‘Intimate’ never-before-seen ancient Christian art found in hidden underground rooms
A team of Polish archaeologists has uncovered a series of mysterious rooms adorned with unique Christian paintings during a dig in northern Sudan.
The paintings dating to the fifth or sixth century were found hidden deep within ruins at the Old Dongola archaeological site which was once the capital of the Christian kingdom of Nubia in the early Middle Ages.
The paintings dating to the fifth or sixth century were found hidden deep within ruins at the Old Dongola archaeological site which was once the capital of the Christian kingdom of Nubia in the early Middle Ages.
Under the floor of one of the ruins, the researchers from the Polish Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw discovered an opening leading to a small room whose walls were decorated with the never-before-seen early Christian images.
The paintings show the Virgin Mary, Christ, the archangel Michael, and a scene depicting a Nubian king. They are accompanied by inscriptions in Greek.
Posting on Twitter, stunned lead archaeologist Dr. Artur Obłuski wrote: “Seems that the gods of excavations have favoured us.
Under the floor of one of the ruins, the researchers from the Polish Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw discovered an opening leading to a small room whose walls were decorated with the never-before-seen early Christian images.
“We found not only the stone blocks from walls and floor of a #Napatan temple of #Amun of #GemAton #Kawa but also enigmatic complex of chambers covered with wall paintings.
“One of the paintings presents king David of Makuria in intimate and dynamic scene with #archangel Michael and #Christ kissing the hand of the latter and probably begging for protection of the city of #Tungul (Old Dongola).
“[T]his is not a typical representation of the patronage of a Nubian ruler by saints and archangels.”
Posting on Twitter, stunned lead archaeologist Dr. Artur Obłuski wrote: “Seems that the gods of excavations have favoured us.
In the scene, the king kisses the hand of the seated Christ sitting in clouds. The ruler is supported by the archangel Michael, whose spread wings surround both the king and Christ in a protective embrace.
“Such a scene has no parallel in Nubian painting,” the researchers said.
The biggest mystery for archaeologists, however, is the set of rooms containing the paintings themselves. The spaces, covered with vaults and domes and made of dried brick, are quite small.
Dr Obłuski added that another image “shows #MotherOfGod in a unique, uncommon way and as far as I'm concerned unknown in #Christian #iconography holding a book in one and a cross in other hand and dressed in kind of monochromatic greyish robe.”
The Polish Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology said: “The room housing the painting with the image of King David resembles a crypt, but is 7 meters above medieval ground level.
“Working in such a small space, under time pressure and in temperatures that were already high in March was extremely demanding.
“The paintings were detached from the wall in some places, but the paint layer itself was remarkably well preserved.”
Old Dongola was the capital of Makuria in the fifth and sixth centuries and was one of the most prominent states of the African Middle Ages.
Old Dongola was the capital of Makuria in the fifth and sixth centuries and was one of the most prominent states of the African Middle Ages.
Research in this city was started in the 1960s by the legendary Professor Kazimierz Michalowski, who has been dubbed the Polish Indiana Jones.)
The unique paintings have now been secured by conservators under the supervision of Magdalena Skarzyńska from the Centre.
