Africana Byzantina from Nubia: Archaeological Discoveries and Cultural Heritage

For more than a century, archaeological research in Sudan has revealed some of the most remarkable treasures of African—and global—cultural heritage, a scholarly tradition closely associated with the University of Chicago and the pioneering work of James Henry Breasted. Over the past six decades, the archaeology of medieval Nubia has also become a major field of expertise for the University of Warsaw. Within the framework of Nubian Month at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC), this lecture surveys landmark discoveries that have transformed our understanding of Nubian societies between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, with particular emphasis on two historic capitals: Faras and Old Dongola. Drawing on key excavations and recent interdisciplinary research, it highlights spectacular finds—from monumental architecture and urban landscapes to funerary evidence, inscriptions, and painted decoration—that illuminate religious change, political authority, and everyday life along the Middle Nile.