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CHAPTER1
NUBIAINTHEMEROITIC
ANDPOST-MEROITICPERIODS
Nubiaisageographicregionlocatedinthe
northeastcornerofAfrica[Figs1-1,3-1,4-1,
7-1].ItencompassesthesouthernendofEgypt
andnorthernSudan,whereitisdivided
intoLowerNubiainthenorthandUpper
Nubiainthesouth.DiHerentregionswithinNu-
biaareseparatedbyaseriesofcataracts,withthe
FirstCataractbeingsouthofAswanandtheSixth
CataractnorthofmodernKhartoum.TheClassi-
calhistoriansoftencalledtheareasouthofEgypt
fEthiopia’
,incorporatingnotonlythemodern
countryofEthiopia,butLowerandUpperNubia
andthelandsbeyond.TheancientEgyptianword
forgold,nub,mightbetheoriginforthename
sinceNubiahadtheancientworld’srichestsup-
plyofgold(Fisher2012).
Fromthe3rdcenturyBCuntilthe3rdcentury
AD,Meroëwithitsgreatstonepyramidtombs
andtheirchapelsbecameacenteroftheroyal
andelitemortuarycultandacentreoftheNubi-
anKingdomofMeroë(Dunham1957;1963).The
KingdomofMeroëprobablyextendedasfarsouth
astheconfluenceoftheBlueandWhiteNile
andbeyond,andinthenorth,LowerNubiabe-
cametheintermediarywithEgypt.Thelocation
ofMeroëalsomadeitthenodalpointfortravels
easttotheRedSea,southtoEthiopia,andfar-
therintosub-SaharanAfrica(Fisher2012:37-40).
WhilethePtolemiesandKushitesinteractedin
LowerNubia,tradewasrenewedinthePtolemaic
RedSeaportsofBerenikeTrogodyticaandPtole-
maisTheron.TheMeroiticpeoplefromthesouth
eventuallysettledalongtheNileinLowerNubia.
DiHerenttribalgroupslivedintheareawestand
eastoftheNile,andneartheRedSea.LowerNu-
bia,foratimeruledbyRomeinthenorthand
Meroëinthesouth,becameveryprosperousin
the1stto4thcenturiesAD.Despiteheavyplun-
dering,thefindsinthecemeteriesshowthatthe
populationsoutsidethecenterswerenotwithout
certainmeansandthatsomeluxuryobjectsand
otherrevenuefromthistradebenefitedthese
groups(Säve-Söderbergh1981:3).Thepyramids
atMeroë,andsomeofthelargestsitestothe
north,likeFaras(Griffith1924:1925),Karanog
(WoolleyandRandallMcIver1910),Qustuland
Ballaña(Williams1991ab),andAbri(Vila1982)
demonstratethecommonpracticeofextended
burialsinchambersaccessedbyslopingsteps
orramps,orinverticalshafts.Thegraveswere
markedbybrickstructures,mastabasorsmall
pyramidswithfchapels’oroHeringniches,and
wereaccompaniedbyinscribedorpaintedstele,
oHering-tablesanddistinctivesculpturesreferred
toasfba-birdstatues’
.IntheMeroiticheartlands,
atsiteslikeKadadaandGabati,gravesuperstruc-
tureswererareandtherewerenooHeringtablesor
inscriptions(Edwards2004:175).Meroiticgraves
inUpperNubiawerecoveredwithtumuliornot
markedinanyparticularway(ElTayeb2012).
Ingeneral,thedeceasedwereaccompaniedby
gravegoodsrangingfromrichlyfurnishedroyal
burialstothesimplestforms,accompaniedonly
bypotteryjarsandcups(Adams1977:374-375;
Edwards2004:174).TheKingdomofAksumcon-
queredtheMeroitickingdomintheearly4thcen-
turyAD.Pyramidandmastabasuperstructures
thendisappeared,tobereplacedbythewide-
spreaduseoftumuli.Furtherchangeshavebeen
notedinmaterialculture(Edwards2004).
Threeentitiesemergedbetweenthe4thand
6thcenturiesADafterthefallofMeroë:Noba-
diainLowerNubia,EarlyMakuriainUpperNu-
bia,andAlwa(Alodia)intheregionupfromthe
FifthCataract.OncetheRomanshadwithdrawn
fromLowerNubiaaroundAD298,theNobadians,
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