Ancient stone steles in the

Archaeologists have unearthed many giant steles carved with the word 'Meroitic' in the 'city of the dead' in Sudan.

Meroitic is the oldest written language in the southern Sahara region where humans are currently only partially decoding. In addition, the team also found the art of building the temple of goddess Maat in Egyptian mythology - embodiment of order, justice, peace, and portrayed by the very ' African ' style of Africa. .

Meroe: Ancient civilization

Ataqeloula stele, discovered in the Sedeinga cemetery in November 2017, commemorates a woman and family members of the Sedeinga society.(Photo: Vincent Francigny).

Sedeinga is a relic located on the west bank of the Nile in Sudan, about 60 miles (nearly 100km) north of the 'cataract' (fast but shallow flowing water) of the Nile.

According to Britannica Encyclopedia, archaeologists first heard of the site from the stories of many tourists in the 19th century, when they described the relics at the Temple of the Egyptian Queen. Tiye - the main retreat of King Amenhotep III and one of the most famous queens of ancient Egypt. The Amenhotep III dynasty extended from 1390 to 1353 BC, and reached the pinnacle of civilization - both in political power and in cultural achievements.

Earlier, this very wealthy area (thanks to abundant gold reserves) was an ancient Nubian territory. According to the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (USA), the Nubians have ruled some of the first kingdoms in Africa, even ancient Egypt as a pharaoh.

Sedeinga is still commonly known as a large cemetery, or 'city of the dead' , and stretches over an area of ​​60 acres (about 25 hectares). There are still remains of at least 80 pyramids (built of bricks) and more than 100 tombs - of the kingdoms of Napata and Meroe, from about the 7th century. These countries have successfully blended many of the features of ancient Egyptian culture with the rest of Africa, and achievement is what we can observe today in Sudan. It can be said that, from the influence of ancient Egyptian neighbors, Napata and Meroe have built a civilization together - the Kush kingdom. In addition, Meroitic - the language of Meroe, is actually the borrowing of ancient Egyptian script.

According to lead researcher Vincent Francigny - the leader of the excavation project Sedeinga: until now, the Meroe script system is still a challenge to our understanding.'If the funeral used texts have very few variations and are almost completely decoded, many other types of documents are unclear. However, all are important, because they can clarify something new. '

Image of excavation area taken from above.(Photo: Vincent Francigny).

The number of giant inscriptions

Archaeologists have said that a massive collection of Meroe's funeral etchings have been unearthed. According to Francigny, we can find on each of the entire body, the background, the position of a person, from which to make predictions and identify new places, and learn more about the structure. structure of the kingdom's government.

With the data collected on the engravings, the research team identified Sedeinga once in position of a vein of a trafficking route, by avoiding the bends and the "cataract" area of ​​the Nile. That implies this area was once very rich and developed. In addition, the team also found many beautiful decorative sandstone samples, including works depicting the goddess Maat with a characteristic art style of Nubia.

'Meroe is a kingdom that has borrowed quite a number of ancient Egyptian cultural and religious ideas and adjusted them to adapt to local traditions , ' Francigny said. 'However, we should not think that Meroe is only passive to foreign influences, but on the contrary they have shown the ability to choose very well, about what can be introduced to serve the purpose of royalty and social development according to the Pharaoh system - but not Egypt '.

The superior role of women

The archaeological group also noted that many artifacts in Sedeinga are for noble women. For example, a inscription depicts Lady Maliwarase - as a sister of two famous monks in Amon, and the mother of the ruler of Faras (the big city bordering the second white water on the Nile).

Because Nubia society was maintained on a matriarchal basis, the pursuit of the woman's lineage was 'an important aspect when studying the royal family ', Francigny said. At Meroe, a person who is 'candace' (ie the mother of a king / queen), can play a particularly large role, regarding the task of exercising power. However, it is unclear whether women from low-income backgrounds or from lower classes can play a role in religion or manage the kingdom? '

Another interesting point is that Meroe people are often attracted to unusual objects.'For example, in the area near the temple where only priests are approached, many sacrifices are sometimes made of natural stones with odd shapes, which may be religious symbols. or similar to the parts of the human body , "Francigny said. 'Even such objects are found in the most sacred places, such as' naos' - temples close to the statues of the gods. "

In the future, researchers expect to determine the location of the Meroe-built tombs under Egyptian rule, the first phase. However, unfortunately, the Nile water here flows east and is invading the archaeological site, causing many works near the river basin to face the risk of complete destruction.