News & Events
Kush and Jebel Barkal in the news
JBAP RESEARCH “Excavation in Sudan shows Roman Empire wasn’t as mighty as it claimed” by Colin Barras. New Scientist. April 2025. (Ft. interviews with Geoff Emberling, Sami Elamin, Tim Skuldbøl and Rebecca Bradshaw)
“As Sudan’s civil war rages on, its heritage is under siege” by Sarvy Geranpayeh. The Art Newspaper. February 2025. (Ft. interview with Geoff Emberling)
“Sudan’s war devastates cultural heritage as rival generals vie for power” by Rebecca Bradshaw. Al-Monitor. June 2024. (Ft. interviews with Sami Elamin, Suzanne Davis and Tohamy Abulgasim)
“Female Archaeologists Set to Dominate Field in Sudan” by Henry Wilkins. Voice of America. April 2023.
“These mighty pyramids were built by one of Africa’s earliest civilizations” by Emma Thomson. National Geographic. December 2022.
“Young Sudanese archaeologists dig up history as ‘west knows best’ era ends” by Jason Burke and Zeinab Mohammed Salih. The Guardian. December 2022.
“The Rise, Fall and Underestimated Rule of Kush” by Joshua Learn. Discover Magazine. June 2022. (Ft. interview with Geoff Emberling)
“Sudan’s archaeological treasures in danger“. France 24. April 2021.
“Glimpses of Sudan’s Forgotten Pyramids” by Alessio Mamo. New York Times. March 2021. (Ft. interview with Geoff Emberling)
“In the Land of Kush” by Isma’il Kushkush. Smithsonian Magazine. September 2020.
JBAP RESEARCH “Temple graffiti reveals stories from ancient Sudan” by Suzanne Davis and Geoff Emberling. The Conversation. September 2019.
Past events
Geoff Emberling
TALK “Digging Deeper: The Klinsky Expeditions“, University of Michigan, 17 April 2025.
TALK “Kush and the Roman World: Warrior Queens along the Nile“, Eugene Society of the Archaeological Institute of America, 10 April 2025. *Geoff as 2024/25 Joukowsky Lecturer*
TALK “Kush and the Roman World: Warrior Queens along the Nile“, Portland Society of the Archaeological Institute of America, 8 April 2025. *Geoff as 2024/25 Joukowsky Lecturer*
TALK “Archaeology, its Colonial Past, and its Collaborative Future: A Community Project in El-Kurru, Northern Sudan“, Richmond Society of the Archaeological Institute of America, 20 March 2025. *Geoff as 2024/25 Joukowsky Lecturer*
TALK “Archaeology and Heritage During the Civil War in Sudan: What Can We Do?“, ASOR, 8 January 2025.
TALK “Kush and the Roman World: Warrior Queens along the Nile“, Rockford Society of Archaeological Institute of America, 22 October 2024. *Geoff as 2024/25 Joukowsky Lecturer*
TALK “Four Seasons of New Fieldwork (2019-2023) at Jebel Barkal and Reflections on ‘Capital Cities’ in Ancient Kush“. DiverseNile Project, University of Munich. 17 October 2023.
TALK “Archaeology, Heritage, and the Civil War in Sudan”, The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, 6 October 2023.
TALK “New Perspectives on the African Empire of Kush: Excavation at Jebel Barkal“, Northern California ARCE, 8 May 2023.
TALK “Discovering a Lost Nubian City: Archaeology of Jebel Barkal, Sudan“, Getty Museum, 3 December 2022.
TALK “Collaborative Archaeology of Kush in Northern Sudan: Recent Work around Jebel Barkal“, Stanford University’s Archaeology Center, 4 May 2022.
PODCAST “Ancient Nubia and the Kingdom of Kush“, An Interview with Geoff Emberling. Tides of History via Wondery, 7 October 2021.
TALK “What happened to the lost Kingdom of Kush?“, Ted-Ed, 7 October 2021.
Sami Elamin
Sami recently appeared on Sudan TV to talk about the work the team is doing in Jebel Barkal (in Arabic).
“Community Engagement Activities during the Wartime: Jebel Barkal and the Napatan Region World Heritage Sites, Northern State, Sudan“, AmSARC, 4 September 2024.
Geoff Emberling and Suzanne Davis
TALK “Community Archaeology and Conservation in Sudan“, The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA, 12 May 2023.
Tohamy Abulgasim
TALK “Don’t Think for Us; Think with Us”: Thoughts on Community Archaeology Projects in Sudan” at Envisioning Decolonial Futures through Archaeology Conference, University of Cambridge, 23-25 October 2024.
Rebecca Bradshaw
TALK “Community-engaged conservation during conflict: Recent work at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Jebel Barkal” at The State of Heritage in Sudan Seminar and Memorial Lecture in Honour of Prof Ibrahim Musa, McDonald Institute Seminar Room, University of Cambridge, 23 May 2024.
Kate Rose
TALK “Kandakes of the Past and Present: A Study of Queenship and Power in Ancient Kush, mid-8th century BCE”, Queen: Reimagining Power from Antiquity to the Present conference, NYU Gallatin, 23-24 September 2021.
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Latest Posts
- JBAP research featured in the ‘New Scientist’!A *very* quick note to share the news that the New Scientist wrote a feature about our research at Jebel Barkal! “Excavation in Sudan shows Roman Empire wasn’t as mighty as it claimed“ The article features interviews with JBAP team members Geoff Emberling, Sami Elamin, Tim Skuldbøl and Rebecca Bradshaw. For those who don’t subscribe… Read more: JBAP research featured in the ‘New Scientist’!
- We’re down to ancient layers!One thing they don’t tell you about archaeology is that occasionally you’ll have to go the extra mile to protect your excavation. Given the location of our trench on a dirt track, this is what our team have been doing rather more frequently than we’d like, mainly chasing down cars to stop them from driving… Read more: We’re down to ancient layers!
- “Digging Deeper: The Klinsky Expeditions” – Join us on April 17th!UPDATE: If you missed this, you can always catch up and watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/live/6RhW1a1wevc Five months ago, JBAP was lucky enough to become recipients of funding provided by businessman and U-M alumnus, Steve Klinsky. Since then, we’ve been working harder than ever to ramp up our game – and we’ve begun in one of… Read more: “Digging Deeper: The Klinsky Expeditions” – Join us on April 17th!
- What’s this, then?Last week, once free of the top layer of sand, and having battled a sudden bout of rain – a slight antidote to the 40-degree heat!, our team was faced with its first mini-mystery. And here it is: The trench is cut in the position we finally decided on (see our last post): So what’s… Read more: What’s this, then?
- We’re back on site!We know it’s been a mixed bag of news from us recently, what with one round of funding won and another lost; the release of new publications celebrating the results of years of work contrasting with the ongoing reports of cultural catastrophe at the National Museum. But we can’t help but relish being back doing… Read more: We’re back on site!
