Meroitic painted decoration at Jebel Barkal: the external façades of Palace B1500
The Meroitic Royal District of ancient Napata is located on the flat desert north-east of Jebel Barkal, the celebrated ‘Pure Mountain’ in the Fourth Cataract region. Since the 1970s, the excavations of the Italian Mission in Sudan have unearthed a complex system of palaces, kiosks, and other buildings integrated into a larger ceremonial area dating to the Meroitic period. The focus of the palatial area is Building B1500, the so-called ‘Palace of Natakamani’, a large edifice whose construction dates from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD.