The Berber-Abidiya archaeological project
Project leader
Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan
Partners
- Dr Salah eldin Mohamed Ahmed, Director of Field Work, National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, Sudan
Supported by
- Archeology4All
- Foundation Michela Schiff Giorgini
- Anonymous, private donor
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The Berber-Abidiya Archaeological Project is a joint project with the Sudan National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), Khartoum and as part of the British Museum’s international training initiative, personnel from NCAM receive training in excavation techniques while participating in the mission. The Berber-Abidiya region is situated just south of the fifth Nile cataract.
At the request of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, the project has focused on the late Kushite city of Dangeil (third century BC - fourth century AD). This site is endangered by modern development. Dangeil is located 350km north of Khartoum and has been a mystery to modern archaeologists because of its unique appearance, though in actuality few have ever visited the site. It consists of a series of large discrete mounds, many standing over four metres above the surrounding plain.
Excavations have revealed a large well-preserved, red brick and sandstone temple dedicated to the god Amun, surrounded by an enclosure wall. This temple was previously unknown. A paved processional way with a kiosk, leads from the temple to a monumental gate. A large mound of bread moulds used in temple rituals is located behind the temple and over 1,200,000 of these mould sherds were excavated in 2005.
With many of its buildings substantially preserved and an associated, largely undisturbed cemetery, Dangeil is unique in Sudan and provides an opportunity to more fully understand urban settlement, planning and lifestyle 2000 years ago.
Objectives
The first step in understanding the Kushite community of Dangeil will be the completion of excavation of the Amun temple, processional avenue and monumental temenos gate, which formed the central focus of this community. This is expected to occur over the next three years, followed by the publication of the project’s results. The site will also be further protected and conserved and rescue excavations conducted in the region as required by the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, Khartoum.
Publications
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed, Excavations in the Temple Precinct of Dangeil, Sudan. London (2010).
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed. With contributions from Intisar Soghairoun Elzein, Abdelrahman Ali Mohamed, Aida Abdelrahman El-Ansari and Nagla Abdeen Mohamed. .السودان – الضانقيل معبد حفريات London (2010).
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed. ‘Dangeil 2010: Meroitic Wall Paintings Unearthed and Conservation Strategies Considered’, Sudan & Nubia 15 (2011), pp. 80-89.
J. Anderson and Salah eldin Mohamed Ahmed. ‘Bread, the Staff of Life. Recent Discoveries at Dangeil, Sudan’, Between the Cataracts 2. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference for Nubian Studies. Warsaw University 27 August-2 September, 2006. PAM Supplement Series 2.2/1. Warsaw (2010), pp.55-59.
J. Anderson and Salah eldin Mohamed Ahmed. ‘Ethnoarchaeology and post-holes: building a Bisharin house’, Sudan & Nubia 14 (2010), pp. 96-106.
J. Anderson and Salah eldin Mohamed Ahmed. ‘Dangeil: La découverte d’un nouveau temple d’Amon’, Méroé, an empire upon the Nile. Les Dossiers d’archéologie. Paris. (2010), pp. 50-55.
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed. ‘Une Nouvelle Cachette de Temple: Napatéens et Méroïtes sur lat 5eCataracte due Nil’, in G. Andreu-Lanoë, M. Baud et A. Sackho-Autissier, Méroé, un empire sur le Nil. Paris. (2010), pp. 231-232.
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed. ‘What are these doing here above the Fifth Cataract?!! : Napatan royal statues at Dangeil’, Sudan & Nubia 13 (2009), 78-86.
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed. ‘The Kushite Kiosk of Dangeil and Other Recent Discoveries.’ Sudan & Nubia 12 (2008), 40-46.
J. Anderson, A. C. D’Andrea, A. Logan and Salah Mohamed Ahmed. ‘Bread Moulds from the Amun Temple at Dangeil – An Addendum’, Sudan & Nubia 11 (2007), pp. 89-93
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed. ‘The ‘Throne Room’ and Dais in the Amun temple at Dangeil, Nile State Sudan,’ Cahier de Recherches de l'Institut de Papyrologie et d'Egyptology de Lille 26, (2006-2007), pp. 29-39
Nubia: The Forgotten Kingdom, 52 minute film produced for Discovery Channel by Engel Brothers Media.
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed, ‘Recent Fieldwork conducted by the Berber-Abidiya Archaeological Project’, in Welsby and Davies (eds.) Uncovering Ancient Sudan, (London, The Sudan Archaeological Research Society, 2002) pp. 44-45
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed, ‘Bread Moulds and ‘Throne Halls’: Recent Discoveries in the Amun Temple Precinct at Dangeil’, Sudan& Nubia 10 (2006), pp. 95-101
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed, 'Revealing Terra Incognita: Dangeil, Sudan’, Current World Archaeology, 19 (2006), pp. 23-30
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed, ‘Painted Plaster: A Glimpse into the Decorative Programme Used in the Amun Temple at Dangeil, Sudan,’ Studies in Honor of Nicholas Millet (Part II). Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, 32 (2006), pp. 1-15
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed, ‘Le temple d’Amon à Dangeil (Soudan),’ Bulletin de la Société Francaise d’Égyptologie, 162 (2005), pp. 10-27
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed, ‘Lost for a Millennia: A New Ancient Nubian City,’ Archaeology Odyssey, 5/1 (2002), p.16
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed, ‘Archaeological Reconnaissance in the Berber-Abidiya Region, 1997. A Post-Meroitic Double-Shaft Tomb in El-Fereikha,’ Archeologie du Nil Moyen 9 (2002), pp. 15-29
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed, ‘Recent Excavations at Dangeil, Nile State,’ in Ulrich Luft and L. Török (eds.), A Tribute to Excellence. Studies Offered in Honor of Ernö Gaál, Studia Aegyptiaca XVII, (2002), pp. 45-52
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed, ‘Archaeological Reconnaissance in the Berber-Abidiya Region,’ KUSH XVIII (1998-2002), pp. 25-34
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed, ‘Prospections archéologiques et fouilles de sauvetage dans la région de Berber-Abidiya (1997 et 1999)’, Cahier de Recherches de l'Institut de Papyrologie et d'Egyptology de Lille, 21 (2000), pp. 17-37
J. Anderson and Salah Mohamed Ahmed, ‘Discovery of an Intact Post-Meroitic Tomb: The Berber-Abidiya Archaeological Project 1997,’ Newsletter for the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, June 1998 (1998), p. 1