We are in the final preparations to return to the archaeological
site of El Kurru in northern Sudan for a second field season. We have obtained
our permissions from the governments of Sudan and the United States, raised
funds, gathered an international group of about 25 archaeologists, and
purchased and packed all our trowels, notebooks, and computers.
The site is well known to archaeologists as the burial site of
many of the "Black Pharaohs", kings of Kush who conquered Egypt and
ruled as its 25th Dynasty from about 725-653 BC. They are mentioned in the
Bible because they helped defend Jerusalem against the invading Assyrian army
in battles around 701 BC, but it was ultimately the Assyrian army that drove
them out of Egypt. Kush, however, continued as the major political power in the
Middle Nile valley for another 1000 years or so. As a result of its importance, El Kurru was designated part of a UNESCO World Heritage area, "Gebel Barkal and the Sites of the Napatan Region".
It will be an unusually exciting season. One of our teams,
directed by Prof. Abbas Sidahmed Zarroug, is working to preserve and protect
the royal pyramids. Abbas is a Sudanese archaeologist who grew up in the
village of El Kurru, and he has a unique perspective on this cultural heritage.
Another team, directed by Prof. Rachael Dann of the University of Copenhagen,
will be working around the currently known royal burials to identify non-royal
burials or perhaps even royal burials missed by earlier archaeologists.
My team, based at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the
University of Michigan, will be working to excavate the burial chamber of the
largest pyramid at the site and to uncover a “mortuary temple” (temple for a
dead king) with mysterious underground chambers (see photo above). We are also investigating the
royal city around the cemetery by following remains of what we think is a city
wall. We are grateful for major funding from the Qatar-Sudan Archaeological
Project; from the National Geographic Society, who will be sending a film crew
to document our work; and from Ms. Kathleen Picken.
