Amun Sanctuary – Jebel Barkal (Sudan)

Dr. Timothy Kendall is an archaeologist and ancient historian specializing in the ancient Sudan. He received his doctorate at Brandeis University in 1974 and served 25 years as a member of the curatorial staff of the Department of Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern Art at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston. At the MFA, he became aware of its vast collection of archaeological material from the pioneering Sudan excavations of Dr. George A. Reisner, carried out between 1913 and 1932 under joint sponsorship of the MFA and Harvard University. Excavating in the major city and royal cemetery sites of ancient Kush, Reisner received tens of thousands of objects for the MFA, which, together with his superb records, formed an archive unique outside Sudan. As Kendall became aware of the extent of this collection, he made it his primary scholarly focus. In 1982, he received a sabbatical and traveled to Sudan to visit all of Reisner’s sites, and in 1986, he received a permit from the Sudanese authorities to reopen excavations at the Jebel Barkal temples, in the very same sector worked for two seasons by Reisner. Kendall was able to continue the work for 25 more seasons (working side by side with an Italian and Spanish team, excavating in other nearby sectors of the site), finally retiring in 2018. The White Levy grant provides funding that will allow Kendall and his team to produce a final publication of the main temple complex by 2023.