I have to admit that before today I have never hear of Meroë, but a quick enquiry on the web shows that it’s a city discovered by French explorer Frédéric Cailliaud in 1822. This exhibition is the first to concentrate on the town, with 200 pieces that showcase the majesty of this ancient civilisation and it multiple influences…

The pyramids of the northern royal necropolis in Meroë. (c) M. Baud

Meroë is in Sudan, 200km north of  present-day Khartoum, and the wonders found in its pyramids – widely pillaged – are now scattered around the world. The exhibition has received loans from seven different museums and it is divided into several themes:

- everyday life
- trades
- social systems
- the kings and their insignias of power
- the role of the queens (« Candaces »)
- religious practices fusing the gods Amun from Egypt and Dionysus from Greece, and
- the people of Meroë’s own vision of the afterlife.

photo : (c) Jürgen Liepe

Excavation of the site is ongoing, with teams from the Louvre working away, and part of the exhibition will show some of the objects that have been found recently.

The exhibition Meroë, Empire on the Nile is at the Louvre (here) from 26th March – 6th September 2010. Open every day except Tuesdays from 9am – 6pm. Late night opening Wednesdays and Fridays until 10pm. Admission 9.5 € / 6 € after 6pm on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Official site: www.louvre.fr