Ricerc@Sapienza

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.

A quasi cinquanta anni dalla sua fondazione, la Missione Archeologica Italiana in Sudan – Jebel Barkal raccoglie, in un evento espositivo che si muove tra Roma (sede universitaria della prima direzione della Missione) e Venezia (sede universitaria dell'attuale direzione), reperti che lasciano il Sudan per la prima volta e che provengono dallo scavo dell'antica città di Napata.

The lion is one of the most widespread and evergreen symbols of the Egyptian kingship; the lion-king motif recurs in traditional iconography and in royal inscriptions as an attribute of power, domination, strength. At the same time, the lion gods are characterized by ambivalent value and invested with destructive as well as protective potentiality.