DANGEIL, SUDAN—A new book covering more than a decade of excavations by the Berber-Abidiya Archaeological Project shares the story of a stunning site and an extraordinary collection of exotic artifacts, reports Livescience. The site’s cemetery, which was first discovered in 2002, dates to about 2,000 years ago, a period when the Kushite Kingdom controlled a large amount of territory and exerted a great deal of power in the area. Although the Kushites often built pyramids to bury their dead, these graves are entirely underground and contain such impressive artifacts as a silver ring depicting the god Amun and a faience box decorated with prominent eyes—perhaps to protect against the evil eye—as well as several artifacts associated with archery buried with a man who had clearly been an archer in his life. The work of the project continues and the researchers hope to find the full extent of the cemetery in the future.
