DOI Artikel:
Godlewski, Włodzimierz: The old Dongola fortifications
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26389#0076
THE OLD DONGOLA FORTIFICATIONS
by Wlodzimierz Godlewski
Preliminary investigations of the city fortifications located on the northwestern
slope of kom A were the prime objective of the Mission during the 1990 season in Old
Dongola.1
Relics of mudbrick walls have been observed on the surface around the perimeter
of kom A in an archaeological context suggestive of the late medieval period, most
probably following the fall of the Nubian kingdom. In the course of removing deposits
accumulated on the slope of kom A it was found that post-Christian layers lay
immediately on top of the remains of structures from the 6^7*h centuries. It would
appear then that the structures in this area underwent total destruction sometime in
the 13*^14^ century with some of them being dismantled even down to bedrock and the
entire slope being exposed to erosion by wind and precipitation.
A massive mudbrick wall 3.1 m wide was found to run a straight course from the
northwest to the southeast for over 32 m. The northern end of it adjoined a rock
outcrop now largely eroded away, which must have been significantly higher at the time
when the defenses were built and must have been of strategic importance as the
northernmost point of kom A. At the other end, the wall, which is preserved only in
foundations not exceeding 0.7 m in height at any point and often destroyed down to
bedrock, disappears entirely and seems to have no relation with the stone wallbuilt nearby.
Excavations cleared a roughly triangular area west of the mudbrick wall which
clearly served as its northeastern boundary. The structures identified there all touch
upon the mudbrick wall. They seem to have been constructed simultaneously with the
wall and appear to be connected with it in a functional, if not structural sense. They
1 The excavations on kom A were led by the present writer
with the help of Mr. Jarosiaw Dobrowolski (architect). For
results see also W. Godlewski, The fortifications of Old Dongola.
Report on the 1990 season, Archdologie du Nil Moyen, 5, 1991, in
print.
74
by Wlodzimierz Godlewski
Preliminary investigations of the city fortifications located on the northwestern
slope of kom A were the prime objective of the Mission during the 1990 season in Old
Dongola.1
Relics of mudbrick walls have been observed on the surface around the perimeter
of kom A in an archaeological context suggestive of the late medieval period, most
probably following the fall of the Nubian kingdom. In the course of removing deposits
accumulated on the slope of kom A it was found that post-Christian layers lay
immediately on top of the remains of structures from the 6^7*h centuries. It would
appear then that the structures in this area underwent total destruction sometime in
the 13*^14^ century with some of them being dismantled even down to bedrock and the
entire slope being exposed to erosion by wind and precipitation.
A massive mudbrick wall 3.1 m wide was found to run a straight course from the
northwest to the southeast for over 32 m. The northern end of it adjoined a rock
outcrop now largely eroded away, which must have been significantly higher at the time
when the defenses were built and must have been of strategic importance as the
northernmost point of kom A. At the other end, the wall, which is preserved only in
foundations not exceeding 0.7 m in height at any point and often destroyed down to
bedrock, disappears entirely and seems to have no relation with the stone wallbuilt nearby.
Excavations cleared a roughly triangular area west of the mudbrick wall which
clearly served as its northeastern boundary. The structures identified there all touch
upon the mudbrick wall. They seem to have been constructed simultaneously with the
wall and appear to be connected with it in a functional, if not structural sense. They
1 The excavations on kom A were led by the present writer
with the help of Mr. Jarosiaw Dobrowolski (architect). For
results see also W. Godlewski, The fortifications of Old Dongola.
Report on the 1990 season, Archdologie du Nil Moyen, 5, 1991, in
print.
74