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Journal of Social Archaeology
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God of war, worldly ruler, and craft specialists in the Meroitic Kingdom of Sudan

Inferring social identity from material remains

Gunnar Haaland

Department of Social Anthropology, Bergen University, Norway, gunnar.haaland{at}sosantr.uib.no

Randi Haaland

Department of Archaeology, Bergen University, Norway, randi.haaland{at}ark.uib.no

Interpreting the archaeological remains from the Kushite civilization of Sudan is fraught with methodological difficulties. Egyptian, Greek, and Roman written sources give some clues, but the Meroitic script is still not interpreted. The large slag mounds in the ancient capital of Meroe indicate that iron production played an important role, but this cannot serve as a sufficient explanatory cause for the maintenance of centralized power. In addition to its iron production, written and archaeological remains both testify to the importance of the strategic location of Meroe in the trade networks between Africa and Egypt. However, maintenance of state power over a thousand years requires more than control over material resources. The stability of political centers is significantly dependent on a legitimating ideology. Here, we draw particular attention to the images and temples dedicated to the war god Apedemak; he is symbolically associated with rulers, as well as with iron production. Drawing on comparative ethnography and the sociology of caste we suggest that the material remains are consistent with a redistributive political economy based on caste-like principles.

Key Words: caste • iron working • Meroitic kingdom • social identity • war god Apedemak

Journal of Social Archaeology, Vol. 7, No. 3, 372-392 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1469605307081397
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