In 2003, the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM) of the Republic of

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 ...

launched a
international appeal
for rescuing the archaeological sites which are going to be inundated by the floods of the

Hamdab High Dam The Merowe Dam, also known as Merowe High Dam, Merowe Multi-Purpose Hydro Project or Hamdab Dam, is a large dam near Merowe Town in northern Sudan, about north of the capital Khartoum. Its dimensions make it the largest contemporary hydropower p ...

currently under construction near Merowe in the Fourth Cataract region of northern Sudan. The new reservoir will cover about 170 km 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 ...

valley, and its completion is scheduled for 2007.
H.U.N.E., the '
Humboldt University Nubian Expedition
'' is one of a group of international expeditions which followed this appeal and joined the Merowe Dam Archaeological Salvage Project (MDASP). H.U.N.E. is based at the Institute of Northeast African Archaeology and Cultural Studies at the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Its main aim is the complete recording of all archaeological sites, including

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

sites, in its concession area by intensive foot surveys and the excavation of chosen representative sites of each archaeological period. The H.U.N.E. concession area comprises four main islands, Us, Sur, Sherari and Shiri and a stretch on the left bank of the Nile from Gebel Musa to the market village of Salamat.
Results of the first two campaigns in the years 2004 and 2005 comprised the discovery of more than 700 archaeological sites and the excavation of a

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

settlement site, burials of the

Kerma Kerma was the capital city of the Kerma culture, which was located in present-day Sudan at least 5,500 years ago. Kerma is one of the largest archaeological sites in ancient Nubia. It has produced decades of extensive excavations and research, in ...

period, and two churches of the

Christian era The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...

. Apart from rescuing the archaeological sites, H.U.N.E. also took efforts to document the traditions and customs of the local inhabitants of the Dar al-Manasir region, which belong to the Manasir tribe. Their

material culture Material culture is the aspect of social reality grounded in the objects and architecture that surround people. It includes the usage, consumption, creation, and trade of objects as well as the behaviors, norms, and rituals that the objects creat ...

, economic life and

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

are recorded as well. The Institute of Northeast African Archaeology and Cultural Studies at Humboldt University undertakes substantial financial efforts in order to conduct rescue excavations of several months duration in order to meet the needs of this large-scale project. It is only partly supported by public grants. Therefore, H.U.N.E. offers
sponsorship scheme
for archaeological sites to individual persons or institutions.

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20050205025216/http://sudarchrs.org.uk/page31.html Merowe Dam Archaeological Salvage Project Archaeological sites in Sudan {{Africa-archaeology-stub