1

Function of the Defuffa Still amazed about the Defuffas in Kerma especially the Western Defuffa. We could read about them in unit 7. I am now trying to read more about them especially about their function. Reisner interpreted the Western Defuffa as the fortified residence of an Egyptian Governor General of Upper Nubia in the Middle Kingdom. (Trigger Nubia under the
pharaohs page 87)

Junker stated that it could hold only then 50-100 men, that with a siege they had no water source so it would stand not so long. (Trigger Nubia under the pharaohs page 87) Than is was seen as a trading post.( Trigger Nubia under the pharaohs page 87) Hintze saw it as a palace of the King of Kush, not Egyptian at all and may be supervised by Egyptian craftsmen, who are known to have been employed by the Kushite rulers after in the Second Period. But the objects and items found near the western Defuffa were according to Trigger interpreted as products of Egyptian craftsmen but it could also be that local craftsmen acquired techniques of manufacture and used them to produce goods adapted to their own cultural idiom (no Egyptian graves have been found at Kerma to indicate the presence of a sizeable colony of Egyptians artisans).( Trigger Nubia under the pharaohs page 87) Adams suggested that the Western Defuffa was a enormous tower that permitted palace officials to watch the river for the arrival of trading convoys.(Trigger Nubia
under the pharaohs page 88)

Morkot says in his book that the Western Defuffa is a temple.

pharaohs page 66)

(Morkot The black

Bonnet refers to the red dust from the Defuffa that has been found on the floor and the walls is also found in the graves, statues and monuments in the town. This, according to Bonnet, must have without a doubt magical qualities. Al this must to refer to remains of a chapel; de extensions may have served as storage rooms en in one of them there is still a water jar in situ. (Bonnet BIFAO 81s (1981), p.
208

In another text (of later date) Bonnet states that a comparative study of the different funerary buildings convinced him that the Defuffa had a religious function. The extent of religious quarter around the Defuffa suggest the existence of a cult institution. (Bonnet Antiquity Volume 66 Number 252 spet 92 page 614) Evidence for a limestone altar for animal sacrifice was also found have this note from internet and cannot check this.
(source Time-Life

Books, Africa's Glorious Legacy, ed. Time-Life Books, and Dale Brown (Time-Life Books, 1994)p. 30

but I

2 It still keeps a intriguing building with its unusual form, nowhere to be seen in Egypt and its naturalistic decorations are non-Egyptian in content and emphasis. It had a granite lintel with a sun-disk (could be Egyptian like) but the rest was non-Egyptian; the entrance flanked by two large walking lions in blue faience tile, quartz statuary lions, a ram, a scorpion and a quadruped. This un-Egyptian natural style was also to be seen in the painted decoration such as rows of giraffes, hippopotami and cattle. Considerable space was devoted to depicting a fleet of ships which was a reflection of the trades as a symbolic expression of Kushite power and wealth (O Conner Africa in Antiquity Volume I )