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The So-called Royal Baths at Meroë (Sudan): Kush and the Mediterranean World around the Beginning of the Common EraSimone WOLFDeutsches Archäologisches Institut, Zentrale Berlin - ALLEMAGNEType de contribution : communication courteThe city of Meroë situated in the central region of the Nile Valley between the 5th and 6th cataract was the royal residence of the Kushite empire from the 3rd century B.C. onwards.Early in 1912 near to two palaces John Garstang of Liverpool University discovered a splendid building complex with a big water basin in the centre, an exedra with four seats and the original decoration largely in situ: painted plaster on floor and wall, coloured sandstone sculptures and small faïence objects for wall inlays have been conserved; moreover, a huge number of sculptures were found inside the water basin.The so-called Royal Baths are unique in Meroitic culture. They testify an intensive cultural transfer from Egypt and the Mediterranean region during the Greco-Roman period to the Empire of Kush with its local African traditions. The location of the Royal Baths within the lay out of the Royal City of Meroë, furthermore its dimensions and specific architecture as well as its colourful decoration - all these features testify a special importance of the building-complex for life and culture of the upper class at Meroë.Since its excavation by John Garstang in 1912 the most interesting questions are still under discussion: so the chronology and building phases of the Baths, how the water system operated and the building was connected with the course of the Nile, which message the specific decoration displayed and how the impact of Mediterranean culture on the art of Meroë can be described, and finally which role, ritual or profane, the building played within the Royal City. In order to approach these questions, since 1999 investigations are undertaken in a joint project of the German Archaeological Institute, Berlin, and the National Corporation for Antiquities, Khartoum.At the beginning a full up to date documentation of what is remaining since the time of Garstang in the area of the water basin and the exedra was carried out. In order to receive more comprehensive results work continued with specific, i. e. target-oriented excavations in the area of the Royal Baths. By these excavations layers untouched by the first excavators actually were reached giving new evidence on the relative sequence in the building progress of the Baths as well as on its relationship to the nearby enclosure wall of Meroë City. Moreover massive underground water channel systems were discovered, and plant-pits indicate that the courtyard around the water basin was greened with bushes or trees. From the beginning, the scientific research was accompanied by measures for conservation, mainly for consolidation of the lime plaster with its paintings on walls and sculptures.The present lecture will give an overview on the consequent investigations of the project of the German Archaeological Institute within the area of the Royal Baths at Meroë and on the first promising results, but will also point to the difficulties in understanding function and meaning of this unique building-complex in an ancient culture of North-East-Africa.