Overview

English summary: The End of Meroe is best known in Nubia from the royal tombs at Qustul and Ballana and by the excavations in the capitals at Faras and Gebel Adda. For documentation on the same period in the region of Meroe, the Section francaise surveyed in1987-1990, the monuments of the site at el-Hobagi. Of the seven large tumuli covering the graves of kings, all enclosed by a wall of unusual form, two were excavated. Each grave produced exceptional weaponry, insignia of Meroitic royalty. There was also an astonishing series of vessels in bronze engraved with motifs or scenes and used for ritual purposes. One of them bore an inscription in hieroglyphs, the latest known in the Empire (REM 1222). The dating of the material and that derived from radiocarbon analysis place el-Hobagi in the 4th century, at the beginning of the pivotal period of the transfer of the capital towards Soba. The cemetery of el-Hobagi is later than the North Cemetery of the rulers of Meroe, and contemporary with both the latest pyramids in the West Cemetery and of Garstangs cemeteries 400 and 500. It emphasised the persistence of the Meroitic state in central Sudan, when Nubia was already lost. The interpretation does not allow an affirmation that el-Hobagi succeeded Meroe; but, by their funerary rites, the individuals interred perhaps of Noba ethnicity comparable to the kings of Nobadia in Nubia were asserting that they belonged to the Meroitic Empire. French summary: La Fin de Meroe est bien connue en Nubie, par les tombes royales de Qoustoul et Ballana, et par les fouilles de capitales a Faras et au Gebel Adda. Pour documenter la periode dans la region de Meroe meme, la Section francaise a sonde en 1987-1990 les monuments du site d'el-Hobagi. Des sept grands tumulus a sepultures souveraines, tous enclos d'un mur d'enceinte tres original, deux ont ete fouilles. Chaque tombe procure un armement exceptionnel, emblematique de la royaute meroitique. On compte aussi une serie etonnante de recipients en bronze graves de motifs ou de scenes et ayant servi au culte. L'un d'eux porte l'inscription en hieroglyphes la plus tardive de l'Empire (REM 1222). La datation du materiel et le radiocarbone situent el-Hobagi au IVe siecle, au debut, donc de l'epoque charniere du transfert de la capitale vers Soba. Le cimetiere d'el-Hobagi est posterieur au cimetiere nord des qore de Meroe, et contemporain a la fois des dernieres pyramides du cimetiere ouest et des cimetieres Garstang 400 et 500. Y est soulignee la persistance d'un Etat meroitique dans le Soudan central, quand la Nubie fait secession. L'interpretation ne permet pas d'affirmer qu'el-Hobagi succede a Meroe; pour autant, par leurs rites funeraires, les personnages enterres la - peut-etre des ethnarques Noba comparables aux rois Nobades de Nubie - affirment leur appartenance a l'Empire meroitique.

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