(Picture taken by Ahmed Badawi, 2007)
Barkal Mountain/Jebel Barkal/جبل بركل/Noun is a truly remarkable monument, revered as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Located in modern-day Sudan, this site was of immense importance to the ancient Kingdom of Kush during the second millennium BCE.
Not only was Barkal considered a sacred place by the Kushites, but it also held special significance for their neighbours, the Ancient Egyptians. This was due to its association with their shared god, Amun, who they believed resided in the mountain and whose name, incidentally, serves as the root for the familiar word 'Amen' in the Abrahamic faiths. Moreover, the evidence is overwhelming that biblical references to ‘Aithiopia’ meant the Kingdom of Kush – not the lands of modern-day Ethiopia, which later appropriated the name during the Axumite period.
The Nubian kings of Kush, who were laid to rest in majestic pyramids at the nearby village of Nuri, played key roles in shaping the course of ancient history; Ahmed Badawi, MD of Barkal Gold Associates, can trace his family's roots back to this same region.
Among these notable monarchs was Taharqa, renowned as the most powerful of Kush's black pharaohs and mentioned in the Bible for helping the Kingdom of Judah in its war against the Assyrians. The land of Kush became one of the main gold-producing areas of the ancient world, with its craftsmen working the metal into jewellery such as the bracelets and earring worn by a Kushite ruling queen (Kandake) below and other artefacts and adorning temples and statues with gold leaf; the gold sourced by Barkal Gold Associates, and brought to the world today, originates from ancient Kushite mines dotted in the area throughout modern-day Sudan.
Gold exports brought the Kushite rulers tremendous wealth, together with political influence in neighbouring Egypt, which they even conquered and ruled for nearly a century.
Indeed, the name Nubia is alliterated from “Nub”, the ancient Egyptian word for gold.
The Kushite pharaohs gained prominence in 2000 BCE, persisted for some 1400 years, and left an enduring legacy, portrayed by ancient Greeks like Homer and Herodotus as honest, strong, capable, and fearless; tenets that Barkal Gold Associates channels in our services and interactions with clients:
today and always.
For more on Kush, see: History of Africa with Zeinab Badawi - Kingdom of Kush
