Mirgissa (originally Iken) was a settlement in Northern state, Sudan. Situated at the 2nd cataract in Wadi Halfa, it contained one of the largest fortresses in Nubia. In the time of Thutmose II, 250 to 450 people inhabited the area. The first European explorer was English geologist Sir Henry George Lyons in 1892, and was excavated without Sudanese permission, by the French Egyptologist Jean Vercoutter from 1962 to 1969. In addition to the fort, excavations uncovered the remains of two cities, one of which was fortified, a northern enclosure, two cemeteries, a boat slide, and a port. Construction of the Aswan High Dam caused the disappearance of Mirgissa, which now lies under the waters of Lake Nubia.
Geography
Travelers from the north who reached Abusir had to leave their boats and circumvent the 2nd cataract in order to reach Mirgissa. It was situated from the harbor, where boats from the south could dock in calm waters, the rapids of the cataract preventing them from continuing their journey further north. Its lofty geographic position allowed sentries to observe the movement of troops for miles around.
History
Even before the great fort, an open town existed at Mirgissa. It went on to become a frontier post and trade center; it also served as a river control point at the 2nd cataract. The occupation of the region dates back to 7500 BCE as shown by the evidence obtained at Akha, an important Mesolithic site located a few hundred meters east of the great fortress. Large stone tools, dating from 3500 BCE, were found in several places of the plain. They demonstrate that Mirgissa was occupied in Neolithic times. But the occupation was at its height during the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt, and to a lesser extent, during the New Kingdom.
While Senusret I probably established the fortification site within the northern enclosure, the great fortress was mainly the work of Senusret III. A stele, dated to year 8 of the reign of Senusret III, was discovered near the fortress of Semna. Its inscription stresses the economic importance of Mirgissa. Its translation reads: "The southern frontier made in regnal year 8 under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Khakaure (may he live for ever and ever) in order to prevent it being passed by an Nubian journeying north by land or in a kai-boat as well as any livestock belonging to Nubians, with the exception of a Nubian who shall come to traffic at Mirgissa or on an embassy, or on any matter which may lawfully be done with them; but it shall be forbidden for any kai-boat of the Nubians to pass northwards beyond Semna for ever."
During the Twelfth Dynasty, it served as a customs post for travels heading north to Egypt. The periods of most intense occupation date from the Thirteenth Dynasty and then the Hyksos era, as evidenced by the large number of beetles found on the premises. The great fortress was then re-occupied during the Eighteenth Dynasty, followed by a sharp decline until the Twentieth Dynasty. Sporadically occupied at the time Meroitic era, the abandonment of the site was final during the early Christian era.
City
Mirgissa's open city predates its fortification. Situated north-northeast of the great fortress, it stretched over a area. In its early development, the city was protected by a stone wall thick, though the residential area later spread outside the walled section. According to various artifacts unearthed at the site, such as jars, millstones, bread molds, beer mugs, and plates, the city appeared to have been occupied by a strictly Egyptian population during the Middle Empire and the Second Intermediate Period. Of the two older excavated houses, the first was surrounded by a rectangular corrugated brick wall, while the second, a stone hut, was mainly rectangular though it contained circular elements.
Cemeteries
The multiple cemeteries at Mirgissa establish a continuous settlement here from the late Middle Kingdom through the New Kingdom: M-Fe, late Second Intermediate Period M-III, Kerma culture, Second Intermediate Period MX, late Middle Kingdom-Second Intermediate Period MX-TC, late Twelfth Dynasty-early Thirteenth Dynasty MX-TD, first half of the 18th Dynasty