The Founding of Napata

The Egyptians built the town of Napata beside the Nile at the southern limit of their Nubian empire. It lay beneath the cliff of an isolated mountain known today as Jebel Barkal.

The mountain became sacred because of the tall pointed rock on its south corner. The Egyptians believed this was a natural statue of a rearing cobra. Since they believed that the cobra was a goddess who protected their greatest god Amun, they believed the god lived inside the mountain. Since the cobra was also a symbol of kingship and appeared on the front of the king's crown, they also believed that Jebel Barkal was the place where the gods first established kingship on earth. When the pharaohs came to Nubia, they made sure to come to Napata for special crowning ceremonies.

Jebel Barkal, the "Pure Mountain" of Kush, as seen through the axis of the ruined temple of Amun. This steep, isolated hill near the Nile, deep inside Nubia, marked the southern limit of the Egyptian empire in Africa. The Egyptians believed it was a dwelling place of their greatest god, Amun.

Photo: T. Kendall.

	View of the pinnacle on Jebel Barkal, from the west. The Egyptians thought this rock tower, 75 m high, looked like the cobra diadem on the royal crown. They also believed it held within it the power of the cobra goddess believed to protect the god, the king, and the empire from enemies with her flaming breath.
	Photo: T. Kendall.

View of Jebel Barkal as the Egyptians imagined it. Here the god Amun can be seen sitting inside the mountain, while a great cobra, wearing the "White Crown," emerges from the cliff. The crowned cobra is obviously the pinnacle, which has almost the same shape. In front of the mountain stands Ramses II, who makes offerings to the god. From a relief at the temple of Abu Simbel.

Photo courtesy of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago