We’ve just received some difficult news: our project’s funding from the US State Department’s Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation has been cancelled. This is the grant that has supported our community engagement and site protection and preservation efforts since 2022, and it’s particularly painful because it has allowed us to employ (and thus support) about 20 Sudanese archaeologists who have been displaced by the current war in Sudan, and we have reached many hundreds of local residents through our programs. While we’re obviously disappointed, we wanted to let you all know about the challenges we’re facing.
Why it happened
As many of you will know the current US administration has been trying to cut federal spending and they began their focus on “foreign aid”. While this grant is foreign aid at one level, it is also what has allowed us to carry on our research at Jebel Barkal. When we first asked about working at the site, the Director-General of Sudan’s National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums said that we could begin our research only if we found funding to support conservation of the site, and this is precisely what the AFCP grant allowed us to do.
How this affects us
This news stings. Our team has been working tirelessly behind the scenes, and we had high hopes for what we could continue to achieve with this funding. We are still able to continue our research at the site in the coming year, though, thanks to a recent major gift from Steve Klinsky that we mentioned in a previous post.
What you can do
We will now be looking for other funding to continue supporting the site and our colleagues in Sudan. We will need about $8000 per month, and we have a few ideas about potential supporters and are looking into new partnerships. Your ideas and support would naturally be welcome.
If you or someone you know might be able to assist JBAP, please get in touch with Geoff Emberling (geoffe@umich.edu). Meanwhile, we appreciate your continued support for and engagement with the project and want to reassure you that we remain as passionate as ever about the work we’re doing.
