how far is this area from Egypt it all depends, tpia. because some of the monuments is definitely spread out from each other. for example northern sudan is nearly the same land mass as egypt. so, it is a huge area to cover, and since it is few roads getting to some of the monuments will be quite a journey. however, the situation of roads is improving due to the fact that the government had builted dams near these areas to provide electricity, and some companies mainly from europe and the middle east , sudan and egypt are starting to now provide organize tours. as the road situation improves, i think more tourist will follow.

if you travel from southern egypt, you will have to take a ferry from aswan egypt to walfa sudan, which takes nearly 24 hours. however, both sudan and egypt are talking about providing roads to cut the time to travel between two countries, they do have roads but people are not allowed to go to them. it is mainly political from both side of the border, due to a dispute of land.

http://wysinger.homestead.com/jebel_barkal20.jpg
very ruined amun temple in northern sudan, considered the largest amun temple outside of karnak egypt. this is the inside of the temple of mut wife to the god amun.

i mean from aswan egypt to sudan wardi halfa

Mapungubwe - South Africa's lost City of Gold

"One thousand years ago, Mapungubwe in Limpopo province was the centre of the largest kingdom in the subcontinent, where a highly sophisticated people traded gold and ivory with China, India and Egypt. The site was discovered in 1932 and has been excavated by the University of Pretoria ever since. The findings were kept quiet at the time since they provided contrary evidence to the racist ideology of black inferiority underpinning apartheid. "

the golden rhino and sceptre were some of the many golden, clay and bronze artefacts discovered at Mapungubwe

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Golden rhino.jpg (10.9 KB, 235x175 )

golden sceptre.jpg (2.71 KB, 109x73 )

i like the detai, and the realism, do you know the date or time period of this statuary. also, i was wondering does this represent some ancient god the people use to worship. i am just curious.

this larger than life statue is of amenirdis. she was the daughter of king kashta one of the kushite or nubian pharaohs in the 25th dynasty that ruled both sudan and egypt. she was considered the divine wife of Amon a title which gave her as much power as the king himself, however only in luxor.
the statue is made of alabaster on black granite.

http://www.molon.de/galleries/Egypt/NatMuseum/Statues/images01/19%20Statue%20of%20Amenirdis.jpg

also, you have other statues of amenirdis in museums in sudan, england and america. this one is housed in the museum in luxor egypt
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.molon.de/galleries/Egypt/NatMuseum/Statues/images01/19%2520Statue%2520of%2520Amenirdis.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.molon.de/galleries/Egypt/NatMuseum/Statues/img.php%3Fpic%3D19&usg=__nbBTZq7o0Rgn0DZkaizis_6WOBg=&h=632&w=474&sz=81&hl=en&start=7&um=1&tbnid=LXIRmQoo7kPZgM:&tbnh=137&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dstatue%2Bof%2Bamenirdis%2BI%26hl%3Den%26um%3D1

this statue was found at the temple of jebel barkal in sudan but it was originally house further north at the temple of soleb in sudan, this statue was made during the time of amenhotep or new kingdom. He was the husband of the nubian queen tiye, and they had a son by the name of akhenaten, and akhenaten is alleged to be the father of a insignicant pharaoh by the name king tut.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3257/2907344831_00976bd988.jpg

the statue of the red granite lion is housed in the british national museum

man from south africa take a picture in northern sudan at the pyramid complex, however you barely see him, but he is there.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3551/3289026164_556b153b00.jpg

local girl take picture for tourist at pyramid complex
http://www.stockphotopro.com/photo-thumbs-2/stockphotopro_21975UMQ_.jpg

tourist admire structure and draws ruin pyramid.

meroe pyramid complex
http://wysinger.homestead.com/pyr5.jpg

my last pyramid picture, and i promise.
http://www.crystalinks.com/nuri.jpg

tourist take picture of local girls at pyramid complex.
http://img2.photographersdirect.com/img/13272/wm/pd804726.jpg

i am very curious about this one whether it is a pyramid or not. or what is the fuction of this structure in eastern nigeria. can anyone help me on this one? they call it the ibo pyramid. i was wondering about the fuction and purpose of the pyramids in eastern nigeria.

http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu/jmccall/jones/igbo/arunsi11.JPG

meroitic ba statue northern sudan 2 or 3 century AD

http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/Image/1443/Thumb/1443-871.jpg

ababda:

meroitic ba statue northern sudan 2 or 3 century AD

http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/Image/1443/Thumb/1443-871.jpg

hmm, looks rather like this one, in a way:



Nok art, 500 bc

Ivory hunting horn, kingdom of Kongo, Kongo-Portuguese style. Angola, 14th - 17th century

Ivory salt-cellar, kingdom of Benin. Bini-Portuguese style, Nigeria






Ivory salt-cellar, Sapi-Portuguese style, Sierra Leone,  late 15th-early 16th century.




Ivory trumpet or hunting horn, Sapi-Portuguese style, Sierra Leone, late 15th-early 16th century





http://www.all-art.org/history182.html

indeed, art from the nok culture does look similar to ba statues, and the ancient meroites had many statues such as these.

Chi Wara, Mali

[img]http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/laa/images/chiwara.jpg[/img]

@Beaf, that's truly BEAUTIFUL,what site is it on?

@Beaf, that's truly BEAUTIFUL,what site is it on

indeed, that is absolutely beautiful.

@ababda

I would really like to find out if they well allow me to enlarge and paint said.

@ababda thank you for this wonderful thread, i have  been following it with great interest.

madlady[b]:@ababda thank you for this wonderful thread, i have been following it with great interest.[/b]

thank you madlady, and i hope you are enjoying it.

this photo was taken by a tourist in northern sudan of the burial site of the pharaoh tanwetamani and his mother qalhata. the painting is written in egyptian hieroglyphics and it goes into details of the burial customs and religious beliefs during that time. the site is called el kurru.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3313/3496222631_4698201f11.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/74089637%40N00/3496222631&usg=__aVmiTdCnSVyYxlueqaEr82Cy_kI=&h=500&w=333&sz=179&hl=en&start=105&um=1&tbnid=eEB7TPX2YrqVUM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=87&prev=/images%3Fq%3Del%2Bkurru%2Bsudan%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1R2ADFA_enUS338%26sa%3DN%26start%3D90%26um%3D1

the ruins of musawarrat es sufra complex

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2210/3746624794_baf2656059.jpg
http://wysinger.homestead.com/files/114952868-L.jpg
http://nubie-international.fr/photos/401020andreferrand038.jpg
http://www.ancientsudan.org/meroe_gallery/images/10_gall_13.jpg

this is a web page highlighting their expedition in northern sudan. the main focus here is the so called roman bath of meroe.

here is the web page.http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dainst.org/medien/de/meroe_01k.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.dainst.org/index_3536d2afbb1f14a124520017f0000011_en.html&usg=__ip6iU21tcdyjbhJGU8LOGLprzaE=&h=133&w=200&sz=11&hl=en&start=27&um=1&tbnid=UV-UBX7JoAAakM:&tbnh=69&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmeroitic%2Broman%2Bbath%2Bin%2Bnorthern%2Bsudan%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1W1ADFA_en%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18%26um%3D

this is a death mask found at the pyramid complex in northern sudan

http://www.ancientsudan.org/images/01_intro_face.j

mummie of a nubian queen

http://www.ancientsudan.org/images/03_burials_nubian_mummy.jpg

mask of malakaye: found in the pyramids most likely between the 9th or 6th century BC

sorry mask of malakaye
http://wysinger.homestead.com/files/e6491cr.jpg

ruined church of Qasr Ibrim in lower nubia. it was builted around the 6th century AD. however new finding suggest that the church was builted over a ancient temple dedicated to the goddess isis and the nubian pharaoh that is mentioned in the old testament in the bible taharka.

http://www.dignubia.org/maps/timeline/img/c0640-ruined-christian-church.jpg

this is a ram head amulet. the amulet was worn by the pharaohs that rule a united Nubia/Cush and Egypt during the so called 25th dynasty.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h2/h2_1989.281.98.jpg

this is a ram head amulet. the amulet was worn by the pharaohs that rule a united Nubia/Cush and Egypt during the so called 25th dynasty.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h2/h2_1989.281.98.jpg

this amulet is housed in one of the museums in the states. they give you a brief history of the amulet.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h2/h2_1989.281.98.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/04/afs/ho_1989.281.98.htm&usg=__oXb-uLEcYqwsK-r-OtBcHJxQmxI=&h=384&w=300&sz=40&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=yzafv2XtFKIkxM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=96&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnubian%2Bram%2Bhead%2Bamulet%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1R2ADFA_enUS338%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

behold Sungbo Eredo in western nigeria

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://nigerianwiki.com/images/thumb/7/78/Sungbo_eredo.jpg/450px-Sungbo_eredo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://nigerianwiki.com/wiki/Sungbo_Eredo&usg=__TifSljpPJDENY2O4OU1QgD69dXg=&h=301&w=450&sz=30&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=i0ZvjEFHPKSYKM:&tbnh=85&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Beredo%2Bearth%2Bwall%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1R2ADFA_enUS338%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

to tpia:Q[b]uote from: ababda on October 27, 2009, 08:36 AM
this is one of my favorites above all else even though many people will consider this simple glassware. however, from my perspective this drinking glass is not only beautiful and it is my favorite color darkblue, but it is timeless. it looks very modern.
this glass is dated during the late meroitic period in around 250-300 AD, this was found in one of the pyramids in meroe. some of the glasses is now house at the museum in khartoum in sudan and university of pisa in italy.

http://www.fotosearch.com/bigcomp.asp?path=ICN/ICN002/F0020609.jpg : simple but it is my favorite, because the glassware is timeless. the writing of the glassware is actually greek, which means the meroites and greeks were trading varies different items during that time.

the translation from the glass, "Drink and you shall live" they would break the glass as a sign of luck.this is interesting because breaking glass is actually a Jewish custom, I think. Is it originally middle eastern?
The cup reminds me of ancient Greek glassware btw[/b].ababha: sorry i did not answer this question weeks ago, however i don't know where that custom come from because it is not done today in the nile valley, but that does not means it was not done in the past. however, there have been a good deal of cultural exchange between the ancient meroites and the mediterranean world. for example take the simple name as candace. do you know the name candace was actually a title for nubian or meroitic queens. the name is actually a title similar to pharaoh or caesar, but only for queens. however, the real pronunicaton is kdke, which means queen mother. many african societies share this queen mother concept especially the ashantis and some mande peoples in west africa