Wad ban Naqa

Wad Ben Naga (also Wad ban Naga, Wad ban Naqa, Abou Naga, Benaga ) is the name of an archaeological site in present-day Sudan. The village is located approximately 80 km upstream of Meroe, on the eastern side of the Nile, near the road about 40 kilometers southwest Shendi and is not to be confused with the ruins Naqa.

The place is so far little explored, and ruins of a temple of Isis, which could be seen in the 19th century, have now been destroyed. It was probably built by Natakamani. A barge pedestal that was found at this location and was sent in 1844 by Richard Lepsius in Berlin, helped Francis Llewellyn Griffith, the Meroitic script ( but not the language ) to decipher. Meroitic script and Egyptian hieroglyphs appear here together. Wad ban Naqa is 15-0 BC known around which other buildings were mainly as the site of a palace of the time. The palace was mostly adobes 1959-1960 excavated. He is about 61 feet square in size. The plan shows mainly a number of long rooms and corridors, which were probably used as magazines. The actual living spaces were probably upstairs. An inscription found here, indicates that Amanishakheto built this palace.

Furthermore, foundations of several temples found on the grounds. To the north, as well as in the south of the Meroitic city area close larger cemeteries with several Tumulusgräbern, which probably date to the post- Meroitic period. To the south of the palace is a circular building of unknown function, whose walls are still present up to 3 m high.

Because of the rather rare use of stone as a building material mostly local access to the Nile in the production of clay bricks were used. Since most buildings were built of mostly unfired clay bricks and then plastered, the general states of preservation in comparison with other known Meroitic sites, such as Naga or Mussawwarat it - Sufra as very poor classified as occurring annually heavy rain dissolve the brick structures. So seen in a comparison with recordings of the palace since its excavation a loss of large-scale wall structures. The situation is similar to the round building that faced also open with no long term of the weather.

Since 2009, digs a Czech team of archaeologists of the National Museum in Prague in Wad Ben Naga.