The Kelsey Museum of 
Archaeology debuted a new 
exhibit titled “Graffiti as 
Devotion along the Nile: 
El-Kurru, Sudan” on August 
23. The exhibit focuses on 
approximately 600 graffiti 
artifacts found at the site of 
El-Kurru in ancient Kush, 
located in modern day Sudan. 
Geoff 
Emberling, 
co-curator of the exhibit, 
said the project began when 
a 
group 
of 
researchers 
traveled to Sudan in 2015, 
expecting to find an ancient 
royal city. 
“We found a temple and 
started seeing these graffiti 
and that was not what we 
went looking for at all,” 
Emberling said. “But that’s 
what archaeology is all about: 

finding the unexpected.” 
The exhibit also features 
information 
about 
the 
graffiti and the culture of 
ancient Kush. Visitors can 
read about how the graffiti 
relates 
to 
the 
region’s 
religion, trade and tradition 
of pilgrimage. 
There 
are 
various 
multimedia 
elements 
in 
the 
exhibit, 
including 
a 
soundscape 
of 
ancient 
Kush 
and 
an 
interactive 
simulation of the reflection 
transformation 
imaging 
researchers used to analyze 
the graffiti. This technology 
compiles approximately 30 
photos taken of the graffiti 
with different amounts of 
light and creates one file. 
Using this file, researchers 
can 
examine 
how 
light 
affects the visibility of the 
graffiti. The exhibit also 

features a map of the region 
printed on the floor.
Rackham students Caitlin 
Clerkin and Shannon Ness 
explained how they believed 
multimedia impacts visitors’ 
experiences 
and 
deepens 
their 
connection 
to 
the 
exhibit. 
“We 
think 
that 
these 
elements help to bring a 
visitor a little closer to the 
reality of a place,” Clerkin 
said. 
“For 
us, 
the 
map 
provides a sense of geography 
as well as a reminder that the 
Nile ties some of these locales 
together. 
The 
soundscape 
gives a little sense of human 
activity, and brought us, as 
visitors, into the site and 
village.” 
Emberling 
said 
he 
hopes 
visitors 
will 
gain 
a 
deeper 
knowledge 
and 
understanding 
of 
ancient 
African civilizations. 
“I think the ancient 
civilizations of Africa 
don’t 
get 
as 
much 
attention in the public 
eye as they deserve,” 
Emberling said. “I hope 
people will become a 
little more aware of 
their complexity and 
cultural achievements.”
He 
also 
compared 
ancient Kush to the 
modern-day 
United 
States, 
explaining 
that understanding a 
culture solely through 
its elites is problematic. 
“Most of our ideas 
about 
history 
come 
from 
the 
elite 
and 
that’s not a satisfactory 
way 
to 
understand 
any 
culture, 
even 
our own,” Emberling 
said. “The graffiti art 
are 
important 
and 
interesting in the sense 
that they are marks left 
by individual people.” 
LSA junior Madeline 
Topor, president of the 
Student 
Archaeology 

Club, said she believes the 
study of ancient civilizations 
is especially relevant today. 
“Studying things from the 
past is a way to learn about 
where we came from,” Topor 

said. “How it shaped the 
world we are living in today 
and how traditions from the 
past are still carried on in 
the present.” 
This winter, researchers 
will 
be 
continuing 
the 
project, relocating to the 
capital of ancient Kush. The 
Kelsey Museum is hosting 
various events related to this 
exhibit, including an opening 
lecture on Sept. 5, a curator’s 
tour on Sept. 8 and a half-day 
symposium on Sept. 20.

CONSTRUCTION CHAOS CONTINU ES

2 — Thursday, September 5, 2019
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Kelsey Museum of Archaeology hosts 600 artjfacts found at El-Kurru site relating 
to area’s religious, trading, and historical movements across North African region

Ancient Sudanese graffiti exhibit opens

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