Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) - An archaeological Survey in the Bayuda desert in North-Sudan

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The Wadi Abu Dom is a long dry ephemeral river bed, leading from east to west from the central Bayuda desert to the Nile. This valley was assumed to be a major traffic route in antiquity, which was used for trade, but also functioned as communication line for the dissemination of cultural contacts. The reconstruction of this route, its organization and utilization, are the main objectives of the project. A detailed mapping of pre-Islamic residues will lead to an itinerary. Based on this catalog of archaeological sites we can study patterns of land use and settlement, as well as traffic and communication networks, and their diachronic development. In a next step, this data base will enable us to compare that cultural landscape with other (riverine and desert) regions, to investigate the implementation of political authority in a peripheral area, and to assess diachronically the area's penetration with cultural elements of riverine cultures, especially religious ideas.