Pyramid of Amun Natakamani, Land of the Nile Valley
Pyramid of Amun Natakamani
Land of the Nile Valley
The Pharaoh of Kush ends with the syllable "Amani", which most of the queens begin with. Amani, the language of Amun, indicates how widely the Egyptian gods were revered and worshipped in the Kushite kingdom and culture. In the past, the Temple of Amun, the overall structure is similar to most of the Amun temples, the Jabal Barkal temple in Sudan and the Karnak temple in Egypt. The pyramids that appear from a distance on both sides of the road testify to the Kushite civilization, the three groups of Meroite pyramids: the Western Pyramid, the Southern Pyramid and the Northern Pyramid. The differences between the Meroite pyramids and the pyramids at Giza are that they are 30 meters lower and the position of the tombs faces east. The Kushites buried their dead in tombs under the pyramids, not inside them, unlike the Egyptian pyramids. There are traces of the collapsed pyramids in the past from the first attempts of the treasure hunters in the past in the 6th pyramid, which is the pyramid of Queen Amanizaketo, the goddess of the sky of Egypt.
Another important site is Jabal Barkkal, where Pharaoh Tutmoses III built the Egyptian Temple of Amun in Sudan in the 15th century BC. A small royal necropolis with 20 pyramids at the foot of the hill was dedicated to Mut, the Egyptian goddess of the sky and the bride of Amun. A view of the two temples from the hilltop in the morning to allow light to reach the western side. Jabal Barkkal For a time, the Kushites buried their royal family at Napata before moving to Meroe, not far from Jabbal Barkkal. The temple of Amun was expanded by Ramses II, making it the main centre. Next to the temple is the monumental Temple of Mut, dedicated to the Egyptian goddess of the sky and the bride of Amun.
When archaeologist George Reisner excavated the pyramid in 1917, he found more than 1,000 small statues of the deceased king. Two other sites were also found: the Pyramid of Nuri, where Taharqa was buried in one of the largest pyramids. The necropolis of Al-Kurru is a must-visit before a visit to the Land of the Black Pharaohs. Only two tombs are open to the public: that of King Tanwetamani, Taharqa's successor and grandson, and that of Tanwetamani's mother Qalhata. Both have exquisitely preserved paintings. Pyramid building throughout Sudan ceased as sands washed over nearby cities and pyramids. Much of Sudan's land between 800 BC and the fourth century AD caused the Kushite Empire to collapse, preventing the construction of pyramids and the use of trade routes in the Nile Valley that were not part of the Kushite Empire. Roman trade with the Kushites also declined afterward.
Most of the remaining ruins are associated with a tabletop mountain, located not far away is a complex of temples, the largest of which dates back to the Meroitic period: the Great Enclosure and the Lion Temple. The Great Enclosure is a large structure, with columns, two long inclined ramps, low walls, two water towers, a large carved elephant statue, two ramps that may have been used for larger animals to descend into the vicinity of the Great Complex, and with ancient paintings and carvings that served as a local cult for the lion-headed human deities of the Kushite kingdom.
One of the best preserved sites in Sudan, the Lion Temple was built by King Arnekamani around 230 BC in the town of Mussavvarat es Sufra. The temple was magnificently restored by the Humboldt University in Berlin in the 1960s. Next to the Lion Temple is an unidentified building called the Kiosk, which reflects the fusion of cultures, including Kushite, Egyptian and Roman, that have left their mark on the temple’s architecture. Next door is another temple built by King Natakamani, this time dedicated to the Egyptian god Amun.
