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Meroë (; also spelled ''Meroe'';〔''Meroe'', Encyclopædia Britannica, v.15, p.197, Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., William Benton, London, 1969.〕〔''Meroe'', Encyclopedia Americana, v.18, p.677, Encyclopedia Americana Corporation, New York, 1961.〕 Meroitic: ''Medewi'' or ''Bedewi''; Arabic: and ''Meruwi''; Ancient Greek: Μερόη, ''Meróē'') is an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah. This city was the capital of the Kingdom of Kush for several centuries. The Kushitic Kingdom of Meroë gave its name to the ''Island of Meroë'', which was the modern region of Butana, a region bounded by the Nile (from the Atbarah River to Khartoum), the Atbarah and the Blue Nile. The city of Meroë was on the edge of Butana and there were two other Meroitic cities in Butana, Musawwarat es-Sufra and Naqa. The first of these sites was given the name Meroë by the Persian king, Cambyses, in honor of his sister who was called by that name. The city had originally borne the ancient appellation ''Saba'', named after the country's original founder.〔 The eponym ''Saba'', or ''Seba'', named for one of the sons of Cush (see: Genesis 10:7)〕 The presence of numerous Meroitic sites within the western Butana region and on the border of Butana proper is significant to the settlement of the core of the developed region. The orientation of these settlements exhibit the exercise of state power over subsistence production. The Kingdom of Kush which housed the city of Meroë represents one of a series of early states located within the middle Nile. It is one of the earliest and most impressive states found south of the Sahara. Looking at the specificity of the surrounding early states within the middle Nile, ones understanding of Meroë in combination with the historical developments of other historic states may be enhanced through looking at the development of power relation characteristics within other Nile Valley states.〔 The site of the city of Meroë is marked by more than two hundred pyramids in three groups, of which many are in ruins. They have distinctive size and proportions of Nubian pyramids. == History == Meroë was the southern capital of the Napata/Meroitic Kingdom, that spanned the period c. 800 BCE — c. 350 CE. According to partially deciphered Meroitic texts, the name of the city was Medewi or Bedewi (Török, 1998). Excavations revealed evidence of important, high ranking Kushite burials, from the Napata Period (c. 800 - c. 280 BCE) in the vicinity of the settlement called the Western cemetery. The culture of Meroë developed from the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, which originated in Kush. The importance of the town gradually increased from the beginning of the Meroitic Period, especially from the reign of Arrakkamani (c. 280 BCE) when the royal burial ground was transferred to Meroë from Napata (Jebel Barkal). In the fifth century BCE, Greek historian Herodotus described Meroë as "the mother city of the other Ethiopians". The city of Meroë was located along the middle Nile which is of much importance due to the annual flooding of the Nile river valley and the connection to many major river systems such as the Niger which aided with the production of pottery and iron characteristic to the Meroitic kingdom that allowed for the rise in power of its people.〔 Rome's conquest of Egypt led to border skirmishes and incursions by Meroë beyond the Roman borders. In 23 BCE the Roman governor of Egypt, Publius Petronius, to end the Meroitic raids, invaded Nubia in response to a Nubian attack on southern Egypt, pillaging the north of the region and sacking Napata (22 BCE) before returning home. In retaliation, the Nubians crossed the lower border of Egypt and looted many statues (among other things) from the Egyptian towns near the first cataract of the Nile at Aswan. Roman forces later reclaimed many of the statues intact, and others were returned following the peace treaty signed in 22 BCE between Rome and Meroë. One looted head though, from a statue of the emperor Augustus, was buried under the steps of a temple. It is now kept in the British Museum. The next recorded contact between Rome and Meroë was in the autumn of 61 CE. The Emperor Nero sent a party of Praetorian soldiers under the command of a tribune and two centurions into this country, who reached the city of Meroë where they were given an escort, then proceeded up the White Nile until they encountered the swamps of the Sudd. This marked the limit of Roman penetration into Africa.〔L.P. Kirwan, ("Rome beyond The Southern Egyptian Frontier" ), ''Geographical Journal'', 123 (1957), pp. 16f〕 The period following Petronius' punitive expedition is marked by abundant trade finds at sites in Meroë. L.P. Kirwan provides a short list of finds from archeological sites in that country.〔Kirwan, "Rome beyond", pp. 18f〕 However, the kingdom of Meroë began to fade as a power by the 1st or 2nd century CE, sapped by the war with Roman Egypt and the decline of its traditional industries. Meroë is mentioned succinctly in the 1st century CE Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: The last period of the city is marked by the victory stele of an unnamed ruler of Aksum (almost certainly Ezana) erected at the site of Meroë; from his description, in Greek, that he was "King of the Aksumites and the Omerites," (i.e. of Aksum and Himyar) it is likely this king ruled sometime around 330. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Meroë」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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