Physiographic zones corresponding to distinct Reaches in the Nile
TheDongola Reach is areach of approximately 160 km in length stretching from the Fourth downriver to the ThirdCataracts of the Nile inUpper Nubia,Sudan.[1] Named after the Sudanese town ofDongola which dominates this part of the river, the reach was the heart of ancientNubia.[2]
The area where theNile flows from the Fourth Cataract to the southwest making a great S-shaped bend following the structure of theCentral African Shear Zone is theSouthern Dongola Reach. The area where it flows northward out of the bend and through to the Third Cataract is theNorthern Dongola Reach.
In theDongola Reach the Nile is without any significantperennial tributary inputs. It passes over mostlysandstone and is flanked by wide alluvialflood plains. In theSouthern Dongola Reach the Nile is joined by the extinct river systems ofWadi Abu Dom,Wadi Muqaddam,Wadi Howar andWadi Al-Malik. TheNorthern Dongola Reach contains cultivable basins on the eastern side of the Nile valley floor such as theKerma Basin, a large fertile flood plain traversed by a series ofpalaeochannels.[3]
TheDongola Reach contains archaeological material from numerous cultural groups from across the history of the Middle Nile region, including theKerma culture, theKingdom of Kush, and the medieval kingdom ofMakuria.[4] The area of theSouthern Dongola Reach served as a connection between theRed Sea in the east and Wadi Howar in the west, linking the Nile Valley with inner Africa.[5] Abundant archaeological sites belonging to different archaeological periods area lined on the banks of old Nile channels in theNorthern Dongola Reach.[6]Affad 23 is anarchaeological site located in theAffad region of southern Dongola Reach in northernSudan,[7] which hosts "the well-preserved remains of prehistoric camps (relics of the oldestopen-airhut in the world) and diversehunting andgathering loci some 50,000 years old".[8][9][10]
^Welsby, Derek A. (2001).Life on the Desert Edge: Seven Thousand Years of Settlement in the Northern Dongola Reach, Sudan. Sudan Archaeological Research Society Publication no. 7.ISBN1-84171-264-7.
^Welsby, Derek A.; Macklin, Mark G.; Woodward, Jamie C. (2002). "Human Responses to Holocene Environmental Changes in the Northern Dongola Reach of the Nile, Sudan".Egypt and Nubia. Gifts of the Desert. British Museum Press.ISBN0-7141-1954-7.
^Woodward, Jamie; Macklin, Mark G.; Krom, Michael D.; Williams, Martin (2007). "The Nile: Evolution, Quaternary River Environments and Material Fluxes". In Gupta, Avijit (ed.).Large Rivers: Geomorphology and Management. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley. pp. 261–292.ISBN978-0-470-84987-3.
