History

Prehistory of the Sudan

Recently, in 1990s, an expedition on the east bank of the Nile, about 70 miles south of Dongola has uncovered hundreds of Paleolithic axes dating to 70,000 years ago (by the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, directed by Dr. Kryzstof Grzymski). The axes present tangible evidence for the degree of sophistication this pre-Paleolithic society of?Hominids along the Nile valley (in present Northern Sudan) had gone through.

Rock picture of a Rhnoceros. Nubian Sandstone. Prehistoric. Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Berlin. Source: Wildung, Dietrich. Sudan: Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile .

It is not clear how the environment in Sudan had evolved in such distant times. Yet, probably between 50,000 to 25,000 years ago, the hand axes gradually vanished, giving place to numerous chipped stone industries that varied from one place to the other in the same region, suggesting the presence of competing communities and tribal groups in the same locality.

Female Figurine from el-Kadada.?Neolithic. Courtesy of the Excavations of the SFDAS and the Khartoum National Museum. Source: Wildung, Dietrich. Sudan: Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile .

Around 25,000 to 8,000 years ago, in Wadi Halfa,?Sudan, there emerged a settled community that is labeled as the Khormusan culture. ¹ A large grave findings dating to the period were detected in Wadi Halfa, where the diseased died violently and suggesting the use of varied stone tools and weapons.

In 1974, the American Anthropologist, Fred Wendorf, accidentally discovered one of the most important sites in the Nile valley. The area falls west of the NileValley in the Libyan Desert near the Sudanese border with Egypt. From artifacts and monde structures, Wendorf and his team discovered that the site goes back as far as 11, 000-9,300 years ago. ² Investigation shows that the site area had enough water supplies to support the Nabta community prior to the natural dry up of the region in the Neolithic era around 7000 years ago.

Vessels from el-Kadada.?Prehistory. Courtesy of the Excavations of the SFDAS and the Khartoum National Museum.?Source: Wildung, Dietrich. Sudan: Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile .

The artifacts indicated that Nabta inhabitants built houses, dug wells, and manufactured items including stone tools, weapons and pottery. Evidence suggests that the Nabtans adopted a complex and a centralized culture. Five circles made of sandstone slabs were detected, one of which reached 27 feet in diameter; ³ these have not been well understood but were speculated to be used as a sort of a calendar system tool.

Around 8005 years ago a herding community known as Khartoum Mesolithic produced pottery in large amounts. ⁴ The Khartoum pottery is one of the finest and most sophisticated in all Paleolithic cultures. As a matter of fact, the Khartoum community is the first Mesolithic and Neolithic community to produce pottery before practicing agriculture. Pottery artifacts were found in pits next to skeletal remains, showing the first signs for mortuary offerings that continued to be a prominent phenomenon throughout the ancient history of?Nubia. Other Prehistoric sites are found in several areas in Sudan including: Sesi, Jebel Wahaba, Arduan Island, and?Jebel Gorgod. ⁵

• ^{1 A. E. Marks, "The Khormusan and the Halfan," The Prehistory of Nubia , ed. F.Wendorf (Dallas, 1968).}
• ^{2 J. Hertaus,?"Nabta Playa", African Sites 31 Oct. 2008 < http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/africa/nabtaplaya.html >.}
• ^{3 R. A. Bagnold, "Journeys in the Libyan Desert 1929 and 1930", The Geographical Journal Vol. LXXVIII No. 1 (1931).}
• ^{4 E. A. A. Garcea, Cultural dynamics in the Sahara-Sudanese prehistory (1993).}
• ^{5 A. Osman, I. Soghayroun, El-Zein, and A. M. Sadig, "Rock Drawings in?Nubia", The Mahas Survey Project , Department of Archeology University of Khartoum,?31 Oct. 2008 < http://www.spicey.demon.co.uk/Nubianpage/rockart.htm >.}