New excavations in northern Sudan
The EES Survey of Habaraab/Third Cataract Region (Sudan)
The Egypt Exploration Society is very excited to announce a new fieldwork project at Habarab in the Third Cataract Region of northern Sudan. We are delighted to recommence our partnership with the Sudanese Antiquities Service in the excavation and recording of this New Kingdom Egyptian settlement area located 550 km north of Khartoum. This is the first such endeavour since funding for our work in Nubia ended in 2008, reflecting our ongoing commitment to support Egypt’s global heritage by transcending modern political boundaries. More recently donations from our members have funded the work of Dr Claudia Näser at the fortress of Shalfak (2016-18) and Dr Kathryn Howley at the temple site of Sanam (2017-18). This new venture adds Habarab to this portfolio, a site that could fill a significant gap in current knowledge about how Nubia developed during the New Kingdom.
Left: HBB017 and its vicinity
The New Kingdom settlement HBB017 and its vicinity
We look forward to welcoming students to the site for training and engaging in community heritage projects, as well as uncovering this unexplored area in order to reveal its history in the broad border zone between the cultures of Ancient Egypt and Nubia.
A first season will focus on surveying the area to get a better understanding of the surface ceramics. A topographic survey will also be carried out to get a better understanding of the remains below the surface to be explored in further seasons.
It is already clear from previous surveys (Osman and Edwards, 2011) that the site may have parallels with the Amarna stone village and the so-called 'village du col' at Deir el-Medina. The Society has therefore appointed Dr Cédric Gobeil, our own Director, as the Field Director for this project and we look forward to commencing work in late 2018 to feedback results to members and the scholarly community in 2019. Cédric’s prior experience with settlement archaeology of the New Kingdom in Egypt means that he is well-placed to undertake this work and the perfect person to communicate any new findings in the Society’s publications.
A house or enclosure in HBB017
The Society’s involvement in the UNESCO International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia during the 1960s is well-recognized and we look forward to establishing a new chapter in our history of excavating in this region, working with other teams active in this area, and beginning a new partnership with the Sudanese Antiquities Service later this year.
