Relief of Gebel Sheikh Suleiman

The relief of Gebel Sheikh Suleiman, or Jebel Sheikh Suleiman, is an ancient Egyptian relief generally dated to the late predynastic period of Egypt (Naqada III), or at the time of the first pharaohs circa 3000 BCE.

[1] More precisely, it has been proposed that it dates to pharaoh Djer or Djet, who was the third king of the First Dynasty, and who is known for his victorious expeditions to Nubia.

The relief was transferred to the National Museum of Sudan in Khartoum in 1963, before the drowning of the area by the water of the Lake Nasser.

[1][2] Inscribed on a large block of sandstone (2,75m x 0,80m), it is an early example of low relief carving, possibly describing a war between the Egyptians and the A-Group Nubian people.

[1] The iconography is comparable to that of the earlier Gebel el-Arak Knife or the fresco from Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, all corresponding to the Naqada II period of Prehistoric Egypt, and might be considered as a slight archaism meant to legitimize the rule of the early pharaoh who authored the relief.