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🇬🇧 [2007-2012] Mouweis: excavations of the Meroitic city

Under the direction of Marie Millet

Mouweis: excavation of the palace © SFDAS

Mouweis is a major town located on the banks of the Nile, 50 km south of Meroe. Its excavation began in 2007 by the Louvre’s Department of Egyptian Antiquities.

The 16-hectare site, now completely surrounded by cultivated land, includes a low central area flanked by two elevations. Prospecting methods—including magnetic surveys—and test pits have revealed this to be a large town center, bordered by two distinct residential and craft quarters.

Mouweis: the known urban structure as of 2011

The eastern quarter, explored through three boreholes, revealed a sequence of houses spanning from the Classic Meroitic to Post-Meroitic periods (boreholes B and Ka). It also contained circular and semi-circular potters’ kilns (Fa), alongside a rectangular kiln (Ka, phase 2) used for brick firing, whose design recalls Roman models. Excavations uncovered pits and dumps rich in material culture, including animal and human figurines, seal impressions, clay pendants, and evidence of crafts such as ivory carving, weaving, and iron metallurgy. The western eminence, tested only by auger, displays a stratigraphic depth of 4 meters— the deepest found on the site.

At the heart of the settlement, the town center includes a series of large buildings dating to the Classic Meroitic period, constructed atop two earlier phases belonging to the Early Meroitic occupation.

Mouweis: palace A, eastern span of warehouses (vue vers l’ouest, 2011)

To the south of the city lies Palace A, originally measuring approximately 60 meters on each side. Its room layout closely resembles that of Wad ben Naga. Unfortunately, the palace’s southern and eastern margins have been severely damaged, largely due to the removal and reuse of its fired bricks, leaving only a core made of unbaked bricks.

In the central zone, magnetic surveys and surface scans revealed a large complex about 70 by 60 meters, enclosed by a boundary wall (R). On the northeast side of this complex, several structures have been identified: a monumental gateway (MF5), about 9 meters long but largely destroyed, which stood along an alley flanked by two parallel walls; a building approximately 20 meters square with a decorated door (NF22); an as-yet undefined structure (PF1); and a small temple (J).

Mouweis: temple J at the end of excavations, seen from the south, 2012

The small temple (J), measuring 19.50 by 12 meters, follows a classic tripartite plan. Its rear section is further divided into three parts, with a central naos featuring a pedestal likely meant to hold a sacred bark. Decorative fragments link the temple’s creation to the royal couple Natakamani and Amanitore. Excavation of this building has been completed, and restoration work is currently underway.

Following a traditional design, the temple is arranged along an alley leading to the main temple, which evidence strongly suggests was dedicated to Amun—this is supported by the discovery of a few fragments of a ram statue among the rubble from the temple J. This large temple is situated within the expansive perimeter enclosed by the R enclosure, although the foundation levels indicate that the enclosure was constructed relatively late in the site’s history.

The initial phase of the project (2007–2012) focused on assessing the site’s urban layout, history, and material culture, and is now complete with a publication forthcoming. The next phase will concentrate on testing the western residential quarter, excavating the perimeter around the large central complex, and searching for metallurgical furnaces in the northeastern quarter.

Starting bibliography

  • M. Baud, “The Meroitic royal city of Muweis: first steps into an urban settlement of riverine Upper Nubia”, Sudan & Nubia 12, 2008, p. 52-63.
  • M. Baud, “Les fouilles du Louvre à Mouweis, Soudan : approches préliminaires d’un site urbain méroïtique”, in F. Raffaele, M. Nuzzolo & I. Incordino, Recent discoveries and latest researches in Egyptology. Proceedings of the 1st Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology, Naples, June 18th-20th 2008, Wiesbaden, 2010, p. 1-12.
  • M. Baud, “Méroé : un monde urbain”, in M. Baud (dir.), Catalogue d’exposition Méroé. Un empire sur le Nil, Paris & Milan, 2010, p. 211-214.
  • M Baud, “Mouweis, une ville riveraine de la région de Méroé”, Les Dossiers de l’Archéologie H.S. 18, mars 2010, p. 14-19.
  • M. Baud, “Le palais royal de Mouweis”, in V. Rondot, F. Alpi and F. Villeneuve (éd.), La pioche et la plume, hommages archéologiques à Patrice Lenoble, Presses de l’université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris, 2011, p. 339-357.
  • M. Baud, “Trois saisons à Mouweis : premier bilan archéologique”, in M. Zach (éd.), 11th International Conference for Meroitic studies, 1er-4 sept. 2008, Vienne, sous presse.
  • M. Baud, “Downtown Muweis – a progress report (2007-2011)”, in D. Welsby & J.Anderson (éds.), Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies, 1er-6 août 2010, British Museum, Londres, 2014.
  • Le rapport 2010 est consultable sur le site web du musée du Louvre : http://www.louvre.fr/les-fouilles-du-departement-des-antiquites-egyptiennes-mouweis-soudan-saison-2010
  • Voir aussi le documentaire “Mouweis, une ville sous le sable” réalisé par Stan Neumann et Catherine Adda, coproduction musée du Louvre / Camera Lucida, avec la participation de France Télévisions, 2010.

OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
sfdas (5 novembre 2024). 🇬🇧 [2007-2012] Mouweis: excavations of the Meroitic city. SFDAS Khartoum. Consulté le 12 mai 2026 à l’adresse https://sfdas.hypotheses.org/5707


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