Polish researchers made the find in the former medieval city of Old Dongola, northern Sudan, in the spring of 2023, the Science in Poland website reported.
While investigating a 16th century house, they found a network of rooms beneath the floor, featuring several unorthodox wall paintings, likely from the 13th century, Archaeology wrote.
One of the paintings depicts Virgin Mary, another portrays a scene with Jesus, archangel Michael and the 13th century Nubian king David, according to officials.
Dr. Artur Obłuski, who leads the Polish expedition, told Archaeology the latter painting was "completely uncommon" for Byzantine Christian art, which "generally does not show a lot of interaction or contact between mortals and immortals.”
Researchers from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw have been excavating Old Dongola under a grant from the European Union's European Research Council, Science in Poland reported.
Titled Urban Metamorphosis of the community of a Medieval African capital city, the project is worth EUR 1.5 million.
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Source: Science in Poland, Archaeology, University of Warsaw