The Italian Archaeological Expedition in the Sudan (University of Turin & University Ca' Foscari of Venice). Report for 2010

The 2010 season of the Italian Mission at Jebel Barkal was carried out between November 28th and December 18th. The team comprised Alessandro Roccati (University of Turin), Emanuele Ciampini (University Ca' Foscari of Venice), Enrico Dirminti, a young Egyptologist graduated at the University of Venice, and Ikhlass Hashim representing NCAM. The members were hosted in the house of the Mission headed by Timothy Kendall, where the furniture of the former Italian house and several technical tools had already been stored at the end of the last season (February 2009). The Mission was funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the University of Turin, the University Ca' Foscari of Venice, and the Università della Terza Età of Rivoli (TO).
The shortage of available money and severe administrative restrictions affected the reduction of the number of participants, the duration of the Mission, and the extent of the investigated area. We must add that most pieces found in the past by the Italian Expedition need care and restoration, but this exceeds by far the financial means granted to the Mission. In spite of that, the results achieved in the present campaign are largely satisfactory, due to the great experience and devotion of the team.
About twenty workmen, chosen among the best reliable persons, were employed by this Mission; about half of them came from the town of Karima, and the rest from the Bedouin village.
The activity of the team, due to the few members and the very limited funding, was concentrated on digging operations in B2200; the first step in the excavations was to understand the real extension of the long red brick wall, which lies just south of the small sandstone basin. Unfortunately, the work was not eased by the difficult comprehension of the wall structure, which lacks several parts, due to later destructions.
Despite this situation, the digging pointed out several technical solutions in the masonry: the western part of this wall shows a complex system, with the arrangement of the bricks in the usual way, but also in a mixed technique (upright, horizontal, oblique) (see fig. 1). The inner part of the building was crossed by 1m-thick mud brick walls: some of these are main walls, others are created to separate units (fig. 2). In two of these we found evidences for cooking and fire places; the digging has discovered the rests of almost three bovines, and birds, together with several vessel fragments (fig. 3); underneath, rests of a human skeleton (maybe an adult) were discovered: it is possible to conclude that this sector could have been used as a service area for the preparation of meals.
Nearby, a kiln was found, probably in its original position; to this purpose, in order to create a cooking surface, a large decorated pot was used, turned upside-down with its bottom being cut (fig. 4); all the area was filled with ashes. We cannot exclude a connection between these two service areas that could be related to the Palace of Natakamani (B1500); further investigations will confirm the character of the whole area, as the kitchen of the palace.
The digging operations brought to light many interesting objects; some of them are probably parts of earlier architectural structures, such as two stands, one of white limestone, the other of sandstone; this latter, similar to those found by the American Mission in the Amun Temple, still preserves the last seven lines of a meroitic inscription (fig. 5; photo Wilson). Other architectural elements, found by this Mission, concern several red bricks whose profile recalls the Egyptian torus, similar to those found in B1500, and another brick decorated with a pillar pattern (fig. 6).
Other interesting finds are a red brick with a geometric drawing on one of its sides, and an ostrakon with a fragmentary Meroitic inscription (fig. 7). Furthermore, a small figure of the lion-headed snake Apedemak (fig. 8), the god who became one of the main deities in Meroitic Napata, was found in the sand.
The complete clearance of the chosen area led to the discovery, at the very north-western corner of sector I26, of some stone blocks still in situ, and the probable evidence of a collapse (fig. 9); among the blocks, part of a human skull was found upside-down; one of these stone blocks shows an earlier decoration.
In the whole extension of the digging operations, the Mission discovered a large quantity of pottery fragments (figg. 10-12); some of these sherds show a painted decoration, others were decorated with engravings, but most of them are devoid of decoration, and were probably of common use. In the sand, and not far from a brocken bottom filled with the same material, several pieces of yellow ochre were found, suggesting its use in painting (maybe for walls).
During its stay, the Mission planned some study and restoration; a big decorated jar, the one used as a kiln, particularly interesting for its decoration and size (fig. 13), was almost completely reconstructed by Dr. Dirminti, who also studied the decorated ware.
The team also carried out a recognition in the storerooms of the Karima Museum: there we noticed that many archaeological artifacts, above all pieces of architecture, lay in some disarray, covered by dust, and with wrong captions: we suggest that the pieces should be ordered according to their provenance of finding spots.
During our stay, we received the visit of Prof. Jamal el-Ghali (University of Karima), who informed us about the results of his excavations in the area just east of B2400: the digging brought to light six sandstone basins, several rests of pipes, and some big vessels; in the whole area, many pottery fragments were found, some of them with a painted decoration. The Mission interacted also with the academic activity at th