Amara West is a town of modest size compared to the royal residence towns of Tell el-Amarna or Qantir in Egypt proper, and once stood on an island in the Nile as it flows eastwards.
A mudbrick town wall was built in the reign of Seti I, as shown by bricks bearing his stamped cartouche, measuring around 100m on each side. Three gates provided entrance to the town, the northeastern one leading into the stone cult temple. Perhaps commenced under Seti I, the decoration was undertaken under later kings, most notably Ramses II, Merenptah and near the end of Egyptian control of the area, Ramses IX. The temple, built from poor quality local sandstone is of typical plan for this era, with three cult chapels at the rear. It remains preserved, buried underneath spoil from the excavations of the 1940s, and at some point will require new epigraphic recording.
The remainder of the walled town comprised densely packed mudbrick buildings, including large-scale storage, housing of varying grandeur (from 50 to 500m²) and structures of unclear function. The Egypt Exploration Society excavators identified four phases of architecture, thought to span the 19th and 20th dynasties. One building which remained a constant feature, though undergoing several renovations, has been identified as the governor’s residence. The remains of doorjambs and lintels inscribed with the names of several ‘deputies of Kush’ support this interpretation.
The magnetometry survey of 2008 revealed the hitherto unknown western suburb, with a series of large villas. One of these was excavated in 2009, and featured rooms for large-scale grain-processing and bread cooking, as well as private areas with brick-paved floors and whitewashed walls. Near the southeastern corner of this building, we uncovered the remains of a circular building of unclear purpose, whose architecture clearly falls within a Nubian, not pharaonic, tradition, and thus might reflect the ethnic diversity of the population at Amara West.
The remainder of the island does not seem to have featured buildings, other than some small chapels outside the east wall of the town, and it is likely this ground was perfect for small-scale agricultural use, given the rich alluvial deposits left on its banks by the Nile channel each year.
The Cemeteries
As with other Egyptian towns in Nubia, many residents of Amara West were buried in cemeteries nearby, often in tombs displaying Egyptian-style architecture and burial goods.
The town is surrounded by two different cemetery areas, to the north-east (Cemetery C) and north-west (D). Cemetery C features several small burial mounds made up of alluvial silt and local black schist stones. Additionally, a geomagnetometry survey revealed a large number of grave cuts in between. During the first fieldwork season in 2009, 11 graves were investigated, among them graves with large underground burial chambers used for the consecutive burial of up to 50 individuals.
The finds recovered from this cemetery suggest that it was in use during the period between the end of New Kingdom colonial rule over Nubia (about 1070 BC) and the emergence of the Napatan Empire (late ninth century BC), a period about which very little is known. The graves also provide evidence that Egyptian funerary rites and material culture remained in use even after the end of Egyptian occupation, alongside traditional Nubian cultural elements.
Cemetery D is located on an escarpment to the north-west, overlooking the town. Following a geomagnetometry survey which revealed about 60 graves, nine tombs were excavated during the season of 2010. The most significant graves in this cemetery are graves featuring substantial mudbrick superstructures.
Based on the grave goods recovered in the large rock-cut underground burial chambers, these tombs can be dated to the 19th dynasty and are assumed to be graves of officials serving at Amara West. However, some finds also suggest that the graves were also used for burials after the New Kingdom. Other notable tombs in Cemetery D feature large mudbrick vaults inside their shaft.
G301: an elite Ramesside burial
Tomb 301, located in Cemetery D, is one of two pyramid tombs so far discovered at Amara West. Its superstructure, a form typical in New Kingdom cemeteries in Nubia, consists of a rectangular funerary chapel built of mud-bricks.
Only the lowest courses remain today, along with fragments of a small pyramid base attached to the west side of the chapel. Inside the chapel, a vertical tomb shaft (2.80m deep) cut through the alluvium and bedrock, provides access to two round burial chambers.
In the western chamber, the burials of a man and a woman were found placed side by side. The manner in which they were buried suggests that they were members of a social elite adhering to Egyptian ritual behaviour and religious beliefs. This is displayed through the employment of mummification, the use of decorated wooden coffins and shabtis as well as the extended body position.
The pottery and grave goods, among them a scarab depicting pharaoh Ramesses II, allow us to date this tomb to the 19th Dynasty, contemporary to the time period when Amara West was the seat of the deputy of Kush.
In the second chamber, two intact burials were found near the door, and a large number of loose human bones - representing at least five more individuals - were recovered at the back. This suggests that the tomb was used for several phases of burial and the finds attest to continued use of the tomb after the end of pharaonic control of the area.
Follow the project’s progress on the British Museum blog
Author: Michaela Binder | Source: The British Museum
