The archive of Friedrich W. Hinkel represents one of the largest collections of research materials
concerning the archaeology of the Ancient Sudan. It is the result of Dr. Hinkel's (1925 - 2007) over 40
years of continued research, beginning with his participation in the Humboldt University's excavation at
Musawwarat es Sufra in 1961. From 1962 onwards he was deputized by the Academy of Sciences of GDR to the
Sudan's Archaeological Service, for which he worked as an architect focusing on the excavation,
reconstruction and conservation of archaeological monuments. Among his greatest achievements are the
dismantling and recovery of the of Semna, Kumma, Buhen and Aksha threatened by the Great Dam, the
excavation of temple M 250 at Meroe as well as his conservation efforts regarding the pyramids at Meroe.
In the course of his work Friedrich W. Hinkel collected information concerning thousands of
archaeological sites in the Sudan, which he planned to publish in geographical order in the form of a
publication series called “The Archaeological Map of the Sudan“ (AMS). Due
to his work for the Sudan Antiquities Service (now the National Corporation for Antiquities & Museums)
he had access to documents and sites previously unknown to other international scholars,
making his archive a comprehensive collection of research.
The geographical structure of the “The Archaeological Map of the Sudan“ - and therefore large parts of
his archive - is based on a grid system he encountered at the Sudan Antiquities Service and later
enhanced using the International Map of the World. Within Hinkel’s AMS-system every site is
assigned an alphanumerical code (the so called AMS-number), by which the location of the site can be
identified up to an area of about 5 by 5 km. (see also: AMS).
During his lifetime Dr. Hinkel published three volumes of the AMS (a guide as well as two volumes
regarding The South Lybian Desert and The Area of the Red Sea Coast and Northern Ethiopian Frontier) as
well as several supplement volumes focusing on single contexts. The lion's share of his documents,
however, remains unpublished.
His archive contains over 30.000 photographs, over 10.000 slides, about 540 topographical maps, over
4.000 drawings, over 20.000 index cards as well as several hundred folders containing geographically
structured information on archaeological sites.
Owing to the generous support of the Qatar Sudan Archaeological Project (09/2014 until 03/2016) and the
German Foreign Ministry (beginning in 04/2016) it was possible to digitize large part of Friedrich W.
Hinkel's research Archive and make it accessible via the iDAI.world in cooperation with the CoDArchLab
and the National Corporation for Antiquities & Museums in Khartoum.
All information and metadata concerning the digitized items is based on Hinkel's own notes and does not
represent a scientific analysis of the material. Digitized photographs,
slides, drawings
and topographic
maps were integrated into the iDAI.objects database, while scans
consisting of more than one page such as the index cards, inventory books,
collections of
drawings and scientific
material collected in folders were integrated into the
iDAI.bookbrowser. The data in iDAI.objects was structured in accordance to the already mentioned
AMS-system for which 14.000 archaeological sites were added to the iDAI.gazetteer. The
iDAI.gazetteer, therefore, serves as the primary access-way to this data and forms the basis for a
future digital registry of sites, which is being developed by the National Corporation for Antiquities &
Museums.
The copyright for all material compiled by Hinkel rests with the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut. Due
to legal reasons somes parts of the archive cannot be displayed in the iDAI.world.
Owning to the sensitive nature of the information held in the archive its digital version cannot be
viewed without expressed permission (contact hinkel-archiv@dainst.de).
