Amara, usually distinguished as Amara East and Amara West, is the modern name of an ancient Egyptian city in

Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...

, in what today is

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. Amara West is located on the west side of the

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

, eastern Amara, on the eastern side of the Nile. The towns lie north of the 3rd Cataract of the Nile, near the modern-day town of

Abri A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long, rock shelters are almost alway ...

Amara West

Amara West was founded in the

19th Dynasty The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XIX), also known as the Ramessid dynasty, is classified as the second Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1292 BC to 1189 BC. The 19th Dynasty and the 20th Dynasty fur ...

Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom period, ruling c.1294 or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II. The ...

and was probably, at least temporarily, an administrative center. Here was the official residence of the representative of

Kush Kush or Cush may refer to: Bible * Cush (Bible), two people and one or more places in the Hebrew Bible Places * Kush (mountain), a mountain near Kalat, Pakistan Balochistan * Kush (satrapy), a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire * Hindu Kush, a m ...

. The fortified city was about 200 x 200 m. Here stood a great temple of

Ramesses II Ramesses II ( egy, wikt:rꜥ-ms-sw, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is oft ...

, excavated between 1938 and 1950. The town's name was first per-Menmaatre (House of Seti I), was then in Per-Rameses-meri-Amon (House of Ramesses II), and finally changed to Chenem-Waset. The place is under excavation since 2008 by a team of the British Museum under Neil Spencer.Neil Spencer, Anna Stevens, Michaela Binder: ''Amara West, Living in Egyptian Nubia'', London 2014,

Amara East

Amara East was significant in the

Meroitic period Meroitic may refer to: * things related to the city and kingdom of Meroë in pre-Islamic Sudan * Meroitic alphabet * Meroitic language The Meroitic language () was spoken in Meroë (in present-day Sudan) during the Meroitic period (attested fro ...

. The Meroitic name was Pedeme. Here was a temple built by

Natakamani Natakamani was a King of Kush who reigned from around or earlier than 1 BC to c. AD 20.Oliver, Roland and Brian M. Fagan ''Africa in the Iron Age'' "Cambridge University Press". p. 40. . Natakamani is the best attested ruler of the Meroitic period ...

. The

Lepsius Lepsius is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Johannes Lepsius (1858–1926), German humanitarian *Karl Richard Lepsius, Prussian Egyptologist *Reinhold Lepsius (1857–1922), German painter *Sabine Lepsius Sabine Lepsi ...

expedition still saw and partially documented eight decorated pillars. Today, only a few remnants of the city walls exist.

References

{{Authority control Archaeological sites in Sudan Kingdom of Kush