Ballana
Coordinates: 22 ° 16 ′ 0 ″ N , 31 ° 34 ′ 0 ″ E
Ballana was a cemetery in Nubia , which was on the southern border of today's Egypt on the west side of the Nile . Walter Bryan Emery uncovered 122 graves here in the early 1930s. It was barrows (tumuli) with underground chambers. Presumably Ballana was the cemetery of the kings of Nobatia . The place sank in Lake Nasser, which was dammed up from the mid-1960s .
The cemetery
The grave types and the finds resemble those of Qustul on the opposite east bank. There were isolated human sacrifices and horses were also buried. Grave B 80 was not robbed and for the first time contained the burial of a king on a bed. There was a silver crown on his head and rich jewelry on his arms and legs. According to the chronology established by László Török , B 80 dates to the 420s and was the first royal tomb of Ballana, with which the tradition of five generations of kings previously buried in Qustul was continued. A total of seven kings were buried in Ballana until shortly before 500 AD.
Other kings were probably buried in tombs 3, 37, 47, 95, 114 and 118. In each of these graves crowns made of silver were found, which in their style combine Meroitic-Egyptian with late antique Mediterranean elements. A late antique silver plate with the image of Hermes was found in grave 3 . In other tombs there were candelabra, some of which were certainly made in the Mediterranean, others in Nubia.
The grave finds are an impressive testimony to the wealth of these late ancient rulers, who had extensive trade relationships, but also had their own workshops that made high-quality products.
The burial customs with human and horse sacrifices obviously fall back on old traditions from Kerma .
Important tombs
Grave 47
The grave may have belonged to a queen or at least a lady of high standing. The burial mound was 39.30 meters in diameter and 6.80 meters high when it was found. As usual, it was covered with a thick layer of gravel. The burial chamber inside the hill was untouched and contained the largest collection of jewelry from the Ballana and Qustul cemeteries. At the entrance to the corridor that led to the burial chamber lay the skeletons of two people and a richly decorated horse. With the skeletons there were still some objects. It is probably about servants who had to follow their mistress into death. Another servant lay directly at the entrance to the burial chamber.
The untouched dead woman lay in the burial chamber. The corpse had deteriorated badly, but there was a lot of jewelry, so that it is assumed to be a woman. She wore a silver crown on her head, 20 silver bracelets on her arms, a silver bracelet around her neck and 14 chains with pearls made of various materials. She wore silver and coral bracelets on her arms, and a row of earrings on her head.
In the burial chamber lay bronze bowls, a silver beaker and a bronze lamp in the shape of a human head.
Grave 80
This grave was the richest of the local burials. The burial chamber collapsed early and was therefore never robbed.
The actual burial mound was once 62 meters in diameter and 12 meters high. The grave complex within the hill consisted of four rooms. The remains of sacrificed horses and camels were found in the entrance to the burial chamber. In the first burial chamber lay the body of the person buried here, who was probably a king. He was lying on a stretcher, of which only the metal parts could be found. On the head of the ruler was a silver crown, which was decorated with semi-precious stones. In his left hand he held weapons such as a bow and arrows. There were chains around his neck.
Skeletal parts of a dog were found on the ruler's head. The remains of sacrificed servants were also found in this burial chamber. One of them was obviously a soldier who was buried with his iron sword. Numerous additions were found around the king, including a lot of ceramics, bronze vessels and weapons. An incense burner in the shape of a lion may have been imported from China.
A woman was buried in another chamber who wore a crown and is therefore probably to be regarded as a queen.
Grave 95
The underground part of the grave collapsed shortly after the burial, so that here too the burial remained untouched. The burial mound was 56 meters in diameter and 7.45 meters high when it was found. It had three chambers. In the first was the ruler's skeleton with a silver crown. At the grave entrance lay a sacrificed servant and the skeleton of a cow. At the north end of the room was the queen's burial, which was also adorned with a silver crown. All three chambers were filled with additions. There was a lot of ceramics, bronze vessels, weapons and an iron folding chair, perhaps a throne.
Grave 118
Here, too, the burial chamber had collapsed and therefore preserved the burial of a king. He was lying on a death bed with the crown on his head. Weapons, a wooden game board, and a folding chair were found under the bed. In the same room were the remains of a young man who had obviously been sacrificed and the remains of a cow. There were two side chambers, in which mainly pottery was found, but also burials of sacrificed servants.
literature
- Walter B. Emery: Nubian Treasure. London 1948, pp. 57-72.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ László Török: The Chronology of the Qustul and Ballana Cemetaries. In: Martin Krause (Ed.): Nubian Studies. Conference files of the 5th International Conference of the International Society for Nubian Studies Heidelberg, 22. – 25. September 1982 . Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1986, pp. 191–197
- ↑ Nobatian Royal Tombs at Ballana and Qustul. ( Memento from March 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Image of the corpse and the crown (below)