Occupying more than 100 hectares along the Nile in northern Sudan, Jebel Barkal is an extraordinary archaeological site preserving the remains of a capital city of ancient Kush: one of Africa’s earliest and most important empires. In Arabic, “Jebel Barkal” means “Holy Mountain,” and the site formed around a tall, dramatic sandstone outcrop that was sacred to ancient Kushites and Egyptians. At the base of this mountain was a succession of settlements, now covered by desert sands and sediment from the annual Nile flood. It was an important city in ancient Kush for more than 1000 years (800 BCE – 300 CE) and was also the southernmost outpost of the Egyptian empire when it had conquered Kush (1500-1069 BCE). In addition to the ancient city, the site is also home to the ruins of pyramid tombs, temples, and palaces. Because of its exceptional historical importance, Jebel Barkal is at the center of a UNESCO World Heritage area.

Currently, excavations of the Jebel Barkal Archaeological Project (JBAP) are directed by archaeologists Geoff Emberling of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan and Sami Elamin of the National Corporation of Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), Sudan. Conservation is directed by Suzanne Davis, also of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, and Elmontaser Dafalla, of NCAM. Community engagement is directed by Tohamy Abulgasim and Rebecca Bradshaw, both University of Cambridge. Our project is an international collaboration involving scholars, staff, and students from Africa, the Americas, and Europe. It also engages a range of communities that have connections to the site, including residents of the nearby city of Kareima and the villages of Upper and Lower Jebel Barkal.  

We invite you to explore this website to learn more about our work, and we welcome media inquiries. To learn how you can support our work, please contact project co-director Geoff Emberling. 

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Latest Blog Post

• JBAP team members to present at leading Sudan colloquiumMay 7, 2025
  Join us in person or online! On Saturday 17 May, JBAP team members Geoff Emberling, Tohamy Abulgasim and Pawel Wolf will be giving talks at the Sudan Archaeological Research Society’s W. Y. Adams Colloquium, Sudan: Past and Present 2025. Showing off the team’s expertise not only in the archaeology of Jebel Barkal, but of all… Read more: JBAP team members to present at leading Sudan colloquium