Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (18.2006(2008))

MtoM - MEROWE SHERIQ, TANQASI, ZUMA

SUDAN

MEROWE SHERIQ

The archaeological site located in 1992 by
an Italian-Sudanese Mission directed by
I. Vincentelli Liverani (1997: 163, 172) and
identified as a medieval fortress with
numerous blocks of hieroglyphs and reliefs
reused in wall construction, is in fact much
more extensive. It comprises a fragmentarily
preserved fort (MSh.l), a fortified settle-
ment (MSh.2) and a Christian burial ground
(MSh.3) [Fig. U. In 2005, Artur Obluski
working for the MtoM program at el-Zuma
(for that work, see El-Tayeb 2007; Obluski
2007) surveyed the site and located some
graffiti from the Makurian period on the
rocks nearby. The site was recorded in 2006
and a test pit was dug inside the southern
fort gate to establish site stratigraphy.
FORT (MSH.l)
The estimated size of the fort was originally
105 by c. 133 m. Only the southwestern

part has been preserved, the eastern section
having been destroyed by the 19th-century
'Khamid Tawfiq House', now in ruins, and
the northern part overbuilt with modern
village architecture. The west and south
curtain walls stand high. Inside the walls lie
some structures of unrecognized function,
preserved at ground level, which is here flat
and rocky. The location is neither strategic
or defensive. To the west there are some
rather high rocky hills, to the east the wide
valley of the Nile with greening palm-tree
gardens.
The high-standing walls give the
impression of a fortress, but the site was
actually more of a fortified settlement,
much like site MSh.2 which is immediately
adjacent on the north and which has
fragmentarily preserved fortifications and
settlement architecture. This latter site
seems to have been part of the same


Fig. 2. Fort MSh. 1. West curtain wall with towers, view from the west
(Photo W. Godlewski)

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