Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (12.2000(2001))

DONGOLA REACH

SUDAN

narrow gorge between the mountain ridge
and the river. The region comprises the
important districts of El-Araak, Hugeir
and Magal. A motorabie desert shortcut
going to Kawa and Old Dongola bisects
the region.
Hugeir is quite favorably located at the
end of the desert shortcut just opposite the
fertile Nile islands of Masawi and Umm el-
Suyuf. In the Christian period, this region
of great economical importance was
guarded at both ends by two enormous
fortresses, Bakhit and Ed-Deiga. In later
times, the Ed-Deiga fortress stood on the
border between Dar Shayikija and Dar
Dongola.
The temple in question was concealed
within a maze of Hugeir houses (Figs. 1, 2).
The biggest remaining part of it sits in the
hosh of Ali Abd Er-Rahim. The yard is
fenced off from the river terrace by a dike
constructed during the last record flood in
1998. Ali Abd Er-Rahim reported that
during the high floods he used to moor his
felucca there. Some blocks bearing traces of
polychrome decoration and would-be
hieroglyphs were found among the blocks
used for constructing the dike.
The temple sits on terraced rocky
ground facing the river. The size of the
foundation blocks and the diameter of the
column bases suggests an edifice of
considerable dimensions. The diameter of a
column base still in situ is 180 cm.
A disconnected and misplaced half base,
found on the embankment, approached
250 cm in diameter. The bases were
formed of two semicircular sections
clamped together.
The megalithic foundation blocks were
cut out of well-dressed local sandstone. A
T-shaped block, forming part of a naos,
measured 280 x 260 cm. Its thickness is
unknown, as the side wall could not be
exposed deeper than 60 cm. The blocks

were laid directly on bedrock. The biggest
blocks were found beneath the walls at
intersections, which were the most
strained elements in the building. On the
basis of the elements recorded on the
surface and in a layer 10 cm below,
a highly hypothetical plan of the temple
could be drawn.
A very thorough search for ceramics
around the temple failed to produce any
evidence of occupation before the Christian
period. The left bank of the Nile was duly
visited in search of a settlement, especially
in view of rumors about stone statues
having been found by road builders on the
left bank opposite Hugeir. However, the
most appealing story concerned the
finding of a bronze figurine near the
Muslim graveyard in Usli (exactly opposite
Hugeir). To judge by the description, the
figure could be an image of the goddess
Bastet or Sachmet (the present owner of
the figure could not be traced).
A cursory reconnaissance of the region
around the graveyard in Usli was promptly
rewarded with the discovery of another
temple of more moderate size, but in a far
better state of preservation. As at Hugeir
all stone, wall and drum measurements
were multiples of the Egyptian royal cubit.
Column drum diameters and wall widths
equaled 105 cm (Fig. 3), while blocks
were mostly 52.5 x 105 cm. The topmost
layers around the temple yielded a rich
scatter of Kushite ceramics with
a conspicuous admixture of imported
Egyptian cream marl wares. The bread
moulds found so far (Dia. 8-12 cm) come
from the Eighteenth to Twentieth
Dynasties and the Napatan series. The
would-be Kushite statues appeared to be of
modern date. According to mixed and
contradictory local testimonies, they were
sculpted 20 or 30 years ago by an Usli
villager. However, the repertoire of these

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