🇬🇧 [2002-2005] Excavations by the University of Lille III Charles de Gaulle: Zankor and Abu Sofyan

Under the direction of Brigitte Gratien

Located to the south of Wadi el-Milk, right along the famous “40 Days Trail” which runs through Darfur and Kordofan, the site of Zankor has long been known for its group of monolithic columns standing in the middle of the arid steppe.

Surveyed by British explorers during the Condominium era, it was not until 2002 that a full-scale archaeological dig was carried out by the Mission archéologique de Gism el-Arba (University of Lille III) led by Brigitte Gratien.

The excavation of Zankor was a courageous and pioneering endeavour. The working conditions were extreme, even for experienced archaeologists. Scientifically, the situation is not much easier, as the excavators have always focused primarily on the Nile Valley, meaning there are few parallels with which to identify the cultures represented on the site, none of which developed writing. And yet, while the link between the civilisations of the Nile Valley and inland Africa has been the subject of hundreds of publications of varying value, only the Gism el Arba Mission decided to take the plunge and go in search of archaeological evidence.

When the survey was extended the survey to a larger perimeter of approximately twenty kilometres around the site, it became clear that the settlement of this area was very old, dating back to the Middle Palaeolithic. The population and the number of sites increased over time, and were found particularly in areas around the scattered jebels in the plain, that sheltered them from the wind. As for the cemeteries, they were set up on open ground, in the steppe. These cultures have not yet been identified or precisely dated, due to a lack of comparative data, but research is still ongoing in this area.

Nevertheless, several levels of occupation have been discovered. The first dates from the 2nd millennium BC and is characterised by light dwellings, lithic tools and very fine polished ceramics with incised decoration.

The second level is very well represented, particularly on the site of Zankor. Dating from around the year zero, this culture is contemporary with that of Meroe, but no Meroitic remains have yet been discovered.

Thick walls reinforced with observation towers formed a broad wall encompassing an area measuring 1.3 by 1.8 kilometres on the ridge of Jebel Zankor. Below, a less populated residential area was also included within the enclosure. A rainwater collection system and two cisterns were built high up to supplythe city. The site has been almost completely destroyed, and the large bricks have been reused in modern buildings, but we do know that these ancient houses had several rooms, grouped together or in a row. Circles of polished stone pillars suggest places of worship.

The ceramics here are unusual, crudely shaped, mounted on basketry, covered in a red slip and sometimes decorated with geometric patterns. However, the occupation of the site seems to have been short-lived, and it is likely that Zankor was the seat of a separate principality, with no links to the civilisations that ruled the Nile Valley at the same time.

Subsequent occupations are still not well identified, and the town of Foga is the only urban site currently known. The region seems to have experienced a new golden age in the 13th and 14th centuries, but here again, no convincing correspondence has been established with the contemporary Christian kingdoms of the Nile Valley.

Numerous cemeteries from all periods dot the plain, most of them covered with stone mounds. Some are distinguished by a higher tumulus, built in the centre of a quadrilateral of raised stones. One of the most remarkable examples of this type of burial site can be seen near the town of Zankor and has been C14 dated to the late 13th or early 14th century.

The region may then been subjected to big losses due water shortage. The centres of authority would then have moved south-westwards.

In 2005, prospecting began at the Abu Sofyan site, 250 kilometres north of Zankor. Since its discovery in 1923 and according to an initial survey conducted in 1935, only a large tumulus and a few rock engravings had been mentioned, all of which were unrelated to the cultures of the Nile Valley, or even to Zankor. Prospecting therefore began in an area measuring 20 x 20 kilometres. The oldest site mentioned dates from the Middle Palaeolithic.

One of the most remarkable discoveries was a small Neolithic cemetery consisting of around ten burial mounds preceded by a double avenue of standing stones. A stelae sanctuary may also have existed nearby.

Later on, the number of inhabitants decreased and became more concentrated than in Zankor, but the cemeteries remained numerous and scattered. At Abu Sofyan, there is a completely silted-up settlement recognisable by its enclosure and a necropolis. The largest tomb is 50 metres in diameter and over 3 metres high, topped by a brick tumulus.

The local ceramics seem to date from the Meroitic era although they bear some similarities to those from Kerma, which are much earlier.

Another stone-encased town dominates an inhabited area, as at Zankor, but with a slightly different pattern to the upper/lower town division.

One particular aspect of Abu Sofyan should be noted: rock paintings from all periods depict wildlife or crudely stylised figures, including mounted camels in the latest drawings.

The area south of the Nile near the Forty Days’ Trail has therefore been occupied by man almost continuously since prehistoric times, but seems to have remained isolated from the civilisations of the valley. This suggests a succession of independent kingdoms along these trade routes, prior to the extension of the Darfur Sultanate into Kordofan and the Fung campaigns of Central Sudan.

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