A great discovery on the archaeological, ethnographical and ecological project of Ga’ab El Lagia Church in Sudan was detected by the Polish researcher. During the excavations in the Ga’ab El Lagia church, Ph.D. Magdalena Łaptaś from The Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw documented paintings showing, among others Our Lady with Christ and two archangels. The church and the paintings are about a thousand years old.
There were no conservators or paintings experts in the research team so the discovery was covered with sand again to protect it. A year later, the consevator Ewa Parandowska and Ph.D. Magdalena Łaptaś joined the team led by the Sudanese to deal with Nubian iconography. Ph.D. Łaptaś had worked for 17 years at the National Museum in Warsaw, at the Faras Gallery before.
One of the better preserved paintings on the eastern wall of the church shows the bust of Christ Emmanuel (that is, the youthful Jesus) against the background of a standing figure. The upper part of the figure didnot survive. According to the expert, it probably shows the Mother of God.
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Lagia el Ga’ab Church is located southwest of the 3rd Cataract, on the west bank of the Nile. Research on the paintings in Lagia el Ga’ab has been carried out since 2018. So far, scientists have not presented the findings because of pandemic. Ph.D. Łaptaś presented the results of the research during the 24th International Byzantine Congress in Padua and Venice which lasts until August 27. The researcher hopes to talk about the paintings with an international group of experts.