Debeira
  Shown within Sudan | |
| Location | Northern, Sudan |
|---|---|
| Region | Old Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 22°05′N 31°40′E / 22.083°N 31.667°E |
Debeira is an archaeological site in Sudan situated on the eastern bank of the Nile some 20 kilometres north of Wadi Halfa.
Early period
[edit]Excavations brought to light a necropolis of the C-Group culture.[1] The necropolis site dates to ca. 2400–1550 BCE.
At Debeira-East a wall-painted funerary chapel of the Nubian prince (chief of Teh-khet) Djehutyhotep from the time of Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III was found.[2] Other finds include a painted sarcophagus with iconography of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt.[1] The sarcophagus and the painted scenes of the burial chamber were taken to the Sudan National Museum in Khartoum prior to the flooding of Debeira by Lake Nasser.
Middle ages
[edit]The site was occupied by a small town or large village in the middle ages. Excavations between 1961 and 1964 by the University of Ghana showed the existence of a town with churches, a cemetery, and several large buildings. The site was inhabited between the 7th and 9th centuries, and abandoned after a decline that continued into the tenth century. The site was later redeveloped in the 11th century. The community consisted of several hundred people during this period.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Jean Vercoutter, New Egyptian Inscriptions, Kush nr. IV,1956, pp.66-86.
- ^ Torgny Säve-Söderbergh: New Kingdom Pharaonic Sites, The Finds and the Sites, The Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudaneses Nubia, Volume 5:2, Uppsala 1991, ISBN 9170810303, pp. 197-201
- ^ P. L. and M. Shinnie, New Light on Medieval Nubia, The Journal of African History, Vol. 6, No. 3 (1965), pp. 263-273, Cambridge University Press, JSTOR 180167