Sanam is a modern village in

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 ...

. It is located at the bank of the Nile river next to Merowe. Here were found the remains of an ancient town which flourished mainly in the

Napata Napata (Old Egyptian ''Npt'', ''Npy''; Meroitic language, Meroitic ''Napa''; grc, Νάπατα and Ναπάται) was a city of ancient Kingdom of Kush, Kush at the fourth cataract of the Nile. It is located approximately 1.5 kilometers from ...

n Period. These are perhaps the remains of Napata, the capital of the Kushite empire from about 800 to 300 BC. Parts of the town were excavated in 1912 to 1913 by

Francis Llewellyn Griffith Francis Llewellyn Griffith (27 May 1862 – 14 March 1934) was an eminent British Egyptologist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life and education F. Ll. Griffith was born in Brighton on 27 May 1862 where his father, Rev. Dr. ...

. He found the remains of a badly preserved temple and of a building he called ''treasury''. The temple was built under king

Taharqo Taharqa, also spelled Taharka or Taharqo (Egyptian: 𓇿𓉔𓃭𓈎 ''tꜣ-h-rw-k'', Akkadian: ''Tar-qu-u2'', , Manetho's ''Tarakos'', Strabo's ''Tearco''), was a pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and qore (king) of the Kingdom of ...

with additions by king

Aspelta Aspelta was a ruler of the kingdom of Kush (c. 600 – c. 580 BCE). More is known about him and his reign than most of the rulers of Kush. He left several stelae carved with accounts of his reign. Family Aspelta was the son of Senkamanisken an ...

. Most importantly, he excavated a big cemetery belonging to the inhabitants of the town. This is one of the few so far excavated cemeteries of this period belonging to "common" people.Angelika Lohwasser: ''The Kushite Cemetery of Sanam: A Non-royal Burial Ground of the Nubian Capital, c. 800-600 BC'', London 2010

References

Archaeological sites in Sudan Ancient cities Kingdom of Kush {{Coord, 18, 29, N, 31, 49, E, type:city_region:SD_source:dewiki, display=title