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Medieval Christian Wall Paintings Discovered in Sudan

BY SHANTI ESCALANTE-DE MATTEI

https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/m ... 234663806/

April 11, 2023


The archangel Michael with a Nubian king and Christ.
COURTESY THE POLISH CENTRE OF MEDITERRANEAN ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WARSAW

In an unexpected find, archaeologists excavating residences of the ancient Nubian https://www.artnews.com/t/nubian/ city of Old Dongola in Sudan discovered a complex of rooms hidden under the floor.

Constructed out of sun-dried brick, the walls are adorned with Christian https://www.artnews.com/t/christian/ paintings dated to the Funj Period (16th-19th centuries C.E.), according to a press release https://pcma.uw.edu.pl/en/2023/04/05/ne ... ola-sudan/ from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology https://www.artnews.com/t/archaeology/ at the University of Warsaw, whose researchers are leading the excavation.

Seems that [the] gods of excavations favored us in the very last season of [the European Research Council’s] UMMA grant,

wrote archaeologist Artur Obluski in a Twitter post, referring to the

Urban Metamorphosis of the community of a Medieval African capital city

(UMMA) grant that enabled the excavation of Old Dongola, also called Tungul in ancient Nubian.

One of the paintings shows a Nubian king bowing to Christ as he receives a blessing, their meeting watched over by the Archangel Michael, whose wings shelter both figures. In another painting, Mary is depicted in an unusual style, wearing a dark robe and carrying a book and a cross.

Obluski, in another post, commented on the unique style and motifs in the paintings.

These wall paintings negate a bias that Africans tried to awkwardly copy art form the North,

Obluski wrote.

They were creative, adapting, not only adopting, world trends to their needs, thus the new paradigm should be Nubio- and Afrocentric.

Not just the paintings but the rooms within which they are held contain mystery. The space is elevated above ground level, so it was unlikely a tomb. Yet the space was quite small and oddly shaped. One theory the researchers have proposed is that the paintings were made in this secret space as King David and his army of slave soldiers approached Dongola.

Very interesting discovery.




Discovered in the old Sudanese village of Old Dongola are a collection of medieval Christian paintings that have never before been seen.
"Dongola" is a Tigrinya word for a piece of rock.

Depicting the Virgin Mary

The hierarchical character of the figures depicted on the side walls contrasts with the representation's energy and intimacy. The representation of the Virgin Mary on the chamber's north wall also deviates from the norm for Mary in Nubian art. Dark garments are worn by the Mother of God, who is portrayed in a dignified stance. She holds a book and a cross in her hands. Her left hand is depicted holding a book that is only partially still visible, while his right hand is portrayed making a blessing motion.

It is not a surprise there were several Christian kingdoms in the Sudan makuria which was a Coptic Christian one. It reached from Egypt into the Nubia area but in the 9 or Tenth century Muslims kingdom overwealmed them and took over there was another one alodia this one lasted up to the 16 century. It was later also taken over thank god alhamdulilah today Sudan is a hundred percent Muslim country. They are now the defenders of the faith and Christiandom has been eradicated from the Sudan today even in Africa the subsaharan Africans are abondoning Christianity brought by the Europeans . So this is not a surprise the Sudan had several Christian kingdoms in the past

Dr Zackovich


Dr Zackovich

why do u leave the entire north Africa out of it thats a bad and being dishonest there are more countries in Africa that majority muslim then christians


Dr Zackovich