The unknown royal necropolis of Jebel Barkal (West group) – Preliminary typological study
Montserrat Díaz-de-Cerio
Field Director of Abasseya Project
Wahat Projects
Between 1995 and 1996, the Spanish mission that worked in Jebel Barkal, discovered a new group of tombs. This small cluster, located to the west of the Northern and Southern groups identified by Reisner, is formed by different burials. Among them, the discovery of two new pyramids, one of them with decoration remains, stands out. These findings were presented in previous congresses and several articles, formulating the hypothesis that these pyramids could have belonged to the early Napatan period (VII BC to VI BC). Specifically, it identified pyramid Bar.26 with the tomb of the king who would have started the Barkal necropolis, relating this event to a unique political circumstance. This interpretation was controversial, not only because it identified the pyramid as belonging to a king not registered before, but mainly because the given chronology suggested that it was improbable that it belonged to the parallel dynasties identified by Reisner. Therefore, this interpretation set up a new problem when placing this king in the sequence of Meroitic kings and it represented, in general, an important reevaluation of the Meroitic chronology.
Due to the above reasons, we have analyzed from a structural point of view, the typology of the two pyramids that have been discovered. Regarding Bar.26, we have also considered the decoration and the texts found in the burial chamber. This approach attempts to shed some new light on a possible chronology for these structures, which can help to understand who could have been their original owners.
