Pyramids of Meroe

North Cemetery in 2005

Aerial view of the north cemetery in 2001 with numbered pyramids

Location of Meroe in Sudan

The pyramids of Meroe are located in Sudan , around 200 kilometers northeast of Khartoum near the village of Bagrawija . Based on their location, they can be roughly divided into three groups (Bagrawija north, south and west) and are distributed over small hills that are around a quarter square kilometer in size. In total, there are more than 900 pyramids and tombs, most of which are located in Bagrawija south and west.

The mostly stone built pyramids of Meroe are less than 30 meters high and are significantly smaller than the well-known ancient Egyptian pyramids and were used as burial sites for the kings, queens and high officials of the historical kingdom of Kush in Nubia . Their period of origin extends mainly from around 300 BC. BC to around 300 AD. The first pyramid in Meroe, which can be safely attributed to a ruler, comes from Ergamenes , who lived around 280 BC. Ruled.

The pyramids of Meroe have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011 .

origin

In all areas of life, especially in the culture of the ruling class of Nubia, there is a strong reference to Egypt. Beliefs and material culture are dominated by the northern neighbor, especially at the beginning of the Nubian statehood. In this context, the custom of being buried in pyramids was probably adopted by the ruling class (see Nubian pyramids ). However, not only the architectural forms of Egypt were copied, but also the belief in an afterlife . As far as written sources are available, almost the same rites and customs can be found here as in Egypt. Above all, it was important that the deceased was also remembered after his death and that sacrifices were made to him, for which relatively elaborate grave structures that were also accessible above ground, such as pyramids with a mortuary temple, were built. The supreme god of the dead was, as in Egypt, Osiris , who otherwise apparently had no temple of his own and no cult in Nubia; other gods of the dead were Isis and Anubis . They are also mentioned again and again in Nubian death texts and thus also in the pyramid temples. Above all, Isis and Anubis were called when they asked for bread and water, with which the supply of food should be guaranteed for all eternity.

Building the pyramids

The pyramids each consist of three parts:

1. The actual pyramid, which was initially built from local sandstone , but later also from bricks. They are on average 10 to 30 meters high.
2. In front of the pyramid is a small mortuary temple, which is usually richly decorated with reliefs. Here the dead person is named and depicted in scenes from the underworld or together with deities. The whole pyramid complex is sometimes surrounded by a wall.
3. The actual burial chambers are under the pyramid. The entrance is in front of the temple, there are never any rooms within the actual pyramid structure. Kings had a burial system with three chambers, with the first two often decorated with pillars. The deceased was buried in the last chamber, whereas queens only had two underground chambers, and the later kings only had a two-chamber grave.

The pyramids in Meroe have a steep angle of 72 degrees compared to the Egyptian pyramids ( the Egyptian pyramids : 54 degrees), they are also much smaller than these. Most of them are not smoothly disguised, but stepped, apparently not having a point, but rather a bit flattened at the top and perhaps ended with a small, flat cylinder. They stood on a flat base. The royal pyramids of Meroe are divided into two groups, which differ in size. The first group dates from Ergamenes (approx. 280 BC) to Amanischacheto (end of the first century BC). The average side length is 18 m. In the second group (from Natakamani approx. 50 AD), however, the average side length is only 6.6 m. During this time the pyramid building obviously lost its importance. At the same time, the pyramids of the queens or Kandaks are made larger than those of the kings.

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  Pyramid N21 from the side, stepped shape

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  Pyramid N19 from the side, shape smoothed

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  Plan of the pyramid N7

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  A relief from the chapel of the pyramid N17 (today in the Egyptian Museum Berlin )

The decoration of the mortuary temple

The mortuary temples in front of the pyramids are made of sandstone. They usually consist of one or two rooms with a pylon in front of them. These temples are richly decorated. On the outside of the pylon there is a flat, sunk relief that often, but not always, shows the king slaying the enemy, an old scene adopted from the Egyptians. The interior of the temple is also decorated with a flat but raised relief. There are three types of decoration. Type A dates to the 3rd century BC. It shows sacrificial scenes in the Egyptian style with Egyptian hieroglyphics. Type B dates from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD. Here you can find the Judgment of the Dead and the Book of the Dead , which have been in use in Egypt since around 1350 BC. Belong to the typical repertoire of grave decorations. Before the judgment of the dead, the dead man's heart had to defend itself and prove that the dead had done more good than bad deeds in life. On a scale, bad and good deeds were weighed with the heart as weight. Only if the deceased was found innocent in this court, presided over by Osiris as judge, was he allowed to go into the underworld for all eternity. If he was found guilty, the corpse-eater devoured him and the deceased died an eternal death. The last type C starts with Natakamani . On the side walls, the tomb lord or lady who is depicted seated dominates. The grave masters usually wear a festive robe and are richly hung with various jewelry. Isis and Nephthys often stand behind the dead , but queens can also appear. A prince or Anubis appears before them, offering the deceased an incense or water offering. The back wall of the chapel shows the underworld god Osiris or a false door through which the dead symbolically should be able to leave the grave.

Grave goods

Most of the pyramids found themselves robbed, so that it is only possible to a limited extent to get an idea of ​​the former furnishings of the burial chambers. The only pyramid that has not been plundered belongs to Queen Mernua (approx. 600 BC). Her grave dates from the very beginning of the cemetery approx. 300 years before the royal pyramids, so that her grave is probably typical of her time, but not typical of most of the burials in Meroe. Mernua was buried in a purely Egyptian style. It lay in several coffins that were stacked one inside the other. Her mummy was richly decorated with amulets and in the grave lay numerous ushabtis with her name on them. Most of the grave equipment was specially made for the grave.

The later burials look different. There are no ushabtis, there are seldom coffins (once existing coffins could have fallen into disrepair due to the poor conservation conditions) and there are also no remains of mummy masks. Most of the burial objects were taken from everyday life. There are many luxury items that were imported from the Hellenistic world (metal vessels, but also bronze sculptures, a lot of Hellenistic ceramics, including wine amphoras ). There is evidence of jewelry that was probably worn in life, and there is evidence of furniture that was placed in the grave. There are still amulets in the Egyptian style, but from the 3rd century BC onwards, Egyptian burial customs were increasingly removed. However, the representations in the pyramid chapel show that Egyptian beliefs continued to be cultivated. Osiris and Isis and the judgment of the dead, the typical representations in Egyptian representations of that time, appear again and again in these scenes. There are indications, albeit inconspicuous, that servants and animals were buried with the rulers. Many burial chambers contained more than one dead person. Animal burials were also found in the vicinity of the pyramids.

exploration

The Italian doctor and adventurer Giuseppe Ferlini visited the pyramids in 1834 and destroyed some of them in search of treasure. He found Queen Amanischacheto's jewelry and tried to sell them to various museums, but at that time nobody in Europe believed that such high-quality objects could come from sub-Saharan Africa. Eventually they were bought by Berlin and Munich, where they are still today. A decade later, the Prussian expedition under Richard Lepsius explored the pyramids. The cemetery was systematically examined, a plan was drawn and many representations in the pyramid temples were copied. In the 1920s, the pyramid fields were systematically excavated by George Andrew Reisner , where he made extremely rich finds. In contrast to the earlier graves in Nuri or al-Kurru , there were few objects in the classical Meroitic burial chambers that were specially made for graves. Everyday objects as grave goods dominate the picture, including many imported objects from the Mediterranean area. The finds were mainly split between Khartoum and the Museum of Fine Arts , Boston . G. Reisner's work was published by Dows Dunham in several monumental volumes in the 1950s and 1960s. G. Reisner was mainly interested in the excavation of the burial chambers and neglected the pyramids as such. The decorations of the grave pyramids and their architecture have therefore not yet been systematically processed or presented scientifically. In recent years some of the pyramids have been restored by the German architect and archaeologist Friedrich Hinkel .

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  Pyramid N6, was almost completely destroyed by Giuseppe Ferlini in 1834

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  Impression of the pyramids around 1850, according to the reports of the Lepsius expedition

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  Numbered plan of the North Cemetery after George Andrew Reisner

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  Representation of offerings in the pyramid temple of the pyramid N12

List of pyramids

Meroe and its cemeteries

The abbreviation Beg stands for Bagrawija, N for north cemetery, S for south cemetery and W for west cemetery . High-ranking people have been buried in the southern cemetery since at least Aspelta (around 580 BC). Ergamenes (around 280 BC) is the first ruler to be buried there. Around 250 BC The south cemetery was abandoned and the north cemetery was used as a burial place for kings. Not all pyramids belong to kings or queens. Another burial ground is the Westfriedhof, on which there are also many pyramids. Apparently the high dignitaries and their family members were buried here. A few pyramids there may be royal.

The first numbering of the pyramids comes from the Lepsius expedition. Today's numbers follow George Andrew Reisner . Gaps in the local numbering are due to graves that are probably not royal. The following list contains all pyramids that can be assigned to a king or queen, as well as the graves of dignitaries whose names have been passed down. Not all pyramids can be assigned to an owner. The names of the owners are mostly preserved in the small pyramid temples - if these have been destroyed, there is little evidence of identification. Objects labeled with names were seldom found in the burial chambers, so that the finds there are of little help. Most of the pyramids were equipped with an inscribed sacrificial tablet with the name of the grave owner. Unfortunately, sacrificial tablets are objects that could easily be carried off, so that their location can only provide a vague clue. In the following, only those pyramids are assigned to an owner where this assignment is reasonably certain.

Surname	owner	comment	Side length	Lepsius number	image
North Cemetery
Beg N1	Queen Amanitore	not an actual pyramid		20th
Beg N2	King Amanichabale	Assignment uncertain	11.72 m	19th
Beg N3	queen	Name unknown	9.10 m	18th
Beg N4	King Amanitecha		13.68 m	17th
Beg N5	Arikancharora	Prince or general	8.98 m	16
Beg N6	Queen Amanischacheto	Almost completely destroyed by the Italian treasure hunter Giuseppe Ferlini	17.68 m	15th
Beg N7	King Arqamani		17.16 m	14th
Beg N8	King mer ... t?	In the burial chamber there is a pedestal carved into the stone on which the coffin or the corpse lay. This base is richly decorated with relief images of deities.	18.50 m	13
Beg N9	Tabirqa	This pyramid is assigned to Adikhalamani , but this remains uncertain as only the name Tabirqa appears. The burial chamber was painted.	12.59 m	12
Beg N10	king	Name unknown	14.26 m	11
Beg N11	Queen Shanakdakheto	The lid of the sarcophagus shows Osiris between Isis and Nephthys	19.29 m	10
Beg N12	king	Name unknown	18.75 m	9
Beg N13	King Naqyrjinsan ...		18.35 m	8th
Beg N14	King (?)	Attributed to Arakachatani	8.85 m	7th
Beg N15	king	Name unknown	6.20 m	6th
Beg N16	King Aryesebokhe	Blocks with the name of Schesepankhenamen Setepenre were also found here	4.74 m	37
Beg N17	King Amanite momide		8.75 m	38
Beg N18	Queen Amanikhatashan		7.80 m	39
Beg N19	King Tarekeniwal		7.29 m	31
Beg N20	King Ka-night ...		18.75 m	3
Beg N21	king	Name unknown	12.72 m	2
Beg N22	King Natakamani	This pyramid stands apart from the pyramid field.	8.92 m	1
Beg N23	unknown
Beg N24	unknown		6.28 m	22nd
Beg N25	king	Name unknown, pyramid completely disappeared today, only the entrance to the burial chapel has been preserved	7.12 m	23
Beg N26	queen	Name unknown	6.30 m	25th
Beg N27	unknown	Brick pyramid	6.60 m	26th
Beg N28	King Teqorideamani	last safely datable pyramid in Meroe	7.10 m	27
Beg N29	King Takideamani		7.20 m	28
Beg N30	King Aritenyesebokhe		7.30 m	29
Beg N31	queen	Name unknown
Beg N32	unknown		4.50 m	32
Beg N33	unknown
Beg N34	king	Name unknown	8.30 m	30, 33 or 34?
Beg N35	Aretnide			35
Beg N36	unknown		6.34 m	36
Beg N37	unknown		5.20 m	24b?
Beg N38	king	Name unknown, brick pyramid	5.60 m	24
Beg N39	unknown	Brick pyramid
Beg N40	unknown	Brick pyramid	4.97 m	40
Beg N41	unknown	Brick pyramid	5.30 m	41
Beg N51	unknown			21st
Beg N53	Queen A ... pnayka	The pyramid was built over by the pyramids N5 and N6.
Beg N56	unknown
Südfriedhof
Beg S1	woman	Name unknown	6.50 m
Beg S2	woman	Name unknown	6.62 m
Beg S3	unknown		7.65 m
Beg S4	Queen Sar ... tin		6.65 m
Beg S5	King Amanislo
Beg S6	King Ergamenes
Beg S7	the soldier Hordepy (?)
Beg S8	queen	Name unknown
Beg S9	unknown		7.50 m
Beg S10	Queen Bartare		10.45 m
Beg S20	the prince Weterik		4.75 m
Beg S15	Pasalta	Her name was on a stele
Beg S84	Malenadan	Name was found on Shabtis	5.20 m
Beg S85	Queen Mernua	Grave was found untouched	5.25 m
Beg S500	King brother Karyben		5.35 m
Beg S503	Queen Chenuwa		10.25 m
West Cemetery
Beg W14	Nasapanasap	Pyramid with chapel, that's where the name was found
Beg W17	Sha ... chadiliamani		10.65 m
Beg W18	Taktidamani		7.60 m
Beg W19	Tedeqen	Name on stele and offering tablet
Beg W105	Amani pilde		3.40 m
Beg W113	King Mashadeakhel	Name on sacrificial tablet, the assignment of the pyramid to this king is uncertain	4.15 m
Beg W130	..k ..	A royal sacrificial tablet found	4.40 m
Beg W309	Queen Patrapeamani	Assignment uncertain	6.60 m
Beg W342	Atedekey	Name on offering tablet

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  Pyramid N14

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  North Cemetery (2005)

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  Pyramid N11 left and N12 right

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  On the horizon the pyramids N21 and N22 from left to right

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  View of the pyramids of the Südfriedhof, in the background the Nordfriedhof

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  Pyramids of the Westfriedhof - Noble Tombs

literature

The excavation reports:

• Richard Lepsius : Monuments from Egypt and Ethiopia. Nicolaische Buchhandlung, Berlin 1849, Edition des Belles Lettres, Geneve 1972–1973, (12 volumes), accessible online at: [1] Volume V, plates 25–54 (Copies of numerous depictions in the pyramid temples. Many of these images have now been destroyed)
• Dows Dunham : Royal Cemeteries of Kush: Royal Tombs of Meroe and Barkal. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1957 (Reprint 1980, ISBN 0-87846-050-0 ).
• Dows Dunham: The West and South Cemeteries at Meroe. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1963.

General:

• Mark Lehner : The first wonder of the world. Econ, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-430-15963-6 , pp. 197-199.
• Fritz Hintze : Studies on the Meroite chronology and on the sacrificial tables from the pyramids of Meroe. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1959.

Web links

Commons : Pyramids of Meroe  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Oriental Institute Chicago: Photos of the pyramids and chapels (English) ( Memento from September 21, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
• 3-D reconstruction of the pyramid field

See also

• List of pyramids

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Claudia Näser : The decoration program of the cult chamber west wall of the pyramid No. 11 from Begrawiya North (Meroe). In: Communications from the Sudan Archaeological Society in Berlin. (MittSAG) No. 5, 1996, pp. 28-45. SAG online
2. ↑ Picture example relief: King Natakamani and goddess behind him - at the bottom of the picture
3. ↑ Prince Arikancharora before the judgment of the dead, scene from his pyramid temple
4. ↑ after: Fritz Hintze: The size of the Meroitic pyramids. In: WK Simpson, WM Davies (ed.): Studies in Ancient Egyt, The Aegean, and the Sudan, Essays in honor of Dows Dunham on the occasion of his 90th birthday, June 1, 1980. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston 1981, pp. 97-98, ISBN 0-87846-197-3 .

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on August 9, 2006 .

Coordinates: 16 ° 56 ′ 18 ″  N , 33 ° 44 ′ 57 ″  E