Baldi M. 2014, The Awlib Temple Complex: a Review

EMBASSY OF THE REPUBlIC OF SUDAn, ROME

ISMEO

Atti della

Quarta Giornata di Studi nubianiA Tribute to the nubian Civilization

a cura di Eugenio Fantusati e Marco Baldi

ROMASCIEnZE E lETTERE

2014

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InDICE

Presentazione diMarco Mancini e Adriano Rossi ......................... vIntroduzione di Francesco di Gennaro ............................................ vIIForeword by H.E. Amira Hassan Daoud Gornass .......................... IX

Contributori ..................................................................................... XI

E. Fantusati e E. Kormysheva, Quinta e sesta campagna di scavo adAbu Erteila: rapporto preliminare ............................................. 1

M. Baldi, The Awlib Temple Complex: a Review ........................... 49M. Baldi, Il tempio di Hamadab: evidenza ed ipotesi interpretative 67l. Bongrani, Considerazioni sull’Africa di Erodoto: geografia e

genti ..........................................................................................S. Dall’Armellina, La ceramica di Abu Erteila: motivi decorativi e

“pot-marks” .............................................................................. 109E. Fantusati, A Short Note on the Meroitic “Bestiarium” According

to the Late Roman Sources ....................................................... 125E. Kormysheva, Religion of Nubia: V-II Millennia B.C. ................ 135R. lobban, Sheep in Ancient Egypt and Nubia ............................... 153A. Manzo, Note su alcuni rinvenimenti ceramici riferibili ai rap-

porti tra il Sudan orientale e l’Egitto nel II millennio a.C. ....... 165D. Michaux-Colombot, The Ruler’s Table in Lower Nubia during

Egyptian Middle Kingdom ....................................................... 185J. Mirghani, Musawwarat Identified with Meroe ............................ 203

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Carta generale della nubia con indicazione dei siti citati nel volume.

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The AwLib TempLe compLex: A review1

mArco bALdi

Awlib lies in the wadi el-hawad, nearly 3 km to the east of the Nileand 1 km to the north of Abu erteila2. Archaeological work at Awlib, lastedfrom 2001 to 2003 by a team from the “Gdansk Archaeological museum”,yielded a religious complex comprising a temple, a close square-plan build-ing and an outer high altar (Fig. 1).

The temple, oriented Se-Nw, has a rectangular plan sized 46,27 × 24,23m and has two entrances: on the eastern short side there is a monumentalgate highlighted by a pylon and preceded by a rectangular-stone paving; onthe southern long side there is a smaller doorway with a red bricks pavingmaybe stressed with an arcade, which can be understood from the collapsedcolumn drums.

The partial preservation of the masonries and the collapsed materialallow the reconstruction of the original perimeter walls, made from adobe,partly survived, with an external red brick facing. The wall was 125 cmthick: 60 cm were made of mud bricks and 65 of red ones, which were usedto strengthen some strongly stressed parts of the walls.

According to a well-known meroitic custom, some red bricks show onone face deep stripes that helped the mortar to adhere.

1 The author would like to express a deep gratitude and indebtedness to dr Agata Sander,whose generosity and availability were fundamental for the making of this paper.

2 Literature often stressed the link between the two places, because of the supposedcommon exploitation of the rich wadi and of a great hafir, ca. 250 m in diameter. See espe-cially Lenoble 1987: 213.

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The bricks were laid in alternate header and stretcher courses, which wasa very common method in the meroitic world; the dimensions of the bricksslightly change throughout the building, but more ones size 85 × 170 × 350mm. The perimeter walls were then covered with a 2 cm thick limestoneplaster, sometimes painted in polychromy.

The pylon and the columns were instead made of sandstone.Foundation trenches 150 cm thick, the depth of which is undefinable

until now, were dug to support only the external walls, and filled with localiron sandstone – rubble in the bottom and bigger but irregular slabs in theupper part. The surface tracts of the foundation materials were laid withmud mortar, presumably in order to give a stronger bind and to limit thewash.

The few remains suggest that there was a sandstone floor, whereas thereare no elements on the covering system.

during its life cycle the temple was renovated due to deterioration anddamages. Long tracts of the western and northern walls were especiallyheavily damaged, presumably due to the driving rain, and they were re-paired mainly using red bricks, recovered in a great quantity among the col-lapsed material3. in some parts one can note the use of reemployedsandstone blocks from other buildings.

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Fig. 1 – Awlib, buildings (drawn by baldi after borcowski & paner 2005: figs. 2, 15).

3 They were already a spread finding during the reconnaissance: see paner 1997.


The fact that mud bricks were not used to renovate the structure maybewas due to the driving rains, when adobe, perhaps originally preferred be-cause cheaper, did not provide an efficient water resistance notwithstandingthe red bricks facade. materials as red bricks and a few sandstone pieces,that had better water resistance, were therefore preferred for renovations.it seems that the mud bricks masonry has been strongly affected by the washrather than rain, due to the ineffective drainage of the foundations.

At the same time the red bricks tracts seem to have been deteriorated atthe time of the original building and subsequently after having been reno-vated: the used mud mortar was a very good binder for adobe but unable tobind burned bricks. The building in fact collapsed mainly outwards, wherethere was a higher concentration of red pieces. on the other hand this is acommon structural handicap in contemporary buildings in the area.

however, the southern perimeter wall is better preserved, which is alsodue to the fact that it was less exposed to windblown rain from the north.The adobe core is particularly well preserved, whereas the red bricks facadesuffered more deterioration.

Cults and Rituals

The Awlib temple shared the deeply syncretic nature of most Nubianreligious complexes, which often put up a great mixture of worships andceremonies adding to the rituals devoted to the main temple god.

we cannot deduce sure data from the building plan after the collapse ofmost of the internal walls, due to the lack of foundations to support themleaving no way of knowing their original arrangement. The comparisonwith several meroitic temples however seems to suggest that the complexwas devoted to Amun, on the grounds of the building size, its breadth-widthratio, and the presence of internal rooms, partly preserved, along its westernside; one could see a naos flanked by collateral rooms.

The knowledge of the original religious context essentially derives fromthe sandstone wall blocks, incised or decorated in relief, that have all col-lapsed.

An original representation of Amun has been hypothetically deducedfrom a top of an atef crown on one block (Sander 2010: 156-57). Althoughlikely, this view cannot be shared for sure; the atef crown is often worn by

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the different hypostasis of Amun4, but it was created in egypt in associationwith osiris, who wore it in meroitic Nubia too, where it was sometimesalso the headgear of the kings (see Török 1987: 17, figs. 74-76). The makingin relief and the size of the Awlib crown allow for a rough estimate of ca.3,5 meters as being the original height of the figure, which suggests that itdecorated the external wall of one of the two pylon towers. on the whole,it was therefore a scene with a great visual impact, and this could supportthe supposed representation of the main temple god, that would have beencelebrated in the reliefs.

Several blocks show pictures from the egyptian book of the deadlinked to osiris and solar cults, to witness the syncretic nature of the Awlibtemple in addition to the proposed devotion to Amun (Fig. 2). it is significantworkmanship of the scarab, an animal that the egyptian tradition linked tothe solar cult (Fig. 2e). Apart from the stylistic differences, the Awlib icono-graphical program finds its closer comparison in the Temple of el Kab, built

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Fig. 2 – Awlib, Temple, decorated parietal blocks. Sandstone. (by baldi after borcowski & paner 2005: fig. 7).

4 For example, see for Apedemak Temple in musawwarat es-Sufra, hintze et al. 1971: pl. 79 column scene 24, pl. 93 scene 521, pl. 97 scene 623. For Apedemak Temple in Naga, see Gamer-wallert 1983: 116.


by psamtik i (663-609 bc) (borcowski & paner2005: 59; derchain 1962), where the Sun worshiphas a leading role.

The egyptian hieroglyphic writing of the nameApedemak on several blocks suggests that also hehad a role in the temple, maybe as a guest deity;the binomial with Amun, already known in themeroitic world5, was linked to the glorification ofthe royal house and to its divine legitimization(wolf 2006: 246-47). A similar suggestion does nothowever find enough elements at Awlib until now.

The temple, which suffered many plunders, hasyielded few ritual objects: a significant one is afour-petaled flower corner fragment of a sandstoneoffering basin (Fig. 3). it was used for a well-known rite in the Kushite territory6, which was to grant the world orderthrough daily water offerings to the Nile god hapy.

The special attention on the Awlib basin is due to its particular stylisticand iconographic nature. on my knowledge, meroitic libation trays gener-ally only display the ankh-design, with the exception of the samples fromAwlib and Naga. The several Naga temples have yielded in fact more com-plex basins where more ankh-symbols are set to the sides of a rosette andsometimes flanked by four-petaled flowers, very similar to the sample fromAwlib. The Awlib basin makes unlikely that these particular trays were typ-ical of the Naga temples and that they were only made in a local workshop(Kroeper & wildung 2011: 90), but the stylistic analogy can offer a firstchronological suggestion.

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Fig. 3 – Awlib, Temple,Libation tray. Sandstone.(After Sander 2010: fig. 7).

5 Among the most significant cases, for the Naga temples see Kroeper & wildung 2011:79 (for N200), Zach & Tomandl 2000: 141 ff. (for N500), Török1997b: 502 (for Temple F);for Lion Temple in musawwarat es-Sufra, see Török 2002: 188 ff. See also Kormysheva2010: 253-54.

6 in the meroitic era similar items are especially known in butana temples. For the sev-eral samples in meroe see Shinnie & Anderson 2004: 232-34, figs.19, 99, 100; Török 1997a:125 (266-1), pl. 91. For Naga, see Kroeper & wildung 2011: 88 ff., figs. 99, 102, 181, 201.For wad ben Naga, see vercoutter 1962: figs. 4-5. For el-hassa, see rondot & Török 2010:fig. 303. For examples in a funerary context, see dunham 1957: fig. 120 n. 21-3-550, fig.128 n. 21-3-76, fig. 129 n. 21-2-690.


The Outer High Altar: a Functional Interpretation

Another installation was brought to light at 46,8 meters to the east ofthe pylon (Figs. 1, 4). it is also oriented e-w, but slightly outside the templeaxis. it presents a square-plan structure sized 5 × 5 m, bounded by red bricksmasonries 75 cm wide and filled in its core with rubble and brick sherds.The filling is preserved up 20 cm from the ground; according to comparisonwith a few known cases, the structure had a greater original height makinga sort of foundation of a platform which had to be the summit of the con-struction.

on its western side there is a rectangular annex, which is broken alongthe e-w extent. it is sized 3,6 m N-S × 11,5 m e-w and divided into tworooms bounded by red brick walls 56 cm thick, which are preserved up tothree courses. The bricks, sized 80 × 180 × 350 mm, were laid in alternateheader and stretcher courses; as well as the square-plan structure walls, theywere set up on iron sandstone foundations which are analogous to the templeones.

A similar architectural typology, likely an outer altar, has been alwaysdiscovered in a temple contexts and its role is under discussion.

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Fig. 4 – Awlib, outer altar. (After paner & Kolosowska 2005: 81).


regarding the meroitic period (270 bc-mid-4th century Ad), we knowonly few analogous temple altars, each one within the butana boundaries:the Sun Temple in meroe (dated among third and last quarter of the 1st cen-tury bc to the phase in question)7, probably devoted to Amun-ra; the AmunTemple in Naga (late 1st century bc-early 1st century Ad) (Kroeper &wildung 2011: fig. 38; Kroeper & Krzyzaniak 1998: 205-206, figs. 2-3, pl.viii); towards the south the Temple 200 (end of the 1st century Ad)(Kroeper & wildung 2011: fig. 78, 148), dedicated to the egyptian triadAmun, mut and Khonsu in its identification with the autochthonous onecomposed by Apedemak, Amesemi and an indefinable god; in a recent ex-cavation season the French mission working at el-hassa brought to light asimilar structure in front of the Amun Temple, dated at the end of the 1stcen-tury Ad (rondot 2012: 172, fig. 2).

Further Kushite comparisons are ascribable to pharaoh Taharqa (690-664 bc), especially to his two Amun temples at Kawa (so-called Tem-ple T) (macadam 1955: 57-58, pls. 6, 10-11, xLiv/a-e) and Sanam8, closeto the Fourth cataract. These witness an ancient tradition which was for-gotten for centuries to the present evidence and was rediscovered by themeroitic kings.

in addition to the above mentioned new constructions, the meroitic kingsrestored the altar of Kawa, entirely made of sandstone. due to a good con-servation and according to its plan very similar as the Awlib sample, thisaltar provides insight into the original aspect of this architectural typology(Fig. 5). A thirteen step stairway leads to the roof of a room, which has asouthern entrance on the ground floor; from the roof a further step leads tothe summit of the altar, which is the apex of a fulfilled square-plan structure.

evidence clearly suggests that each of these outer altars were an integralpart of the religious complex, but their exact role is still unclear. in Kawa,according to the excavators’ hypotheses it was “a dais upon which a thronestood” and at the same time the “golden throne or stairway” (macadam1955: 57) that king Nastasen (second half of the 4th century bc) would have

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7 Török 1997a: 111-12, fig. 13a. For a reconstruction of the altar, see hakem 1988: fig. 26.8 in Sanam the outer altar is not set in axis with the edifice like in other quoted examples,

even if it shares the same orientation, but it is set along the northern side of the temple. onecannot exclude that this meant an unique function: according to the reliefs on the close sideentrance, the altar was a stop structure for the god statue during the ritual procession (Török2002: 133).


ascended to receive thearch from god Amunduring the coronationrituals9.

Although this the-ory appears likely andachieved success10, theidea cannot be for sureembraced because ofthe lack of a similarstructure in the othertwo Amun temples, inNapata and pnubs ex-tensively dug, wherethe coronation ritualstook certainly place inNapatan times (seeTörök 1997b: 215 ff.).

Although our knowledge of the coronation ceremonies of the meroitickings is still partial, if one accepts this hypothesis it could not be howevertrue for the above mentioned coeval temples. it would be in fact hard toexplain the erection at meroe of a similar altar in the Sun Temple ratherthan it being built in the close-by Amun Temple, that was indissolublybound to the ruling dynasty and had a proper throne room. At the sametime the altar would appear unusual at Awlib, which was too close to thecapital to hold an independent coronation ceremony. moreover it wouldbe inexplicable the erection at Naga of two twin altars referred to two tem-ples very close each other and functioning at the same time.

According to it and to the rarity of these outer altars, it is also unlikelythat they had a role when the king visited the temple11.

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Fig. 5 – Kawa, Temple T, outer altar. Sandstone. 690-664 a.c. (After macadam 1955: pl. 10).

9 Nastasen stela, lines 24 ff., in eide et al. 1996: 471 ff.10 Török 1997a: 112. Nevertheless, in a subsequent paper, without quoting the idea be-

fore shared he proposed a different theory: the outer altar would have been the place wherethe god statue received offering from faithful subjects during the ritual procession (Török2002: 242, 274-75).

11 on this theory see Kroeper & Krzyzaniak 1998: 206.


A badly preserved relief on the western side of the lower podium ofthe Sun Temple at meroe (Török 1997a: pls. 77-81; 2002: fig. 39), couldsuggest the role of these structures (Fig. 6). in a background which repro-duces the real architecture of the complex, it is displayed a ritual act onthe altar, that is reachable through a ramp walked up by a prisoner followedby a guard. Above the representation of the altar, the relief preserves re-mains of a figure that was interpreted as a sacrificial fire (hakem 1988:fig. 27); it would have been used for human victims according to somescholars (Garstang & Sayce 1912: 48; Török 2002: 223). Although this the-ory is not supported by a sure evidence12, the triumphant nature of the over-all scene, maybe after a military victory, could provide more insight to

support this idea. The relief was probably the visible part of a wider scenethat continued on the other sides of the podium, and it would have repre-sented the rite of the destruction of the enemy; the supposed human sacri-fice would have been the climax.

A man seated on a throne watches the ritual and seems be its receiver.his attributes and the overall iconographical context would class him as adeified non-ruling royal person (Török 2002: 222-25). According to Török,this suggests, in the religious complexes including an outer altar, that therewas a close connection between the altar and the kiosk, from where the godcould watch the altar rituals.

it is however unclear if this interpretation can be given to every templethat had an outer altar, especially in cases such as the Amon Temple in Nagaand in Awlib, where the altars are very far from the buildings. moreoverone cannot exclude that, when the outer altar was reintroduced by the

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Fig. 6 – meroe, Sun Temple, Lower podium, western side. 3rd quarter of the 1st century bc. (by baldi after hakem 1988: figs. 24, 27, 29).

12 The possible evidence on human sacrifices in the meroitic temples was reviewed in Zach2010; although the sources are uncertain, he presents elements only about impalement.


meroitic kings after a secular gap, its function had changed with respect toits original introduction. At the same time, due to the interaction betweenthe different elements of the sacral complex, the altar’s role could bechanged according to its specific position: in Kawa and meroe it was setbetween the temple and the kiosk, whereas in the two Naga samples thealtar was located behind the kiosk.

in Awlib, where the position of the possible kiosk is yet unknown13, thepicture provided in this paper until now, intentionally focuses on the Kushiteland, finds further elements that allow a comparison with the egyptian traditions.

The osiris cult suggested by the reliefs on the Sun temple indicates thepossible use of the outer altar for mortuary rituals; nevertheless the greatdistance from the temple and its eastward orientation, by virtue of whichthe altar moreover turns its back to the building entrance, allow to assumethat the structure was assigned to the solar cult, which is also suggested bythe iconographical programme. This plan reminds some egyptian customwhich in complexes which had open sky altars, that, if oriented eastwards,could hold offerings to the Sun (see Arnold 2003: 8-9).

it must be noticed that no thesis was suggested for the outer altar in theAmun Temple in Naga. An evaluation of this altar by excavators would bevery useful because it is the closest known corresponding sample to theAwlib one, by virtue of its distance from the building, eastward orientationand imperfect alignment with the edifice’s axis. it has been instead consid-ered as “auteil solare” a similar structure set inside the temple; it is never-theless oriented westwards and decorated by scenes representing theegyptian motif of the Union of two Lands, rather than the solar cult (Kroe-per 2010: 234). in my opinion this role assigned to the Naga inner altar istherefore probably incorrect.

As regards the Awlib sample, the comparison with the egyptian templearchitecture and the linked rituality indicate a further possibility on the func-tion of the outer altar. According to a few ptolemaic and roman complexes14,it could have been a cult terrace, as the final stage of the sacral procession

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13 considering the distance of the altar from the temple it is nevertheless very likelythat the possible kiosk was set between two structures, like in Naga Amon Temple.

14 See Arnold 2009: pls. vii for the monthu Temple in medamoud), ix (for the Amunra-monthu Temple in Karnak), xi (for the monthu Temple in el-Tod).


starting from the temple. This can be confirmed by the unusual setting ofthe structure that ascends to the summit, ramp or stairway, which allowedfor direct access coming from the building, and by the long distance fromthe edifice, that is sufficient to permit the complete course of the procession.

in this way, the god could turn his eyes away from complex towards agreater potential public than the few priests who could enter the sacral area.According to this theory the Awlib outer altar would have been one of theseveral versions of contra-temples known in meroitic Nubia.

currently there are no in the meroitic land contra-temples built accord-ing to the egyptian pattern, as architectural structures set close to the sacralbuilding and devoted to popular worship. Those who could not visit thetemple were allowed to enter these structures, where they could meet thegod to pray and make offerings15.

in Nubia, the intermediation between the gods and popular worship wasinstead accomplished through cult images that were easily visible, in the formof external reliefs on temple walls16 and royal (Török 2002: 265 ff.) or divinestatues17. The Awlib altar would have therefore assured a strong impact forpopular worship, because it allowed for a direct contact with the believers.if this theory corresponds to the truth, there are not elements to say if wor-shippers were present during the procession, so assuring their attendance,even if passive, or if they were only visiting the statue later on.

however, it is best to be very careful when suggesting that the Awlibaltar played a similar role, exclusively or sharing the Sun worship, becauseit would be the only known case in meroitic Nubia.

An Unclear Building

To the south-west of the temple, sandstone foundations of another build-ing, oriented Se-Nw, were brought to light. A structural remain of 31 × 25m is still visible, whereas the north-western side was strongly damaged bythe passing of cars.

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15 For the egyptian contra-temples see especially Guglielmi 1994.16 See especially the reliefs on the external walls of Apedemak Temple in Naga: Gamer-

wallert 1983.17 An emblematic case is given by the enclosed area, behind the rear wall of the Amon

Temple in Naga, holding a ram preceded by two offering altars: Kroeper & wildung 2011:91-93, fig. 106. For the similar case of el-hassa, see rondot 2012: 174.


The outline of the foundations, that supported both internal and externalwalls, indicates a central square-plan room18, 10 × 10 m broad, surroundedby an ambulatory and by a sequence of rooms aligned along the buildingsides. each side presents a rectangular room flanked by two smaller ones,rectangular too but with opposite axes, and by square-plan corner environ-ments. This recourse to the same pattern for each visible side, for a total often recognizable rooms, suggests that the vanished part fellow the sameway, giving to the original building a square-plan for a total of sixteen siderooms.

it is impossible to reconstruct the links between the rooms due to thecollapse of the walls that did not leave a single brick standing. This wasdue to both wind and rain erosion, but it is also likely that destruction waspartly caused by the spoliation of material that had to be reemployed andby excavation of pits for christian burials.

The little collapsed material yielded mud and red bricks, that confirmthat both of them were used in masonry work. The heavy spoliation, doesnot allow nevertheless to plausibly understand the original arrangement andbuilding technique; one cannot even exclude the use of combined mason-ries, well-known in the meroitic world and found at the Awlib temple too,after the width of the foundations, 1 m thick, which is unusually the samefor partition and perimeter walls.

Although analogous foundations do not allow for sure to assign the ed-ifice to an only building phase, nor contemporaneity with the temple, thesymmetric plan shows that the structure was born from a single project, andtherefore all its components are likely to be coeval. At the same time, thegreat width of the foundations and the overall size of the edifice suggest ahigh social level context.

The plan, which is very singular respect meroitic known palaces19,does not seem to meet the requirements of a palatial building, such as of-ficial spaces and a rigid internal differentiation between the rooms. more-over the hand and wheel-made pottery, sometimes painted, represents theonly manufactured good found inside the perimeter of the structure, and

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18 i think it was a room bounded by walls, rather than a court, by virtue of wide foun-dations which more likely supported masonries rather than column or piers eventually linkedto an arcade.

19 For a recent resume on the topic, see baud 2010: 241 ff.


exclusively belongs to an utilitarian production, for cooking and for foodconservation20.

in nine out of ten recognizable rooms, the excavators observed the bur-ial of pots, especially jars and pithoi, some of them unusually set far fromthe walls; they were presumably used for the conservation and for heatingand cooking of food, judging by ash, charcoal and animal bones recoveredinside some jars21. Although the pottery cannot provide sufficient evidenceof a date, but it is generally thought to reside in the meroitic classic phase(from the 1st to 3rd century Ad), it appears very probable an utilitarian butno ceremonial link with the temple.

it was supposed a close affinity of this building with the edifice called“m251-253” (borcowski & paner 2005: 54-55, 59), that is set beside theSun Temple in meroe and dated, on the basis of architectural, metrologicaland archaeometrical inquiries, to the last quarter of the 1st century bc(hinkel 1986). Some scholars consider this structure to be a priesthoodhouse (Sayce & Garstang 1910: 67; hinkel 1985: 218; hinkel, dominicus& hallof 2001: 116-28), maybe from a comparison with the priesthoodhouses inside mortuary temples in New Kingdom22 and ptolemaic egypt(see otto 1905: 283 ff.); more likely it had a ceremonial role bound perhapsto the visits of the king in particular occasions (Török 1997a: 115). Thisrole is suggested by the monumental character, the inclusion inside atemenos, the orientation of its main gate towards the processional way, andthe location on the right side of the start point of this way, according to thetraditional place of the ceremonial palaces23.

According to these elements, a comparison with the Awlib buildingseems be excluded, notwithstanding a partial planimetric and dimensional

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20 el-Tayeb & Kolosowska 2005; daszkiewicz, bobryk & Schneider 2005. For cookinga well-known system in the meroitic kingdom provided that the vessels were inserted onewithin the other, and the heat from the charcoal in the lower container allowed the cookingof the food in the upper one. For the evidence in nearby Abu erteila, see baldi 2013: 239;Fantusati 2013: 226, fig. 3.

21 el-Tayeb & Kolosowska 2005: 149-50. The same custom was noted at Abu erteilaand in other palaces in the meroitic and christian phases. For the meroitic era, for hamadab,see wolf et al. 2009: 248-49; for musawwarat es-Sufra, see eigner 2002: fig. 2 (nos. 7-12),7; in Lower Nubia, for Gezira dabarosa, see hewes 1964: 178, fig. 2. For the christianepoch, see Adams 1994: 209.

22 For example, see vandier 1955: figs. 377 (for medinet habu), 415 (for Amarna).23 For the Karnak case, that is emblematic on the egyptian custom which probably in-

spired the meroitic kingdom, see o’connor 1989: 82 ff.


affinity24 and similar construction dating. The structure in Awlib was prob-ably a service structure: a warehouse, a kitchen or both. it seems thereforemore likely the comparison with the so-called western palace in Faras (Grif-fith 1926: 21 ff.), which, despite of its conventional name, was a warehouse.

Dating the Complex

Several heterogeneous elements allow to date the Awlib sacral complexto the meroitic period. its architectural nature suggests a chronological rangewhich can be made clearer thanks to pottery and wall reliefs. during surfacereconnaissance, before excavation work, it was assumed that the structurebelonged to a Napatan phase, on the grounds of the egyptian hieroglyphicwriting on some collapsed sandstone blocks (hintze 1959: 176; Zach &Tomandl 2000: 136). There are no elements to confirm it, and on this basisit is however groundless, considering the recurrent use of the egyptian writ-ing on meroitic official monuments, although in a gradually lesser way25.

The combination of different materials used in masonry, which was car-ried out during the presumed original building phase, followed a customspread during the meroitic era. moreover, although the internal arrangementof the Awlib temple is unclear, the comparison with coeval sacral complexessuggest that the various collapsed sandstone blocks, found internally andexternally to the eastern, southern and northern sides of the building, orig-inally made up the room gates, as well as the pylon and side entrance.

in the meroitic world the foundations were often made of red bricks,which had a more regular form and ensured a better water drainage. Never-theless, the use at Awlib of iron sandstone does not permit to define a dating,because this choice was mainly determined by its availability in the area andby the consequent saving, so it has been employed in many different periods.

however, the collapsed sandstone fragments offer meaningful chrono-logical suggestions, which appear to confirm a dating within the meroiticepoch. The paleographic inquiry indicates a late ptolemaic writing style,as especially confirmed by a detailed study of the name of Apedemak(hallof 2009).

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24 m251-253 is sized 32 × 32 m.25 For example, see rilly 2010, especially pp. 151-53.


if the iconography comes from the egyptian book of the dead, as men-tioned above, the stylistic nature of the decorated blocks depicts a long-lived and little differentiated meroitic tradition. Some details allow howeverto give a more limited date range, as negroid facial features and birds thatshow a solar disc instead of head, according to a pattern that was unknownin egyptian art.

At Awlib a singular element is the three-pronged lower end of the wasscepters. it is a very rare solution notwithstanding the recurrent characterof this motif in the Nubian and egyptian temple iconography, where thelower end is usually two-pronged. The only known three-pronged versionsin a temple context are at Naga, in Amun and Apedemak temples, both builtby Natakamani and Amanitore, and in Saï island, also dated to the meroiticperiod26. This gives a significant clue but does not offer a sure dating, be-cause this representation, even if rare, was made later on other materialstoo: for example it appears in a so-called “pot-mark” on a bronze oil lampas grave good of king Takideamani (140-155 Ad) (Sakoutis 2009: fig. 2.2).

A further sandstone architectural fragment displays the lower part of acartouche, written in egyptian hieroglyphics, where one can see the lastsign ๏ and the partly overlaid one . it is very likely the coronation nameof kandake Amanitore although the bad preservation of thecartouche. The full conservation of an only sign, and the few samples thatbear for sure the Amanitore coronation name in egyptian hieroglyphics, donot allow for a successful paleographic inquiry, nevertheless the comparisonwith the other known examples would seem to credibly support this thesis27.

At a later date, when the area certainly lost its sacral role, it was occa-sionally occupied, as suggested by the remains of hearths at different levels.during the christian era it was used, like Abu erteila, as a burial area, prob-ably for nomadic people, as the basic pit tombs, without grave goods andrecurrent orientation of the bodies, would seem to confirm.

The elevation of the area respect to the surrounding plain, affected byfrequent floods, justifies the setting of the religious complex, the later buri-als and the present dwellings. Nevertheless, the nearby territory was en-riched by the river Nile, the course of which was closer respect nowadays

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26 communication in Sander, forthcoming.27 See especially the cartouche on an altar found at wad ben Naga (Lepsius 1849-1859:

v, bl. 55).

,


and by the wadi el-hawad and seasonal rains, that also feed the hafir. Thisallows to not exclude that a settlement was here and that agriculture playedan important role, even if the archaeological researches did not overcomebeyond the sacral area.

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