Tanqasi village lies on the left side of the river Nile, about 17 km downstream of Merowe city. This large tumuli field is located some kilometres south-east of the village towards the edge of the Bayuda Desert. It contains not less than 250 tumuli superstructures of various size and construction, varying from the very large to the very small. The Early Makuria research program resumed excavation on the site after a short break of investigations there in the years between 2018 and 2022, excavating 15 tombs located in different parts of the cemetery. The objective was to explore some of the tumuli which are located near the northern and eastern boundaries of the site to determine the chronology and possible patterns of cemetery development. The work which has been conducted so far has identified a broad chronological sequence, from the Late-Meroitic period (3rd–4th centuries AD) down to the Terminal Meroitic culture (5th–6th centuries AD, mistakenly called post-Meroe). It should also be mentioned that the substructures of these burials took on various forms, from a simple beehive shape, conical with descending ramp oriented east–west, and vertical rectangular shaft pits, terminating in more complicated types of U- and L-shaped burial pits. Despite the limited scope of the work conducted so far, it can be said that the research has shed important light on the history of this enigmatic period in Meroitic culture.

This presentation will discuss the restoration works of the wall painting in the Ga’ab El Laqiya Church at El Ga’ab depression in western Dongola, northern Sudan. This church was excavated by a team from the Department of Archaeology, the University of Khartoum in 2018-2019, and restoration work was carried out by the Polish mission. The damage factors to these murals included heat, wasps, termites, bat remains, as well as rain, and wind erosion. Many materials and equipment were used in the restoration of these murals, including alcohol, barrel solution, carbonate, restoration mortar, water, and equipment such as brushes, scalpels, and others. The results of this presentation conclude that the restoration of murals is very important and has an important role in preserving them from various factors of damage, with the additional recommendation for the necessity of follow-up and periodic monitoring of these murals to assess for any changes or the emergence of factors of damage to them in the future as a kind of preservation and preventive maintenance of the restoration process that was carried out on these murals.

Near the village of Miseeda, in the Mahas region, close to the Third Cataract, there is a medieval church, probably built in the 7th century. The region was surveyed recently and the new project concerning the church and its vicinity gives an opportunity for a closer look at the local pottery tradition. At the beginning of this year, in January and February 2022, conservation and archaeological works were carried out in the church and its surroundings. As a result, a large quantity of pottery was found, including transport, utility, kitchen and table wares. The aim of this paper is to present the material and to compare it with material from other production centers, resulting in a preliminary set of observations concerning the extent to which local production is based on a wider Nubian pottery tradition of this period and what its regional characteristics are.