Qasr Ibrim - History

History

Human habitation at the site dates from the Late Kingdom, but it reached its greatest prominence in the Middle Ages, when the area was the home of the Eparch of Nobatia. Qasr Ibrim is the source of the largest collection of Old Nubian documents ever found, including the records of the Eparch. The site was inhabited until the 1840s. Today the island is closed to all but archaeologists.

This important site derives its name from the nearby village of Ibrim, on the east bank of the Nile. Wasr Ibrim is also notable for its fortress of Qasr Ibrim ("The Castle of Ibrim"), which certainly stood on older pharaonic foundations. Partly built "in Roman times under the prefecture of Gaius Petronius during Augustus' reign," it was originally a pharaonic site with material from the New Kingdom and later periods of Egyptian history being found here. This is established by reused and isolated monuments from this older period: the earliest record is a dated Year 8 stela of Amenhotep I while "a temple structure of Taharqa (with a painting showing the king offering to a god)" is also known here.

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