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Description
UNESCO World Heritage Site "Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe"
Period: Kushite Kingdom (Meroe), first quarter of the first century AD
Location: Naqa, Naḥr an Nīl State, Sudan (النقعة, ولاية نهر النيل, جمهورية السودان)

The temple to Apedemak of Tolkte (an-Naq'a/النقعة) is a mixture of traditional Egyptian and local elements, with a Roman-style kisok thrown in for good measure.

Founded by King Cheperkare Natakamani and the Kandake Merkare Amanitore (probably the queen-mother, rather than Natakamani's consort) in the early 1st century A.D., the temple falls into the heyday of the Kingdom of Meroe. Relations with the Roman Empire, which had conquered Egypt in 30 B.C., are evident in the architecture of the kiosque that precedes the more traditionally Egyptian temple of the Nubian god Apedamak.

It is assumed that the kisoque was dedicated to Hathor, goddess of peace, beauty, and music. She was the "Mistress of Jubilation, Queen of the Dance" and "Mistress of Inebriety Without End". But she could also turn into bloodthirsty lion-headed Sekhmet, if there was a need. The kiosque would also have served as a way-station for any processions associated with the main temple. Though Rome's power never reached as far south as Meroe - the legions reached and sacked Napata to the north in 23 B.C. before turning back - there was clearly contact. The kisoque can be compared to the later (Trajanic) one at Philae.

As for Apedemak, he was a lion-headed warrior deity, who occasionally has a serpentine body. He was a god of destruction and war, but also of protection, fecundity, and abundance: unlike Hathor, he was a purely Nubian deity, and may have been the chief State god.

Surprisingly for temples based on ancient Egyptian models, Naqa/Tolkte is several leagues inland, in a desert wadi. The temples are visible from the Great Enclosure of Naqa, which may have been a royal palace used for fertility rites (if some of the graffito is to be interpreted in that way), visited by a travelling court.

Description
UNESCO World Heritage Site "Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe"
Period: Kushite Kingdom (Meroe), first quarter of the first century AD
Location: Naqa, Naḥr an Nīl State, Sudan (النقعة, ولاية نهر النيل, جمهورية السودان)

The temple to Apedemak of Tolkte (an-Naq'a/النقعة) is a mixture of traditional Egyptian and local elements, with a Roman-style kisok thrown in for good measure.

Founded by King Cheperkare Natakamani and the Kandake Merkare Amanitore (probably the queen-mother, rather than Natakamani's consort) in the early 1st century A.D., the temple falls into the heyday of the Kingdom of Meroe. Relations with the Roman Empire, which had conquered Egypt in 30 B.C., are evident in the architecture of the kiosque that precedes the more traditionally Egyptian temple of the Nubian god Apedamak.

It is assumed that the kisoque was dedicated to Hathor, goddess of peace, beauty, and music. She was the "Mistress of Jubilation, Queen of the Dance" and "Mistress of Inebriety Without End". But she could also turn into bloodthirsty lion-headed Sekhmet, if there was a need. The kiosque would also have served as a way-station for any processions associated with the main temple. Though Rome's power never reached as far south as Meroe - the legions reached and sacked Napata to the north in 23 B.C. before turning back - there was clearly contact. The kisoque can be compared to the later (Trajanic) one at Philae.

As for Apedemak, he was a lion-headed warrior deity, who occasionally has a serpentine body. He was a god of destruction and war, but also of protection, fecundity, and abundance: unlike Hathor, he was a purely Nubian deity, and may have been the chief State god.

Surprisingly for temples based on ancient Egyptian models, Naqa/Tolkte is several leagues inland, in a desert wadi. The temples are visible from the Great Enclosure of Naqa, which may have been a royal palace used for fertility rites (if some of the graffito is to be interpreted in that way), visited by a travelling court.