SFDAS

Excavated since 2000, the site of El-Hassa has already revealed many objects among which these magnificent sandstone rams are the most beautiful pieces. They formed a guard of honour leading to the temple of Amun, a god particularly revered in the Meroitic civilization.
This documentary follows Vincent Rondot and his colleagues during their work on the field at El-Hassa and reflects their thoughts and conclusions after 10 years of fascinating and successful excavations.
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This documentary takes us to the site of Muweis, excavated by the Louvre since 2007. It is a Meroitic city that spreads out on the banks of the Nile at the edge of the desert. Covered by sand, this city is a rare example of an expanded urban settlement and should reveal new aspects of Meroitic life.

At El-Hassa, where the work is concentrated around the temple dedicated to the god Amun, excavators have discovered, in 2005, a “treasure” that was preserved up to now thanks to the collapse of the roof of the sanctuary, over 1500 years ago. Among the objects found, a bronze bust of a queen that has recently been restored, thanks to a sponsorship from EDF laboratories, raises the question again of the role of women in the Meroitic royal family.

Nicolas Hulot goes up the Nile as part of a caravan and turns the pages of the history of the region. We first discover Meroe, the necropolis of the Black Pharaohs, where 200 pyramids have been restored stone by stone by the German architect Friedrich Hinkel. Ushuaïa goes further in the heart of the country and meets a population of farmers and animal breeders that live at the foot of the Nuba mountains. In Napata, one of the most ancient capitals of the Nubian kings, Nicolas Hulot is initiated to Meroitic writing of which the language has not yet been deciphered. A Swiss archaeological mission then reveals its discoveries that shed light on a mysterious aspect of the lives of Black Pharaohs.

Film directed in partnership with the Institut du Monde Arabe for the exhibition “Sudan, Kingdoms on the Nile”.