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[QUOTE]Originally posted by zarahan- aka Enrique Cardova: [QB] [b]Post-Pharaonic Nubia in the Light of Archaeology. [/b] "The Meroitic kingdom and culture exhibit a whole series of developments and accomplishments which are by no means prefigured in the late Napatan era, and which are symptomatic of a marked return of cultural vigour.2 The Meroitic achievements in the political and religious fields were nearly as great as the Napatan of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, and in the material and artistic fields surpassed them-especially when we recall that they were to a far greater extent the work of local craftsmen.3 It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the Meroitic at its peak, far from being a period of cultural disintegration, actually represents the highest level attained by native Nubian culture up to that time 4... and not merely a veneer of Egyptian culture imperfectly grafted on to a Nubian base. Foremost among the accomplishments of the Meroitic era must be accounted the tremendous territorial expansion of the kingdom, or at least of its cultural influence. Meroites not only reoccupied Lower Nubia in force,5 but also extended their dominion southward to Sennar and Kosti and westward to Kordofan and perhaps even Darfur.6 The Meroitic kingdom at its height was perhaps as geographically extensive as the Napatan.. The reoccupation of Lower Nubia must however be accounted a major accomplishment in itself, especially as there is some evidence that it was contested by the Ptolemies.7 Further evidence of renewed cultural vigour in the Meroitic period is to be seen in the wave of temple building which took place under various Meroitic rulers in the first century of the Christian era-especially under the famous royal pair Natakamani and Aminatari.8 Their work cannot be regarded simply as a continuation of an established tradition, for there had been nothing on a comparable scale since Taharqa, and no temple building of any significance at all for 200 years. Natakamani and Aminatari were the last Nubian rulers to employ Egyptian craftsmen in the design of their monu- ments, and their temples and mortuary chapels are undoubtedly the finest of the Meroitic era. Nevertheless, the work of the strictly local artisans in the following reigns wvas still of a high artistic order.9 Another noteworthy development of the Meroitic era was the beautiful and far-famed Meroitic decorated pottery. The origins of this industry remain obscure. The designs combine elements of Egyptian and of Graeco-Roman origin, but the combinations and their execution are uniquely Nubian, and the ware is far superior both techno- logically and artistically to anything made in Egypt at the time. It represents, in fact, one of the highest attainments in the history of Nubian material culture. Meroitic pottery was very widely manufactured, and appears in surprising quantities even in the humblest Meroitic dwellings.' A final cultural achievement which we must credit to the Meroitic era was the development of the Meroitic system of writing, which for the first time in history enabled the Nubians to record the language in which they habitually spoke.. they give evidence of a more widespread literacy than at any other period of Nubian history. " --William Y. Adams. 1964. Post-Pharaonic Nubia in the Light of Archaeology. I The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 50 [/QB][/QUOTE]
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