Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (16.2004(2005))

FOURTH CATARACT - ULI ISLAND

SUDAN

The burials were typical of Christian
funerary practices: body laid in extended
position with the head to the west. The
narrow grave pits were rather deep and once
the body was placed in them they were
half-filled with sand and closed with roughly
broken irregular slabs of stone laid flat.
The rest of the shaft was then filled with
sand and a stone marker of carefully posi-
tioned stones was erected on top. The sand
between the stones was likely put there in-
tentionally, although later penetration
through the cracks between the stones can-
not be excluded.
In the times of the Makuria kingdom,
Uli Island seems to have been much more
densely populated than in earlier periods,
most probably approaching modern popu-
lation figures.
MODERN PERIOD
Two vast Muslim cemeteries situated in
the northern and southern ends of the


Fig. 9■ Site Uli 29. The superstructure of grave
T.10 (Photo W. Godlewski)


Fig. 10. Site Uli 26. Children's tombs
(Photo W. Godlewski)

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