al-Ghazali (Soudan): Discovery of scientists in a medieval monastery
PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland
Source - http://www.naukawpolsce.pap.pl/en/news/news,400354,
al-Ghazali (Soudan): Discovery of scientists in a medieval monastery
PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland
Source - http://www.naukawpolsce.pap.pl/en/news/news,400354,discovery-of-polish-scientists-in-a-medieval-monastery-in-sudan.html
al-Ghazali, North Church. Photo by Miron Bogacki
Dozens of previously unknown inscriptions and drawings on the wall of the church and adjoining largest so far identified Nubian sanitary complex of this period have been discovered by Polish scientists in al-Ghazali in northern Sudan.
This is the result of a three-month mission of Polish archaeologists and conservators, completed in March.
This year, archaeologists began excavations east of one of the two medieval churches. In many Byzantine sacral complexes, this was a burial site of the most accomplished members of the community.
"But we were in for a big surprise. Along the east wall of the monastery we dug out a row of 15 toilets. However it may sound and look, it is an important discovery. Nowhere else in Nubia has such a large sanitary complex been discovered" - explained Dr. Artur Obłuski from the University of Chicago, leader of the expedition.
This is another proof found by Polish archaeologists that the nearby monastery had been inhabited by a large group of monks and visiting pilgrims. The archaeologist explained that each toilet was at the end a room in the shape of an elongated rectangle, providing intimacy. In medieval Sudan, ceramic toilet bowls and toilet paper or a substitute were commonly used. The substitute were fragments of clay vessels, with sharp edges smoothed for user comfort; these items were found during the study.
For comparison, as the archaeologist reminded, in Poland in the interwar period very popular were so-called "sławojki", latrines promoted by prime minister Felicjan Sławoj-Składkowski. The politician’s efforts led to the introduction of a regulation requiring to build them near newly built housing estates.
A group of conservators worked on site together with archaeologists. Their efforts focused on cleaning and protection of plaster on the church from the first half of the 7th-century, called the North Church, built of perfectly fitting sandstone blocks. They managed to save the remnants of previously unknown decoration of the church, whi