Ricerc@Sapienza

The archaeological mission of Sapienza University of Rome - in cooperation with the Sudanese National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums - at Hugair Gubli, located in Upper Nubia (Sudan), at the fourth cataract of the Nile, primarily aims to investigate, dig and document a large temple whose last phase dates back to the Late Napatan age and more precisely to the reign of Aktisanes (4th century BC, known also from classical sources, such as Hecataeus of Abdera), but whose original nucleus very likely dates back to the New Kingdom, and in particular to the Eighteenth Dynasty.
It is a big temple carved out of a sandstone quarry, whose naos and part of the colonnade are still clearly legible, as well as the megalithic foundations.

The temple, however, is not an isolated monument, being at the centre of an area, still to be explored, rich of other archaeological remains. The excavation of the temple (main objective of the mission), therefore, will be integrated with wider research in the micro-region of Hugair Gubli/Magal, in order to document the archaeological landscape of the area, which is still awaiting a systematic study.

Beyond its scientific goals, that are obviously the most important ones, the archaeological expedition to Hugair Gubli represents the return to Sudan of Sapienza University of Rome several decades after the excavations directed by Prof. Sergio Donadoni, carried out during and soon after the Rescue of Nubian monuments and sites coordinated by UNESCO, a return that the Sudanese authorities show to greatly appreciate and encourage.

It is important to stress that this project extends the research activities of Sapienza University to a country where no other missions, of any kind, of the same institution are active.