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. Amara West is located on the west side of the

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

, 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 alwa ...

Amara West

Amara West was founded in the 19th Dynasty by

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 ...

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

Ramesses II Ramesses II ( egy, 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 often regarded as ...

, 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. 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 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