From Meroe to ‘Nubia’ : exploring culture change without the ‘Noba’

The history and archaeology of the early-mid first millennium AD, which saw the transition from an empire of Meroe, to a series of medieval “Nubian” kingdoms, remains a research field of paramount interest for archaeologists working in the region (Fig. 1). Over many years, the work of Patrice Lenoble made many significant contributions to our understanding of the archaeology of this period, both in shifting theoretical understandings of a range of issues relating to the end of Meroe, as well as making very considerable substantive contributions through his meticulous fieldwork, most notably with excavations at el-Kadada and el-Hobagi. 1 The first site was the central element in his study of Meroitic and Post-Meroitic mortuary archaeology, and especially “funerary rituals”, the latter providing an opportunity to test the conclusions and implications of that work through the excavation of elite Post-(or late) Meroitic burials. [Opening paragraph]