Qasr Ibrim in the context of "Lower Nubia"

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⭐ Core Definition: Qasr Ibrim


Qasr Ibrim (Arabic: قصر ابريم; Meroitic: Pedeme; Old Nubian: Silimi; Coptic: ⲡⲣⲓⲙ Prim; Latin: Primis) is an archaeological site in Lower Nubia, located in the modern country of Egypt. The site has a long history of occupation, ranging from as early as the eighth century BC to AD 1813, and was an economic, political, and religious center. Originally it was a major city perched on a cliff above the Nile, but the flooding of Lake Nasser after the construction of the Aswan High Dam – with the related International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia – transformed it into an island and flooded its outskirts. Qasr Ibrim is the only major archaeological site in Lower Nubia to have survived the Aswan Dam floods. Both prior to and after the floods, it has remained a major site for archaeological investigations.

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👉 Qasr Ibrim in the context of Lower Nubia

Lower Nubia (also called Wawat) is the northernmost part of Nubia, roughly contiguous with the modern Lake Nasser, which submerged the historical region in the 1960s with the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Many ancient Lower Nubian monuments, and all its modern population, were relocated as part of the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia; Qasr Ibrim is the only major archaeological site which was neither relocated nor submerged. The intensive archaeological work conducted prior to the flooding means that the history of the area is much better known than that of Upper Nubia. According to David Wengrow, the A-Group Nubian polity of the late 4th millenninum BCE is poorly understood since most of the archaeological remains are submerged underneath Lake Nasser.

Its history is also known from its long relations with Egypt, particularly neighboring Upper Egypt. The region was historically defined as between the historical First and Second Cataracts, which are now both within Lake Nasser. The region was known to Greco-Roman geographers as Triakontaschoinos.

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Qasr Ibrim in the context of Temple of Maharraqa

Temple of Al-Maharraqa is an ancient Egyptian Temple dedicated to Isis and Serapis. It was originally located in al-Maharraqa (Arabic: المحرقة, DMG: Al-Maḥarraqa, Greek: Hierasykaminos), Lower Nubia, approximately 120 km (75 mi) south of Aswan on the southern border of the Roman Empire. In the 1960s it was relocated as part of the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia.

Only a few years after the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BC, the Kushites from the kingdom of Meroë launched a raid on the First Cataract region of Egypt in 23 BC. The Roman prefect of Egypt, Petronius, retaliated and defeated the invading Meroitic army. He then proceeded to station a Roman garrison of 400 troops at the southern outpost of Qasr Ibrim. After some negotiations, a permanent frontier between Meroë and Roman Egypt was established at Maharraqa. Thus, Maharraqa formed the extreme southern frontier of Roman Egypt. After the Christian conversion of Nobatia in the 6th century the temple was turned into a church.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Lower Nubia ← Temple of Maharraqa
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Arabic language → Meroitic language → Old Nubian → Coptic language → Latin → Archaeological site → Lower Nubia → Egypt → Nile → Lake Nasser → Aswan High Dam → International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia →