The Italian Archaeological Mission in Sudan Ca Foscari University of Venice

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1 The Italian Archaeological Mission in Sudan Ca Foscari University of Venice Karima (Sudan) November-December 2012 The 2012 season of the Italian Archaeological Mission at Jebel Barkal was carried out between 21st November and 14th December. The team comprised: Emanuele M. Ciampini (Ca Foscari University, Director); Alessandro Roccati (University of Turin); Grazyna Bakowska (Jagiellonian University, Cracow); Alice Salvador (Archeologist/Draughtswoman, Post-Graduate School of Archaeological Heritage, Universities of Venice-Udine-Trieste); Martino Gottardo (Archaeologist / Photographer). The National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM) was represented by Mrs Shirin Ibrahim Babiker. The team of the Mission was hosted in the house of Ahmed Musa. The season was funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ca Foscari University of Venice, and the total period in the field lasted over three weeks. 1) The activity of the season 2012 As in the previous season, the activity of the team was arranged in two fields: (1) the digging of the Natakamani Palace (B1500), and the collection of the topographical data of the main monuments in the Italian concession with a total station; (2) the survey of the materials stored in the Museum, in order to update the documentation of the Italian Mission in the site. The dig in the palace employed a group of twenty-five workmen from the city of Karima and the Bedouin village near the Jebel. 2) The excavations The sectors investigated during the season are identified as F13-14; G13-14; H13-14 (fig.1). The aim of the dig was to outline the outer wall of the B1500 building in the western side of the structure, and to join the sectors investigated in previous seasons (western entrance of the palace). Despite the destruction of the structure, the work brought to light evidence of its ancient monumental features: the dig identified the decoration of the facade, with a composite lesena, which was part of a complex decorative programme system. The collapse of the perimetral red brick wall let the original colours of the lesena survive in the lower part of the building, where the use of the original polychromy is still recognizable: the facade was white, while the elements of the lesena (the pillar and the tori) were painted with an alternance of blue, yellow and red (fig.2). In the area corresponding to the lesena, several fragments of glazed tiles were found, bearing evidence of the ancient decoration of the facade: it was characterized by an impressive use of faience elements with Dionisiac themes, that confirm once more the eclectic style in the decorative programme of the palace (fig.3.a-b). The main discovery of the season has been the podium lying just south of the stairs to the western entrance (fig.4). Such structure was built according to the classical Meroitic masonry (red brick outside, mud brick inside); a peculiar feature are its stone foundations, which seem to be an original solution in the general frame of the royal Meroitic architecture at Napata. The walls of the podium were coated with plaster, and painted yellow. The dig has also discovered several red bricks with plaster, which were probably part of the top of the building; such evidence lets us reconstruct a possible structure with a red brick cover, and a kind of balustrade, while we found no evidence of stairs climbing to the top: maybe the access would be possible with a mobile structure, whose evidence has not survived. The dig in the narrow area between the western facade of the palace and the eastern side of the podium unearthed the remains of the fallen outer wall (fig.5), which still preserves the original setting of the red bricks; it fits well with the evidence at the base of the same wall still in situ, where the bricks and the plaster testify the collapse of the facade; after the dig, part of the collapsed wall was removed, in order to reach the original ground level. A peculiarity of the area just south of the podium is the different level in the plaster over the palatial facade (fig.6): just under the lesena, the

2 painted plaster covers also the foundations, while in front of the podium, the painted plaster disappears, and the ground seems to lift up, reaching the same level of the entrance stairs. During the digging in the area south of the podium two architectural elements were discovered: a fragment, probably from the top of the outer wall, and a lesena capital, which shows a clear alexandrine style and a still preserved painted decoration (fig.7). The capital confirms the eclectic decoration of the Natakamani architecture at Napata, which is very sensitive to the northern patterns, merged together with the local tradition. Other architectural elements from the monumentalized gate an unidentied fragment and part of a column probably from a curtain entrance (fig.8) were identified at the end of the season. The work was also carried out in order to investigate the whole outer wall, digging its inner part in mud brick (fig.9). As already noted in the previous seasons, the activity of the sebbakhin has badly damaged the structure; nevertheless, this sector has preserved a lot of pottery, also painted (see below). In the inner part of the wall, some more architectural remains were investigated; the poor preservation of these makes the actual identification not so easy, but it seems likely to identify in a red brick platform the foundations of a staircase to the upper floor, quite similar to the one excavated west of the pillared hall in the Eighties. Near the mud brick foundations, an oven was discovered, with a rich depot of pottery; this one is dated to the Meroitic period, while the oven represents a post-meroitic use of the building. The digging has collected several typologies of pottery; some are tipical of the palatial use, with a very fine, well-made mixture. The most precious examples show a painted decoration, which reminds of some well known Meroitic models (fig.10); nevertheless, among the other fragments, we must mention the very interesting decoration of a fine vessel, with a group of monkeys (fig.11). 3) The restoration The work of the season also comprised some restoration, carried out in the podium and the outer wall of the palace (fig.12), as well as in the area of B1500 excavated in the 2011 season. As in the previous years, this activity would ensure the protection of the ancient structures, as well as the general plan of the building excavated by the Italian Mission in the area. The restoration is also carried out in order to create some area for the storing of archaeological materials (bricks, plaster, pottery), that are stored in situ. 4) The documentation This fundamental part of the archaeological activity of the Italian Mission was carried out according to the general lines of the previous season; the database of the material has been updated with other materials from the former seasons, as well as the new materials; the criteria that rule the database (building, sector, level, etc.) can easily be used for all typologies of the objects, and offer a methodological system in the approach to the ancient documentation. 5) The storage of the materials The last step of the season was to ensure the correct storage of the materials; in order to realise this goal, other metal boxes were used for collecting the ancient materials, that are now in the storeroom given to the Italian Archaeological Mission. Another programme for the storage of the ancient materials was carried out in the same Museum of Karima, where new shelves were bought for the architectural elements unearthed during the excavations in the palatial area, and now collected in the storeroom of the Museum (fig.13); among these materials, we can mention here the lesene capital of the facade in alexandrinian style, discovered in the present season near the podium. Such storage also aims to grant the correct access to the materials, in order to ensure the study of the architecture of the Meroitic palace at Napata, and their cultural background. 6) Other activities Some other activities, not directly connected with the Mission, were carried out by the Italian team. a) In order to have a topographical update of the general map of the archaeological area, the team of the Italian Mission also analyzed the position of other structures, such as the Amon temple and the

3 Meroitic building, excavated by the joint Spanish-Sudanese Mission in the centre of Karima; this activity would be part of a mapping, which would define the archaeological area, also in order to ensure its best preservation. The mapping programme would also envolve the excavations carried out by the University of Karima, which investigates the area near the modern road, east of the building B2400. b) During the stay in Karima, the team planned a journey to Old Dongola (Polish Mission, prof. Godlewski) and Kerma Dukki Gel (Swiss Mission, prof. Bonnet). c) At the end of the Mission, the Director of the Italian team was invited to give a lecture in the Faculty of Archaeology at the University of Karima, concerning the activity of the Italian Mission at the Jebel Barkal. 7) Varia The Italian Archaeological Mission received several visitors; some groups of tourists from different countries, and some colleagues: Vivian Davies, former Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Department of the British Museum, Dietrich Wildung, former Director of the Egyptian Collection in the Berlin Museum. Also two archaeologists of the Polish Mission in Old Dongola visited the Italian excavations. The important results achieved by the Italian Archaeological Mission in Sudan, 2012 season, depend on the individual skill of the team, which managed a very good activity in the field and on the materials. These results also were possible thank to the help of many: we are very grateful to the Sudanese Authorities for their helpful reception; a very special thank to the representative of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, Mrs Shirin Ibrahim Babiker, whose presence and kindness were very important for the results of our work. We would also remember the founders of the Mission, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ca Foscari University of Venice. A thank is also due to the Italian Ambassador in Khartoum, dott. Armando Barucco, for his incouraging reception. La Missione Archeologica Italiana in Sudan Fig.1

4 Fig.2 Fig.3.a Fig.3.b Fig.4 Fig.5 Fig.6

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