meroitic hieroglyphs
Two examples of Meroitic Hieroglyphs - Votive Plaque of King Tanyidamani and a Meroitic stela.
A team of Italian and Russian archeologists says that they have made one of the most important discoveries connected with the history of Nubia. According to the Sudan Antiquities Service, the hieroglyphic inscription uncovered at Abu Erteila, may be the most important discovery in the last decade.

AGI reports that the excavations conducted from November to December 2015 by the international team were led by Eugenio Fantusati from Sapienza University of Rome, his deputy Marco Baldi, and by Eleonora Kormysheva, the Director of the Golenishev center for Egyptology, Russian State University for the Humanities, and a Principal Researcher in the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Around 200 km (124.3 miles) north of Khartoum they discovered the most impressive artifacts, which include a basalt ritual altar, a hieroglyphic inscription, and a sacred boat. This discovery, which is a fruit of eight rounds of excavations, is shedding new light on the Nubian civilization that existed between the 1st century BC and 1st century AC. The temple where the findings were made, was thought to have been most likely destroyed by a fire. The ruins are currently being carbon-dated to ascertain the exact date of the event.

"We're still studying the text of the hieroglyphic inscriptions in Egyptian, but we've already identified the cartouches with the names of the royal couple they mention. They are King Natakamani and Queen Amanitore, who ruled during the Golden Age of the Meroitic civilization that developed in the Nile. It played an important role on the international stage: consider the fact that it had commercial and diplomatic ties with the Roman Empire, up to its decline owed to the rise of the Ethiopian Kingdom of Axum." Professor Fantusati told AGI.
Abu Erteila Sudan
© CEEMOExcavating the site of Abu Erteila, Sudan in 2015
According to the researchers, the base for a sacred boat was located in the "naos" or central hall of the building. It harbored a Nubian deity periodically placed on a boat for a ritualistic procession. Regarding to the words by professor Fantusati, the artifact is extremely important for a better understanding of the relations between the Meroitic world with the nearby Egyptian civilization. "It lends further prestige to the Abu Erteila site, whose official vestiges now certainly rank among the most interesting findings in contemporary Nubian archeology." - he said.

The Kingdom of Kush was an ancient African kingdom which existed from 1070 BC to 350 AD. Established after the collapse of the Bronze Age and the disintegration of the New Kingdom of Egypt, it was centered at Napata. The Kushite kings ruled as pharaohs in Egypt during the Third Intermediate Period, especially during the reign of the Twenty-fifth dynasty. However, they were expelled from Egypt by the Assyrians under the rule of Esarhaddon. The kingdom survived until the Roman Empire expanded onto their territory. The fade of Kush started by the 1st or 2nd century AD when it was sapped by the war with the Roman province of Egypt. Later, Christianity began to gain hold over the old religion.

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