Nubian Expedition – Serie

This volume records the expedition's 1961 finds from the cemeteries and settlements around Bab Kalabsha, including the architecture of the sacred complex of late Roman times on the heights above Bab Kalabsha, a small valley chapel at Taifa, Christian remains from settlements on the island of Darmus, and refuge-shelters erected on the high desert. The discovery of two cemeteries with distinctive remains dated to the middle of the fourth century A.D., roughly contemporary with the desert refuges, highlight the excavations. Large domical stone tumuli with high stone enclosures are attributed to Blemmye rulers of the area who were a major force in the political upheaval of Late Roman Egypt.

Although C-Group sites in the area had been thought to be poor or plundered, Cemeteries T, K, and U yielded large amounts of undisturbed material that provided a valuable opportunity to check the chronology of C-Group by plotting the occurrence of various objects and practices in the cemetery. Some objects, for example, sandals, provide new evidence for the development of crafts in Nubia. The depictions of cattle on two incised bowls are the finest of their kind and offer valuable insight in the relationship of C-Group people and their cattle, a special relationship that is widespread in Sudan.

This volume is the first of twelve scheduled to present the materials excavated under the direction of Professor Keith C. Seele in a concession that extended from the Abu Simbel temples to the Sudan frontier in two seasons, 1962-63 and 1963-64. It presents, in detail, Cemetery L at Qustul, which is a small cemetery containing unusually large and wealthy tombs of A-Group. The tombs, badly plundered and fire damaged, contained pharaonic images on A-Group objects, indicating that they belonged to rulers from the period before Egypt's First Dynasty. Many finds are unique; decorated objects give direct evidence in context for the date of famous carved stone and ivory objects from early Egypt. This lavishly illustrated volume details the elaborate A-Group painted pottery and decorated objects as well as more common finds, with individual chapters on the tombs, pottery, small objects, epigraphy, and a discussion of the special importance of Cemetery L in early Nubia with its possible role in the development of pharaonic Egypt.

This volume, the second to publish the results of Seele's two seasons of excavations in Nubia, presents Neolithic, A-Group, and Post-A-Group remains from Qustul, Ballana, and Adindan. Neolithic remains were only found in a cave behind the village of Adindan and consist of sherds, some implements, a human skull, and fragments of decorated ostrich eggshell. The cave is comparable to caves found deep in Sudan and represents a northern extension of the cultures well known in the area of the second cataract. Also included in this volume are A-Group remains from cemeteries other than Cemetery L and Post-A-Group remains from two burials, dated between the end of A-Group and the beginning of C-Group, that can be compared with others in the region to identify a limited occupation in a period where none has been thought to exist in recent years.

A number of burials excavated by the Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition revealed pottery, objects, and burial customs that are dated to the Twenty-fifth Dynasty and Napatan periods (ca. 750-200 b.c.), a poorly known phase in Lower Nubia. The rulers of this great age of Kush left monuments in the region, but almost nothing could be found of the ordinary people. The burials are compared with others published from the region to reconstruct a substantial period of settlement in Lower Nubia.

This volume, the fifth to publish the results of Seele's two seasons of excavations in Nubia, presents Meroitic materials from two large cemeteries and a small settlement at the southern end of Egyptian Nubia. The compactness of the cemeteries and diversity of their materials encouraged the use of a distribution study to distinguish four chronological phases extending from the second century b.c. to the end of the third century a.d. Many complete groups that were found in the cemeteries can be used to trace cultural changes in a region of considerable diversity. A wide range of pottery (especially painted pottery) and small objects trace important developments in the minor arts. Tabular registers detail each group with illustrations selected to help researchers develop new patterns of connection and understanding in Lower Nubia. A chapter on Meroitic inscriptions by Nicholas B. Millet is included.

The excavations at these cemeteries provide a full range of X-Group objects, dated to the fourth through sixth centuries a.d. Of special interest is the military equipment, including many decorated quivers, parts of several unusual light composite bows, and a saddle date to the late fourth century. The most important discoveries were the complexes of chapels and animal sacrifice pits found beside royal tombs at Qustul. The arrangement of these Noubadian royal funerary complexes can be related to others in Sudan indicating the existence of a widespread and long-lasting funerary tradition.

This volume provides lavish details on the New Kingdom remains from the Nubian sites of Qustul and Adindan. Nubia prospered, as it was more closely tied to Egypt during this period of its history than at any other time. The Egyptian influence and Nubia's prosperity are clearly depicted in the burials. William J. Murnane contributes a chapter on inscribed stela; Lanny Bell aids in a unique presentation of inscribed coffin fragments; John Darnell lends his expertise in the reading of the glyptic on scarabs; and Emily Teeter's advice on presentation makes this volume an extremely valuable addition to an Egyptologist's library.

In 1961/62 and 1963/64, the Oriental Nubian Expedition excavated cemeteries, the ancient fortress, and the late Christian town of Serra East in northern Sudan. This volume, the first in a series of reports, looks at the ancient burials and outlying structures. In the New Kingdom, Serra East was the site of an important center, one closely connected to the family of rulers of Teh-Khet. Just east of the fortress, the expedition excavated great tombs that probably belonged to forebears of princes Amenehmet and Djehutyhetep on the high desert and smaller chamber tombs cut into the side of a small wadi that would have belonged to members of the court. These cemeteries not only illuminate a great provincial household of the early New Kingdom, the great tombs mark an epoch in the history of architecture. Although the substructures were large chamber-complexes of Egyptian type, the earlier tombs had large low tumuli paved with bricks and surrounded by rubble and slab rings. The latest of the group was a brick pyramid. The great tombs of Serra thus illustrate a direct transition from tumulus to pyramid that anticipated the adoption of the pyramid by Kushite pharaohs many centuries afterward.

This book presents a comprehensive corpus of beads and pendants found during excavations undertaken by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago between 1960 and 1968 at the Lower Nubian sites of Qustul, Adindan, Serra East, Dorginarti, Ballana and Kalabsha and stored in the Oriental Institute Museum.This vast, illustrated catalogue organises the finds first chronologically according to the main periods of Nubian history and then by cultural units, beginning with the A-Group and ending with modern times. The present volume—the first of two—comprises beads from Early Nubian (A-Group, Post-A-Group), Middle Nubian (C-Group, Pan Grave, Kerma, Middle Kingdom), and New Kingdom sites. The discussion of each cultural unit begins with background information and develops into a fascinating story of the most characteristic types that form part of that group's identity, though types and materials often cross chronological and regional borders. The story is also one of jewellery fashions and the wealth and long-distance contacts of Lower Nubia, which lay at the crossroads of ancient routes in this part of the world.More specialized information on bead types, ordered by the materials from which the beads were made, is given in the second section of each cultural category. An outline of the preserved beadwork and an anthropological analysis of the remains of the beads' owners, together with references to parallels known from relevant literature and museum research, are also provided. The book concludes with illustrated synoptic and concordance tables that allow the reader to switch easily between catalogue, Oriental Institute Museum, and Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition find numbers.