02 May New relevant discoveries of the ISMEO-IOS RAS mission at Abu Erteila

Two ferricrete sandstone altars still in situ were found by the Italian-Russian joint archaeological mission working at Abu Erteila (Sudan) during the tenth excavation season (November-December 2017). They are decorated and inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphic texts. The mission has the patronage of “ISMEO – International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies”, that works in continuity with the former “Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente (IsIAO)”, and “Institute for Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IOS RAS)”, and is recognised by the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The two altars were aligned along the east-west axis in a lateral chapel of the local Meroitic temple, built by the co-regents Natakamani and Amanitore in the first century whose cartouches were already incised on a stand for sacred boat brought...