Research

Hambukol/Letti Basin

Daily life in a medieval Nubian town and cultural ecology of the surrounding area

Hambukol

The medieval settlement of Hambukol, located on the banks of the Nile, halfway between the Third and Fourth Cataracts, is one of the "lost cities" buried underneath the Nubian sands. So far, the ROM team has uncovered parts of the domestic sector, a church and a monastery. The site dates to the Christian period, 6th to 14th century AD.

Letti Basin

Hambukol is located in the south-end of the Letti Basin. This sandy island-like area, 20 kilometres long and up to 5 kilometres wide, extends from the Nile on its western border to an extinct river channel known as Khor Letti in the east. The ROM Nubian Expedition has been carrying out an archaeological survey in parts of this area, recording sites from the Stone Age to Islamic periods. Among the most intriguing discoveries were the remains of the previously unknown pre-Napatan Nubian people (1000 - 800 BC), the ancestors of the great rulers of Kush.

Research in Egypt and Sudan has been funded in part by grants from the ROM Governors and private donors. Research at Hambukol has been funded in part by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and by donations from Tilley Endurables.

Curator
Krzysztof Grzymski

Selected Publications:

2004	Grzymski, K. "Landscape Archaeology of Nubia and Central Sudan." African Archaeological Review, Vol. 21: 7-30.
2001	Grzymski, K. and J. Anderson . "Hambukol Excavations 1986-1989." SSEA Publications XVI. Mississauga.
2000	Grzymski, K. "Nubia before the pyramids." Rotunda, 32(3): 30-35.

 

 

Location of Hambukol in Sudan.

Aereal view of building A-I at Hambukol. Kite photo by B. Zurawski.

Exploring the Letti Basin.