NAGAA: ROMAN BUILDING IN THE DESERT.
The upper floor of the fine church there is now used as a mosque. On a ridge between the church and the river are remains of ancient fortification. An obelisk of Piankhi, now at Cairo, the fellow to that at Arab Hag, was found here, but had been probably carried from Jebel Barkal. Some Christian inscriptions have been found here (see “Journal of Theological Studies,” IV, p. 583).
Kurru, Zuma, Tangasi.At Kurru and Zuma (east bank), and Tangasi, 7 to 10 miles from Merowe, are remains of large groups of pyramids (B.N. 496), a few of stone, others of mud-brick from which the stone casing has been removed.
On Gimeti Island are traces of a church.
Merowe. B.C. 900 to B.C. 200.Merowe (north bank) and Abu Dom Sanam (south bank) mark the site of Napata (Nept or Nepita). The old city appears to have been on the south bank, and of considerable size (vide [p. 222]). A few miles from the river on this bank, in low hills, are the remains of a number of rock-hewn tombs, and 3 or 4 miles up-stream from Abu Dom, on the north bank, lie the pyramids and ruins of the temples of Napata.
Jebel Barkal.Jebel Barkal, 302 feet high, the “Holy Mountain” of the inscriptions, can be seen for many miles round; on the plain by the side of the hill are ruins of eight or nine pyramids, and on the rising ground are eight more, varying from 20 to 60 feet in height.
Circa B.C. 700. Nuri.The principal temples are those of Taharka and Piankhi, close to Jebel Barkal. At Nuri, 7½ miles from Merowe, on the south bank, are the remains of 35 pyramids, solidly built, and probably of the Middle (?) Empire. At Wadi Ghazal are the remains of a fine Christian monastery. (B.N. 496-503; Cailliaud; Lepsius.)
Belal.A few miles beyond Belal (foot of the 4th Cataract) and on the south bank are the remains of a Coptic church and fortified monastery.
Opposite Hamdab Island, 6 miles further on, are the ruins of a pyramid.
Berber.No further remains have been discovered for the next 250 miles or more. There is evidence that Berber was in the ancient days a starting point, as now, for caravans for Suakin, but there are no ancient remains, as far as is known.