Archaeological discoveries

A story from Sudan

An encyclopedic work, published in the Études d'egyptologie collection of Soleb editions, offers for the first time a synthesis of the history of the civilizations that have succeeded each other in Sudan, from prehistory to the contemporary world.

Necropolis of Meroe, Sudan. Pyramid of Queen Amanitoré.

It is a sum. A monument book dedicated to Sudan, in bookstores from November 2, 2017. Seven years of work have resulted in 900 pages devoted to archaeological history and the different civilizations that followed one another in ancient Nubia, the country of the black pharaohs.

Sudan:Great enclosure of the Meroitic archaeological site of Musawwarat es-Sufra and its elephant-shaped wall fragment .

Edited by Olivier Cabon, author and photographer, we find invaluable collaborations, among which that of Claude Rilly, Egyptologist and linguist, who is often presented as the new Champollion for his progressive decipherment of Meroitic, the first truly African writing. . This book by specialists accessible to the most curious, who wants to "combine the beautiful and the useful », presents the most recent archaeological discoveries, thus renewing our knowledge of these regions. It narrates the abundant history of ancient Sudan as much as, closer to us, that of the travelers who traveled through the region at the end of the 19 th century, or even the crises that opposed French and British imperialism in these regions, the main rival colonial powers of the time, including the fall of the Fung sultanate, between Blue Nile and White Nile, at the beginning of the 19 th century. Produced under the patronage of the Collège de France, richly illustrated, the book thus relates the 3000 years of history of a country as extraordinary as it is little known, introduced by a preface by Olivier Rolin, the author of the unforgettable Méroé and Port Sudan .

The irritating chapters are not hidden, like the major issue of education and women's rights, or the fratricidal conflict in Darfur with its refugee camps. At a time when the Institut du monde arabe (IMA) in Paris is devoting an exhibition to Eastern Christians, a chapter discusses the history of Christianity in Nubia, which existed for more than 1,000 years. A section on artists from contemporary Sudan, Hassan Mussa, Hussein Gamaan or Nouman Gaafar, closes this tribute book.

History and civilizations of Sudan, from prehistory to the present day », Soleb editions, 955 p., 49 €

*Researcher at CNRS