Jebel Barkal

Jebel Barkal or Gebel Barkal (Arabic: جبل بركل‎) is a very small mountain located some 400 km north of Khartoum, in Karima town in Northern State in Sudan, on a large bend of the Nile River, in the region called Nubia. The mountain is 98 m tall, has a flat top, and apparently was used as a landmark by the traders in the important route between central Africa, Arabia, and Egypt, as the point where it was easier to cross the great river. In 2003, the mountain, together with the historical city of Napata (which sits at its feet), were named World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. The Jebel Barkal area houses the Jebel Barkal Museum. The Jebel Barkal pyramids are one example of Nubian pyramids.

Jebel Barkal
جبل بركل
Jebel Barkal is a small mountain
(98 meters tall)
Jebel Barkal
Shown within Northeast Africa
Jebel Barkal
Jebel Barkal (Sudan)
Jebel Barkal
Jebel Barkal (Africa)
Alternative nameGebel Barkal
LocationKarima, Northern State, Sudan
RegionNubia
Coordinates18°32′12″N 31°49′42″E
TypeSanctuary
Official nameGebel Barkal and the Sites of the Napatan Region
TypeCultural
Criteriai, ii, iii, iv, vi
Designated2003 (27th session)
Reference no.1073
RegionArab States
Ruins of the Temple of Amun at Jebel Barkal.

History

Around 1450 BCE, the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III extended his empire to that region and considered Jebel Barkal its southern limit. There, he campaigned near the city of Napata that, about 300 years later, became the capital of the independent kingdom of Kush. The 25th Dynasty Nubian king Piye later greatly enlarged the New Kingdom Temple of Amun in this city and erected his Year 20 Victory stela within it.

Temples
Plan of remains

The ruins around Jebel Barkal include at least 13 temples and 3 palaces, that were for the first time described by European explorers in the 1820s. In 1862 five inscriptions from the Third Intermediate Period were recovered by an Egyptian officer and transported to the Cairo Museum, but not until 1916 were scientific archeological excavations performed by a joint expedition of Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts of Boston under the direction of George Reisner.[1] From the 1970s, explorations continued by a team from the University of Rome La Sapienza, under the direction of Sergio Donadoni, that was joined by another team from the Boston Museum, in the 1980s, under the direction of Timothy Kendall.

Temple of Amun and Temple of Mut
Main articles: Temple of Amun and Temple of Mut

The larger temples, such as the Temple of Amun, are even today considered sacred to the local population. The carved wall painted chambers of the Temple of Mut are well preserved.

  • The last standing pillars of Napata's temple of Amun at the foot of Jebel Barkal
  • Stone statue of a ram
  • Lion-headed God Appademak with Pharaoh Taharqa (right) in the Jebel Barkal Temple of Mut.
  • Taharqa, followed by the sistrum shaking queen Takahatenamun in the Jebel Barkal Temple of Mut.

Temple B700 at Jebel Barkal

Temple B700, built by Atlanersa and decorated by Senkamanisken, is now largely destroyed.[2] It received the sacred bark of Amun from the nearby B500 on certain cultic occasions, and may have served during the coronation of the kings of the early Napatan period, in the mid 7th century BC. The Temple was decorated by Senkamanisken, where he is shown clubbing enemies.[3]

The hieroglyphic inscription on the Temple described the role of God Amun in selecting Sekamanisken as king:

"I said of you (while you were still) in your mother's womb that you were to be ruler of Kemet ("Black Land"=probably Egypt and Kush). I knew you in the semen, while you were in the egg, that you were to be lord. I made you receiv the Great Crown, which Re (the Sun god) caused to appear on the first good occasion. (Inasmuch as) a father makes his son excellent, it is I who decreed kingship) to you. (So) who shall share it with you? For I am the Lord of Heaven. As I give to Re, (so) he gives to his children, from gods to men. It is I who gives you the royal charter.... No other (can) decree (who is to be) king. It is I who grants kingship to whomever I will."

— Amun inscription, frieze of Sekamanisken, Temple B700, Jebel Barkal.[4]
  • Ruins of Temple B700 of Jebel Barkal with relief of Senkamanisken clubbing enemies, drawn in 1821 by Louis Maurice Adolphe Linant de Bellefonds
  • Senkamanisken slaying enemies in front of God Amun, at Jebel Barkal (pylon of building B 700, west of the main temple).[5]
  • Senkamanisken slaying enemies at Jebel Barkal (detail).[6]

Pyramids
Pyramid at Jebel Barkal.

Jebel Barkal served as a royal cemetery during the Meroitic Kingdom.[7] The earliest burials date back to the 3rd century BC.

  • Bar. 1 King from the middle of the 1st century BCE
  • Bar. 2 King Teriqas (ca. 29-25 BCE)
  • Bar. 4 Queen Amanirenas ? (1st century BCE)
  • Bar. 6 Queen Nawidemak (1st century BCE)
  • Bar. 7 King Sabrakamani? (3rd century BCE)
  • Bar. 9 King or Queen of the early 2nd century CE
  • Bar. 11 King Aktisanes or Aryamani (3rd century BCE)
  • Bar. 14 King Aktisanes or Aryamani (3rd century BCE)
  • Bar. 15 King Kash (3rd century BCE)
  • Pyramids, next to Jebel Barkal
  • Pyramids at Jebel Barkal in 1821
  • Pyramids of Jebel Barkal today
  • Pyramids in the southern group

Artifacts in Museums

See also

References
  1. A. Reisner, "Historical Inscriptions from Gebel Barkal", Sudan Notes and Records, 4 (1921), pp. 59-75
  2. "Following their expulsion from Egypt by the Assyrians in 661 BC , the Kushites continued to develop the Barkal sanctuary . Atlanersa and Senkamanisken erected the small Temple B 700 , which became a royal mortuary temple ." Museum, Sudan National. Sudan: Ancient Treasures : an Exhibition of Recent Discoveries from the Sudan National Museum. British Museum Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-7141-1960-1.
  3. "Following their expulsion from Egypt by the Assyrians in 661 BC , the Kushites continued to develop the Barkal sanctuary . Atlanersa and Senkamanisken erected the small Temple B 700 , which became a royal mortuary temple ." Museum, Sudan National. Sudan: Ancient Treasures : an Exhibition of Recent Discoveries from the Sudan National Museum. British Museum Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-7141-1960-1.
  4. Jebel Barkal Guide (PDF). p. 97.
  5. "Jebel Barkal guide" (PDF): 97-98. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. "Jebel Barkal guide" (PDF): 97-98. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. László Török, The kingdom of Kush: handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization
  8. "Statue of King Aspelta". collections.mfa.org.
  9. Kendall & Ahmed Mohamed 2016, p. 98.
  10. Reisner 1925, p. 17.
  11. Barque stand, MFA 2019.
  12. Barque stand fragments, MFA 2019.

Sources
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