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.

Plaster and mortar samples from Arslantepe (Turkey) hold potential to provide unique information about the lime production and adhibition during the Late Chalcolithic period (4th millennium BCE). A multi-analytical approach including polarized light microscopy (PLM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) has been applied to characterize mortar samples from temple C and elite residences dated back to the late Chalcolithic 3–4 (3800–3400 BCE).

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.