Hinterhuber Veronica

Researcher of ERC project DiverseNile (2020-2022)

Main areas of research:

Kushite Egypt, Napatan and Meroitic periods of the Kingdom of Kush, Cultural Transfer betweenEgypt and Kush and vice versa, Cultural History of Nubia, Sacral/Festival Architectureand Religious Festivals in Kushite Thebes and Late Period Egypt

Education:

Since December 2008 Doctoral studies in Egyptology and Sudanarchaeology, Thesis title »25th Dynasty Kiosks and Entrance Colonnades in Egypt and Nubia, with a focus on Kushite Thebes« (First supervisor: Prof. Dr. Frank Kammerzell), Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

2006 Obtaining academic degree of M.A. Magister Artium (grade 1,0), Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

October 1999 – March 2006 Studies in Egyptology, Sudanarchaeology and Classical Archaeology, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

October 2003 – March 2004 Studies in Egyptology, Università degli Studi di Roma »La Sapienza«

Career History:

Since April 2020: Researcher of ERC project DiverseNile, LMU Munich

Since July 2018: Research Associate (Prof. Dr. Julia Budka, Institute for Egyptology and Coptology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich

December 2017 – June 2018: Research Associate in AcrossBorders (ERC Starting Grant project Prof. Dr. Julia Budka),Institute for Egyptology and Coptology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich

July 2014 – December 2016: Project Member at the »Friedrich W. Hinkel Archive Digitization Project«, Friedrich W. Hinkel Research Centre, GermanArchaeological Institute, Headquarters, Berlin

May, November 2011 – January 2012: Research Associate at the Officeof the Secretary-General, Scientific Department, German Archaeological Institute, Headquarters,Berlin

June – December 2011: Research Associate at the GHS-Project »Totenkult im Tempelgrab – Zur Rekonstruktion funerärer Praktiken im spätzeitlichen Theben (Ägypten)« (Prof. Dr. Julia Budka), Austrian Academy of Sciences/Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

September 2006 – May 2011: Research Assistant at theOffice of the Secretary-General and the Edidorial Office, Scientific Department, German Archaeological Institute, Headquarters,Berlin

November 2010 – January 2011: Scholarship of the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) for Luxor/Egypt

Field Work:

January – February 2012: Sai Island/Sudan, Université Lille III/Austrian Academyof Sciences (Prof. Dr.Julia Budka)

October – November 2009, February – March 2008, October – November 2007: Luxor, Asasif/Egypt, Austrian Academy of Sciences/Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (Prof. Dr. Julia Budka)

February – March 2004, March 2003: Musawwarat es Sufra/Sudan, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (Prof. Dr. Steffen Wenig)

February 2003: Hamadab/Sudan, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin/University of Shendi Sudan)(Dr. Pawel Wolf)

Juny– July 2002: Innsbruck, Goldbühel /Austria, Leopold-Franzens-University Innsbruck (Prof.Dr. Gerhard Tomedi)  


Neueste Beiträge

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

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.

  1. Nubian-style pottery of the New Kingdom in focus Schreibe einen Kommentar
  2. Embedded in Clay – Reflections and Impressions after the P.I.P.E conference Identity and Performance in Figurines and Ceramic Objects from Ancient Societies Schreibe einen Kommentar
  3. Mortuary Practices and Social Structures in the Meroitic State: Guest lecture by Mohamed Bashir on Kedurma Schreibe einen Kommentar
  4. Just published: Reconstructing Contact Space Biographies in Sudan during the Bronze Age Schreibe einen Kommentar
  5. New publication: Between Legacy and Innovation Schreibe einen Kommentar
  6. Analysing spatial patterns in GiE 003: The unusual gap in Trench 3 Schreibe einen Kommentar
  7. Upcoming DiverseNile Seminar: Animal industries within Kerma civilization Schreibe einen Kommentar
  8. A comparison of Nubian sandstones from a New Kingdom temple with ancient quarries on Sai Island Schreibe einen Kommentar
  9. Back in the spotlight: the sandstones of Sai Schreibe einen Kommentar