 Home

 Random
 Nearby
 Log in
 Settings
 About Wikipedia

 Disclaimers
Open main menu

Search

Napata
 Language
 Download PDF
 Watch
 Edit

Napata
in hieroglyphs

Napata (Old Egyptian Npt, Npy; Meroitic Napa) was a city of ancient Nubia on the
west bank of the Nile at the site of modern Karima, Sudan. It was the southernmost
permanent settlement in the New Kingdom of Egypt (16th–11th centuries BC) and
the main Nubian cult centre of Amun. It was the sometime capital of the
Nubian Twenty-fifth Dynasty and, after its fall in 663 BC, of the Kingdom of Kush. In
593 BC, it was sacked by the Egyptians and the Kushite capital was relocated
to Meroë. The city was sacked a second time by the Romans in 23 BC but was
rebuilt and continued as an important centre of the Amun cult.[1]
The term "Napata" (adj. "Napatan") also refers to the Kushite polity from its rise
around 750 BC until 270 BC, when Napata lost its symbolic significance as the
location of royal burials to Meroë.[2]
 Early history
Napatan period
Late Napatan kingdomEdit

Nuri pyramids

Napata remained the centre of the Kingdom of Kush for another two generations,
from the 650s to 590 BC. Its economy was essentially based on gold, with 26th
dynasty Egypt an important economic ally.
Napatan architecture, paintings, writing script, and other artistic and cultural forms
were in Kush style. Egyptian burial customs were practised, including the
resurrection of pyramid building. Also, several ancient Egyptian deities were
worshipped. The most important god was Amun, a Theban deity. The Temple of
Amun and the Temple of Mut were the most important ones at Napata, located at
the foot of Jebel Barkal.[8]
After the Achaemenid conquest of Egypt, Napata lost its economic influence. The
Napatan region itself was desiccating, leading to less cattle and agriculture. An
Achaemenid raid had seriously affected Napata in 591 BC. Finally, Napata was
losing its role of economic capital to Meroë. The island of Meroë, the peninsula
formed by the Nile and the Atbarah River, was an area rich in iron, which was
becoming an essential source of wealth. Meroe eventually became the capital of the
Kingdom of Kush, leading to the abandonment of Napata.
In 23 BC, the Governor of Roman Egypt Gaius Petronius invaded Kush with 10,000
men after an initial attack by the queen of Meroë, razing Napata to the ground. In
the Res Gestae Divi Augusti ("Deeds of the Divine Augustus"), Augustus claims that
"a penetration was made as far as the town of Napata, which is next to Meroe.[9]
After the Roman sack, Napata was restored by King Natakamani, who renovated
the temple of Amun and constructed a palace. Later, the site was abandoned, its
buildings plundered and destroyed. There is circumstantial evidence that this may
have been the result of religious changes.[10]
Cultural references
References
Further reading

Last edited 18 hours ago by Srnec

RELATED ARTICLES
 Third Intermediate Period of Egypt
period of Ancient Egypt (1069-664 BCE)
 Kingdom of Kush
ancient African kingdom
 Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt
Ethiopian period of Ancient Egypt

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted.

 Terms of Use
 Privacy
 Desktop