UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

The civilization of Napata and Meroe
building which was perhaps a palace, and a beehive structure which may
have been an enormous silo. This and many scattered mounds in the
vicinity indicate the importance of this town, the residence of the candaces
and a Nile port. 53
Among other important sites, the following should be mentioned. Basa,
lying in Wadi Hawad, has a temple and an enormous hafir surrounded
by stone statues of lions. The most interesting feature is that this town did
not grow haphazardly but was strictly planned according to the terrain then
covered by trees and shrubs. 54 Of exceptional importance from many points
of view is Mussawwarat es-Sufra in the Wadi el-Banat at some distance
from the Nile. Its main feature, the Great Enclosure, consists of many
buildings and walled enclosures surrounding a temple built in the first
century before our era or a little earlier. The number of representations of
elephants suggests that they were in some way important to the country.
There is a number of temples, the most important of them being the
Lion temple dedicated to the god Apedemak. The recent excavations by
F. Hintze 55 threw new light on many aspects of Meroitic history, art and
religion but much remains enigmatic.
Apart from their administrative and religious functions the Meroitic
towns were also important centres of crafts and trade. So far no special
studies have been devoted to these aspects of Meroitic economic history
but the existing evidence indicates a high technological and artistic level
of crafts. Specialized building crafts were necessary for the erection and
decoration of the numerous monuments, palaces, temples, pyramids, and
so on. Although in the earlier period Egyptian influence is unmistakable,
from the third century before our era many autochthonous elements show
that Meroitic craftsmen and artists freed themselves from foreign models
and created a highly original and independent artistic tradition.
Pottery is the best-known of all the products of the Meroitic civilization
and owes its fame to its quality both in its texture and its decoration. There
are two distinct traditions: the handmade pottery made by women which
shows a remarkable continuity of form and style and reflects a deep-rooted
African tradition, 56 and the wheel-turned ware made by men which is more
varied and responsive to stylistic changes. These differences lead to the
conclusion that already from early times wheel-made pottery developed as a
separate craft producing wares for market and thus subject to changing
fashions and the demands of the middle and higher classes of Meroitic
society, whilst the people continued to use the traditional utility pottery
made at home by women.
Jewellery was another highly developed craft. It has been found in con-
53. cf. J. Vercoutter, 1962.
54. J. W . Crowfoot, 1911, pp. 11-20.
55. cf. F. Hintze, 1962; 1971a.
56. P. L. Shinnie, 1967, p. 116, points out that this ware is still made today in the same
style not only in the Sudan but in many other parts of Africa.
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