2008-04-22 12:33
Mysterious church and palace from the beginning of the 1st millennium A.D. discovered by Polish archaeologists in SudanArchaeological site in SelibAt the beginning of this year, archaeologists from Warsaw University, headed by Dr Bogdan Żurawski discovered the remains of an Early Christian church and an even older palace. "During research in the area of Selib, a village located on the right bank of the Nile, between the 4th and 3rd cataract, the remains of a building erected on the plan of a huge rectangle were found. It soon turned out that this was one of the most unique churches found in the area of ancient Nubia, that is modern Sudan" - Dr Zuzanna Wygnańska, editor of "Archewieści Centrum Archeologii Śródziemnomorskiej" (Archaeo-new from the Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology) informed. Thanks to geophysical research and aerial photographs made from a kite, it was possible to establish that a circular building eight metres in diameter made from red brick was adjacent to the main building.
"This is extremely interesting, as the only known buildings in Nubia to be built on the plan of a circle are ovens for baking bread, bricks and lime. All doubts as to whether the building was a church disappeared when a stone reliquary, fragment of altar construction and oil lamps were found" - Wygnańska noted.
The remains of the church in Selib According to Dr Żurawski, the church in Selib is the most mysterious church building in Nubia. It is not only surrounded by a perfect rectangle, but also stands on a two metre podium or some earlier building, the purpose of which has not yet been established.
As Dr Wygnańska emphasises, this was not the only important discovery of the season. "Work on a site located 1 km from the church in Selib brought an even greater surprise, when a 900 square metre building was discovered" - she informed. At first, archaeologists spotted the outline of walls protruding on the surface. They were not visible until a sand dune shifted. Everything suggests that this was a palace and what is more, it is one of the few known palaces from the Meroic period, i.e. a civilisation which ruled ancient Nubia between 300 B.C. and 350 A.D.
Fragments of pottery were scattered on the site's surface. "I will never forget my first impression, when I was walking on a carpet of broken pottery, under the layer of shells, it was difficult to see the sand" - Dr Żurawski relates. These were not ordinary shells, but fine, luxury vessels, which were only used in the richest homes belonging to the strict elite.
Archaeologists presume that these are specimens of the finest pottery ever to be produced in the Nile Valley. A dwelling quarter spreads outside the palace. Its size suggests that in ancient times, Selib was one of the most important administrative centres of the Meroic kingdom, the seat of a governor or local ruler. As a result, it is difficult to overestimate the value of this discovery. This is the first such find in the region, which was considered to be outside of the Meroe kings' rule.
The site of the palace in Selib
PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland, Warsaw University Centre of Meditterranean Archaeology, tr.ajfb bsz
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