New insights into the history of early Alwa: recent archaeological research in Umm Marrahi, Hosh el-Kab and Abu Nafisa forts (Khartoum Province, Sudan)

A group of nine fortified sites, similar to Roman fortlets, occur along approximately 550 km of the Middle Nile Valley of Sudan between the Fourth Cataract and the confluence of the White and Blue Niles. Previous research indicates that these forts were built in Late Antiquity, i.e. between the second and seventh centuries AD. This was a time of profound changes in the region that included the disintegration of the Meroitic kingdom and the development of several medieval Nubian realms. Drawing on previous research and the results of two seasons of fieldwork at three of the forts in 2018, this paper provides an answer to the questions of who and why these forts were built. Small finds and radiocarbon samples from various contexts provide insights into their history and indicate that all three of the forts investigated were erected in a short period during the second part of the sixth century, a time of conflict between the Nubian kingdoms that is described by the contemporary historian John of Ephesus.