Italian-Russian archaeologists make major discovery in Sudan
(AGI) Rome, Jan 11 - A team of Italian and Russian archaeologists has made what the Sudan Antiquities Service is calling the most important discovery in the last decade. A basalt ritual altar, a base for a sacred boat, and a hieroglyphic inscription were uncovered at Abu Erteila, around 200km north of Khartoum, shedding new light on the Nubian civilization that existed between the 1st century BC and 1st century AD. The finding, AGI learned, is the fruit of the eighth round of excavations conducted from November to December 2015 by the international team led by Eugenio Fantusati, his deputy Marco Baldi, and by Eleonora Kormysheva. The mission was also officially recognized by the Italian foreign ministry.
“We’re still studying the text of the hieroglyphic inscriptions in Egyptian, but we’ve already identified the cartouches with the names of the royal couple they mention,” Professor Fantusati stated. “They are King Natakamani and Queen Amanitore, who ruled during the Golden Age of the Meroitic civilization that developed on the Nile. It played an important role on the international stage: consider the fact that it had commercial and diplomatic ties with the Roman Empire, up to its decline owed to the rise of the Ethiopian Kingdom of Axum.” Read more.
