Hidden History: An Interview With an Archaeologist in Sudan

sudan_alergologa_img_0319.jpg, default, View from the inside of the discovered 10th century Christian church in Miseeda, Sudan. Photo: Agnes Dudek, center, #000000

#heritage

Deserts are deeply evocative landscapes, rousing horror and admiration, fervour and revulsion, freedom as well as longing. But deserts are not as silent as they appear, looking deeper, they open to us – disclosing the past and its mysteries right before our eyes. The one looking was Dobrochna Zielińska, whom I had the honour to observe working in the beginning of 2023 on-site, in Sudan, whilst she was working to protect a 10th century Christian church built around an ancient and mystifying petroglyph in the middle of the desert.

Apart from the current project and its history, we also discuss the roots of Polish archeology in Sudan, the impact of climate change on the region, understanding the past through art, the gold rush, the hardships of living on desert terrain, and much more.

Dr. hab Dobrochna Zielińska is an archaeologist studying cultures of Late Antique and Medieval Nubia. She graduated from the Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, where she works as an assistant professor, teaching archaeology of Nubia, and currently directing the project concerning the research and conservation of the church in Miseeda.

This interview took place only a few weeks before the tragic conflict of the ruling armed forces began in Sudan. We all are terrified by what is happening to our friends and all people in Sudan. Everyday our thoughts are with them. We anticipate the return of peace. May you all remain safe.

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Dobrochna Zielińska on a boat on the Nile in Northern Sudan, photo: Mariusz Drzewiecki

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Agnes Dudek: A question I always begin with: can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Dobrochna Zielińska: I always think about myself – that everything is happening a bit by coincidence or by accident [laughs], actually, I don’t know. However you want to treat it. I started by probably following my mom’s choices – I was studying at a high school of fine arts and I thought that I will become an art restorer. Unfortunately – or maybe fortunately – I didn’t pass my exams and my second choice was archaeology. After a year though, I wanted to retake the exams but then I thought – I don’t need it really, that archaeology can give me more, different things. That it can enlarge my spectrum of interest. In fact, it is like this – I am working combining archaeology and my knowledge about technology of pieces of art, especially paintings. My artistic background from high school helps me think like an artist – and because of that I can understand Nubian artists, I hope at least. So this is more or less my path – up until now.

AD: Can you explain in more detail what you specialise in, as in archaeology there are many areas one can work in?

DZ: I am a Nubiologist, as we call ourselves. I study the past of Nubia, the area south of Egypt, up to the modern capital of Sudan. Especially the late antique medieval period when Christianity arrived to this region. I am trying to understand this piece of the past through its art. Especially in Nubia due to a lack of textual sources – or very limited textual sources. Art, also, is a kind of language – of course it’s a matter of understanding – that can tell us a lot.

AD: Are you familiar with other examples of ancient Nubian Christian art? There have been other findings?

DZ: Of course, there are a lot. And we are lucky – or maybe we are somehow sentenced to these sort of studies – because in the 1960s, when part of lower Nubia, at the border of Egypt and Sudan, had to be flooded, Poland participated with a mission headed by Professor Kazimierz Michałowski.

AD: The one who worked in Faras?

DZ: Yes. His choice was Faras. In fact, he was counting on earlier monuments, but he found a cathedral. So this began more regular or better constructed studies and started also our tradition of teaching about the medieval Nubian period.

AD: Do you have connections to Sudan because of your mom? Is she an archaeologist?

DZ: No, she is an art restorer. When I was in primary school she was in Sudan – invited by a friend from her studies, Ewa Parandowska. She was invited to restore some paintings. That’s how I heard about Sudan. I think that is why it grabbed my attention – hearing during my studies that there are possibilities to learn more about Sudan or Nubia.

AD: I was surprised, in general, that there are so many Poles in Sudan. Has this been a continuous trend?

DZ: Yeah, this a kind of inheritance from Michałowski. He established it and after Faras, he was able to choose another site and there is a sort of famous – but I don’t know, a bit burdensome now – trend that it is best to dig in the capitals. That’s what he was saying. That is why he has chosen another capital, Old Dongola. And now we have a third because of the recent works in Soba. So it’s funny that finally we are involved in excavations in all the three capitals of the medieval period. But it is worth mentioning that Polish projects are among the most numerous in Sudan and concern also earlier periods.

AD: Can you tell me more about your current project, the one in Sudan? In Miseeda – the beautiful location of Miseeda.

DZ: Yes, the location is amazing. I remember: we arrived at night, only in the morning could we see the surroundings. We were absolutely astonished. The Mahas region is just the beginning of the 3rd cataract. The area is really rocky. It reminds me of Mars – these huge heaps of giant stones. The monument was known and a lot of our friends were telling us that there is a monument there that requires urgent protection. It’s quite unusual, so we were trying different ways to get funding, which was not that easy because of the unusual or quite complex spectrum of research we proposed. Just to treat the main object as a kind of nucleus to understanding the whole region. But this object is indeed in an amazing place, it’s a church that was built around a much earlier rock drawing presenting a ruler, most likely from the Kushite, thus pre-Christian period.

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A tributary of the Nile in Miseeda, Sudan. Photo: Agnes Dudek

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AD: You are referring to the petroglyph?

DZ: Yes, Exactly.

AD: So you are saying that this church was built in this location because of the petroglyph?

DZ: Yes, people located this church on purpose to locate this image in the sanctuary. Which can mean two things: that it was either interpreted – this image – as Christ or as a ruler, because both figures could be represented in the apses of Nubian churches. This we still don’t know, we will see. We know that this figure was surrounded by the representation of the twelve apostles.

AD: Wow.

DZ: Yes! It’s creative, innovative! It also shows that these people had a sort of attitude towards their past. This is in fact our main research question and we are trying to find out how it is also now – how the local community treat their past. If they are interested, how they perceive the value of the past for them. Not only this church – but in general.

AD: For those who don’t know, how did a Christian church end up in the desert? In Nubia?

DZ: We can say it all happened the way it would in an action movie. Although our sources are not that certain. The entire story, what we have about the Christianisation of Nubia, we know thanks to Byzantine sources. And the authors have their own point of view – the political/religious profile. So the main source of John of Ephesus is a kind of one-sided relation, although full of action. As we know from him, Nubia was Christianised by a very famous couple – Emperor Justinian I and his wife, Empress Theodora, also a very strong woman. They were slightly different in their opinion of the nature of Christ, which was quite a popular topic of debate for those times. And the church was divided because of this opinion. So, Theodora got a message that people in the south suffer from heresy because they are not Christian, and then thought it would be good to Christianise them.

When her husband heard about it, he decided to send his own mission. So there were two missions sent to Nubia. Some bribes frightened guards at the border between Egypt and Nubia and her mission reached the most northern kingdom of Nobada first, and the emperor’s mission had to go further. Quickly, to make the long story short – it was a kind of political decision, on both sides. The rulers of Byzantium were interested in having allies south of the empire, because Egypt was still part of the Byzantine Empire. On the other hand, the rulers of Nubia realised that to join the Christian world was a good political move to become a partner.

AD: The church is from what period – more or less?

DZ: We supposed it could have been built around the 7th century, so 100 years after, or 50 years after the official Christianisation and then rebuilt in the ca. 10th century.

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Church at Miseeda (the archeological site), photo: Courtesy of Dobrochna Zielińska

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AD: It was rebuilt? I was not aware of that.

DZ: It’s not really visible, but if you see the structure of the walls you can see that the outer walls are from the first phase and then they built-in division walls. Probably to change the internal structure from the wooden beam flat ceiling into the system of vaults with a central dome in the middle. It was simply a change of fashion. At a certain moment, and you can observe such phenomenon in many medieval churches, not only in Nubia, that they were rearranged in such a way.

AD: Is this the first Nubian church that you are working on?

DZ: Well, individually, as the head of the mission, yes. But I had an opportunity to work as a member of a mission – I spent many seasons working in Old Dongola, I also had the opportunity to participate in the excavations of the church in Banganarti.

AD: What is the condition and rate of deterioration of the church? Maybe you could explain why you have to work so quickly.

DZ: In fact, we can see now – and we can observe it ourselves, as a witness – the impact of climate change. We were lucky – some of our friends gave us photographs from the 1990s, where you can see that the structure was better preserved, much higher. And you can see how quickly the walls are disappearing – it’s a mud-brick structure. It’s not resistant to water.

AD: By climate change, you mean that it’s raining more in the desert?

DZ: Yes. It does rain in Sudan, but more in the south. Now it’s raining more often and more in the north. We can, therefore, see the deterioration – not only at our site, but throughout other archeological sites.

AD: And deterioration of the local homes as well. But those of course they can rebuild.

DZ: In fact, our first season started with us waking up to a heavy rain. I heard thunder, and my first thought was – “OMG we don’t have any protection from thunder or lightning”. And you know, we are surrounded by rocks with a lot of iron. “Where to hide?”

AD: And that is why your next priority is to build a shelter over the church?

DZ: Yes, this was also a condition set by the Sudanese authorities, that we should protect it.

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Partial restoration to the 10th century church in Miseeda, Sudan. Photo: Agnes Dudek

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AD: I imagine a lot of people have a romantic vision of archaeology.

DZ: Oh yes… or adventurous!

AD: So my question is – what are some of the difficulties of working in the terrain, trying to protect such a relic, implementing such a project, or in general? So what are the less “romantic” sides of archaeology?

DZ: You’ve seen! I think the cold.

AD: I definitely saw – and experienced. Also, not everyone is aware of just how cold it can get in the desert.

DZ: Yes. I am always telling my students that the coldest I’ve ever been was in Africa! I was always reminding them to take with them a bonnet, scarf, gloves!

AD: And you also bring extras with you, for others!

DZ: I do! I am always trying to bring extra. So yeah, the climate can be very severe. Even if it is hot during the day, the temperature can drop almost instantly after sunset. So we are often cold – and sick! Because we do not get dressed quickly enough. The climate is also severe because it is very dry – of course. And even if it’s very cold at night, it can still be very hot during the day – we have to remember to rehydrate. Everyday life is difficult. We also have to like the local food to survive! [laughs]

AD: But the local food is good!

DZ: The local dishes are nice. I think this is the best way to leave behind our customs and adapt to the local way of eating, because it simply goes with the climate. People there know how or when to eat: very early in the morning they only have tea and then they have a proper breakfast around 10 AM. And they eat a lot – very substantial food, too, which is crucial in this climate – if you want to survive.

AD: How do you, along with the team, deal with locals who are often suspicious of archaeology and believe you are in fact searching for gold?

DZ: This is not only our problem. It’s a big challenge for Sudan as a country – to face such a large problem. On the one hand, I can understand that the government allows it, and I think they are not able to control such remote areas – like the middle of the desert – physically, simply. It’s a chance for people, because of the poverty and crisis. On the other hand, everything is in the hands of the local communities – the safety of the monuments. We can only try to explain to them what we are doing and why – to show them that we must separate those two things: archaeologists don’t look for gold. We don’t even look for objects that much. It’s a common misconception – that we take what we dig. We actually look for information and as long as we have documentation, I am happy that we can keep all these objects in Sudan and keep them in Sudanese museums or even build local museums for these people – because this is their inheritance.

AD: I think again, this is something few know, but archaeologists are not allowed to take objects or artefacts back with them. Unless, of course, you obtain very special permission, which is rare.

DZ: There are international laws that regulate this. Only under very special conditions, usually during rescue campaigns, like in the 1960s – a special appeal takes places. It requires a declaration from the country in which you are working that they allow you to divide the discovered objects and monuments.

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Meeting with the local community at a school in Miseeda, photo: Courtesy of Dobrochna Zielińska

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AD: I recall, from reading your project description, that you involve the local residents of Miseeda, because after you finish working on the church, it’s actually left to them. It’s their heritage.

DZ: Yes, the future is in their hands. They can neglect it, they can rob it, they can destroy it. It is protected by law, but it is very difficult to control such things. Modern history shows us that the sole involvement of local people could save monuments or objects, as in the area that was controlled by the so-called ISIS.

AD: Is it common for petroglyphs or inscriptions to be defaced?

DZ: Well, petroglyphs not that much. But paintings, you can see in Nubia, these churches that were exposed, reused later by the local population, have destroyed parts – the faces or eyes – and it was iconoclasm. But these are cases of much earlier history, I think that people now don’t have such an attitude.

AD: How long does it take to complete such a project? It’s difficult to fathom what a great undertaking this actually is. I saw just how much organisation of a project like this entails.

DZ: We try to adapt our plans to the funding, because usually the type of project we have requires about three years of research and the fourth year would be for the publication. Although we are lucky as the National Science Centre in Poland has allowed us to prolong the project because we have been facing all sort of unexpected situations, starting with the pandemic, then the coup in Sudan – which lasted about a year – and all kinds of local problems. If we imagine how difficult it is to organise a construction in Poland, we have to count it by ten or a hundred in Sudan. Common, very prosaic problems, like where to buy metal bars or bricks or whether the contractor is able to keep the deadline, and so forth. It’s difficult to say what can happen, but we try to divide research into stages. When you work, though, you see more possibilities. You know the terrain well, and after the first season we have a lot of archeological sites that are worth further investigation. Thus, we have to start thinking about more funding for further research. And that’s how you can spend your entire life at one site!

AD: And would you like that?

DZ: Oh, I do not know. It’s difficult to say.

AD: Just to clarify – when we refer to wall paintings in Sudan, they are not the same as frescoes?

DZ: No, that is why we should call them murals or wall paintings. A fresco requires lime plaster and it has to be wet lime plaster. So when you put the pigment on, it goes into the plaster, and when the plaster is drying, it’s creating a protection layer of calcium carbonate. In fact, it looks like glass under a microscope – it’s a transparent film but it has the structure of stone. It’s like limestone, just transparent. You can wash it with a hard brush and nothing will happen to it.

AD: The murals in Sudan – they are not as enduring?

DZ: Some paintings are on lime plaster, but they were painted on dry plaster and usually with tempera binders, casein – now we are going into chemistry! So eggs, Arabic gum; this casein is a mixture of cheese mixed with lime water. It’s a very strong glue.

AD: Wait, the same Arabic gum that we can chew?

DZ: Yes, same one. Just here it’s dissolved. In fact I brought some Arabic gum back with me, to Poland.

AD: You liked it that much?

DZ: No, but I took it for a chemical analyses for our wall paintings. Because it the same as what was used in the past.

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Excavation of painted fragments of plaster at the Mithreum in Hawarte, Syria, 2010, photo: Maciej Czech

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AD: I actually really disliked Arabic gum. I brought back with me lots of dates, though, but simply for eating! Now you are at a point where you work more theoretically, you do not work physically as much.

DZ: Well, everything depends on the way our work is organised because now we have to first protect the structure, of the church, which is the nucleus of the research. We will excavate it only after it has been protected, then we can all safely work. Our work is now focused more on making surveys around the church to recognise its context. So now, not so much is happening when it comes to excavations. But what we know now about the surrounding of the church changed our understanding – it was not a remote place. There were a large settlements around the church, from earlier periods, but also from medieval times.

AD: Miseeda is in an unusual location – not exactly along the main Nile. Why was this location so particular?

DZ: For the church, the reason to build it there was the petroglyph.

AD: How much older is the petroglyph?

DZ: It could be even from around 700 B.C. That is the very special thing about this place. The people knew this image. Our thought was – well, if this image was present in the awareness of the local population, so it was kind of natural that “this is our special image there that we worship”. Then suddenly they reinterpreted it as Christ or a local ruler from the past that was important for this local population or it was forgotten for the people who came there or maybe something miraculous happened. But definitely it was the image – the reason for the church being built.

AD: I knew it was older, but I did not know that by this much!

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The petroglyph next to the church at Miseeda, photo: Courtsey of Dobrochna Zielińska

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DZ: Almost 1000 years. Such things can happen of course. We know that in Christianity – to locate churches, especially in pagan temples, was religious propaganda to show the victory over previous cults. In this case, it’s a kind of acceptance – an adaptation. We don’t know if we are able to answer this question – whether this image had a meaning for those people or if they rediscovered it. The next question is – why was this image made in such a remote area. We know only one – for now – comparable image from far south, and it looks that it was connected to borders. That these were kinds of landmarks. We know there are a lot of Pharaonic inscriptions in a nearby site, in Tombos, from the New Kingdom era, showing – let’s say – border marks or the presence of Egyptians in this area. This region was a border area – in the past but also in medieval times. This was probably the border between the two northern kingdoms before they united. As you see, one question raises many others. This is probably just the beginning. We will see what we will find under the church, if there was a presence of human activity connected with the petroglyph before.

AD: Many have the impression that archaeology is only about excavating. What is something you can add that would deepen our insight of archaeology?

DZ: It’s true that movies show more “exotic” examples of archaeology – or more extreme, or the adventurous part. But, after a day of working on the site, looking for information, we have to come back, turn on our computers, and start labelling, packing, identifying objects, filling in our data base. We have to be very ordered and organised, because without that you can drown very quickly. Everyday you have to work, because if you skip one day, you can get lost. You have to also photograph everything. So – documentation is our basic duty. What we are doing in the field is irreversible. This is very important. And this is the biggest responsibility of archaeology; we have to remember that what we are doing, we can only do it once. It’s always a kind of destruction, because we are changing what we’ve found. Even the act of taking ceramic fragments from off the ground in the field. We must record everything that we’ve done, as this is what will be saved after.

AD: It’s quite tedious?

DZ: Yes, but also the feeling of bearing a great responsibility. Sometimes this wakes me in the middle of the night – thinking about whether what we are doing is right. Sometimes you have to make a decision in the field and there is no one to help you.

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Dobrochna Zielińska sitting next to a special photo booth, taking photographs of pieces collected during surveys, photo: Courtsey of Dobrochna Zielińska

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AD: For me, that would tell me that you are the perfect person to be an archaeologist.

DZ: Oh no! risky statement…

AD: I think issues arise when an archaeologist doesn’t consider those things.

DZ: Perhaps. It’s something we have to be aware of. We are responsible for a great lot.

AD: Have you ever considered doing archaeology in Poland, which has an abundance of historical sites?

DZ: Well, somehow yes. I work at the Faculty of Archaeology with a lot of colleagues who work in Poland and we learn from each other. I could always participate in excavations as a documentalist-draughtswoman! It is very healthy to come back to your roots.

AD: And all the types of archaeology! Even underwater archaeology!

DZ: Our dean is diving. It’s amazing – archaeologists even makes drawings underwater! Archaeology has many faces.

AD: In what parts of the world have you worked.

DZ: The Nile Valley is my main area of interest, so I am working in Sudan, but also in Egypt. I also worked in Syria. That was amazing. I worked there for ten years, in a mithraeum, so a bit earlier period. A Roman site of the mysterious cult of Mithras. And it was beautifully decorated with wall paintings! The unfortunate events in Syria halted this project. I’m afraid that what we’ve done and our documentation is all we’ve got now.

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The main room of the Mithreum in Hawarte, Syria, photo: Cristobal Calaforra-Rzepka

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AD: Because it’s been destroyed?

DZ: We don’t know that. But knowing that the people there knew what we were doing, they could have protected it. But we know that a lot of objects of art from Syria are on the black market now.

AD: If you weren’t an archaeologist, what else could you be doing?

DZ: Probably something with art. Actually, I was also an interior designer for ten years! This is something I really like. Maybe not as everyday work – because then you enter a cafe like this and you know how much all the furniture or decoration cost. But it’s fun and sometimes I help family or friends. But I see that it’s a combination of everything I’ve come across. My education at a high school of fine arts helped me get a job at an architectural studio during my studies, as a part time job. I was designing calendars for the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw and design exhibitions from time to time, or publications for our faculty. So it’s a nice change. Sometimes we prepare booklets for children – to promote archaeology at the University of Warsaw.

AD: I see that creative pursuits motivate you. And for the last question, maybe you can share with us an interesting or fun fact about Nubia. Like, for example, how they are still using certain Christian symbols in their traditions.

DZ: Well, I think it’s natural. You can observe it in every culture. There are no borders in space and time – everything is fluid. If you see in Poland, we also have many pagan rituals. Like Easter, and a basket full of eggs is a pre-Christian element or a Christmas tree. People are attached to symbols – especially to those connected to protection. Even if it doesn’t work, if you don’t believe it – it’s better to do it. It won’t harm you if you do. It’s part of our nature – human nature, not culture. The funny thing was, though, how my Sudanese friends changed my name – Dobruszka. It’s very Slavic! Or they call me Dobro, because Dobrochna is too long. And then I feel a little embarrassed.

AD: That is all. Thank you so much!

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