Meroë, Royal Baths

Mediterranean influence on an African civilization in Greco-Roman time

Location

The ancient town of Meroë was the capital of the empire of Kush. It is situated in the modern Sudan approximately 130 miles north of the modern metropolis of Khartoum. The town was build on the right bank of the river Nile in the narrow fertile valley between the sixth and fifth cataract as splendid residence with huge living quarters and temples. East of the town at the edge of the desert are the royal necropoleis with its characteristic steep faced pyramids.

History

The empire of Kush developed during the ninth and eighth centuries BC in the north of modern Sudan. It ruled Egypt as 25th dynasty for about 50 years until it was pushed back to its original territory at the middle of the seventh century. Meroë in the third century for about 600 years became the last capital of the empire of Kush. All the time the political and economical relations to Egypt, the mighty northern neighbour remained close, even when it was dominated by Greeks and Romans. The Culture of Kush therefore besides its local roots shows clear influence from Egypt and the Mediterranean br>

The So-Called Royal Baths

Show-wall at the south side of the water-basin with water-inlets

Statue of a reclining man discovered 1912 in the water basin (Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek ÆIN 1485)

An outstanding witness for the cultural transfer are the s. c. Royal Baths at Meroë, situated in the centre of the town next to two palaces. They demonstrate how about 2000 years ago forms and ideas from the Mediterranean are taken over by an ancient African Civilization and together with local traditions form a unique ensemble.
The centre is a square water basin of approximately 7,50 m by 7,50 m and 2,50 m in depth, easy to enter by a staircase. Three sides of the basin are surrounded by a column-flanked passage, the fourth side is marked by an uprising show-wall. From this side the basin was supplied with water flowing through several covered pipes. At this side the splendid and colourful decoration of the building is still well preserved: sculptures of sandstone, faience wall-inlays and painted plaster. The edges of the basin were marked by bull- and lion heads. Furthermore, statues of up to life-size were placed within the building, as the discovery of several statues in the water-basin shows.
Many questions concerning the complex are still under discussion. The development of the construction, the date, the function of the water in- and outlets, the full decoration programme as well as the most important question, the purpose and idea of the hole building are still not clear.

History of Research

	Excavation by J. Garstang in the Royal Baths in February 1912, discovery of several statues in the water basin

From 1909 to 1914 John Garstang from the University of Liverpool undertook extensive excavations in the city of Meroë, by this in 1912 finding the s. c. Royal Baths. Garstang himself published the results of his campaigns in several preliminary reports but refrained from a full documentation of the individual sites. Only in recent years books have been published about Garstang's work at Meroë basing mainly on the diaries, letters, notes, drawings and photographs in the archive at Liverpool.

Objective of the Research

The preserved fabric structure at the site will be documented according to up-to-date standards. At the same time the increasing decay of the building will be hold up by preservation measurements. Additional all objects from the complex in European and American collections will be included into the study in order to achieve a serviceable basis for further considerations on history and interpretation of the s. c. Royal Baths at Meroë and the Mediterranean influence on the meroitic culture.

Current Work

The remaining structures and decorations in the central part of the s. c. Royal Baths in two campaigns 1999 and 2000 have been measured, drawn, photographed, and described. The in great part loose plaster has been re-fixed to the show-wall by restorers during the 2000 campaign. 

Results

	Tendril of wine painted on the plaster of the show-wall
	Musician with pan-flute at the side of the show-wall

The varied and colourful impression of the show-wall at the edge of the water-basin as still visible today appears to the result of several building-phases. The intension for the gradual addition of the decoration obviously not only have requests concerning aesthetic or content but also technical modifications in directing the watercourse.
For the decoration of the building aspects as water, wine, and music have been important. In a first building phase the lower part of the show-wall was painted with a tendril of wine. Later sculptures in the round of musicians with pan-flute, double-flute, and kithara were added. They originally belong to the sphere of the Greek wine-God Dionysus and more fragments from figures of his surrounding were found, such as the head of Silenus and the lower part of the body of a pan. Next to Dionysos appears the local meroitic God Apedemak, that may have been worshipped here in connection with water as fertility-God. 

Cooperation

The project is a cooperation of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums in Khartoum and the head office of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin. 

Contact

Dr. phil. Simone Wolf

Klassische Archäologie
Telefon: 01888-7711-158
Telefax: 01888-7711-168
Email: redaktion@dainst.de
Further Email Addresses: sw@dainst.de

Bibliography

J. Garstang, Liverpool Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology 5, 1913, 77 ff. und W. S. George, Liverpool Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology 6, 1914, 15 ff. L. Török, Meroe City - An Ancient African Capital. John Garstang's Excavations in the Sudan (London 1997) 63 ff. F. W. Hinkel - U. Sievertsen, Die Royal City von Meroe und die repräsentative Profanarchitektur in Kusch, The Archaeological Map of the Sudan Suppl. 4 (Berlin 2002) 79 ff. S. Wolf - H.-U. Onasch, Investigations in the so-called Royal Baths at Meroë in 1999. A Preliminary Report, im Druck: Kush 18, 2003