Jebel Barkal

This article is about the archaeological site. For the ancient city, seeNapata.

Jebel Barkal

جبل بركل
Jebel Barkal is a small mesa (104 meters tall)
Jebel Barkal Shown within Northeast Africa Jebel Barkal Jebel Barkal (Sudan) Jebel Barkal Jebel Barkal (Africa)
Alternative name	Gebel Barkal
Location	Karima,Northern State,Sudan
Region	Nubia
Coordinates	18°32′12″N31°49′42″E
Type	Sanctuary
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Gebel Barkal and the Sites of the Napatan Region
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii, iv, vi
Designated	2003 (27thsession)
Reference no.	1073
Region	Arab States

Jebel BarkalorGebel Barkal(Arabic:جبل بركل,romanized:Jabal Barkal) is amesaor large rock outcrop located 400 km north ofKhartoum,next toKarimainNorthern StateinSudan,on theNile River,in the region that is sometimes calledNubia.The jebel is 104 m tall, has a flat top, and came to have religious significance for both ancient Kush and ancient Egyptian occupiers. In 2003, the mountain, together with the extensive archaeological site at its base (ancientNapata), were named as the center of aWorld Heritage SitebyUNESCO.The Jebel Barkal area houses theJebel Barkal Museum.

History

The earliest occupation of Jebel Barkal was that of theKerma culture,which was also known as Kush, but this occupation is so far known only from scattered potsherds.

Around 1450 BCE, the EgyptianPharaohThutmose IIIconquered Barkal and built a fortified settlement (Egyptianmenenu) there as the southern limit of the Egyptian empire. The city and region around it came to be calledNapata,and the Egyptian occupation of Jebel Barkal extended through most of theNew Kingdom of Egypt.The Egyptians built a complex of temples at the site, centered on a temple toAmunof Napata—a local, ram-headed form of the main god of the Egyptian capital city ofThebes, Egypt.In the last years of the New Kingdom and after its collapse in 1169 BC, there was little construction at Jebel Barkal. Apart from the temples, no trace of this Egyptian settlement has yet been found at the site.

Statue of PharaohTaharqafrom Jebel Barkal (3.6 meters).National Museum of Sudan.

Jebel Barkal was the capital city of theKingdom of Kushas it returned to power in the years after 800 BCE as the Dynasty of Napata. The Kushite kings who conquered and ruled over Egypt as the25th Dynasty,includingKashta,Piankhy (orPiye), andTaharqa,all built, renovated, and expanded monumental structures at the site.

After the Kushites were driven out by theAssyrian conquest of Egyptin the mid-7th century BC, they continued to rule Kush with Jebel Barkal and the city ofMeroëas the most important urban centers of Kush. Jebel Barkal's palaces and temples continued to be renovated from the 7th-early 3rd centuries BC. Most of the royal pyramid burials of the kings and queens of Kush during this time were built at the site ofNuri,9 km to the northeast of Jebel Barkal.

In 270 BCE, the location of Kushite royal burials was moved to Meroë, inaugurating the Meroitic period of theKingdom of Kush.Jebel Barkal continued to be an important city of Kush during the Meroitic period. A sequence of palaces were built, most notably by KingNatakamani,new temples were built and older temples were renovated. During the 1st century BC - 1st century AD, eight royal pyramid burials were built at Jebel Barkal (rather than at Meroë), for reasons that are not clear, but perhaps reflecting the prominence of one or more families from the city.

After the collapse of Kush during the 4th century AD, Jebel Barkal continued to be occupied in the medieval (Christian) period of Nubia, as attested by architectural remains, burials, and burial inscriptions.

Temples

Ruins of theTemple of Amunat Jebel Barkal.

Temple of Amunat Jebel Barkal, originally built during the EgyptianNew Kingdombut greatly enhanced byPiye.

The ruins around Jebel Barkal include at least 13 temples that were built, renovated, and expanded over a period of over 1,500 years. The temples were described for the first time by a series of European explorers beginning in the 1820s. Their drawings and descriptions, particularly those ofFrédéric Cailliaud(1821),Louis Maurice Adolphe Linant de Bellefonds(1821), andKarl Richard Lepsius(1844), record significant architectural details that have since disappeared. In 1862 five inscriptions from theThird Intermediate Periodwere recovered by an Egyptian officer and transported to theCairo Museum,but not until 1916 were scientificarcheologicalexcavations performed by a joint expedition ofHarvard Universityand theMuseum of Fine ArtsofBostonunder the direction ofGeorge Reisner.From the 1970s, explorations continued by a team from theUniversity of Rome La Sapienza,under the direction ofSergio Donadoni,that was joined by another team from the Boston Museum, in the 1980s, under the direction of Timothy Kendall.

Temple of Amun and Temple of Mut

Main articles:Temple of AmunandTemple of Mut

The larger temples, such as theTemple of Amun,are even today considered sacred to the local population. The carved wall painted chambers of theTemple of Mutare well preserved.

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  The last standing pillars ofNapata's temple of Amun at the foot of Jebel Barkal
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  Stone statue of a ram
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  Lion-headed God Appademak with PharaohTaharqa(right) in the Jebel BarkalTemple of Mut.
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  Taharqa, followed by the sistrum shaking queenTakahatenamunin the Jebel BarkalTemple of Mut.

Temple B700 at Jebel Barkal

Temple B700, built byAtlanersaand decorated bySenkamanisken,is now largely destroyed.It received the sacred bark of Amun from the nearby B500 on certain cultic occasions, and may have served during the coronation of the kings of the early Napatan period, in the mid 7th century BC. The Temple was decorated bySenkamanisken,where he is shown clubbing enemies.

The hieroglyphic inscription on the Temple described the role of the godAmunin selecting Sekamanisken as king:

I said of you [while you were still] in your mother's womb that you were to be ruler of Kemet [ "Black Land", probably meaning Egypt and Kush]. I knew you in the semen, while you were in the egg, that you were to be lord. I made you receive the Great Crown, whichRecaused to appear on the first good occasion. [Inasmuch as] a father makes his son excellent, it is I who decreed kingship to you. [So] who shall share it with you? For I am the Lord of Heaven. As I give to Re, [so] he gives to his children, from gods to men. It is I who gives you the royal charter.... No other [can] decree (who is to be) king. It is I who grants kingship to whomever I will.

— Amun inscription, frieze of Sekamanisken, Temple B700, Jebel Barkal.

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  Ruins of Temple B700 of Jebel Barkal with relief of Senkamanisken clubbing enemies, drawn in 1821 byLouis Maurice Adolphe Linant de Bellefonds
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  Senkamanisken slaying enemies in front of GodAmun,at Jebel Barkal (pylon of building B 700, west of the main temple).
• 
  Senkamanisken slaying enemies at Jebel Barkal (detail).

Pyramids

Pyramid at Jebel Barkal.

Jebel Barkal served as a royal cemetery during theMeroitic Kingdom.The earliest burials date back to the 3rd century BC.

• Bar. 1 King from the middle of the 1st century BCE
• Bar. 2 King Teriqas (c. 29–25 BCE)
• Bar. 4 QueenAmanirenas?(1st century BCE)
• Bar. 6 QueenNawidemak(1st century BCE)
• Bar. 7 KingSabrakamani?(3rd century BCE)
• Bar. 9 King or Queen of the early 2nd century CE
• Bar. 11 KingAktisanes(3rd century BCE)
• Bar. 14 KingAryamani(3rd century BCE)
• Bar. 15 King Kash[...]merj Imen(3rd century BCE)

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  Pyramids, next to Jebel Barkal
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  Pyramids at Jebel Barkal in 1821
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  Pyramids of Jebel Barkal today
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  Pyramids in the southern group

History of Excavation of the Site

Napata’s urban remains have not yet been significantly excavated, but rubble heaps indicate that the area was probably home to major settlement in antiquity. There are no traces of a pre-Egyptian settlement, though this may change as more is uncovered at the site. The earliest buildings found at Napata date from the middle of theeighteenth Dynasty.The first archaeologist to work at the site wasGeorge A. Reisnerwho worked there from 1916-1920 and excavated a number of buildings. His first excavation at Napata was a large Meroitic structure (Named “B 100” ) that dated to the first century CE. At first, Reisner assumed this to be an “administrative building”, though it is now known to have been a palace.

Artifacts in Museums

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  Colossal statue of KingAspeltafrom theTemple of Amun, Jebel Barkal.Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
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  TheStele of Piyewas discovered in Jebel Barkal.Cairo Museum
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  The Stele ofTantamani.Cairo Museum
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  Golden Bracelet found in the tomb of a member of the Royal Family in Gebel Barkal.Meroitic period,250-100 BCE
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  Barque stand from Temple B700 showingAtlanersaholding up the heavens,now in theMuseum of Fine Artsin Boston
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  Djed amulet, Gebel Barkal,25th Dynasty.Ânkh-Djed-Ouas (British Museum, EA 54412)

See also

• List of World Heritage Sites in Africa
• Nubian pyramids
• Pyramids at El-Kurru
• Pyramids of Jebel Barkal
• Pyramids of Meroë
• Pyramids of Nuri
• Sedeinga pyramids

Sources

• Reisner, George Andrew (1925)."Excavations in Egypt and Ethiopia 1922–1925"(PDF).Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin.XXIII(137). Boston, Massachusetts: Museum of Fine Arts: 17–29.
• "Boat stand of King Atlanersa".Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.Retrieved27 September2019.accession number 23.728b
• "Fragments of the bark stand of King Atlanersa".Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.Retrieved27 September2019.accession number 23.728b

External links

• Website of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums Archaeological Mission at Jebel Barkal
• LearningSites - Gebel Barkal
• UNESCO World Heritage Centre - Gebel Barkal and the Sites of the Napatan Region
• Gebel Barkal and the Sites of the Napatan RegionUNESCO collection on Google Arts and Culture
• The Victory Stela of Piye