- Source: Sanam, Sudan
Sanam is a modern village in Sudan. It is located at the bank of the Nile river next to Merowe.
Here were found the remains of an ancient town which flourished mainly in the Napatan Period. These are perhaps the remains of Napata, the capital of the Kushite empire from about 800 to 300 BC. Parts of the town were excavated in 1912 to 1913 by Francis Llewellyn Griffith. The excavation was focused on numerous distinct structures He found the remains of a badly preserved temple and of a building he called treasury. The temple was built under king Taharqo with additions by king Aspelta. Most importantly, he excavated a big cemetery belonging to the inhabitants of the town. This is one of the few so far excavated cemeteries of this period belonging to "common" people.
Structures:
The Treasury is 267m long and is the largest in Sanam.The Treasury was empty when it was excavated by Griffith. Near the treasury is the temple that was built under Taharqo. King Taharqo was a master builder in the 25th Dynasty. It was surrounded by Royal buildings. It was modeled after Eyptian Monuments.
The cemetery contained 1,500 tombs and around 3,000 individuals. The cemetery is only a few hundred meters from the temple and would be used by temple staff and even royalty.
The temple is 68x41 meters in size and is one of four temples used for enthronement ceremonies.The temple faced the Nile and the Pure Mountain.
The business center was built out of white sandstone and stood apart from the other structures, it housed Ivory which was traded to foreign Markets.There was high demand for Ivory during the first Millennium.
