Old Dongola, Northern State, Sudan, November 11, 2026
View of the apse domes during excavation. Photo: Adrian Chlebowski/PCMA UW
A Sudanese-Polish archaeological expedition at Old Dongola has begun uncovering the Great Church of Jesus, which Arabic sources describe as the largest and wealthiest church in medieval Nubia.
During last winter’s field season, the archaeologists uncovered a monumental staircase leading into the church and reached its original floor level for the first time. They also found the remains of another church, built on the upper floor of a structure adjoining the cathedral, reports the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw (PCMA UW).
Old Dongola was the capital of the Christian Kingdom of Makuria. The expedition, from the PCMA UW and Sudan’s National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, is directed by Prof. Artur Obłuski. It first encountered the structure in 2021, but excavations could begin only after funding came through from the National Science Centre, Poland.
Until now, another church outside the city walls had been regarded as Dongola’s cathedral. “We will probably have to revise our understanding of the role of that building and ask what its actual function was, if it was not a cathedral,” Prof. Obłuski said.
Only a small part of the Great Church of Jesus has been excavated. “Next season, we hope to finally resolve the question of the church’s overall size,” Prof. Obłuski said. “At present, we know that it was 154 feet wide and approximately 187 feet long, while we cautiously estimate its height at around 69 feet. This was a building larger than the famous White House in Washington, D.C.—and we are planning to excavate it!”
Plaster fragments from the walls of the smaller upper-floor church bear Greek inscriptions from Biblical Odes, liturgical songs appended to the Psalter. One is a fragment of the Prayer of Hannah, the mother of the Prophet Samuel.
The research is part of the project “Afropolis Tungul: Urban Biography of a Cosmopolitan African Capital,” funded by the European Research Council under Horizon Europe.
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