powerful kingdom developed
and conquered new territories along the Nile. The rulers were buried under
tumuli that reached huge dimensions during the final stage: the last ones are
100 m wide and have central “apartments”. These are large brick buildings
with several chambers and stores. Along the corridors, were recovered as
much as 220 persons, sacrificed to serve their master in the after-life. These
“accompanying dead” are known in many ancient civilizations, in Sumer
for example. The Egyptians had the same tradition until the first dynasties.
Here is a funerary bed, on which the king of Kerma was laid, not
mummified in a coffin but swaddled in a leather blanket in fetal position.
The blanket was most of the time inlaid with small mica or ivory patterns.

58 59
 19 Kerma: ceramic art 20 The Kingdom of Kerma
In ceramic art, the beautiful local tradition is perpetuated Also coming from Kerma, these Egyptian scarabs bearing the
since the Neolithic. Some very inventive ceramics imitate the private names of the kings of Hyksos bring up the proof of intense relations
houses for example, multicoloured typically African huts (a). This between the northern kingdom of Hyksos (26th Dynasty) and the
jug has a beak in the shape of a hippopotamus head (b); this vase was kingdom of Kerma to besiege Egyptian power that continued to exist
made after an ostrich (c). Other shapes are much more stylized like
simultaneously in the region of Thebes (17th Dynasty). We know one
these tulip-like bowls (d), that perpetuates a several millennia old
episode of this secret diplomacy during the rule of the last king of the 17th
tradition but that witness an incredible mastership of firing techniques.
Dynasty, Kamose, brother of the first king of the 18th Dynasty, Ahmose.
In a stele discovered in Karnak in 1954, it is said that his soldiers had captured
in the desert oases west of the Nile an envoy of the king of Hyksos who was
trying to reach Kerma through the desert to avoid the Egyptian territory. We
know of the letter seized from the messenger, written in Egyptian, since neither
the Hyksos nor the Kermaites had their own script. This letter offers an alliance
between the king of Hyksos and the new king of Kerma, who just accessed the
throne, to destroy the Egyptians by attacking them from the North and the
South. Finally, as we have said in the introduction, these plots will fail and only
(a) the Egyptian kingdom will survive after having destroyed its two enemies.
(b)

(c) (d)
These little black and red vases around an iridescent strip date
back to around 1600 BC, this is what we call “Classical Kerma”. They are
extremely thin goblets, polished with a pebble; its tints come from the use
of specific plant’s ashes and very controlled firing, not pigments. They are
masterpieces in world ceramic history. Even the hundreds of potsherds that
were scattered all over the sites are magnificent, so magnificent that they no
longer can be found since tourists have been collecting them for a decade.

60 61
 The garrisons of the second cataract protected Egypt against Nubian
21 Egyptian Domination invasions, mais they also secured a region rich with gold, located east of
the Nile between two little tributaries of the Nile most often dry, the wadi
These objects are completely Egyptian since they come from the Gabgaba and the wadi Allaqi. During the complete colonization of Nubia
garrisons settled on the Egyptian fortresses of the Middle Kingdom (see above under the New Kingdom, it is from this part of the Wawat province (Lower
in the introduction), and where, during the New Kingdom, the Pharaohs Nubia) that most of the gold used in Egypt came from. Exploitation of the
built temples that we have seen in the gardens, Semna, Kumma and Buhen. ore is difficult: under hot temperatures, in a desert where only few deep wells
A lot of objects come from Mirgissa, another fortress that was excavated provide water, they had to crush auriferous quartz, load powder they extracted
by a French team from the University of Lille. These are typically Egyptian on donkey caravans and go over the long distances that separated the mines
artefacts, starting with these vases carved out of a calcite block (wrongfully from the river to wash the ore and obtain the precious metal. The equipment
called “alabaster”). Since protohistorical times, the Egyptians mastered the art to weigh this gold during the Middle Kingdom was made of composite
to produce perfectly shaped vases from stones that are incredibly hard, only scales, of which you have an example here, reduced to a central painted
with long hours of skilful work. These vessels were generally used to store pillar and two copper plates. Specific weighs carved in stone are presented
perfumed oils and unguents. In these Egyptian colonies, mummification next to them. Each bears the hieroglyph for gold (a necklace) and a certain
is practised, where perfumed oils and unguents play an important role. number of lines that each represents a unity. In general, they used the kite
(9 g) and the deben (90 g), but it wasn’t possible to identify a regular unity
here. The largest weight, on the right, nevertheless represents quite an ingot.

62 63
 22 The funerary mask of Bebi 23 Stele of Sesostris III
Century after century, the Egyptians perfected their skills in Here is the famous stele of Sesostris III, the great Pharaoh of the
mummification and the presentation of mummies. Under the Middle 12th Dynasty (around 1850 BC) who installed the first long-lasting border
Kingdom, they added a small mask, very stereotyped. Only at the end of this on the second cataract after having fought against the Nubians and who
period did the mask gain in realism. This one does not represent a Nubian, finished the erection of the fortresses of Lower Nubia. Two similar steles are
despite its black colour, but an Egyptian. The hieroglyphic inscription in preserved. One of them, in the National Museum, comes from the island of
Egyptian details the offerings dedicated to “the soul of Bebi, the architect, Ouronarti and the other one from Semna, on the left bank. The latter, better
justified”, this latter adjective is for a deceased tried at the divine court. preserved, is now in the Egyptian museum of Berlin where it was brought by
This unexpected tint is one of the two carnations (with green) attributed to Lepsius after the expedition sponsored by the king of Prussia in 1849-1852.
Osiris. It is the one of fertile soil, the sediments of the Nile, providing life. Sesostris III, who later became a sort of “patron saint” of Nubia, to whom
temples like Kumma or Semna are partly dedicated (see above), performs
the usual propaganda exercise in this text dated from the 16th year of his
reign, glorifying his exploits and demeaning his enemies. He therefore
declares that the “people of Kush are cowards who run away as soon as
the battle starts. They are not respectable human beings. They have broken
hearts [= they have no courage]”. This will not prevent the Kushite Pharaohs
like Taharqo, having forgotten that they were themselves descending
from these conquered tribes, to present themselves as the rightful heirs of
Sesostris III eleven centuries later, as we have seen in the naos of Semna.

64 65
 hieroglyphs after the closing of the tomb. The large offering table presented
24 The kingdom of Napata here bears the name of Napatan king Siaspiqo (beginning of the 5th cent.
BC) and the king therefore had with him white onions, round bread loafs,
On the back wall, to the right, appear the pyramids of Nuri, where water or beer in large jars, jars of wine, bard poultry, all this thanks to the
most of the kings of Napata were buried. Just like the Kushite rulers claim hieroglyphs formulae you can see here. These hieroglyphs are purely of
to be the descendants of the great Egyptian kings of the Ancient and Egyptian style, except for the name of the king, ancient Meroitic name written
New Kingdom, they also intend to restore the glorious architecture of the phonetically in the royal cartouche carved on the lower part of the objet.
Ancient Empire. The pyramid, abandoned in Egypt eight centuries before in
favour of royal tombs because they were too visible to potential plunderers,
was reinvigorated as early as the rule of Kashta (750 BC) in the ancestral
necropolis of el-Kurru, downstream of Napata. In Taharqo’s time (664 BC),
a new royal cemetery was inaugurated in Nuri, upstream from Napata. 25 King Aspelta
From the ancient periods, the rest of the royal family built smaller
pyramids. Then this type of tomb spreads to the whole elite of the kingdom,
so much that local necropolises like the one at Sedeinga can have up to several Among the states of the last kings of the
hundreds of pyramids, made of bricks, not a royal material, and most often of 25th Dynasty and of the first Napatan kings found
small size. As in Egypt, the visibility of these tombs, destined to bring prestige broken in the temple’s hiding place, in Napata and
to the deceased, has mostly brought plunderers, resulting in their destruction. Dukki Gel/Kerma, the last one is the young king
Most of the Napatan funerary material presented in the Mseum Aspelta. He is always depicted as a child, he even
comes from Sedeinga. Similarly to Egypt, the deceased were given offering seems older that he probably was. Like the big
tables, originally placed inside, and later placed in the entrance of the chapel state of Taharqo that we saw earlier, it is in granite
flanking the pyramid on its eastern side. They represented all the ingredients of the cataracts, originally covered with a black
of a banquet, supposed to come to become real thanks to the magic of the patina and gold leafs at the levels of the clothes and
the crown. Aspelta was probably at the centre of
a dispute concerning the succession that profited
Egypt’s king Psamtik II, he struck this dangerous
enemy that was the kingdom of Kerma (see above).
The statues of the kings of Napata are made by
Kushite sculptors. They are no longer, like the ones
of Taharqo or Tanwetamani (the last king of the
25th Dynasty), the product of Egyptian craftsmen,
they are now made by their local apprentices.

66 67
 26 Funerary shaft of Anlamani 27 The “Ouchebtiou”
This wonderful funerary shaft carved in granite, engraved Similarly, after seven centuries of Egyptian colonization, it was no longer
with reliefs and texts contained the coffin of Napatan king Anlamani. question to sacrifice servants to accompany the sovereign in Netherland. After
It is one of the first successors of the Blacks Pharaohs, most likely the all, the crown prince may have wanted to keep the excellent chef of his father…
grandson of Taharqo and predecessor of Aspelta. During the excavations Imitating the Egyptians, the sacrificed servants were replaced by statuettes called
of Nuri by American archaeologist George Reisner in 1914-1916, in the ouchebtiou (sing. ouchebti), meaning “the one who answers” in Egyptian. The
funerary chambers were discovered under their respective pyramids the magic formulae inscribed on each of them summoned them to answer indeed
shafts, very similar to this one of the two rulers Anlamani and Aspelta. when their lords, in Netherland, would need
Following the sharing policy of Antiquities that was applied back their services. With the help of these formulae,
then, the one of Aspelta was given to the Americans and is now exhibited the statuette became an actual servant of the lord
in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, main sponsor and recipient of the in Netherland. Note that during the last centuries
Reisner expedition. Even though Anlamani only reigned over Sudan and of Meroe and during the Post-Meroitic period,
Egypt regained its freedom, it didn’t keep him from proclaiming himself the practise of the “accompanying dead” in royal
“king of Upper and Lower Nubia” and to engrave funerary formulae context made a come-back, even though in more
in Egyptian, of which a large part is borrowed from the “Texts of the modest proportions than in Kerma (see above).
Pyramids”, composed by the sovereigns of the Old Kingdom somewhat 2000 These statuettes
years before. The bottom of the shaft depicts the goddess of the sky, who could be very
welcomes this new Osiris that the deceased pharaoh became for eternity. numerous. The
ideal number is
traditionally 365.
Indeed, in Egypt,
this practise
would originally
provide substitutes
for the deceased
should they
be requisitioned for agricultural works in
Netherland, like in the living world: a substitute
for every day of the year seemed like a good
option. In late Egypt, the ouchebtiou were only
servants. The Kushite rulers take a lot more than
365. The father of Anlamani, Senkamanisken,
was buried with 1277 ouchebtiou whereas his
ancestor Taharqo had 1070. Most often made in
blue or green faience, they could nevertheless
68 69
be carved in stone: calcite, granite or serpentine.
Despite all these borrowings from the Egyptian funerary traditions, 28 Goddess Beset
the Sudanese did not mummify the bodies, even if we also found the precious
oils or vases (called “canopes”) in the tombs at Nuri. This repugnance This showcase is almost entirely occupied (one meter high) by an
really belonged to the cultural core of Sudan, like for example, the rules of extraordinary figure, a naked woman with exacerbated feminine attributes,
succession that profit the maternal lineage, unlike Egypt. All this is the with grotesque proportions and face. It is a rare depiction of goddess Beset. Her
soul of the Sudanese civilization, the one that will never be Egyptianized. son, god Bes, who shares this deformed figure with his mother, is most often
represented in Egypt and in Sudan. Columns at her effigy would adorn the
temple semi-underground (hemispeos) at Gebel Barkal. Bes, a figurine of who
is placed at the foot of his mother here, is figured as a frightening bearded dwarf,
whose role is to drive bad spirits away from pregnant women and newborn
children. Like her son, Beset played this protective role: she reached out with
her hand holding a dagger depicted in relief on her arm, and with the other she
holds a snake firmly to the ground. Found by the British Museum team in Kawa
a dozen years ago, this statue is from the Napata period and was discovered in
urban context, which is not surprising regarding the popularity of the cult of Bes.

70 71
 covers, quite, similar to those were also discovered in the tomb of
29 Canopic jars of Shabaqo Tanwetamani, the last pharaoh of the 25th Dynasty, when this king
died in Sudan. The fate of the body of Shabaqo remains a mystery.
With these very beautiful calcite figurines, we go back in time a
little to the beginning of the 25th Dynasty. The necropolis of El-Kurru is
the ancestral cemetery of the first kings of Napata. Inaugurated by the local
princes of the Empire, at the end of the Egyptian domination, it welcomed
all these Black Pharaohs who reigned over Egypt, with the exception of
Taharqo who transferred the royal necropolis upstream from Napata, in Nuri,
where his Napatan successors were now buried. Unfortunately, unlike Nuri,
the necropolis of el-Kurru lost all its pyramids, whose blocks were reused
30 Funerary bed leg
mainly for the construction of a medieval Christian fortress on the Nile bank. Similarly to the tomb of Shabaqo and all those of el-Kurru, the tomb Ku.
Shabaqo (721-706 BC) was the first Black Pharaoh to reside in Memphis 72 was destroyed by plunderers. It belonged to a woman, probably a secondary
to secure the Kushite conquest accomplished by his brother and predecessor wife of king Shabataqo, but her name was not preserved. Reisner discovered,
Piankhy, he was therefore considered the first king of the 25th Dynasty of still planted in a hole carved in a stone bench, two bronze legs of a funerary
Egypt. His tomb (Ku. 16), plundered several times, is now only a succession bed, decorated with a goose statue. The
of empty rooms. Archaeologist George Reisner sometimes found these covers rest of the bed, similar to the traditional
of canopic jars, these jars where internal organs were traditionally placed after Sudanese bed angareb, had disappeared.
mummification in Egypt. There are four of them, covered with the heads of the In Egypt, the goose is associated to the
four sons of Horus. Amset, with a human head, was keeping the liver; Hapy, god Amun, who, in Sudan, is represented
with the head of a baboon, the lungs; Duamutef, with a jackal head, the stomach by a ram. However, it is possible that
and Qebehsenuf, with a hawk head, the intestines. The heart was replaced in these bed legs were made locally.
the chest after mummification, A very similar object, in wood
accompanied by a scarab amulet. and representing a sphinx, of unknown
The vases canopes of Shabaqo origin but clearly Napatan, is kept in
were broken and only the covers the British Museum. The storied base
are intact. Did they contain the is in the shape of a truncated cone and
king’s guts, knowing that he bears motives of bushes of papyrus. The
probably died in Egypt and may quadrangular leg is pierced with holes
have been mummified for his last where the stems (?) of the bed frame
trip until el-Kurru? One will note were inserted at both front corners
that his son’s tomb Shabataqo, of the bed. According to the sharing
who also died in Memphis was principles of the time, one of the two
buried in el-Kurru (Ku.18) where bed legs stayed in Khartoum whereas the second one was given to Reisner’s
his skull was discovered, and mission. It is now in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
contained fake vases canopes.
On the other hand, these
72 73
 31 Mirror of Nastasen 32 Meroitic bowl
The king Nastasen was the last king to be buried in Nuri. Dated to the Meroitic pottery, although continuing the millennial tradition of Sudan,
last decades of the kingdom of Napata, around the end of the 4th cent. BC, we regarding the excellence of techniques and the repertoire of shapes, opened
know his rule thanks to a stele kept in the Museum of Berlin, describing his up to foreign influences. Egypt remained an important source of inspiration
coronation and his military campaigns. It is the last long Egyptian text known of course. But, at this time when it was ruled by Macedonians then Romans,
in ancient Sudan. The funerary chambers located under his pyramid were not Hellenistic shapes and motives appeared in the pottery repertoire of Kush.
all excavated because of the high risk of collapse. The most beautiful object to Mediterranean amphorae were imitated. Vines branches in blossom and satyrs
have been found in his tomb, buried in the descendary (?), is unquestionably with faun ears were characteristic of an iconographic repertoire borrowed from
this large mirror bearing the name of the king. The copper disk, framed with bacchic traditions. Some authors argued that it was the trace of a cult dedicated to
a silver semi-circle giving it the aspect of the moon-god symbol, was polished Dionysos. This probably taking the interpretation too far and it is nothing more
on both sides. The handle, also in silver, represents a papyrus shaped column, than a copy of Hellenistic and Roman motives with no religious implications.
flanked with four deities: goddess Hathor wearing horns encircling the solar
disk accompanies the Theban triad, composed of Amun, recognizable by his
two high feathers, his wife Mut, wearing the double crown of Egypt, and their
son Khonsu, lunar god worshipped in Thebes and represented here with the
head of a hawk. This piece might imitate
another similar mirror found in el-
Kurru, in the tomb of pharaoh Shabaqo
and now kept in the Boston museum.

74 75
 33 The archer king 34 Boat support of Naga
The site of Tabo, on the island of Argo, located directly to the south of This sacred bark stand was exhumed in the sanctuary of the Amun temple
Kerma, shelters a sanctuary dedicated to god Amun built under Taharqo’s rule in Naga, in the years 2000, by the Berlin museum team under the direction of
and renovated several times. From this temple come the colossi adorning the Dietrich Wildung and Karla Kroeper. Dated to the reign of Natakamani and
façade of the museum (see above). A team of Swiss archaeologists discovered Amanitore, around AD 60, it is one of the last examples of a cultual element
this bronze statue in 1974, in a little hiding place, it is the only one of bigger size of Egyptian tradition well known in Sudan. Such stands were recovered
that we have inherited from Kush. It was originally entirely covered with gold in large quantities in Sudan, in Semna, Barkal, Meroe and Wad Ben Naga.
leaves that only remains in a few spots. The engraved reliefs on the four sides, although of Egyptian tradition,
It represents an unknown Meroitic king since no cartouche was were a unintentional provocation to the lords of Egypt (probably the Emperor
preserved. He wears the traditional crown of the Nero at this time). There were indeed representations of the Upper and Lower
kings of Kush, a cap flanked by two cobras on the Egypt unification rites, ca. 3100 BC. The most important rite was the sema-
forehead and the necklace with ram heads on both taouy, the “union of the double land”. This scene depicts a divine pair, formed
ends hanging on each side of the neck. Juxtaposing by Thot and Horus, on the two main faces, by two deities of the Nile kneeling
a face with delicate features, a little pouting mouth on the side, joining the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt, the lily
and a breadth that is too large next to a waist and the papyrus, around a central pole mounted by the two cartouches of
that is too thin, this statue is reminiscent of the the co-regents. On top of this scene, on the side, another ancestral rite was
representations of Meroitic king Arnekhamani carved, the henou dance. Led by goddess Meret, the king and the “souls of
on the walls of the Lion temple in Musawwarat. Pê and Nekhen” are alternatively hitting their chests while stretching their
According to stylistic criteria, the specialists date knees ahead following the rhythm,
it to the same period, i.e. the second half of the 3rd like a Cossack dance. These “souls”,
cent. BC. jackal headed (representing the city of
Moreover, like the lion god on the external Pê) and hawk headed (city of Nekhen)
wall of his temple in Musawwarat, the king of Tabo are the personification of the mythical
is represented as an archer. The weapon which was ancestors who, between Hors and the
held along the left side of the body disappeared, first historical kings, ruled over the two
but the right thumb is still protected by an “archer kingdoms of Egypt before the unification.
ring”, a thick thumbstall that we know through The sacred bark stand of Naga presents,
many examples in the Meroitic period. One of the like those of Wad Ben Naga dating from
central showcases presents a naturally mummified the same joint rule, a juxtaposition
hand still wearing the thumbstall. It was usually of Egyptian and Meroitic. The two
carved in a nice hard stone and was used to pull languages are not easily identified for
the bow string without cutting the skin and to the profane since they both use their
avoid the rebound of the string after letting it go. hieroglyphic script here. There are many
mistakes in the Egyptian here. Above
Thot for example, there is the inscription
76 77
“the Lord of eight (gods), le Lord of the divine word, gifted with life”, but the eight to the patience and skills of French archaeologist Clément Robichon.
gods of the city of Thot, Hermopolis, are represented here by six lines only and On the ultramarine blue background, a series of characters are depicted in
the symbol for “word”, which is usually a simple stick, is a sort of flag oriented the central panel, they are glorified deceased as is indicated by the solar disk they
towards the right. The cartouches of the two rulers are alternatively in Egyptian wear on their heads. They bring offerings to Osiris, seated on his throne, holding
and Meroitic. On both sides, each of the kings is mentioned by his original the sceptre in his hand. The chatoyant colours alternate green, ochre, carmine,
Meroitic name and his Egyptian coronation name: Merykare Amanitore and white heightened by the omnipresent gilding. The lower panel comprises a floral
Kheperkare Natakamani. On both sides, both Meroitic names are coupled. garland. The upper panel bears a Greek inscription: Pie zese(i)n, “Drink to live”.
This perfect equality between the king and the queen is characteristic of The other known examples in the Mediterranean, notably in Roman
all the monuments they erected in Sudan (from Amara south of the 2nd cataract to Egypt, indicate a date around the 3rd cent AD. It is most likely a production of
Naga, north of the 6th). It is brought to its paroxysm on the pylon of the temple of Alexandria. The importation of the luxurious items in Sedeinga nevertheless
Amun at Naga, where the king, as well as the queen, is represented symmetrically raises the question of the origin of the wealth of these local princes
ritually slaying enemies. Queen Amanitore is called a “Candace”, a title that buried in the western sector of the necropolis. At the heart of a desertic
certainly fits a ruling queen but it was translated unanimously as “mother queen”. region, nevertheless located at the outlet of the western desert’s tracks,
There is therefore a possibility that this couple of coregents is a mother and Sedeinga may have profited from high taxes on the caravans passing by.
son, rather than spouses, as we have long believed in a eurocentric perspective.

34 Chalice of Sedeinga
This showcase presents a selection of glassware found in the tombs at
Sedeinga in Sudanese Nubia. Mainly known by its now destroyed Egyptian
temple, dedicated by Amenhotep III to his royal wife, Queen Tiyi, the site
also comprises a huge Napatan-Meroitic necropolis, spreading over 40
ha. On the western area, placed on a small hill and constantly reoccupied,
a specific cemetery includes the tombs of the local princes. It is from these
tombs that most of the glassware presented here come from. This area was
excavated in the 1960’s by a French-Italian mission directed by Michela
Schiff Giorgini, a wealthy sponsor who passed away tragically in 1978.
The most beautiful of these glasses are undoubtedly the blue and
gold flute glasses discovered in tomb WT 8 in 1970. The other piece is kept
at the museum of the University of Pisa. They were discovered broken
ritually in about seventy pieces, they owe their perfect appearance of today

78 79
 36 The “Venus” of Meroe 37 The bust of Augustus
The excavations of the city of Meroe began with English archaeologist In 30 BC, Augustus annexed Egypt after the defeat and the suicide
John Garstang in 1911 and lasted until the First World War that interrupted all of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony. The armies of Rome went up the Nile
works. About a quarter of the city must have been excavated, including the great as far as Nubia. A treaty was signed with the kingdom of Meroe, creating
temple of Amun and part of the “royal city” yielding numerous public buildings a buffer state between the first and the second cataract, where a local
and among those, several palaces. This stunning statue is from one of those governor was named. But the taxes weighing on the Meroitic populations
palaces (M 295), it was accompanied by several similar sculptures. Human- of this Roman enclave led to riots in 26 BC, that were supported by
sized, carved in a sandstone block the central Meroitic power, who sent its generals and troops. Philae,
then covered with red pigments, it Elephantine and Aswan were taken over, their inhabitants were deported
represents a naked woman raising in slavery and the statue of Augustus were robbed and brought to Meroe.
one arm in a gesture that is not The new prefect of Egypt, Caius Petronius, strongly reacted and
yet explained (dance ?). It bears walked over the kingdom with his army, encountered the troops led by
a Greek influence and a typically Queen Amanirenas and Prince Akinidad. Petronius made it to Napata but
Meroitic treatment of volumes, did not continue to reach Meroe. After
with notably generous thighs a second conflict episode north of the
reminiscent of the representations kingdom, the envoys of the queen and
of the Kushite queens. The eyes Emperor Augustus signed a peace treaty
were inlaid with plaster and glass in Samos, in Greece. The conditions
paste, a technique that is also were extremely easy on the Meroites
found during the 1st cent. AD in the (no annexation, no tax), which leads
reliefs of the Lion temple in Naga. to believe that the war may not have
Other feminine naked statues are been the lightest work for the Romans,
known in Meroe. They usually as described in the Greek and Roman
imitate the models of Venuses of chronicles. Moreover, the statues of
late Ptolemaic Egypt, around the Augustus were never totally given back,
1st cent. BC. However, it seems that which was one of the conditions of
this one, in a palatial context, was Petronius. When Garstang excavated
made for decoration and its main the temple M 292 in Meroe in 1912, he
function was to please the eye indeed discovered, under the threshold
rather than fulfil a cultual purpose. of one of the rooms, two meters deep,
this bust of the Emperor, one of the
most beautiful and best preserved
of the beginning of his rule. The
bronze head was then sent to the British Museum, where it is still today.
A very faithful copy was made for the National Museum in Khartoum.
80 81
 Christian frescos of the finger on the mouth, is in a gesture of silence. This silence is
probably the mystery that haloes the conception of Christ.
cathedral of Faras The colours are very simple, off-white, a very pale yellow and a
sort of intermediary tint between purple and brown and characteristic
of the ancient period from which this painting is dated, between the
8th and the 9th century. In the 10th century, the frescoes use austere
38 Saint-Ann black and white nuances. In the 11th century, yellow and red are
predominant. Finally, until the 13th century, all the colour range was used.
Faras, at the border of Egypt and Sudan, was the capital of the province
of Nobadia. Formerly independent, this region located between the 1st and 3rd
cataracts remained the general quarter of a bishopric and of a viceroy, the eparch
of Nubia, representing the ruler of Dongola in this northern land. Threatened
by the implementation of the Aswan dam, the cathedral was excavated by the
Polish mission between 1961
and 1964. At this time, there
was an excavation sharing
that allowed the museum of
Warsaw to keep half of the
discovered frescoes, that is 67 Photographs of the excavations
overall. It would be better to 39 of the Cathedral of Faras
talk about “mural paintings”
rather than “frescoes”, since
On this picture dating from the excavation period, we discover what the
they were executed on a
nave of the cathedral of Faras looked like when it was discovered. According
support that was already dry.
to the caption, a little hole, initially dug incidentally, allowed to see first the
This little touching
wings of the angels. The process of detachment of the paintings was extremely
portrait of Saint Ann is a
complicated, notably because of the important temperature differences between
copy of the original, the latter
day and night and to the need to separate different layers that were laid on top on
being kept in Poland. One
each other on the same walls. The rediscovery of this long forgotten art, the state
can read her name in Greek
of preservation of the paintings and their spectacular aspect led the Sudanese
Anna he meter tes theotok[os]
authorities to devote an entire floor of the Museum to the frescoes of Faras.
“Saint Ann, mother of
the one who gave birth to
God”. The grandmother
of Jesus, with the

82 83
 40 The Hebrews
in the fiery furnace
This representation taken from the Book of Daniel, in the Bible, is very
colourful compared to the one of Saint Ann. It was found in the narthex of
the cathedral of Faras and dates to the 11th century, when yellow and red were
mainly used. The vibrant red suited the theme. The story takes place during
the time of Nebuchadnezzar, a Neo-Babylonian king who had destroyed the
Assyrian army. He was the one who deported the Jews from their ancestral
land during the Babylonian exile. To get them to renounce their god, who was
considered more powerful than the gods of Babylon by them, he captured three
young Hebrews who were taken on a furnace “so intense that the guards who
brought them there were burnt” according to the Book of Daniel. But the miracle
happened: as they were praising their god, the young boys could come and go in
the furnace without being burnt and an angel came down from the sky to them.
According the orthodox tradition, the angel, unnamed in the Book
of Daniel, was the archangel Michael, omnipresent in the churches of Nubia.
Wearing a crown, draped in a long white dress adorned with blue and orange
stripes, they protect the young Hebrews with his long cross-ended stick. His
wings are made of peacock feathers whose ocelli are meticulously drawn. The
Hebrews are fair skinned and dressed in Parthian style, with very colourful
fabrics, with pants and a cape. This is probably a detail that came from Byzantine
influence. One must know that the art of Nubia is not different from the Coptic
art of Egypt, the Copts using a much simpler style imitating late Roman art. There
is no influence of the Ethiopian style, which came much later. The style seems
genuinely borrowed from Byzantium or from its colonies in Syro-Palestine.

84 85
 41 The Nativity

The representation of the birth of Christ that was adorning the

eastern wall of the cathedral’s nave, is an absolute masterpiece of medieval
Nubian art. Apart from the figure of the Virgin Mary and the Child, a
series of secondary portraits correspond to the traditional representation
of this episode: the Three Kings, the shepherds and the angels.
The Virgin is majestically lying down on a rich sofa and is wearing a
very dark brown-purple dress. She is bears the Cross stigmata on her hands,
announcing the Passion of Christ on the very day of his birth. She is protected
by archangels Michael and Gabriel, to the right, and accompanied by Saint
Joseph, to the left. The child is swaddled and laid in a manger in the shape of
a tower or a church and the breath of the animals of the crib warms him up.
The ox is actually a zebu and the donkey, oddly enough, bears human feet.
On the upper left, come the Three Kings, here named
Melkiôn, our Melchior, Batousora, our Balthazar and Thaddasia,
probably Gaspar. In the centre, two little shepherds are represented
like Nubians, with a dark skin. They each have a name (Arnas and
Lekotes). The whole scene is watched over by the dedicatee of the
painting, a Nubian king with an inscription transcribing his prayer.

86 8
Thank you for your visit !
 Text: Claude Rilly
Design and translation: Solène Marion de Procé
Arabic translation : Abdelrahman El-Siddig
© SFDAS 2013

Printed with the generous contribution of the Sudan Archaeology

Society (SAS) who we thank
Many thanks too to the Sudan National Museum for allowing us to
take pictures of their collections.