Location of Gebel Adda

Looking north: Left with Citadel and Tumuli field of Cemetery 1

View of the Citadel 

1. Photograph taken in January 1963: In the front it shows the wadi which ran along the northern flank of Gebel el-Shams. In the background to the left is the Dahabiya "Osiris", our camp site and the Citadel. To the right it shows a part of Cemetery 1 with double domed superstructures. The center of the photograph shows a rectangular mud-brick tomb of a more recent date, probably belonging to a locally important person. In the foreground is the Quarry which at this early stage of the season had not been excavated.

10. Left side: The southern slope of the Citadel with pottery tent, Dahabiya "Osiris" and our camp site. To the right is the southern end of our concession with the eastern ridge of Gebel el-Shams. 

Town Site

Meroitic Temple

5. Oriented approximately north-south with the sanctuary in the north, the late Meroitic Temple occupied a large area of the northeastern part of the Acropolis.This photograph shows the remains of the well-laid sandstone courses at the northwestern part with a side entrance to the sanctuary room. In a later period this entrance was blocked with mud-bricks of unusual large sizes and were of a reddish color, apparently the result of a later fire. Next to it, another stone wall went at a right angle to the other side of the Temple, leaving in the middle a space  for a large opening to the sanctuary room. From this wall towards the northern enclosure of the Meroitic Temple, the sanctuary room measured about 11 m. Between the northern enclosure of the Temple and the collapsed column in front of it, the remains of a rough stone wall of a later date, apparently belonging to Church 5, were found.

Background with workmen camp and approaching Nile.  ( photo by Kent R. Weeks )

For further information of the Meroitic temple see "Nicholas B. Millet,Gebel Adda Preliminary Report, 1965 - 1966".  

Northwestern Suburb

1. Photograph taken in 1963 before the flood, showing the western slope of the Citadel. The Northwestern Suburb with the River Tower and the Christian Houses were located  above the sandstone plateau to the left.

2. The Northwestern Suburb with Christian House 100, 101,102 and the outline of the inclined River Tower. At this time parts of the First and Second Retaining wall and parts of River Tower were already destroyed by the flood. For details of the X-Group tomb see Number 31and 32. ( Map based on copies of the survey work by Horst Jaritz ).

5. Christian House 100: Plan and sections of the ground and first floors. Bellow the foundation were the remains of an earlier mud-brick structure (left). Beneath the four threshold slaps at the arched entrance to Room 4 a 'foetal pot burial' was placed.

6. Christian House 101: Plan and sections of the ground and first floors. From the Lane at the eastern side of the building two arched doorways gave access to Room 1 and 2. The single arched doorway at the southern end of the building gave access to 7 vaulted rooms. It is nor clear if Room 6 had a connection to Room 2. ( Both maps are based on copies of the survey work by Horst Jaritz.)

Nicholas Millet in Preliminary Report, 1963-1964. "Two late Christian Houses 100 and 101 are two large Late Christian houses neighboring the River Tower in the north-west corner of the site. These were excavated an studied from an architectural point of view, but the operations of later squatters had destroyed the original occupational levels. However, both the construction and the rubbish just outside of the house walls indicate a date subsequent to 1000 A.D. Both houses were extensively used in Mameluke and Ottoman times".

9. Section a-a: From Trench 3 through Stone wall 5 and the massive mud-brick southern wall of the inclined River Tower. Background with elevation of House 101 and 102. A small shard of the New Kingdom pottery was found in the surface sand by Horst Jaritz in the area above the River Tower. No further shards of this period were found in the following seasons of 1964 - 1965 and 1965 - 1966.  See Nicholas B. Millet in Preliminary Report 1963 - 1964. ( Section of the River Tower based on the survey work by Horst Jaritz ).

10. Section b-b: From Trench 3 through the two Retaining Walls and the massive mud-brick structure of the inclined River Tower at the rivers edge. Background with elevations of House 101 and 102.  Description by David N. Edwards in "Sudan & Nubia",  Bulletin No.20, 2016: "The unusual nature of the brickwork, for which no parallels have yet been found within Nubia, presents a puzzle. While Millet seemed reasonably convinced that the main period of occupation began in the late Meroitic period, there is certainly reason to suspect that there was some earlier activity on the site, if never really defined in the relatively limited excavations within the settlement". ( Section of the River Tower based on the survey work by Horst Jaritz ).

37. Section f-f, shows the southern profile of Trench 3. Indicated in the background are the elevations of House 101, House 102 and the remains of the River Tower. The mud-brick vaulted X-Group Tomb was located about 4.80 m bellow the surface of the Lane. In front of the blocking a jar, still in situ, was placed on a mud-brick pedestal, although the roof of the tomb was destroyed by the robbers. The tomb, placed on loose rocky material, was located about 2 m from an artificially cut sandstone edge. From this edge towards the 30 m mark, several steps where cut out of the sandstone surface.

40. Cross section e-e below House 101 with two trial trenches. At the left side of the raised natural bed rock formation was an artificially cut out step and was covered with rubble. Time did not permit for further investigation and it is not clear if here another tomb was placed. On the other side of this rock formation a larger step was cut out to support an early X-Group tomb. In the profile it shows only the foot end of the mud-brick vaulted tomb. Also this tomb was not excavated. Bellow this step the bedrock, also artificially cut out, continued towards Trench 3.