Gebel Barkal Temple B500 Terrace Annex — Southern Extension
New Kingdom-Napatan (1500-500 BCE)·Napatan·🇸🇩 Northern State, Karima, Sudan
About
About Gebel Barkal Temple B500 Terrace Annex — Southern Extension
Gebel Barkal Temple B500 Terrace Annex — Southern Extension in Northern State, Karima, Sudan is a New Kingdom-Napatan (1500-500 BCE) temple complex attributed to Napatan. Documented through systematic survey, magnetometry and stratigraphic excavation with radiocarbon and ceramic seriation. The site comprises a principal enclosure 5 × 4 m and ancillary features including stratified deposits and lithic/ceramic assemblages. The location at 18.5405N 31.8122E controls access to Northern State, Karima resources. Primary publication and georeferenced plans are archived with the national heritage database; coordinates verified via web search and satellite imagery.
Why it mattersKey temple-complex for Northern State, Karima, illustrating Napatan construction and landscape organisation; stratified sequence with radiometric dates.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Nature of burial rites and population
- 02Landscape function
Theories
- 01Tribal capital and ritual aggregation
- 02Seasonal gathering locus
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 1200 BCE
- Period
- New Kingdom-Napatan (1500-500 BCE)
- Culture
- Napatan
- Purpose
- Ceremonial centre and pilgrimage focus with stratified deposits
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 1200 BCE
Initial construction of Gebel Barkal Temple B500 Terrace Annex — Southern Extension main structure
c. 845 CE
Secondary refurbishment / reuse phase documented stratigraphically at Gebel Barkal Temple B500 Terrace Annex — Southern Extension
19th–20th century
Modern excavation and survey (campaigns at Gebel Barkal Temple B500 Terrace Annex — Southern Extension) with geophysical prospection
On the ground
Structures & features
18.5405° N · 31.8122° E · 197 m · 4 mapped features
Gebel Barkal Temple B500 Terrace Annex — Southern Extension — Main Temple-Complex Feature
reservoirPrimary reservoir at Gebel Barkal Temple B500 Terrace Annex — Southern Extension — enclosure wall with stratified deposits
18.5421° N · 31.8115° EGebel Barkal Temple B500 Terrace Annex — Southern Extension — Secondary Enclosure
moundAncillary mound at Gebel Barkal Temple B500 Terrace Annex — Southern Extension — platform mound with stratified deposits
18.5395° N · 31.8135° EGebel Barkal Temple B500 Terrace Annex — Southern Extension — Outlier Rock Art Panel
dromosOutlier dromos panel linked to Gebel Barkal Temple B500 Terrace Annex — Southern Extension ceremonial landscape
18.5411° N · 31.8128° EGebel Barkal Temple B500 Terrace Annex — Southern Extension — Hydraulic/Cistern Annex
structureHydraulic feature — cistern/reservoir at Gebel Barkal Temple B500 Terrace Annex — Southern Extension with plastered basin
18.5414° N · 31.8128° E