The architectural features of the royal district of Natakamani and Amanitore at Jebel Barkal confirm the role of ancient Napata in the elaboration of a culture blending Nubian, Hellenistic, and Egyptian traditions in an original and coherent frame.
This is clear for Palace B1500, with high platform and polychrome façades recalling northern architectural models, but also for the buildings surrounding it. These structures show an evident eclecticism in their stone architectural decorations.
In a context where mudbrick is the principal building material, a separate discussion is required for stone architecture, frequently used for capitals, drums of columns, architraves and basements. The great variety in the capitals is one of the main characteristics of Pharaonic Egyptian influence, well distinguishable in the shapes known from hypostyle halls and colonnades of the great New Kingdom and Ptolemaic temples.
Pharaonic inspiration is also prominent in the stylistic rendering of painted decoration, both in colour and thematic choice. The technique, though, seems far from long-established Egyptian practices, and genuinely Meroitic plastering and painting manners can be observed.
This paper aims to discuss formal issues concerning the architectural decoration in the Meroitic district of Jebel Barkal, where stone elements and painted walls underwent an original development.

Stone and Plaster at Napata. Architectural decoration from the Meroitic buildings of Jebel Barkal