DOI issue:
Sudan
DOI article:Godlewski, Włodzimierz: Old Dongola: Kom A (citadel), 2007
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42093#0326
DONGOLA
SUDAN
(courtyard) with one of them being built
into room B.I.21. It is unclear what was
happening in the eastern part of the palace
where the small houses H.l-2, H.4 and H.6
were later established. It was probably already
destroyed as well, as indicated by the findings
from a trench in the southeastern corner of
the building, in room B.39 where no
occupational level was recorded for this
phase of Building B.I.
In the third phase, the building seems to
have comprised 13 rooms [jFig. 6]. The
entrance from the city side led to room
B.50.SE and the entrance from the south via
the still functional staircase remained in use.
Most certainly the original walls of Building
B.I were still standing. The only new
construction was the west wall in units 31, 53
and most probably 50, in similarity to the
west wall of room 33. Partitions were
introduced in some of the rooms (9, 30, 50)
as well as a number of masonry benches of
different dimensions, all approx. 0.20-0.30 m
high (in rooms 9, 38, 52 and 54). The
interiors were plastered and whitewashed;
red pigment was noted on some of the walls,
often on the entrance jambs. Some Old
Nubian graffiti were noted scratched in the
plaster of the east wall of unit 51.
Dating of the third-phase occupation of
Building B.I is grounded on one hand in the
architectural sequence of construction
changes in the structure, where the second
phase is attributed to the period of military
conflict with the Mamluks, presumably in the
end of the 13th century, and on the other
hand on the pottery material from the fill
overlying the floors in particular units, that is,
presumably the last phase of use of Building
3B.I (Godlewski 2007b: 291, Fig. 4). The
pottery from room 52 is of the greatest
interest, consisting as it does mostly of
Terminal Period wheel-made ceramics
from the 14th-15th century [Fig. 5]. The
repertoire of forms includes bowls and vases
decorated in black and red paint on an orange
or yellow slip; cups with massive lower bodies,
yellow slip and a red band on the rim, qullae
(bottles with clay filters in the necks),
qaiuwadis, clay objects identified tentatively as
plugs approx. 6.50-10.00 cm in diameter,
and large stoppers with geometrical stamps
on the surface. One wheel-made bowl lamp
had a rim moulded by hand.
BUILDING C.l ON THE CITADEL
The other site, which started to be explored
in the northwestern corner of the Citadel, is
C.l. A large mud-brick building (B.VI)
uncovered here (its full size is not yet
known) is situated at the edge of a rocky
cliff, rising steeply from the river at this
point. So far, a big hall has been explored, its
ceiling supported on six round piers
constructed of brick, and a number of
chambers of different size in the
southwestern part [Fig. 9]· While it was
certainly in use in the 11th-12th century,
there is no doubt that its construction falls
at a much earlier date.
320
Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19, Reports 2007
SUDAN
(courtyard) with one of them being built
into room B.I.21. It is unclear what was
happening in the eastern part of the palace
where the small houses H.l-2, H.4 and H.6
were later established. It was probably already
destroyed as well, as indicated by the findings
from a trench in the southeastern corner of
the building, in room B.39 where no
occupational level was recorded for this
phase of Building B.I.
In the third phase, the building seems to
have comprised 13 rooms [jFig. 6]. The
entrance from the city side led to room
B.50.SE and the entrance from the south via
the still functional staircase remained in use.
Most certainly the original walls of Building
B.I were still standing. The only new
construction was the west wall in units 31, 53
and most probably 50, in similarity to the
west wall of room 33. Partitions were
introduced in some of the rooms (9, 30, 50)
as well as a number of masonry benches of
different dimensions, all approx. 0.20-0.30 m
high (in rooms 9, 38, 52 and 54). The
interiors were plastered and whitewashed;
red pigment was noted on some of the walls,
often on the entrance jambs. Some Old
Nubian graffiti were noted scratched in the
plaster of the east wall of unit 51.
Dating of the third-phase occupation of
Building B.I is grounded on one hand in the
architectural sequence of construction
changes in the structure, where the second
phase is attributed to the period of military
conflict with the Mamluks, presumably in the
end of the 13th century, and on the other
hand on the pottery material from the fill
overlying the floors in particular units, that is,
presumably the last phase of use of Building
3B.I (Godlewski 2007b: 291, Fig. 4). The
pottery from room 52 is of the greatest
interest, consisting as it does mostly of
Terminal Period wheel-made ceramics
from the 14th-15th century [Fig. 5]. The
repertoire of forms includes bowls and vases
decorated in black and red paint on an orange
or yellow slip; cups with massive lower bodies,
yellow slip and a red band on the rim, qullae
(bottles with clay filters in the necks),
qaiuwadis, clay objects identified tentatively as
plugs approx. 6.50-10.00 cm in diameter,
and large stoppers with geometrical stamps
on the surface. One wheel-made bowl lamp
had a rim moulded by hand.
BUILDING C.l ON THE CITADEL
The other site, which started to be explored
in the northwestern corner of the Citadel, is
C.l. A large mud-brick building (B.VI)
uncovered here (its full size is not yet
known) is situated at the edge of a rocky
cliff, rising steeply from the river at this
point. So far, a big hall has been explored, its
ceiling supported on six round piers
constructed of brick, and a number of
chambers of different size in the
southwestern part [Fig. 9]· While it was
certainly in use in the 11th-12th century,
there is no doubt that its construction falls
at a much earlier date.
320
Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19, Reports 2007