The Location of Irem *

Abstract

Since Priese's well-argued article of 1974, it has been accepted by many scholars that the southern toponym Irem probably lay in Upper Nubia, although Kitchen (1977) and Vercoutter (1980) dissented from that view. After a critical review of Priese's argument and the relevant evidence, it is suggested here that Irem is rather to be located somewhere within a triangle defined by the Shendi reach, the northern Butana, and the Atbara. Historical reconstruction must, at the least, take both locational possibilities into account. The implications for New Kingdom campaigning in the Sudan are that an Upper Nubian locale for Irem indicates an insecure hold over that region, whereas a more southerly location indicates an aggressive Egyptian policy corresponding to those followed in Western Asia.