Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (16.2004(2005))

FOURTH CATARACT - SURVEY

SUDAN

UMM SAFFAYA 5
The place name is Rudjal El Jebel (Men
of the Mountain). No walls of any kind,
either dry of stone or mud-bonded, were
noted, just a ceramic scatter - of Christian
(rather Classic and Late) mixed with
Fung/Modern sherds - on a flat rocky
hilltop located close to the fields, over-
looking the very narrow belt of the ground
under cultivation here (the Nile is only
about 100 m away).
Three cairns were observed, 1.50-2.50 m
across (one is subrectangular, 2.50 m long,
with Muslim grave orientation N-S) with
a hollow depression in the top. There is
plenty of modern ceramics around and
a handful of fresh dates had been placed on
a big modern sherd. The dates were ap-
parently put there on Friday. In all three
cases the dates were put on the southern
side of the “grave”. They were recorded as
graves despite local opinion claiming that
no man was buried there.
UMM SAFFAYA 6
A loose cluster of four tumuli, 2.5-3.5 m in
diameter. The biggest one, which is 5 m in
diameter, has two smaller ones attached,
one on the north and one on the south. No
pottery in evidence.
UMM SAFFAYA 7
The placename is Umm Tulehat (Hadjali),
the tumuli lying in the whereabouts of the
suq of Kehela (Gharib) village. The six
mounds measure 8-10 m in diameter.
UMM SAFFAYA 9
There is apparently no placename (cu-
riously enough only the Christian ceme-
teries have toponyms of their own). The
village closest to the mounds is Kehella.
The site was a cluster of 20 tumuli with
a diameter of from 6 to 10 m, constructed

of pebbles and qurba earth. There was a kind
of internal construction of boulders (ex-
posed in some places). The road winds
among the mounds. There is evidence of
fresh plundering and the caldera-like
cavity in the middle of each mound is in-
dicative of robbery.
UMM SAFFAYA 13
The mound stands on the bed of the Khor
Abu Haraz wadi. Large-scale ploughing with
tractors was going on in December 2004.
The tumulus has a diameter of c. 25 m, but
the shape of the mound is irregular due to
various (mostly anthropogenic) factors.
The stone coating has survived in places.
UMM SAFFAYA 14
The placename is Dambu or Dambu Rum,
south of the Khor Abu Haraz with the Nile
flowing to the northwest of the site. The
site is a cluster of 25 tumuli with a dia-
meter of 6-11 m, all with cavities in the top,
indicative of robbery. Two roads cut across
the cemetery. New houses of Amarab
village encroach on the cemetery, posing
a threat to the mounds.
The Khor Abu Haraz estuary with its
plenty of arable land seems to have been of
economic importance, albeit, unfortunately,
not marked by a fortress.
UMM SAFFAYA 15
Huge Christian cemetery of box graves
(second to Shemkhiya only) on a Nile ter-
race near Amarab (Monasir) village. Part of
the cemetery has been demolished and the
ground taken under cultivation, the soil
here being considered very good. The dis-
mantled stones lie piled up in the fields.
At least 400 graves are visible today,
but the actual number could be easily
double that, the destroyed superstructures
being difficult to assess.

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