Wad Bānagā

The present book in ARABIC represents an introductory overview to the ancient site of Wad Ben Naga. It presents the outlines of the current state of research of its ancient history, monumental structures, cemeteries, and religious landscape, as well as an overall summary of the history of its exploration in the modern times. The first part of the book provides the general chronological and socio-cultural setting and pictures the site’s transformation from antiquity till the present with the help of its ancient and modern names. As a part of an extensive overview on the site’s history of exploration, excerpts from early modern accounts mentioning the ruins of Wad Ben Naga are included. The second chapter summarizes the period of modern archaeological research at the site, conducted by the Sudan Antiquities Service between 1958 and 1960 and by the Archaeological Expedition to Wad Ben Naga since 2009. An analysis of the site’s ancient development follows. The following two chapters deal with various monumental structures at the site that once represented the major landmarks of the settlement and were explored archaeologically in detail. Namely the Palace of Amanishakhete, the Typhonium, the so-called Isis, Small, and Eastern Temples, and the Circular Building Complex are presented. In chapter five, the religious landscape of the ancient site is introduced through the abundant evidence on the cults of various deities, both male and female, Egyptian and indigenous. The final chapter concentrates on the cemeteries distributed across the site that are known through surveys and excavation.