Aniba (Nubia)

Aniba was a village in Nubia, about 230 km south of Aswan. The place is today flooded by Lake Nasser. In ancient times it was an important town called Miam. The region around the town was one of the most fertile in Lower Nubia. The earliest remains at Aniba date to around 3000 BC and belong to the A-Group culture. Several cemeteries belonging to them have been found. In the Middle Kingdom (around 2000 to 1700 BC) the region was ruled by Egyptians and in the 12th Dynasty a fortress with a small town was built.

At the beginning of the New Kingdom around 1550 BC, the town was extended to a size of about 200 x 400 meters with a wall and gates. During the New Kingdom, the town grew and had several suburbs. Within the town proper stood the temple for Horus of Miam. When excavated it was badly preserved but its foundation may be dated to the Middle Kingdom. North of the town stood a Nubian village belonging to the C-Group Culture. Around the town were huge cemeteries, some of them belonging to Nubians, but other tombs were erected in purely Egyptian style.

It is not known for certain whether the people buried here were Nubians that adopted Egyptian culture or native Egyptians. One rather