Ballana

Ballana () was a cemetery in Lower Nubia. It, along with nearby Qustul, were excavated by Walter Bryan Emery between 1928 and 1931 as a rescue project before a second rising of the Aswan Low Dam. A total of 122 tombs were found under huge artificial mounds. They date to the time after the collapse of the Meroitic state but before the founding of the Christian Nubian kingdoms, around AD 350 to 600. They usually featured one or several underground chambers, with one main burial chamber. Some tombs were found unlooted, but even the robbed burials still proved to contain many burial goods.

The objects found are chiefly of Nubian origin, but there were also many objects imported from Byzantine Egypt and the Mediterranean in general. Most remarkable is a set of crowns from different tombs showing that the richest burials belong to local ruling kings and queens. There were horses and servants buried with their masters. There are few written objects in the burials. The identification of the tomb owners is, therefore, impossible. It has been assumed that these are the burials of the kings and the court of Nobatia.