Archiv der Kategorie: Middle Nile

New progress in the documentation of rock art in the MUAFS concession

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As rock art in Sudan continues to be one of my favourite research topics, I am very pleased that a new article of mine on the rock engravings of Kerma in the MUAFS concession has just been published and that one of the beautiful boulders with cattle depictions has also made it onto the front page of MittSAG 35!

In the paper “Cattle motifs in Nubian rock art of the Bronze Age – a preliminary update from Kosha, Mograkka and Ferka” (Budka 2024), my aim was to show the potential of the little-known rock art from the MUAFS concession, especially for the Kerma period. During this period, cattle motifs are particularly prevalent in rock art in Sudan.

Among other sites, I highlighted some aspects of the largest rock art cluster within the MUAFS concession, 3-P-5, located on the border between Mograkka and Kosha. This remarkable site comprises more than 400 individual rock carvings.

The rock art boulder which made it to the cover of the MittSAG is a prominent rock which shows human-animal interaction and is likely to be interpreted as a ‘pastoral scene’ (see Polkowski 2021). It was already documented by Vila in the 1970s (Vila 1976, 86, fig. 37.3). In various lines, with different styles and shapes of horns, not only cattle, but also birds (probably geese) as well as a goat, a possible calf (or another goat?) and a dog are depicted. Such scenes find plenty of parallels, especially in the Third and Fourth Cataract regions, for which I give the details in the article. It is reasonable to assume that this panel depicts the daily life of pastoralists. All in all, the important role that livestock, particularly cattle, played for people in the Kosha region – during the Bronze Age, but also later – is very clear at site 3-P-5.

In February 2025, I was very fortunate to be back in the Attab-Ferka region and had the chance to revisit the intriguing site 3-P-5. The aim was to test new ways of documentation of the rock art – introducing 3D scanning with the ultrafast, highly accurate mobile app Scaniverse – a tool, we have been using in Egypt and for our ceramics here in Munich in the past two years. 3D modelling in rock art research in general has made great progress worldwide in recent years – from standard image-based techniques to more sophisticated methods such as terrestrial 3D laser scanners. Given the situation in Sudan, where war is still raging, my focus was on testing the quality of an ultra-fast scanning technique.

The results of documenting rock art with Scaniverse were simply amazing – the app makes it possible to capture not only details, but above all the complete shape and position of the boulders. Larger areas were quickly captured with the iPad, smaller boulders and details are well suited to the smaller iPhones.

Here is a screenshot of the 3D scan of the panel that was first published by Vila in the 1970s, relocated by us in 2020, re-photographed and published in 2024, also becoming a cover star (see above), and now 3D scanned in 2025. The high-resolution scan allows extreme zooming in for details and you can measure every tiny detail.

This example shows very nicely the progress in the documentation of rock art in recent years and makes me very positive about the possibilities of tackling new relevant questions on this fascinating research topic in the near future.

References

Budka, J. 2024. Cattle motifs in Nubian rock art of the Bronze Age– a preliminary update from Kosha, Mograkka and Ferka, MittSAG – Der Antike Sudan 35, 9‒19.

Polkowski, P. L. 2021. “Cattle in the Nile Fourth Cataract rock art: the site of El-Gamamiya 67 as an example.” In Bayuda and its neighbours, ed. by A. Obłuski, H. Paner and M. Masojć, 71-91. Turnhout: Brepols.

Vila, A. 1976. La prospection archéologique de la Vallée du Nil, au Sud de la Cataracte de Dal (Nubie Soudanaise). Fascicule 4: District de Mograkka (Est et Ouest), District de Kosha (Est et Ouest). Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

Nubian-style pottery of the New Kingdom in focus

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I am very happy to announce that a paper focusing on Nubian-style pottery from Sai Island has just been published, being part of a special issue of Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia [OW], vol. 5 (2025), dedicated to the theme „De-Constructing Nubia“.

My paper presents the Eighteenth Dynasty Nubian pottery from Sai city, especially quantities, shapes, wares and parallels from various sites, in context and discusses its social and cultural implications.

My main argument is that Nubian pottery as an integral part of the pottery corpus of Sai allows us to address social practices of a local group with a specific cultural identity. Within the colonial context of Sai as an Egyptian administrative town, the community practices reflected in the pottery show that the legacy of the Kerma empire was never completely abandoned but updated regarding the new political, social and religious situation.

Furthermore, I tried to discuss whether Sai represents an elite phenomenon in urban space which differs from rural contexts in the hinterland of the city. This aspect is closely related to ongoing research ̶ I am currently studying the pottery from the 18th Dynasty site AtW 001 in Attab West, with a special focus on Nubian-style pottery. We recently found more close parallels to Sai and pieces which attest to an intercultural mixing like a new basketry-impressed Nubian-style cooking pot with a painted red rim.

For now, I am very grateful to Aaron De Souza, the organiser of the workshop which lead to this special issue and its main editor as well as to all the other persons involved realising this important collection of papers. “De-Constructing Nubia” is still an urgent research matter and our current work in Attab West can add much data in this respect.

Embedded in Clay – Reflections and Impressions after the P.I.P.E conference Identity and Performance in Figurines and Ceramic Objects from Ancient Societies

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Less than two years after the 16th-edition-of-the-european-meeting-on-ancient-ceramics-emac I had the pleasure of returning to the splendid setting of Pisa to attend the International Conference Embedded in Clay – Identity and Performance in Figurines and Ceramic Objects from Ancient Societies, organized by prof. Gianluca Miniaci and the team of the pipe-project at the Dipartimento di Civilta’ e Forme del Sapere, University of Pisa (Italy).

Upon receiving the kind invitation from Beatriz Noria-Serrano, Georgia Long, and Hannah Page, the three project postdocs and primary organizers of this event, I was pleasantly surprised by their intention to revive the topic of clay figurines − every so often neglected or kidnaped by ceramicists (Gianluca Miniaci cit.) – and situate this within a novel and much more comprehensive framework, to foster a collaborative environment amongst scholars whose methodologies pertain to the analysis of identity and performance as manifested in clay artifacts. The final result exceeded expectations!

In a friendly and informal setting, with an agenda (for details see, embedded-in-clay-conference-programme) covering a wide range of chronologies and geographies, from the Ancient Nile Valley in Egypt, through northern and central Sudan, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Asia, and with an equally well-calibrated assortment of lectures and roundtables to stimulate discussion among the various specialists, the three conference days flew by, and it seems only yesterday that we were all enchanted by Richard Lesure’s (University of California, LA) exciting keynote on figure-making during the Formative era in Mesoamerica.

In this schedule, our paper entitled ‚Archaeometry as a means of multiplying material identities. Case studies based on ceramic vessels and clay figurines from the Middle Nile Valley during the Bronze Age‘ opened the second day of the conference, which was entirely dedicated to the concepts of identity and performance through the lens of archaeometry, while the last day was devoted to archaeology.

The talk has been formally divided into three macro-parts, starting with a theoretical introduction on the subject of identity in archaeology, and continuing with case studies, the first on clay figurines from the site of Sai Island, while the second dedicated to the analysis of the ceramic corpus from the neighbouring region of Attab and Ferka, in the hinterland of Sai and Amara West. Overall, we have tried to present some preliminary results, based on the different laboratory methodologies (INAA; OM; Raman Spectroscopy, XRD; Micro-CT; SANS) we have applied in the framework of the Diverse Nile project, dealing with a very large data set of samples from different sites. Most importantly, we have tried to emphasize how, over the years and thanks to the impact of postcolonial archaeology, our approach through materialities has significantly shifted − we do not work anymore along dichotomies and schematizations of identities (e.g. Egyptian vs. Nubian manufacturers). Instead, we explore open questions that also imply the complexity, hybridity, and entanglement of multiple material (and thus cultural) identities.

As the conference progressed, some of our questions were considered, debated, and answered in subsequent talks, while others perhaps emerged and stimulated my new thinking.

During the round table that wrapped up the conference, I took note of many themes and new and much-needed research perspectives on the subject of clay figurines that we agreed on: the need to revise the terminology, which is often too schematically limited to the distinction between human and zoomorphic figures; to take greater account not only of the function and performance of figurines, but also of their re-use and possible multifunctionality, both in synchronic and diachronic terms; to look at chaîne opératoires and gestures and fingerprints and, through them, reconstruct novel and hidden narratives related to women and children; eventually go beyond the surface and the ‘outer skin’ of the figurines, beyond traditional typologies and performances, in search of new ontologies and dynamic meanings.

The liveliness of that discussion, with so many pleasant colleagues and friends, still resonates in my mind, blending the gentle landscape of Pisa with the lights of the sunset on the Arno, another river, like the Nile, which has been crossed every day for ages by boats, and items, and by the glances and encounters of many diverse people.

Mortuary Practices and Social Structures in the Meroitic State: Guest lecture by Mohamed Bashir on Kedurma

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I am particularly pleased that Mohamed Bashir has joined the DiverseNile project as a TWAS-DFG Visiting Scholar this week. Mohamed will present his latest excavation results at the site of Kedurma in a public lecture in person on 4th February 2025 – everyone is welcome to attend.

Mohamed has written a summary of his lecture, which I am happy to reproduce here as an incentive not to miss this presentation:

“This research focuses on the archaeological investigation of the Meroitic cemetery of Kedurma in the Middle Nile Valley to examine the funerary practises and social complexity in the Meroitic state of ancient Africa. Recognising that social complexity is crucial for the interpretation of social development, the study identifies different burial customs that reflect different cultural and socio-political dynamics.

The results show a range of burial types and grave goods that indicate stratified social structures and complicated identity formations within the community. In particular, the study of 50 newly excavated tombs shows influences from both ancient Egyptian traditions and local variations, indicating a differentiated approach to mortality and memory. The typology of the tombs reflects different practises that may indicate evolving socio-economic landscapes and interregional exchange.

Overall, this study argues for the importance of local traditions in shaping Meroitic identity and highlights the need to incorporate African archaeological perspectives into broader historical narratives. The complexity of burial practises at Kedurma challenges simplistic notions of social hierarchy and emphasises the dynamic interplay of cultural influences in ancient Nile Valley societies. Through a detailed chronological framework and the analysis of artefacts, the study enriches our understanding of the complex social fabric of early African state societies and underlines the importance of further archaeological investigations to shed light on the historical experiences of the continent.”

Just published: Reconstructing Contact Space Biographies in Sudan during the Bronze Age

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Events tend to come thick and fast at the end of the year – as was the case with our latest article, which was fortunately published yesterday despite the public holidays.

We are happy to announce that the ‘Contact Space Biography’ concept developed as part of the DiverseNile project (see already my early blog post at the start of our project) is now available in article form and will hopefully be discussed – and useful to others. We developed this concept in order to reach a higher resolution understanding of cultural dynamics and diversity of ancient Nilotic groups, taken the Attab to Ferka region as a case study. We argue that areas like the MUAFS concession can be understood as complex social spaces intertwined with an often changing landscape.

We present our findings from the study of selected cemetery and settlement sites in Attab and Ginis. The following sites are discussed in our article: cemetery GiE 003; cemetery GiE 002 and the settlement sites AtW 001, AtW 002 and 2-T-53 (cf. other “stone villages” in Attab and Ginis West). These sites range in date from Middle Kerma to the Napatan period and allow to consider the local realities of cultural interactions in rural areas, away from “central sites” such as Amara West and Sai Island, showing clear changes from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. Read our article for more information!

MUAFS concession area showing the location of the sites discussed in our article (Map: C. Ward)

Reference:

Budka, J., Aglan, H., & Ward,C. (2025). Reconstructing Contact Space Biographies in Sudan During the Bronze Age. Humans, 5(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.3390/humans5010001

Analysing spatial patterns in GiE 003: The unusual gap in Trench 3

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The post-excavation processing of the Kerma cemetery GiE 003 is in full swing (see also an earlier blog post). There are some interesting observations regarding the diachronic development of the site and also its spatial organisation. A case study on the latter is presented below.

Trench 3 excavated in GiE 003 yielded Classic Kerma burial pits (Budka et al. 2023, Budka 2024). The trench is situated in the northwestern extent of our excavations at the site. It shows a relatively large area on its eastern side in which no burial pits were found. This apparent ‘gap’ contrasts with the surrounding areas, which show dense burial activity and graves laid out very regularly in the same orientation. Such a deliberate avoidance of this area raises some questions about ceremonial practices associated with the cemetery’s use.

Plan of Trench 3 in GiE 003 with Kerma burial pits and an area void of graves around an irregular pit.

In the middle of the area in question, a shallow depression with an irregular outline was found. First thought to be an unfinished burial pit, it might in fact be a marog-digging pit. Its dimensions are 1.97 meters in length, 1.67 meters in width, and 0.23 meters in depth.

Possible marog-digging pit in Trench 3 after excavation. Photo: J.M.A. Gomez, © DiverseNile project.

The pit was dug into the alluvial soil and found filled with compacted sand, containing numerous brownish-grey clay clumps, medium to large in size,. Some human remains were found in the northeastern part of the pit − most likely coming from nearby burial pits. Most of the burials in Trench 3 appear to have been looted and dispersed human bones were found across the surface of the trench.

Of course, it is also possible that the pit itself was cut by the ancient looters (maybe in Medieval times) when they were looking for burial pits at the site.

Nevertheless, the gap between the otherwise evenly aligned east-west graves is unlikely to be coincidental. One possible explanation for the gap in burial pits in Trench 3 is that we have cut into an area used for funerary practices and intentionally kept clear of graves. Although, as we have not excavated the entire cemetery, this is still difficult to fully judge.

Interestingly, similar spatial patterns can be observed at Ukma, another provincial Kerma cemetery, where areas void of graves are in particular present in the southern part between Classic Kerma burial pits which are comparable to those at GiE 003 (see Vila 1987, general plan of the site). These recurring patterns suggest that such gaps were common in Kerma cemeteries.

Further analysis, including additional excavations of GiE 003 and comparison with other Kerma cemeteries, might allow us to better understand the reasons for these gaps. A better comprehension of the spatial dynamics of Trench 3 within the context of GiE 003 could provide new insights into patterns of funerary practices during Kerma times.

References:

Budka et al. 2023 = Budka, J., Rose, K., Ward, C., Cultural diversity in the Bronze Age in the Attab to Ferka region: new results based on excavations in 2023, MittSAG 34 (2023), 19–35.

Budka 2024 = Budka, J., Introduction. Regionality of resource management in Bronze Age Sudan: an overview and case studies, in: J. Budka and R. Lemos (eds), Landscape and resource management in Bronze Age Nubia: Archaeological perspectives on the exploration of natural resources and the circulation of 751 commodities in the Middle Nile; Wiesbaden 2024, 19–33.

Vile 1987 = Vila, A. (avec les contributions de Guillemette Andreu et de Wilhem van Zeist), Le cimetière kermaïque d’Ukma Ouest, Paris 1987.

Upcoming DiverseNile Seminar: Animal industries within Kerma civilization

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I am delighted to announce the next DiverseNile Seminar Series. Nahed Al-Hakim will speak about “Animal industries within Kerma civilization”.

Nahed has been an archaeologist with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities since 2004 and currently serves as the Director of Scientific Research at the Karnak temples.

In 2022, she earned a master’s degree in ancient history and civilization, focusing on „Raw Materials and Industries in the Kushite Civilization.“ Currently, she is pursuing her doctorate at the Faculty of African Graduate Studies, Cairo University, with a dissertation on the Osirian religion during the Napatan period, examining the cemeteries of Kurru and Nuri in Sudan, as well as Abydos and Thebes in Egypt. A very exciting topic and highly relevant for both Egyptology and Sudan Archaeology!

The upcoming DiverseNile Seminar lecture will focus on results from Nahed’s MA thesis and will highlight the importance of animals in Kerma culture. I am very much looking forward to this and hope you can join us – it’s also the last lecture for 2024, so not to be missed!

Successful survey in Attab West – from my desk in Munich

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These days, it is anything but easy to think of our friends and colleagues in Sudan. After all, our working area in northern Sudan has seen the worst rainfall in decades and there is still no end to the war in sight. Nevertheless – inspired by the EAA last week in Rome and fully motivated by meetings there with colleagues who also work in Sudan – I was able to achieve great results regarding our survey in Attab West in the last few days. It was a kind of by-product of my preparation for the International Conference for Meroitic Studies next week in Münster.

Among other things, I will be talking about dry-stone walls in Münster – and that’s why I took another look at all our drone images and, above all, the georeferenced orthophotos and digital elevation models, especially from Attab West and Ginis West.

The level of detail in these photos and models is simply marvellous! And so I was finally able to correctly localise a site in Attab West that I had never actually found on site in Sudan! But that will be a topic for another time.

Today we want to focus on a detail about the New Kingdom settlement site 2-T-62. Vila describes it as a habitation site whose structures are spread over a series of small mounds that extend from east to west over 200 metres and a width of 50 metres, 175 metres from the Nile. The site also contains several dry-stone walls, although their dating is not certain.

For a long time, we weren’t sure whether the site we excavated in 2022 and 2023, AtW 001, really belonged to the larger site 2-T-62 or not – but the answer is now a resounding yes. The special discovery this week, however, is that from my desk here in Munich, I have finally found the mudbrick building 2-T-62/1 that Vila excavated in the 1970s!

It was simply not recognisable on site – there were no more pottery sherds, other artefacts or mudbricks lying around. However, the dimensions can be easily checked on the orthophoto – they fit perfectly. Vila described 2-T-62/1 as a rectangular structure measuring 9 m x 7 m, orientated from east to west, of which only one layer of the foundation walls survives (Vila 1977, 88-89). Inside, a courtyard with a fireplace was identified in the north-west corner, bordered by rooms to the east and south. The room in the south-east corner contained the remains of a schist floor/pavement – something we know very well from the urban sites of Sai Island and Amara West. Some of the schist slabs can still be recognised on the orthophoto.

The digital elevation model also clearly shows the excavated building and the surrounding landscape. AtW 001 is located on a small mound to the west, the building 2-T-62/1 on another mound further to the east. A possible palaeochannel runs north of the two mounds from east to west (see Budka et al. 2023).

This successful remote sensing and the new results of 2-T-62 are comforting in several ways – on the one hand they clarify open questions and on the other hand they offer a very good opportunity to analyse our data even when we cannot be on site in Sudan.

References

Budka et al. 2023 = Budka, J., Rose, K. and C. Ward. Cultural diversity in the Bronze Age in the Attab to Ferka region: new results based on excavations in 2023. MittSAG – Der Antike Sudan 34, 2023: 19−35.

Vila 1977 = Vila, A. La prospection archéologique de la Vallée du Nil, au Sud de la Cataracte de Dal (Nubie Soudanaise). Fascicule 6: District de Attab (Est et Ouest). Paris 1977.

Co-presenting the MUAFS project at the SASA virtual conference 2024

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I am delighted that today there will be a joint presentation by my dear friend and colleague Huda Magzoub and me at the SASA conference. Under the title “The Munich University Attab to Ferka Survey Project 2018-2023: Archaeology, gold, and landscape” we will summarize some aspects of our work in Sudan.

Since Huda is currently having very restricted internet, being displaced with her family in Sudan because of the current war, she sent me a video which I incorporated in the presentation. As much as it hurts not to be able to see her online or in person, it’s a wonderful feeling to present some outcome of our common work and to focus for a change on archaeology & scientific research despite of all the tragedies connected with the war in Sudan.

In our paper today, we will give an overview of the activities and results of the MUAFS project from its start in 2018 until 2023, with a special focus on new findings regarding ancient gold working in the region. In addition, modern gold working and the challenging of preserving cultural heritage in a remote area in times of war will be addressed. Thus, the presentation will follow a comparative approach to analyze gold working throughout the ages. This is especially relevant for Sudan as gold mining has been already in ancient times not just an economic activity but a testament to technological and cultural advancements. Gold has served as a catalyst for cultural evolution, economic prosperity, and sometimes conflict. We will address these aspects and thus highlight some features of the multifaceted story of gold in Sudan, tracing its influence from the dawn of civilization to the contemporary era. Finally, modern concepts of ancient gold working can be critically revisited thanks to the new evidence in the MUAFS concession, making the paper highly relevant for the general theme of the conference.

I am very grateful to the conference organizers for accepting our paper and for giving Huda as a displaced Sudanese archaeologists a forum to share her research in times of war.

A Middle Kerma Period burial in Ginis East

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While our PostDoc Hassan Aglan is busy with finalising the documentation from our excavation in 2023 in Kerma cemetery GiE 003, I went back to some tombs we excavated there already in 2022. Today, I would like to present a very interesting burial which is characteristic for the Middle Kerma Period (see Budka 2022).

Feature 26 during excavation in 2022 (photo: M. Bergner, © DiverseNile)

Feature 26 in Trench 2 is a representative circular pit of the Middle Kerma period with typical dimensions (2.4m in diameter). Like the other structures in GiE 003, this grave was also looted. Nevertheless, some interesting finds were found: human and animal bones; pottery; a wooden fragment; a snail which is pierced and functioned as a pendant; a pebble pendant; 86 small sandstone disc beads; 10 small faience disc beads (blue); 1 large flat disc bead made of shell/bone; 1 small green faience disc bead and one copper dagger.

The charming pendant made from a pierced snail (photo: R. Lemos, © DiverseNile)

Feature 26 is the only burial in Trench 2 which yielded some personal adornments (a beautiful snail pendant and a pebble pendant, both of Nubian tradition) as well as grave goods like a dagger and two animal offerings in situ. That various materials were used for beads in diverse sizes in this tomb is also remarkable.

Various beads from Feature 26 in different materials (photo: R. Lemos, © DiverseNile)

The dagger is especially significant – unfortunately, MUAFS 027 is a broken piece (12.2 cm in lenght), decorated with four lines stemming from the tip until the bottom, forming a triangular pattern.

Broken dagger from Feature 26 (photo: R. Lemos, © DiverseNile)

Copper daggers are well attested from funerary contexts in Kerma city and are probably associated with ceremonial use. Following Andrea Manzo (2016), this dagger can be interpreted as an indicator of elite status and Kerma identity (see also Walsh 2022).

However, one of the ceramic vessels from Feature 26, 363-3/2022, a small black topped bowl with irregular incised decoration is slightly unusual but has parallels in both the Kerma tradition and the Pan-Grave horizon (de Souza 2019, 214, fig. 19a).

While most of the ceramics found in Feature 26 are typical for Middle Kerma burials, this vessel maybe also links to the Pan-Grave horizon and illustrates the cultural diversity attested in GiE 003.

This might illustrate cultural encounters between various Nubian groups in the region. Considering the discovery of Feature 50 in Trench 5 in 2023, this is now especially likely.

Similar to Feature 50, two almost complete animal skeletons were found in Feature 26. They were carefully excavated by our inspector Huda Magzoub and appear to be goat/sheep, but this needs to be confirmed by zooarchaeological analysis. At the Kerma cemeteries of Ukma and Akasha, also gazelle offerings were frequently found in Middle Kerma circular pit types (see Vila 1987, 32-33 and e.g. Tomb 2, 39, fig. 41; Maystre 1980, 190).

Overall, Feature 26 offers a wealth of stimulating questions and shows how much potential there is in the cemetery GiE 003 and that our work is far from finished.

References

Budka 2022 = J. Budka, Investigating Nubian funerary practices of marginal communities: new evidence from a Kerma cemetery at Ginis, Egitto e Vicino Oriente 45 (2022), 37‒62.

Manzo 2016 = A. Manzo, “Weapons, ideology and identity at Kerma (Upper Nubia, 2500-1500 BC)”, Annali Sezione Orientale 76 (1-2) (2016), 3-29.

Maystre 1980 = C. Maystre, Akasha I, Genève 1980.

de Souza 2019 = A. de Souza, New horizons: the Pan-Grave ceramic tradition in context, Middle Kingdom Studies 9, London 2019.

Vila 1987 = A. Vila, Le cimetière Kermaique d’Ukma Ouest, Paris 1987.

Walsh 2022 = C. Walsh, “Marginal Communities and Cooperative Strategies in the Kerma Pastoral State”, JNEH 10, https://doi.org./10.1515/janeh-2021-0014