On the way to the west – The Kushite fortress Gala Abu Ahmed in lower Wadi Howar, Northern Sudan.

In 1984 a massive stone-walled fortress was discovered about 110 km west of the Nile Valley by a research team of the B.O.S. project of the University of Cologne and named Gala Abu Ahmed. The impressive structure with projecting bastions and walls up to 4m high enclosing an area of about 120 x 180m is located in lower Wadi Howar. Wadi Howar stretches over more than 1000 km along the southern fringes of the Sahara and links the Nile Valley with the areas of inner Africa. Small scale research done at the fortress in 2002 and 2006 by the ACACIA project of the University of Cologne proved for a Kushite presence: Fragments of faience could be attributed to the Napatan period (ca. 900 – 400 BCE). The excavation work by the “Gala Abu Ahmed project” of the University of Cologne since 2008 provided a bulk of new data. The architecture of the enclosure walls was described in detail. Surface clearing and excavations revealed remains of different stone buildings in the interior. The numerous hieroglyphics)confirmed the attribution to the Napatan period. Radiocarbon dates oscillating between 1100 and 400 BCE indicate a wider time frame and point to a use in even Pre-Napatan times. The archaeological finds indicate contact with the Egyptian sphere. Gala Abu Ahmed was an important place during Napatan times. This is indicated by the size of the structure alone but also by the quality of the small finds. The fortress very probably functioned as a post securing trade and traffic between the Nile Valley and inner parts of Africa and certainly also fulfilled military purposes. However, the question still remains: What existed to the west or south west, which was of such interest or danger as to motivate the construction of the fortress?