The Bayuda Desert, located at , is in the eastern region of the

Sahara Desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

, spanning approximately 100,000 km² of northeast

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

north of

Omdurman Omdurman (standard ar, أم درمان ''Umm Durmān'') is a city in Sudan. It is the most populated city in the country, and thus also in the State of Khartoum. Omdurman lies on the west bank of the River Nile, opposite and northwest of the ...

and south of Korti, embraced by the great bend of the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest riv ...

in the north, east and south and limited by the

Wadi Muqaddam Geography Wadi Muqaddam is a dry water course some 320 km extending from beyond Omdurman north to the great bend of the Nile near Korti. It gives its name to the geological Wadi Milk Formation. Delimiting the Bayuda Desert to the west it stil ...

in the west. The north to south aligned

Wadi Abu Dom Wadi Abu Dom is an arid valley in Sudan. Situated in the Bayuda Desert, it runs from the central Bayuda approximately 150 km down to the Nile. Several archaeological sites, e.g. Umm Ruweim and the monastery of Ghazali are located at Wadi Abu Dom ...

divides the Bayuda Desert into the eastern Bayuda Volcanic Field and the western ochre-coloured sand-sheets scattered with rocky outcrop. Gold mining occurs today from October to March, as labourers work auriferous

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical f ...

found in

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...

s and shallow mines. These workings are usually in areas previously worked during the

New Kingdom of Egypt The New Kingdom, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the sixteenth century BC and the eleventh century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasties of Egypt. Radioca ...

and the Early Arab Period. In July 2020, it was found that gold hunters had used heavy machinery at the Jabal Maragha archaeological site in the Bayuda Desert, destroying it by digging a huge trench. The gold diggers were arrested and their equipment seized, but they were later released without charges.

The Bayuda Desert route

Throughout the Meroitic civilization the ''Bayuda Desert'' became the lifeline connecting the northern and southern districts of the

Kingdom of Kush The Kingdom of Kush (; Egyptian: 𓎡𓄿𓈙 𓈉 ''kꜣš'', Assyrian: ''Kûsi'', in LXX grc, Κυς and Κυσι ; cop, ''Ecōš''; he, כּוּשׁ ''Kūš'') was an ancient kingdom in Nubia, centered along the Nile Valley in wh ...

, with

Napata Napata (Old Egyptian ''Npt'', ''Npy''; Meroitic ''Napa''; grc, Νάπατα and Ναπάται) was a city of ancient Kush at the fourth cataract of the Nile. It is located approximately 1.5 kilometers from the right side of the river at the ...

and Meroe as the termini. The king

Nastasen Nastasen was a king of Kush (335 – 315/310 BC). According to a stela from Dongola his mother was named Queen Pelkha and his father may have been King Harsiotef. His successor was Aryamani. He is known from three types of objects. There is ...

Stela provides testament of the existence and use of this route, describing his progress across the desert from Meroe to Napata for his coronation.Intisar Soghayroun, Elzein Soghayroun: Trade and Wadi Systems in Muslim Sudan, Kampala 2010

The Mahdist War

The Bayuda Desert was crossed by the Desert Column of the Gordon Relief Expedition in January 1885 in a failed attempt to relieve the

Siege of Khartoum The Siege of Khartoum (also known as the Battle of Khartoum or Fall of Khartoum) occurred from 13 March 1884 to 26 January 1885. Sudanese Mahdist forces captured the city of Khartoum from its Egyptian garrison, thereby gaining control over th ...

. The Desert Column was led mainly by Major General Sir

Herbert Stewart Major-General Sir Herbert Stewart (30 June 1843 – 16 February 1885) was a British soldier. Early life Stewart, the eldest son of the Rev. Edward Stewart, was born at Sparsholt, Hampshire. He was the grandson of Edward Richard Stewart an ...

but after he was mortally wounded, command passed to Brigadier General Charles Wilson, the column's intelligence officer. The Expedition saw the

Battle of Abu Klea The Battle of Abu Klea, or the Battle of Abu Tulayh took place between the dates of 16 and 18 January 1885, at Abu Klea, Sudan, between the British Desert Column and Mahdist forces encamped near Abu Klea. The Desert Column, a force of approxim ...

and the Battle Abu Kru.

References

External links

{{Authority control Deserts of Sudan