A conference commemorating 50 years of Polish-Sudanese cooperation in archaeology and preservation of Sudanese cultural heritage will take place on 27-30 April in the Sudanese National Museum in Khartoum.
The PCMA has the honor on this occasion to award medals of merit to Sudanese colleagues in recognition of their contribution to the success of this joint Polish-Sudanese effort.
Polish archaeologists arrived in Sudan for the first time in 1961, taking part in the UNESCO-coordinated effort to save monuments endangered by the building of the Aswan Dam. Prof. Kazimierz Michałowski from the University of Warsaw directed the first excavations at Faras, discovering a cathedral full of well preserved murals which proved to be of major significance for Nubian studies. The association between Polish and Sudanese archaeologists has flourished ever since with further excavations and restoration work being organized at sites such as Old Dongola, Kadero, and recently Banganarti, Zuma and in the Fourth Cataract region. Numerous important discoveries have been made, contributing to advances in the field of Nubiology. As a result of this collaboration many rare and priceless pieces have entered museum collections in Sudan, but also in Poland.
The present conference Fifty Years of Cooperation between Sudan and Poland in the Field of Archaeology will sum up this fruitful period in our scientific relations.
For the program of the conference, see here.