El-Hobagi
El-Hobagi is an archaeological site in Sudan. It lies approximately 65 kilometres (40 mi) southwest of Meroe on the western side of the Nile, near the sixth cataract.[1]
Excavation and discoveries at the site
A number of large tumuli were found at el-Hobagi from the period after the fall of the Meroitic kingdom, but before the Christianization of Nubia. The site, which is dated to the 4th century,[2] is situated near a post-Meroitic cemetery. Grave mounds excavated by a French team revealed an absence of rich gifts, instead containing weapons such as swords, spears, axes, arrows and bows.[3] The dead lay on a bed and were surrounded by numerous vessels. There was also a bronze bowl, which contains one of the last known Meroitic inscriptions; it is decorated with agricultural scenes and the word Qore ("King"). This suggests that local kings were buried here in the wake of the Meroitic kingdom. Some findings suggest that the King's court was moved to the area of el-Hobagi in the 4th century AD, though no village of that era has been found here.[4] Tumulus III at El Hobagi is believed to date to the early Postmeroitic period of the late 4th century.[5]
References
- ^ Welsby, Derek A.; Allason-Jones, Lindsay (1998). SOBA II: renewed excavations within the metropolis of the Kingdom of Alwa in Central Sudan. British Museum Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-7141-1903-8. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
- ^ Török, László (12 July 2011). Hellenizing Art in Ancient Nubia 300 B.C. - AD 250 and its Egyptian Models: A Study in "Acculturation". BRILL. p. 272. ISBN 978-90-04-21128-5. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
- ^ Wenig, Steffen (1999). Studien zum antiken Sudan. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 253. ISBN 978-3-447-04139-3. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
- ^ Welsby, Derek A. (2002). The medieval kingdoms of Nubia: pagans, Christians and Muslims along the Middle Nile. London: British Museum Press. p. 41. ISBN 0-7141-1947-4. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
- ^ Wenig, Steffen (2004). Neueste Feldforschungen Im Sudan und in Eritrea: Akten Des Symposiums Vom 13. Bis 14. Oktober 1999 in Berlin. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 91. ISBN 978-3-447-04913-9. Retrieved 13 August 2012.