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A lost royal city in Nubia

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Danielle Gorree
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« on: February 03, 2013, 03:35:13 pm »


   
A lost royal city in Nubia

Article created on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
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Searching for a lost royal city is not something that you are able to carry out very often, but Geoff Emberling from the University of Michigan is doing just that.
Lost Nubian city
Map of kingdoms, states and tribes in 400 BC Africa.

Map of kingdoms, states and tribes in 400 BC Africa.

The ancient capital he is searching for was ruled by the kings of Nubia, which now lies in northern Sudan, just south of Egypt. Surprisingly little is known about the kings who appeared on the historical stage about 900 BCE and conquered the lands of Pharaonic Egypt before fading back into the desert.

“We have no idea where these kings came from,” said Emberling, a research scientist at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan. “They basically appeared out of nowhere.”

Nubia, also known as Kush, was one of Africa’s earliest centres of political authority, wealth and military power. But because of the lack of information about Nubia, it has always been on the periphery of the larger discussions about the rise and fall of civilizations, unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Kush was conquered by the Egyptian empire of the New Kingdom beginning in about 1550 BCE. With the collapse of Egyptian control in the years after 1100 BCE, little is known about Kush, although new excavations are beginning to some shed light.

However, it is known that after 900 BC, a new political centre had emerged at El Kurru, where a series of burials, beginning with Nubian-style tumuli, developed into Egyptian-style royal pyramids and marks the rise of the Napatan dynasty. The kings buried here would conquer Egypt and rule as its 25th Dynasty, and are sometimes known as the “Black Pharaohs.” They would also fight against the invading Assyrian Empire in battles described in the Hebrew Bible.
Remains of the pyramid of Piye. Image: Geoff Emberling

Remains of the pyramid of Piye. Image: Geoff Emberling
A lack of research

Indeed much of the archaeological research that has been carried out has focused on tombs and temples in the Nubian capital of El Kurru, Emberling said.

“There has been a real lack of excavation of settlements, where you find out where people actually lived on a daily basis,” he explained. “I’m excited about filling in that picture.”

Emberling set off for El Kurru in the last week of December 2012 and planned to stay for six weeks, surveying near a stretch of the Nile River that flows through the Sahara Desert.

The intention is to locate the city’s remains and prepare a basic survey of the layout with some limited excavation.

Emberling has a general idea about where to dig, based on the notebooks of George Reisner, an American archaeologist who excavated Nubian pyramids in 1918-19. Reisner’s notes mentioned a long city wall with a gate facing the Nile. He also said there was a well that could have been big enough to be part of a palace. But the site was never excavated and disappeared beneath the sand.

“One of the challenges is that the city’s remnants are completely invisible on the site today,” Emberling said. “Since Reisner was only doing this in his notes, there is nothing to locate where any of this was.”

Emberling is working with archaeologists from Denmark and Sudan using a variety of techniques: satellite imagery, topographic surveys, magnetometry and geological coring.

“We might not find the city,” he said. “It might be that a Nile flood destroyed things to a degree. It might be that the remains were pretty ephemeral to begin with. We’ll see.”
Expedition to Nubia
Dr. Mohamed (left) and Geoff Emberling


Dr. Mohamed (left) and Geoff Emberling

The Nubian Expedition of the Kelsey Museum aims to relocate this ancient royal capital to help to understand the rise of the Napatan dynasty as well as provide insight into society in Kush during this time.

In recent years, Sudan has been better known as a place of civil war and genocide as well as a base for Al Qaeda. But Emberling said throughout all the unrest and violence, archaeologists have worked without interruption in the northern part of the country.

“It’s not nearly as scary as it sounds,” he added. “I’ve loved working with the Sudanese.”

Emberling added that for the most part, archaeology is not politicized in Sudan as it is in other countries.

“We’re able to just be archaeologists and focus on our work, without worrying about how it will affect claims of different ethnic groups or territorial boundaries, so that’s a relief.”

Source: University of Michigan

http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/01/2013/a-lost-royal-city-in-nubia
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Danielle Gorree
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« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2013, 03:35:45 pm »



Map of kingdoms, states and tribes in 400 BC Africa.
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Danielle Gorree
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« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2013, 03:36:37 pm »



Remains of the pyramid of Piye. Image: Geoff Emberling
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Danielle Gorree
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« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2013, 03:37:13 pm »



Dr. Mohamed (left) and Geoff Emberling
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