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Principal Investigator:
Assoc. Prof. Artur ObłuskiContact: a.obluski@uw.edu.pl
Project collaborators:
Dr Agata Deptuła
Dr Dorota Dzierzbicka
Dr Lorenzo de Lellis
Dr Katarzyna de Lellis-Danys
Dr Tomomi Fushiya
Dr Robert Stark
Dr Magdalena Woźniak
Dr Maciej Wyżgoł
Adrian Chlebowski, MA
Mohammed Nasreldein, MA
Anna Brzozowska, MAProject term:
2018–2024
Budget:
1 500 000 EUR
Funding:
The European Research Council, ERC Starting Grant
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UMMA-Urban Metamorphosis of the community of a Medieval African capital city
Keywords: Old Dongola, Sudan, Africa
Dongola lies on the eastern bank of the Nile, halfway between the 3rd and 4th Cataracts, in the Northern Province of Sudan. It functioned for more than 1200 years, from the erection of the citadel at the end of the 5th century to the abandonment of the city in the 18th century. It flourished as the capital of the Christian kingdom of Makuria between the 9th and 13th centuries. Later, at the beginning of the 15th century, it was still inhabited by a dozen or even tens of thousands of people.
The UMMA project’s research is based on the premise that although the royal court moved out of the capital in 1364, part of the community stayed in the city and interacted with the Islamized Arab tribes that came to the area. The project’s aim is to investigate the nature of this interaction: was it rooted in conflict or was the transformation based on an agreement thanks to which the new state could be formed so quickly – within 100 years – and reach a high level of development.
The project has an interdisciplinary team and uses modern research methods combining expertise from the fields of archaeology, physics, biology and chemistry to investigate various aspects of the archaeological record. It also implements a collaborative approach to archaeology, with a focus on mutual exchange of information about the Old Dongola heritage with the local communities.
Associated news and events:General:
2018-11 Start of fieldwork for the ERC grant “UMMA” project
2018-06 PCMA welcomes ERC grant team
2017-08 ERC grant for PCMAPress releases on discoveries:
2023-04 New discoveries in Old Dongola. Protection for Tungul: new, unique wall paintings discovered in Old Dongola, Sudan
2023-02 Hieroglyphs discovered in Old Dongola, Sudan
2021-05 Cathedral of Dongola: new discoveries in SudanPublic recognition:
2024-02 PCMA UW expedition’s discovery nominated for the MocArty 2023 award
2023-12 Wall paintings from Old Dongola in Top 10 archaeological discoveries of 2023
2022-07 Public’s Choice Award for Artur Obłuski’s project
2022-06 PCMA UW inspires European researchersRelease of PCMA UW publications:
2022-12 Another book on Old Dongola published by Peeters
2022-01 Dongola and Deir el-Bahari: new books in Open Access from Peeters
2021-09 New book – Old Dongola: Continuity and Change
2022-08 Popular publication: Faras do Soba / From Faras to SobaLectures and conference presentations:2024-05 “Transitions of the city of Tungul” – workshop of the ERC UMMA project
2024-01 PCMA Seminar: ‘Pot Talks’ series on the technology of pottery production from Old Dongola
2023-12 PCMA Seminar: ‘Pot Talks’ series on ceramics from Old Dongola
2022-20 Archaeo-Oriental Studies Seminar: “Old Dongola – bioarchaeological studies”
2022-09 PCMA project at European Research & Innovation Days
2022-07 Workshop on latest results of the ERC-funded UMMA project
2022-03 PCMA Seminar: Textile archaeology in ancient Nubia
2019-02 Workshop: ERC Starting Grant UMMAProject bibliography:de Lellis-Danys, K. (2024). Ceramics from the North Church in Old Dongola revisited. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean, 33(1)
de Lellis-Danys, K. (2024). Transformations in the Socio-Economy of an African City. The Pottery from Old Dongola in the 14th–18th centuries CE. Nubia. Studies in the Archaeology and History of Northeast Africa. Brepols (forthcoming)
Nasreldein, M., Riehl, S., Obłuski, A., & Conard, N. J. (2024). The archaeology of pleasure: Evidence for the use of tobacco at Old Dongola in Northern Sudan (16th–19th centuries AD). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 53, 104359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104359
Wyżgoł, M. (2024). Households in Transition: Persistence and Change of Dwellings in the City of Old Dongola (Sudan, 14th–17th Century). African Archaeological Review, 41, 293–315. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-024-09584-7
Wyżgoł, M., & Woronko, B. (2024). Geochemical analysis of domestic spaces. Studying activity areas in houses at 17th-century Old Dongola, Sudan. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 57, 104599. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104599
Woźniak, M. M., Witkowski, B., Gierczak, T., & Biesaga, M. (2023) “First dye identification analyses conducted on textiles from Old Dongola (Sudan, 17th–18th centuries ce)”. Archaeometry. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12930
Wyżgoł, M., Deptuła, A. (2023). Assembling a household in the Middle Nile Valley (Old Dongola, Sudan) in the 16th–17th centuries. Journal of Social Archaeology, 0(0). DOI: 10.1177/14696053231170023
Obłuski A., Dzierzbicka D. (eds.) (2022). Old Dongola: Development, Heritage, Archaeology. Fieldwork in 2018–2019. Vol. 2: Material Studies (=Polish Publications in Mediterranean Archaeology 6), Leuven–Paris–Bristol: Peeters Publishers DOI 10.2143/9789042948037
Obłuski, A., Dzierzbicka, D., (eds.) (2021). Old Dongola: Development, Heritage, Archaeology. Fieldwork in 2018–2019. 1, (=Polish Publications in Mediterranean Archaeology 1), Leuven–Paris–Bristol: Peeters Publishers (Open Access PDF)
Fushiya, T. (2021). Old Dongola: Continuity and change from the Medieval period to the 21st century/ دنقلاالعجوز: الاستمرارية والتغيرات من فترة العصور الوسطى إلى القرن 21
Dzierzbicka, D., & Danys, K. (2021). Radiocarbon Dates from the Monastery on Kom H in Old Dongola (Sudan) and the Chronology of Medieval Nubian Pottery. Radiocarbon, 1-21. DOI: 10.1017/RDC.2021.4
Wyżgoł, M. (2021) Dwelling after Makuria: the organisation and function of space in houses of the Funj period in Old Dongola, Nubia, Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, DOI: 10.1080/0067270X.2020.1865665
Wyżgoł, M., Deptuła, A. (2020). Living Outside the Wall: the Quarter of Wattle-and-daub Houses in Old Dongola of the Funj Period, Journal of African Archaeology 18, 1–24, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-20200005
Links:
- UMMA Facebook profile
- More about Old Dongola
