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Concept
Naqa
Summary
Naqa or Naga'a (An-Naqʿah) is a ruined ancient city of the Kushitic Kingdom of Meroë in modern-day Sudan. The ancient city lies about north-east of Khartoum, and about east of the Nile River located at approximately MGRS 36QWC290629877. Here smaller wadis meet the Wadi Awateib coming from the center of the Butana plateau region, and further north at Wad ban Naqa from where it joins the Nile. Naqa was only a camel or donkey's journey from the Nile, and could serve as a trading station on the way to the east; thus it had strategic importance.
Naqa is one of the largest ruined sites in the country and indicates an important ancient city once stood in the location. It was one of the centers of the Kingdom of Meroë, which served as a bridge between the Mediterranean world and Africa. The site has two notable temples, one devoted to Amun and the other to Apedemak which also has a Roman kiosk nearby. With Meroë and Musawwarat es-Sufra it is known as the Island of Meroe, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011.
The first European travellers reached Naqa in 1822, before Hermann von Pückler-Muskau did in 1837. In 1843, it was visited by Richard Lepsius and his Prussian Egypt-Sudan expedition. He copied some of the inscriptions and representations of the temple standing here. In 1958 a team from Berlin's Humboldt University visited Naqa and documented the temple and restored part of the site along with the nearby site of Musawwarat es-Sufra in the 1960s.
Since 1995, Naqa has been excavated by a German-Polish team with the participation of the Egyptian Museum of Berlin and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. It is directed by Professor Dietrich Wildung and is financed by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and also includes Polish archaeologist Professor Lech Krzyżaniak, and a small group of Polish archaeologists from Poznań. Krzyżaniak later received the Grand Officer of the Order of the Two Niles in 2002 for his work.
Naqa comprises several Meroitic temples dating to 4th century BC to 4th century AD.
Official source
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