2nd century BCE – 3rd century
Nile Valley, Sudan
Meroe was a major centre of iron production in the Sudanese Nile Valley, known for immense heaps of iron slag. The excerpt records increasingly common iron after approximately 116–99 BC but leaves the date of the slag accumulations uncertain. Interpretations range from a first-century BC chronology to a later date associated with King Teqerideamani, around AD 246–266. Meroe is also presented as a possible source for the westward transmission of iron-working toward the Chad region.
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The Story
Meroe occupies a prominent place in the discussion of iron-working in the Sudan. After reign 40, dated approximately to 116–99 BC, iron became increasingly common. The site is especially notable for enormous heaps of iron slag, some rising as high as four metres, which testify to large-scale metallurgical activity even though their precise date is not securely established.
The chronology of Meroe’s iron industry is contested. A stele bearing an ancient Meroitic inscription, found in a temple built on one of the slag heaps, led Wainwright to suggest a first-century BC date. Shinnie instead attributed the Lion Temple to the reign of King Teqerideamani, approximately AD 246–266, after identifying the king’s name on the base of a statue in the temple.
Meroe is also central to a proposed westward route of technological transmission. Huard argued that iron-working may have travelled through the savanna belt toward Lake Chad, with Ennedi providing evidence of iron mining and working, Nilotic pottery, and military equipment associated with Meroitic practices. The route remains a hypothesis awaiting archaeological confirmation, since objects of Meroitic origin had not been found beyond Kordofan and Darfur.
2nd century BCE – 3rd century
Nile Valley, Sudan
Meroe was a major centre of iron production in the Sudanese Nile Valley, known for immense heaps of iron slag. The excerpt records increasingly common iron after approximately 116–99 BC but leaves the date of the slag accumulations uncertain. Interpretations range from a first-century BC chronology to a later date associated with King Teqerideamani, around AD 246–266. Meroe is also presented as a possible source for the westward transmission of iron-working toward the Chad region.
Continue exploring
The Story
Meroe occupies a prominent place in the discussion of iron-working in the Sudan. After reign 40, dated approximately to 116–99 BC, iron became increasingly common. The site is especially notable for enormous heaps of iron slag, some rising as high as four metres, which testify to large-scale metallurgical activity even though their precise date is not securely established.
The chronology of Meroe’s iron industry is contested. A stele bearing an ancient Meroitic inscription, found in a temple built on one of the slag heaps, led Wainwright to suggest a first-century BC date. Shinnie instead attributed the Lion Temple to the reign of King Teqerideamani, approximately AD 246–266, after identifying the king’s name on the base of a statue in the temple.
Meroe is also central to a proposed westward route of technological transmission. Huard argued that iron-working may have travelled through the savanna belt toward Lake Chad, with Ennedi providing evidence of iron mining and working, Nilotic pottery, and military equipment associated with Meroitic practices. The route remains a hypothesis awaiting archaeological confirmation, since objects of Meroitic origin had not been found beyond Kordofan and Darfur.
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