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01/08/2006:

"Race to save first kingdoms in Africa from dam waters"

They built more pyramids than the Egyptians, invented the world's first "rock" music, and were as bloodthirsty as the Aztecs when it came to human sacrifices.

Yet ever since their demise at the hands of a vengeful pharaoh, the pre-Christian civilisations of ancient Sudan have been overshadowed by their Egyptian northern neighbours. Now, the race is on to excavate black Africa's first great kingdoms - before some of their heartlands are submerged for ever.

In a highly controversial move, the Sudanese government is planning to flood a vast stretch of the southern Nile valley as part of plans for a big hydro-electric dam at Merowe, near what was once the ancient city of Napata.

The project has been criticised by environmental groups, who say it will lead to the displacement of about 50,000 people - small farmers and their families, who have tilled the Nile's fertile banks for centuries.

The Sudanese government insists, however, that the Chinese-backed project should go ahead, saying it is essential to pull the country into the developed world. With the dam scheduled for completion in 2008, archaeologists are in a race against time to survey what will eventually become a 100-mile-long lake.

The affected area lies in what is known as the Nile's fourth cataract, one of the six stretches of river divided from each other by sets of rapids impassable by boat.

Already more than 700 sites of potential interest have been discovered in just one small part of the area to be flooded - showing the need not only for an urgent programme to rescue the most important artefacts, but also for a reappraisal of Sudan's archaeological importance.

"Previously we thought the fourth cataract was something of a backwater - it is wrong to say so," said Julie Anderson of the British Museum's department of ancient Egypt and Sudan. "But in the last year alone 700 brand new sites have been discovered - an indication of the untapped riches that exist.

"Although Sudan is the largest country in Africa it has often been in the shadow of Egypt. The fourth cataract is changing that perception. It is exciting, as everything we find is brand new."
telegraph.co.uk

In pre-Dynastic tombs that have been found, it was clear that these 'human sacrifices' were voluntary.