Archiv der Kategorie: Sudan

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

New publication: Between Legacy and Innovation

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Happy to announce that my new article on the DiverseNile project’s use data from a 1970s survey of the research area by André Vila and colleagues has just been published with Journal of Global Archaeology. In the paper, I discuss the (re)-use and integration of historical data into the DiverseNile project. This includes the geo-referencing of published plans and making effective use of the bespoke typology of sites used by Vila and his team. The use of historical data is widespread in archaeological research but it is not always problematised effectively from a methodological perspective, as I showcase in the paper.

The scope of the 1970s survey make it in an invaluable starting point for much of the research conducted by the DiverseNile team. However, integrating historical data which has to be re-assessed and sometimes altered to reach its full potential is not always straightforward. It is also crucial to consider such work within its historical context in order to fully integrate the results, as I discuss in the article.  Unfortunately, the remoteness of some of the sites, as well as the ongoing war in Sudan, means that we must increasingly rely on existing archaeological data to study this particular region.

 Reference:

Ward, C. (2024) “Between Legacy and Innovation: Archaeological Data Re-use and Integration, a Case Study from Northern Sudan”, Journal of Global Archaeology, 2024(05), pp. 214–235. doi:10.34780/3zczgz54.

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.

A comparison of Nubian sandstones from a New Kingdom temple with ancient quarries on Sai Island

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Uncovering the origins of the sandstone used in the construction of ancient monuments offers a unique glimpse into the interplay between natural resources as well as human craftsmanship and interaction. On Sai Island, nestled in the Nile between the 2nd and 3rd cataracts in Northern Sudan, lies Temple A, an 18th Dynasty Egyptian structure. The sandstone used in its construction, sourced from the island’s abundant deposits, has long piqued the curiosity of archaeologists and geologists alike. A recent study delves into the mineralogical and geological characteristics of these sandstones, seeking to uncover their precise origins and the choices made by ancient builders.

The investigation centered on sandstone samples taken from Temple A, and three nearby quarries. Using advanced analytical tools such as polarization microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and micro-Raman spectroscopy, we were able to analyze the stones in detail. The sandstone clasts were found to be composed predominantly of quartz, making up 90–95%, with minor contributions from feldspar and lithoclasts. Clay minerals like kaolinite and illite were present in varying amounts, forming part of the stone’s matrix. The stones also contained traces of iron-titanium oxides, which had undergone alterations over time due to natural chemical processes.

The study revealed that the sandstone used in Temple A was more finely sorted and contained smaller grain sizes compared to the samples from the quarries (Figure 1a-d). This finding suggests that the builders deliberately selected stones with uniform characteristics to ensure consistency in the temple’s appearance. The lighter color and moderate sorting of the temple sandstone contrast with the darker, poorly sorted stones found at the quarry and outcrops. This selective quarrying points to a sophisticated understanding of the properties of building materials and a meticulous approach to construction.

However, determining the exact source of the sandstone used in Temple A proved challenging. Despite the similarities in composition between the temple stones and the natural occurrences, the analysis could not definitively link the building materials to a specific quarry. We suggest that the stones likely originated from the same geological formation but does not rule out the possibility of multiple extraction sites within the island.

The presence of minerals such as kaolinite and illite in the sandstone’s matrix provided further insights into the geological history of these rocks. These minerals form under specific environmental conditions and suggest that the sandstone underwent stages of weathering and burial over geological time. Iron-titanium oxides, including ilmenite and its altered forms, indicated processes of chemical transformation as the stones interacted with water and other environmental factors. These transformations reflect the dynamic geological history of Sai Island, where tectonic forces and sedimentary processes shaped the materials long before they were quarried for use in ancient architecture.

While the exact quarrying practices remain unclear, the findings underline the care and intentionality that went into selecting construction materials. The builders of Temple A seemed to prioritize not only structural integrity but also the aesthetic qualities of the stone.

The study of the sandstone from Sai Island is a window into the decisions and practices of colonial Egypt in Nubia during the New Kingdom. Through understanding the material choices of the past, we gain a greater appreciation for the deep relationship between humanity and the natural world. Further investigations, including detailed geological mapping and isotopic analyses, could reveal even more about the origins of these stones and the history they carry.

Sai Island’s sandstone is more than a building material—it is a testament to the resourcefulness and artistry of its ancient inhabitants. Each grain of sand holds a story, shaped by eons of natural forces and, ultimately, by human hands. By unraveling these stories, we not only connect with the past but also deepen our understanding of the intricate connections between geology, culture, and time.

Back in the spotlight: the sandstones of Sai

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I am very pleased to announce the next DiverseNile Seminar. On 26th November, our PostDoc Fabian Dellefant will talk about the sandstones of Sai. Some of you may know that we have already analysed them as part of the AcrossBorders project.

However, what was published in 2020 was a preliminary investigation of sandstone petrography using only polarization microscopy. This study offers a basic understanding, but the attribution of samples to distinct quarrying locations on Sai remained uncertain due to limited data descriptions and micrographs. Providing more detailed descriptions, data, and micrographs would greatly enhance the clarity and coherence of the sedimentary rock groupings, offering valuable insights into the provenance of the Nubian sandstones and the sourcing practices of the builders of Temple A.

Therefore, I am delighted that Fabian will present the results of his re-investigation whether the origin of the Nubian sandstones from Temple A can be specifically traced back to local quarries associated with the New Kingdom town.

Don’t miss this exciting seminar on the exploitation of sandstones and quarry work in New Kingdom Nubia!

An appeal from an archaeologist’s perspective not to forget the situation in Sudan

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At the Meroitic conference in Münster in September, all participants approved a statement on the current situation in Sudan. Particularly due to the recent news surrounding the National Museum in Khartoum, other museums and historical sites in Omdurman, but also the damage caused by the heavy rains in August, we as a scientific community are deeply concerned. We also noted that Sudan has unfortunately received very little media attention since the war began – this holds true for almost all countries, including Germany and Austria. I am therefore very grateful that I was interviewed by The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation about Sudan (many thanks for the mediation through the Austrian Academy of Sciences!). The short interview is now online (also available as soundtrack) and may help to clarify a little how much is currently at stake. Even if the recent fighting in the greater Khartoum area gives cause for cautious hope, we must not forget the huge scale of the catastrophe. Sudan needs international attention and help on many levels.

In August 2024, very heavy rains caused much damage in northern Sudan. Here a violent torrent has formed from the mountains and destroyed the asphalt road near Delgo. Screenshot from a video sent by Magzoub Hassan.

Post-flooding irrigation at Attab West in the Bronze or Iron Age – some new data from our drone survey

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Back from the very successful International Conference for Meroitic Studies last week in Münster, I would like to elaborate on one interesting site I mentioned there in the broader context of Napatan sites in Ginis West. As outlined in a previous post, presenting these “stone villages”, 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.

This enabled me to correctly locate a site in Attab West, on the border to Ginis West, which I had never found in the field in Sudan. This map of Ginis West was created by Kate Rose in 2023 after our last field season and shows all the Vila sites that we were unable to relocate in the field. There are various reasons for this – some of them are damaged, for some we have problems because of the georeferencing of Vila’s maps and because of unclear terrain on the ground.

Map with the status of 2023 showing sites documented by Vila, but not yet relocated by us in Ginis. 2-T-67 is on the top left, at the border between Attab and Ginis.

The latter holds true for Vila’s site 2-T-67 (Vila 1977, 93-96). I tried twice to relocate it on the ground, but could not find what Vila referred to as channels. I only saw sandy dunes, modern tracks, some depressions, but no clear traces of what Vila described. Since Vila dated these three openings with underground connections to channels to the New Kingdom, based on a single pottery vessel, the site was of greatest interest to DiverseNile. It was correspondingly annoying that I simply couldn’t find the site.

Sketch of the site by Vila 1977: fig. 49 incl. the pottery vessel he used as dating evidence.

However, the dating of Vila is anything but certain. Looking at this pottery bowl, for example, it is more likely to date already from the Pre-Napatan period. The site is nevertheless truly intriguing – the basins and channels have recently been linked to post-flood irrigation by Mathew Dalton and colleagues (2023). They suggest very convincingly that the site, and in particular the circular features, one of which was surrounded by a stone setting, actually served as wellheads for shadufs. Now it was great when I discovered the channels and round depressions on the orthophoto based on our drone images from 2022!

Detail from our orthophoto showing features corrsponding to Vila’s description to the left.

Importantly, our drone photographs show more features than those documented by Vila. Now that we have relocated this site, it will be possible to verify it in the field once we can go back to Sudan and try to obtain more certain dating evidence. This is particularly relevant to understand the dry stone walls in the area, the presumed irrigation systems (see Dalton et al. 2023) and the changing land- and riverscapes in Attab and Ginis.

Zoomed out area of 2-T-67, with a measuring line along one of Vila’s channel, showing more depressions and circular pits towards the east.

References

Dalton et al. 2023 = Dalton, M., Spencer, N., Macklin, M. G., Woodward, J. C., & P. Ryan. “Three thousand years of river channel engineering in the Nile Valley.” Geoarchaeology, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21965.

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.

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.