Warsaw University team uncovers staircase of Great Church of Jesus in Old Dongola, Sudan

The expedition of the Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw, led by Prof. Artur Obłuski, has exposed a monumental staircase and the apse buttresses of the Great Church of Jesus in Old Dongola, the former capital of the Christian kingdom of Makuria, according to uw.edu.pl uw.edu.pluw.edu.pluw.edu.plOpen source ↗. The team first found the building in 2021. In the latest season the archaeologists also reached the level of the cathedral's original floor for the first time.

Size and state of preservation

Only a small part of the church has been examined so far. Sections of the stairwell walls survive to about 11 metres, so the trenches have to be exceptionally deep and require far more resources than usual, said Obłuski. According to him, the church is 47 metres wide and about 57 metres long, and its height is cautiously estimated at 21 metres. He says the building is larger than the White House in Washington, and the team plans to settle its size next season.

Until now, one of the churches outside the walls of Dongola was regarded as the cathedral. Obłuski expects that the view of that building's role will have to be revised.

Adjoining church and Greek inscriptions

The archaeologists also found another church, on the upper floor of a structure attached to the Great Church of Jesus. Its walls survive only to about one metre, but traces of painted decoration remain. The team holds six large shelves of painted plaster fragments. A similar church linked to King David, attached to the north side and found in 2023, is better preserved uw.edu.pluw.edu.pluw.edu.plOpen source ↗.

In the fill of the smaller church, the team found small plaster fragments with Greek inscriptions. According to epigrapher Dr Agata Deptuła, they are parts of biblical canticles, or odes: prayer songs added to the psalter. One text has been identified as the prayer of Hannah, mother of the prophet Samuel. The letters are written in a careful book hand and are only about half a centimetre high. Psalm texts were known from Old Dongola earlier, while biblical odes are new to the site.

Site protection and local work

The season was preceded by securing works carried out with the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Warsaw University of Technology. The autumn 2024 flood, the largest since 1988, damaged part of the roofs protecting the monuments. The expedition also built a photovoltaic installation to power the motors of pumps that deliver Nile water to homes and fields, along with an installation for eight water-pressure booster stations.

The research is conducted jointly with the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums and the local community. Training sessions on heritage protection were held, and an association supporting the care of the site was founded on local initiative uw.edu.pluw.edu.pluw.edu.plOpen source ↗.