Section Française de la direction des antiquités du Soudan: Specialized publications on line
Founded in 1967 at the initiative of Jean Vercoutter, the SFDAS was officially created in 1969. It was successively run by André Vila (1969-1975), Francis Geus (1975-1984), Jacques Reinold (1984-2000), Francis Geus (2000-2004), Vincent Rondot (2005-2009), Claude Rilly (2009-2014) and, since September 2014, by Vincent Francigny. In charge of cooperating with the Sudanese Department of Antiquities in its field activities (excavations and prospection), the SFDAS took part in the last rescue operations of the Nubian campaign which preceded the water impoundment in the Aswan dam reservoir. It then pursued the systematic inventory of the sites of the Nile Valley south of the lake. It has also conducted several planned excavations, namely on the sites of Missiminia (Napatan, Meroitic, X-group and Christian necropolis), Kadada (Neolithic, Meroitic and post-Meroitic necropolis), Kadruka (Neolithic funeral mound) and El-Hobagi (post-Meroitic burial mound).
L’écriture méroïtique
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Synthesis of the principles of Meroitic writing and its appearance. Click on the PDF attached to access to work.The quest for water and the diffusion of Northern East Sudanic languages from the fourth to the first millenia BCE
Read moreFrom the Yellow Nile to the Blue Nile.
This lecture was delivered in ECAS 2009 (3rd European Conference on African Studies, Panel 142: African waters - water in Africa, barriers, paths, and resources: their impact on language, literature and history of people) in Leipzig, 4 to 7 June 2009.Royal Cemeteries of Kush
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The five volumes of the Royal Cemeteries of Kush are now available online. Please click on the following files to download.Meroitic Newsletters
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The Meroitic Newsletters are now available online. Please click on the associated PDF files to download.Dotawo 3
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The third volume of Dotawo, guest-edited by Marc Maillot, is dedicated to Know-Hows and Techniques in Ancient Sudan. This collection of articles is the result of a workshop held at Lille University on September 5 and 6, 2013, which brought together several Sudanese archaeology scholars, from architecture to iron production through pottery and textile industry.Fouilles d’Oxford en Nubie
Read moreFouilles d'Oxford en Nubie
L’Université Oxford a organisé une série d’expéditions au sud de l’Égypte et du Soudan à partir de 1910, dirigée et financée en grande partie par Francis Lewellyn Griffith, le premier professeur d’égyptologie à Oxford. Les travaux ont été effectués entre 1910 et 1913, puis de 1929 à 1931 dans des sites tels que Faras, Kawa et Sanam. Après la mort de Griffith en 1934, Sir Laurence Kirwan dirige les fouilles d’Oxford à Firka (1934-1935) et à Kawa (1935-1936).Ballana/Qustul
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Ballana was a cemetery in Lower Nubia. It was excavated by Walter Bryan Emery between 1928 and 1931 as a rescue project before the construction of the high dam at Aswan. A total of 122 tombs were found under huge artificial mounds. They date to the time after the collapse of the Meroitic state but before the founding of the Christian Nubian kingdoms, around AD 350 to 600. They usually featured one or several underground chambers, with one main burial chamber. Some tombs were found unlooted, but even the robbed burials still proved to contain many burial goods.Karanog
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In Sudanese Nubia, L. Woolley and D. R. MacIver were the first to undertake an excavation program of a Meroitic city and its associated cemetery at the site of Karanog. This excavation of the University of Pennsylvania in 1909 documented the Meroitic architecture in a still unstudied area and describes an archaeological material that differs from the sites of the Butana region.Buhen
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Buhen was an ancient Egyptian settlement situated on the West bank of the Nile below the Second Cataract. On the East bank, across the river, was located an ancient settlement of Wadi Halfa. Buhen is known for its large fortress, probably constructed during the rule of Senusret III in around 1860 BC (12th dynasty). Senusret III conducted four campaigns into Kush and established a line of forts within signalling distance of one another; Buhen was the northernmost of these. The other forts along the banks were Mirgissa, Shalfak, Uronarti, Askut, Dabenarti, Semna, and Kumma. The fortress at Buhen is now submerged under Lake Nasser as a result of the construction of the Aswan Dam in 1964.Excavations at Kerma
Read moreExcavations at Kerma
Harvard African studies
George Andrew Reisner
Egyptian Expedition of Harvard University and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Peabody Museum of Harvard University, 1923Latest releases
Soleb & Sedeinga
SFDAS is pleased to propose this new online booklet on the Soleb and Sedeinga sites.
