SFDAS
For over half a century, SFDAS, the French Archeological Unit for Sudanese Antiquities, has been the only permanently active archaeological research institute in Khartoum. As part of part of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM, under the Minister of Antiquities, Tourism and Wildlife), the SFDAS coordinates projects between France and Sudan in the fields of museography, archeology and in training sudanese and non-sudanese future heritage professionals.
SFDAS founder, Professor Jean Vercoutter, occupied the post of Director of Antiquities in Sudan shortly after the country got its independence in 1956. His main mission was to set up a department capable of managing an exceptional heritage which, at the time, was still unknown to the world.
Each year, the SFDAS welcomes around fifty researchers, archaeologists, epigraphists, anthropologists, botanists, photographers, restorers, curators and students as part of its projects at the national museum and its excavation missions in the field.
Through its activities, SFDAS contributes to the study of Ancient Sudanese history, to the highlighting of its archaeological heritage, to its protection, and to its presentation to the general public.
History
After its foundation in 1967 by Jean Vercoutter, SFDAS was only officially established later in 1969. Since then, it has been managed successively by André Vila (1969-1975), Francis Geus (1975-1984), Jacques Reinold (1984-2000), Francis Geus again (2000-2004), Vincent Rondot (2005-2009), Claude Rilly (2009-2014), Vincent Francigny (2014-2018), Marc Maillot (2019-2022) and today Séverine Marchi.
The SFDAS was tasked with cooperating with the Sudan Antiquities Service in its field activities (excavations and prospecting). It first took part in the final salvage operations of the Nubian Survey, which took place before the filling up of the Aswan Dam reservoir. She was then entrusted with the task of continuing the systematic survey of archaeological sites in the Nile valley to the south of the lake.
The SFDAS has also carried out several programmed excavations, notably at the sites of Missiminia (Napatan, Meroitic, X-Group and Christian necropolis), el-Kadada (Neolithic, Meroitic and Post-Meroitic necropolis) and el-Hobagi (Post-Meroitic tumular necropolis). During the 1980s and 1990s, several prospecting campaigns led to the registration of numerous archaeological sites.
Since the 2000s, the SFDAS conducted or contributed to the excavation and documentation of numerous archaeological sites in Sudan, among them Zankor (an area occupated from the 2nd millennium B.C. to a period contemporary with that of the Kingdom of Meroe), Mouweis (an urban and palatial site of the Meroitic period), el-Hassa (an urban site with a temple from the Meroitic period), and on the same concession Damboya (Meroitic palatial site), but also Kadruka (Neolithic necropolises), Kerma-Doukki Gel (the site of the capital city of the Kingdom of Kerma, excavated by a Swiss-French-Sudanese team), Sedeinga (vast Napatan and Meroitic necropolis), and Sai Island (the site of a New Kingdom Egyptian fortress that was occupied up to the Ottoman period).
Location
The French unit is located on the premises of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, in offices adjoining the National Museum of Sudan in Khartoum.
Due to the events that occurred in Sudan since 2023, SFDAS is temporarily housed in the offices of the IFAO (Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale) in Cairo.
Status
SFDAS is one of 27 French research institutes funded by the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (IFRE). The unit is one of 25 UMIFREs governed by a framework agreement between the CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research) and the MEAE (Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs), which is itself part of an inter-ministerial agreement between the MESR (Ministry of Higher Education and Research) and the MEAE.
Working in collaboration with the Cooperation and Cultural Department of the French embassy in Khartoum, the unit plays a prominent role in the French scientific and academic cooperation in Sudan.
Below is a link to the cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, which governs the activities of the French Research Institutes Abroad (IFREs), of which SFDAS is a member, as well as the description and structure of the scientific councils that oversee the IFREs.
In accordance with the “Protocol on cooperation in archaeological matters” in the Cultural and Technical Cooperation Agreement signed on 22 December 1969 by France and Sudan, the SFDAS “is integrated into the Sudan Antiquities Service” and its director “is responsible for his department to the Director of Antiquities”.
Staff and Resources
SFDAS generally consists of a director, a researcher, an international volunteer in charge of technical coordination, a secretary/translator and a driver. It has two main offices, a library, a study room and a storeroom provided by NCAM, as well as three all-terrain vehicles and computer, photographic and topographical equipment.
Research Library
The SFDAS has a scientific library. The acquisitions focus mainly on Nubian and Sudanese archaeology, prehistory, and Egyptology.
The SFDAS library is open to the NCAM colleagues, to the Sudanese academics and all the archaeologists passing by the French unit.
