Umm Ruweim is an archaeological ruin site from
Ghazali in present-day
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 ...
. Consisting of two forts and some cemeteries, the site is situated just south of the
Nile's
Fourth Cataract at
Wadi Abu Dom. There are two documented forts of 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 ...
(300 BC to 300 AD). The Umm Ruweim I measures and has four
towers. Umm Ruweim II, to the southeast, has a simpler plan consisting only of a perimeter wall. The function of these forts may have been military, but is uncertain. In the vicinity of the sites, there are small cemeteries that have been partially excavated. Umm Ruweim was unknown until the 50s, when its
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
antiquities were surveyed. An ongoing survey by Angelika Lohwasser of the
University of Münster since 2009 in the Wadi Abu Dom area includes documentation of the ruins of Umm Ruweim.
References
* H.N. Chittick: "An Exploratory Journey in the Bayuda Region", In ''Kush'' 3, 1955 pp. 86-92
* Ossama el-Nur, Hassan Bandi: "The Potential of the IVth Cataract Archaeological Project I: Mound-Graves at Umm Ruweim and Khor al-Greyn", in: ''Hommages à Jean Leclant''. Volume 2: Nubie, Soudan, Éthiopie. Contributions réunies par Catherine Berger, Gisèle Clerc et Nicolas Grimal, Le Caire, Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, 1994 = Bibliothèque d'étude, 106/1-4. , pp. 323-331.
{{coord, 18.4106, N, 31.9903, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Archaeological sites in Sudan
Nubian architecture in Sudan