A 900-year-old medieval crypt, containing seven naturally mummified bodies and walls covered with inscriptions, has been excavated in a monastery at Old Dongola, the capital of a lost medieval kingdom that flourished in the Nile Valley.
Old Dongola is located in modern-day Sudan, and 900 years ago, it was the capital of Makuria, a Christian kingdom that lived in peace with its Islamic neighbor to the north.
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At the time the crypt was created, Makuria was at its height. Its kings, ruling from Old Dongola, controlled territory throughout much of modern-day Sudan and parts of southern Egypt.
“The period between the late eighth and 12th centuries is claimed to have been the golden age of Makuria,” said Artur Obluski, a research associate with the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute and the University of Warsaw’s Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, at a recent lecture at Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum.
Makuria’s ability to maintain good relations with its Islamic neighbor to the north, the Fatimid Caliphate, which controlled Egypt, was important to the kingdom’s success, said Obluski. The two had an extensive trade relationship, and many people from Makuria served in the Fatimid army.
Arab historians at the time were impressed by the Christian monasteries they saw at Makuria. Though some reports of these monasteries were exaggerated, archaeologists have found some fantastic medieval churches, including recently excavated examples at Banganarti.
Makuria’s end came when the Ayyubid dynasty took control of Egypt in A.D. 1171. They launched an invasion of northern Makuria, bringing about a period of decline and eventually the loss of the kingdom’s independence.
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