The Bayuda Desert, located at , is in the eastern region of the
Sahara Desert, spanning approximately 100,000 km
2 of northeast
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
north of
Omdurman
Omdurman (standard ar, أم درمان ''Umm Durmān'') is a city in Sudan. It is the most populated city in the country, and thus also in the State of Khartoum. Omdurman lies on the west bank of the River Nile, opposite and northwest of the ...
and south of
Korti, embraced by the great bend of the
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
in the north, east and south and limited by the
Wadi Muqaddam Geography
Wadi Muqaddam is a dry water course some 320 km extending from beyond Omdurman north to the great bend of the Nile near Korti. It gives its name to the geological Wadi Milk Formation. Delimiting the Bayuda Desert to the west it stil ...
in the west. The north to south aligned
Wadi Abu Dom
Wadi Abu Dom is an arid valley in Sudan. Situated in the Bayuda Desert, it runs from the central Bayuda approximately 150 km down to the Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in nort ...
divides the Bayuda Desert into the eastern
Bayuda Volcanic Field and the western ochre-coloured sand-sheets scattered with rocky outcrop.
Gold mining occurs today from October to March, as labourers work
auriferous
The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral.
Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...
quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
found in
wadi
Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...
s and shallow mines. These workings are usually in areas previously worked during the
New Kingdom of Egypt
The New Kingdom, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the sixteenth century BC and the eleventh century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasties of Egypt. Radioca ...
and the Early Arab Period.
In July 2020, it was found that gold hunters had used heavy machinery at the Jabal Maragha archaeological site in the Bayuda Desert, destroying it by digging a huge trench. The gold diggers were arrested and their equipment seized, but they were later released without charges.
The Bayuda Desert route
Throughout the
Meroitic civilization the ''Bayuda Desert'' became the lifeline connecting the northern and southern districts of the
Kingdom of Kush
The Kingdom of Kush (; Egyptian language, Egyptian: 𓎡𓄿𓈙𓈉 ''kꜣš'', Akkadian language, Assyrian: ''Kûsi'', in LXX grc, Κυς and Κυσι ; cop, ''Ecōš''; he, כּוּשׁ ''Kūš'') was an ancient kingdom in Nubia, ce ...
, with
Napata and Meroe as the termini. The king
Nastasen Stela provides testament of the existence and use of this route, describing his progress across the desert from Meroe to Napata for his coronation.
[Intisar Soghayroun, Elzein Soghayroun: Trade and Wadi Systems in Muslim Sudan, Kampala 2010]
The Mahdist War
The Bayuda Desert was crossed by the Desert Column of the Gordon Relief Expedition in January 1885 in a failed attempt to relieve the
Siege of Khartoum
The Siege of Khartoum (also known as the Battle of Khartoum or Fall of Khartoum) occurred from 13 March 1884 to 26 January 1885. Sudanese Mahdist forces captured the city of Khartoum from its Egyptian garrison, thereby gaining control over the ...
. The Desert Column was led mainly by Major General Sir
Herbert Stewart
Major-General Sir Herbert Stewart (30 June 1843 – 16 February 1885) was a British soldier.
Early life
Stewart, the eldest son of the Rev. Edward Stewart, was born at Sparsholt, Hampshire. He was the grandson of Edward Richard Stewart and ...
but after he was mortally wounded, command passed to Brigadier General
Charles Wilson, the column's intelligence officer. The Expedition saw the
Battle of Abu Klea and the
Battle Abu Kru.
References
External links
{{Authority control
Deserts of Sudan