The three-volume publication of the results of archaeological excavations at the UNESCO heritage site of El-Zuma in Sudan, investigated by PCMA University of Warsaw and the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums in Khartoum, presents an Early Makurian elite tumuli cemetery from the 5th-6th centuries AD. This period in ancient Nubian history, preceding the rise of the Christian kingdoms, has long been understudied. Informed analyses by an array of specialists on the team cover the archaeological and bioarchaeological evidence from the tombs (Volume 1) as well as the abundant ceramics (Volume 2) and small finds, especially jewellery, weaponry and personal accessories (Volume 3). The outcome is a people-oriented view of an elite community in ancient Nubia at the dawn of a new age in its history.
About the Author: VOLUME I:

Mahmoud El-Tayeb, Ph.D. (2013), University of Warsaw, is Assistant Professor at that university's Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology and head of the Centre's Polish Archaeological Unit in Khartoum. Initiator and director of the Early Makuria Research Project, his research is focused on burial customs and burial architecture of the post-Meroitic period in Sudan.

Ewa Czyżewska-Zalewska, M.A. (2004), University of Warsaw, is a researcher at that university's Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology. Working on excavations in Sudan and Egypt, she has focused on pottery from post-Meroitic Nubia and Late Roman Egypt, as well as ethnoarchaeological studies of modern pottery workshops.

Urszula Iwaszczuk, Ph.D. (2015), University of Warsaw, is a field archaeozoologist co-operating with archaeological missions in Northern Africa, Kuwait, Russia and Poland. She teaches archaeozoology at the University of Warsaw. Her publications include several articles and book chapters.

Jolanta Juchniewicz, M.Sc. (2012), Warsaw University of Technology and Kraków University of Technology, is a civil engineer and specialist in architectural urban conservation. She has participated in archaeological projects in Lebanon, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Sudan as an engineer, surveyor and documentalist.

Zofia Kowarska, M.A., (2008), University of Warsaw, freelance archaeologist and documentalist, associated with PCMA UW projects in the Near East and North Africa. She is author and co-author of publications on late antique pottery, ethnoarchaeology and methods of documentation.

Iwona Kozieradzka-Ogunmakin, Ph.D. (2014), University of Manchester, is a bioarchaeologist and former Marie Curie Research Fellow at the University of Warsaw. Her research and publications are focused on exploring the human-environment relationships in the Nile Valley through patterns of health and disease, subsistence and migration.

Szymon Lenarczyk, Ph.D. (2017), University of Warsaw, is a freelance archaeologist and documentalist, working mainly on Near Eastern and North African projects. His interests include craftsmanship in late Roman Africa and urban development studies.

Robert Mahler, Ph.D. (2018), University of Warsaw, is a researcher and adjunct at that university's Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology. His research focuses on the archaeology of death in Egypt and Sudan. He is author of a monograph on the Islamic cemetery on Kom el-Dikka.

Ewa Skowrońska, M.A. (2013), University of Wroclaw, is a freelance field archaeologist participating in excavation projects of the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw, in Sudan.

VOLUME II:

Ewa Czyżewska-Zalewska, M.A. (2004), University of Warsaw, is a researcher at that university's Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology. Working on excavations in Sudan and Egypt, she has focused on pottery from post-Meroitic Nubia and Late Roman Egypt, as well as ethnoarchaeological studies of modern pottery workshops.

Aneta Cedro, M.A. (2006), Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, is a researcher at the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures, Polish Academy of Sciences. Her main research interest is Nubian pottery and its technology, from Meroitic to modern times. She has also participated in projects in Egypt and Spain, where she focused on the ceramics from the Late Roman period and especially on oil lamps.

VOLUME III:

Joanna Then-Obluska, Ph.D. (2008), Jagiellonian University, is a researcher at the University of Warsaw, writing on ancient and medieval beads. Her most recent monograph on the glass bead trade in northeastern Africa based on evidence from Meroitic and post-Meroitic Nubia earned her a habilitation from the University of Warsaw in 2020.

Lukasz Zieliński, M.A. (2011), University of Warsaw, is a doctoral candidate at the University of Warsaw. He has participated in excavations in Sudan and the United Arab Emirates. His research and articles have focused on ancient Nubian weaponry of the post-Meroitic period.

Ewa Czyżewska-Zalewska, M.A. (2004), University of Warsaw, is a researcher at that university's Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology. Working on excavations in Sudan and Egypt, she has focused on pottery from post-Meroitic Nubia and Late Roman Egypt, as well as ethnoarchaeological studies of modern pottery workshops.