The Rise of Meroë

The city of Meroë became important because many trade routes passed through it. Meroë also got more rain than Napata, so the people there could grow more crops and raise more animals.

Today Meroë is the largest archaeological site in Sudan. It is about 1 kilometer (1/2 mile) from the Nile. The city ruins are very large. One of the most visible parts is a huge area surrounded by a stone wall. Inside the wall, archaeologists found the remains of royal palaces, government buildings, and several small temples. There was even a "Roman bath" where members of the court could wash and socialize. Outside the walled area, archaeologists found an Amun Temple, nearly the size of the one at Jebel Barkal, and an entire avenue of small temples. East of the city was another big temple known as the Sun Temple, and the separate cemeteries of the commoners, the nobles, and the rulers.

View of the ruins of Meroë with remains of a small temple in the foreground.

Photo: T. Kendall.

Computer reconstruction of the "Sun Temple" complex on the eastern edge of Meroë. The temple was originally built with the features of an Egyptian temple. Later, when Greek and Roman styles became popular, the front and sides of the temple were adorned with a colonnade.

Computer model by William Riseman and Dr. Friedrich W. Hinkel.

View of the small pyramids of the nobles and minor members of the royal family in the West Cemetery at Meroë.

Photo: T. Kendall.

	Gilded bronze statuette of a Meroitic king, from Tabo, Sudan. About 300-200 BCE.
	Courtesy of the Sudan National Museum, Khartoum.

Architectural element with the head of the god Amun (center) flanked by those of the lion god Apedemak, from Musawwarat es-Sufra, Sudan. 300-200 BCE.

Courtesy of the Sudan National Museum, Khartoum.

	The well-preserved rear door of the kiosk at Naga, Sudan. About 0-100 CE.
	Photo: T. Kendall