Archaeologist’s Sudan discovery unlocks African secrets

A leading archaeologist has discovered a series of temples that they believe could help us understand the secrets of ancient Africa, according to website France 24.

Swiss archaeologist Charles Bonnet, 83, who is considered one of the world’s top experts on Sudan’s archaeological heritage, says the three temples are ‘unlike anything discovered’ before.

The structures are believed to date back to 1,500 to 2,000 BC. They were found towards the end of 2016, close to the famed archaeological site of Kerma in northern Sudan.

“This architecture is unknown ... there is no example in central Africa or in the Nile Valley of this architecture,” Bonnet told AFP news agency.

The temples – which are round and oval in shape – were discovered only a few hundred meters from the Kerma site, where Bonnet and his team have been digging for many years.

He noted the difference in the shape of the latest find – the previous had all ben square or rectangular.

“Nobody knows this architecture... It’s completely new,” he said. And he added that there was nothing that resembled the latest find among Egyptian or Nubian architecture.

The veteran archaeologist previously discovered the seven ‘black pharaohs’ granite statues of Sudan’s Nubian rulers near the banks of the Nile.

These finds helped to prove that Sudan was more than just a satellite of neighboring Egypt.

They also discovered what Bonnet described as “enormous fortifications”at Dogi Gel, during the most recent dig.

“That means this part of the world was defended by a coalition, probably of the king of Kerma with people coming from Darfur and from central Sudan” against ancient Egyptians, who were interested in controlling trade and commerce in central Africa, he explained.

But Bonnet believes the latest discovery is just the start of further artifacts and he predicted that many more are simply waiting to be found.