Musawwarat es-Sufra (
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: ,
Meroitic: Aborepi,
Old Egyptian
The Egyptian language or Ancient Egyptian ( ) is a dead Afro-Asiatic language that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large corpus of surviving texts which were made accessible to the modern world following the deciphe ...
: jbrp, jpbr-ˁnḫ), also known as Al-Musawarat Al-Sufra, is a large
Meroitic temple complex in modern
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 ...
, dating back to the early Meroitic period of the 3rd century BC. It is located in a large basin surrounded by low sandstone hills in the western
Butana
The Butana (Arabic: البطانة, ''Buṭāna''), historically called the Island of Meroë, is the region between the Atbara and the Nile in the Sudan. South of Khartoum it is bordered by the Blue Nile and in the east by Lake Tana in Ethiopia. ...
, 180 km northeast of
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
, 20 km north of
Naqa
Naqa or Naga'a ( ar, ٱلـنَّـقْـعَـة, An-Naqʿah) is a ruined ancient city of the Kushitic Kingdom of Meroë in modern-day Sudan. The ancient city lies about north-east of Khartoum, and about east of the Nile River located at appr ...
and approximately 25 km south-east 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 ...
. Its
MGRS coordinates: 36QWD3477214671. With Meroë and Naqa it is known as the
Island of Meroe, and was listed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in 2011. Constructed in sandstone, the main features of the site include the ''Great Enclosure'', the ''Lion Temple of Apedemak'' and the ''Great Reservoir''. Most significant is the number of representations of elephants, suggesting that this animal played an important role at Musawwarat es-Sufra.
Research
The site of Musawwarat es-Sufra was originally mentioned by
Linant de Bellefonds in 1822, and then shortly thereafter by
Frédéric Cailliaud
Frédéric Cailliaud (9 June 1787 – 1 May 1869) was a French naturalist, mineralogist and conchologist. He was born, and died, in Nantes, where he was the curator of the Natural History Museum of Nantes from 1836 to 1869.
He travelled in E ...
. The first detailed description of the site was made by
Carl Richard Lepsius
Karl Richard Lepsius ( la, Carolus Richardius Lepsius) (23 December 181010 July 1884) was a pioneering Prussian Egyptologist, linguist and modern archaeologist.
He is widely known for his magnum opus ''Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien'' ...
. Archaeological fieldwork was conducted by the Butana expedition of the
Humboldt University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
under the direction of archaeologist Fritz Hintze from 1960 until 1970. The team re-erected the Lion Temple, collapsed in antiquity, and constructed a new roof. These investigations continued after a gap of several decades and are ongoing.
[UNESCO](_blank)
Nomination document p.43.
Lion Temple
The Lion Temple is a single-chambered rectangular 14.21 m in length, 9.13 m in width and 4.7 m in height temple with
pylon and six columns made of drums. Erected by King
Arnekhamani
Arnekhamani was a Nubian king of the Kushite Kingdom in the third century BC. The king is mainly known from his building activity at the Musawwarat es-Sufra temple complex. The main temple complex at this place was built by Arnekhamani, but was ne ...
and dedicated to
Apedemak the temple bears inscriptions in Egyptian hieroglyphs and representations of elephants and lions on the rear inside wall as well as reliefs of Apedemak depicted as a three-headed god on the outside walls. A 3D model of the Lion Temple can be see
here An Animation of the Lion Temple 3D model can be vie
File:MusawwaratLionTemple.jpg, Columns in the Lion Temple
File:Apedemak temple in Musawwarat es-sufra (11) (33736823760).jpg, Relief of Apedemak
Great Enclosure
The Great Enclosure is the main structure of the site. Much of the large labyrinth-like building complex, which covers approximately 45,000 m
2, was erected in the third century BC. According to Hintze, "the complicated ground plan of this extensive complex of buildings is without parallel in the entire Nile valley". The maze of
courtyard
A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky.
Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...
s includes three (possible) temples, passages, low walls, preventing any contact with the outside world, about 20 columns, ramps and two reservoirs.
[Google Books](_blank)
Sudan: The Bradt Travel Guide p.131-2.
There were many sculptures of animals, such as elephants and most of the walls of the complex bear graffiti and masons’ or pilgrims' marks both pictorial and in
Meroitic or Greek script. The scheme of the site is, so far, without parallel 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 ...
and
ancient Egypt, and there is some debate about the purpose of the buildings, with earlier suggestions including a college, a hospital, and an elephant-training camp.
According to the scholar
Basil Davidson, at least four
Kushite
The Kingdom of Kush (; Egyptian: 𓎡𓄿𓈙 𓈉 ''kꜣš'', Assyrian: ''Kûsi'', in LXX grc, Κυς and Κυσι ; cop, ''Ecōš''; he, כּוּשׁ ''Kūš'') was an ancient kingdom in Nubia, centered along the Nile Valley in wh ...
queens —
Amanirenas,
Amanishakheto
Amanishakheto was a Kandake of Kush. She seems to have reigned from 10 BC to 1 AD, although most dates of Kushite history before the Middle Ages are very uncertain.
In Meroitic hieroglyphs her name is written "Amanikasheto" (''Mniskhte'' or ''( ...
,
Nawidemak
Nawidemak was a Kandake of Kush who ruled either early in the 1st century BC or 1st century AD. She is known from the wall relief of her burial chamber, as well as a gold plaque. She may also have been one of the Kandakes referred to in the New Te ...
and
Amanitore — probably spent part of their lives in ''Musawwarat es-Sufra''.
File:Great Enclosure in Musawwarat es-sufra (10) (34060507906).jpg, View of the Great Enclosure
File:Nubia- 2008- Piramidi Khartoum-2.jpg, An entrance to the Great Enclosure
File:Archaeological_Sites_of_the_Island_of_Meroe-114985.jpg, Statue of an elephant
File:MusawwaratGreatEnclosureDrawing.jpg, Wall-drawing
File:PuecklerMusawwarat.jpg, Graffiti of Prince Pückler-Muskau
Great Reservoir
The Great Reservoir is a
Hafir
A hafir is an artificially constructed water catchment basin with a circular earthen wall and diameters of between 70-250 m and heights of up to 7 m. Adapted to semi-desert conditions, the hafirs catch the water during the rainy season to ...
to retain as much as possible of the rainfall of the short, wet season. It is 250 m in diameter and excavated 6.3 m into the ground.
3D Models with laser-scanning
The
Zamani Project
The Zamani Project is part of the African Cultural Heritage Sites and Landscapes Database. Zamani is a research group at the University of Cape Town, which acquires, models, presents and manages spatial and other data from cultural heritage sites ...
document cultural heritage sites in 3D to create a record for future generations. The documentation of the Great Enclosure of Musawwarat es-Sufra and the Apedemak (Lion) Temple is based on terrestrial laser-scanning and was carried out in 2009.
3D models, animations, plans and images of some of the temples are online available a
www.zamaniproject.org
References
Literature
*
Basil Davidson ''Old Africa Rediscovered'', Gollancz, 1959
* Peter Shinnie ''Meroe'', 1967
External links
The Musawwarat graffiti archivewww.musawwarat.comArchaeological Mission to Musawwarat es-Sufra: Project website with basic information and current publications
* Meroe Gallery
Youtube3D fly through
Documentary film on archaeological research and conservation at Musawwarat es-Sufraby Humboldt University, Berlin
{{authority control
Kingdom of Kush
History of Nubia
African civilizations
Archaeological sites in Sudan
World Heritage Sites in Sudan