Jebel Moya, Archaeological site in Gezira, Sudan

Jebel Moya is a granite massif of hills linked by ridges and valleys in Sudan's southern Gezira Plain, about 250 km south-southeast of Khartoum. The archaeological site lies in the north-easternmost valley and covers roughly 104,000 m². Its aquifer-fed springs made it a freshwater source in a plain without permanent surface water.

Excavation began on 29 January 1911 under Henry Wellcome and ran for four seasons until April 1914, when World War I ended the work; Wellcome died in 1936. The first official report appeared in 1949, written by Frank Addison for the Wellcome Trust, and the osteological study followed in 1955. Flooding of the Dartford warehouse in 1928 and poor storage had already destroyed much of the material.

The name Jebel Moya covers a granite massif whose north-easternmost valley holds the cemetery. Among the 2,883 reported graves, 25 held animal burials, and some pits contained only pottery with no human body. The site lies in the southern Gezira Plain, about 250 km south-southeast of Khartoum.

The site lies in the southern Gezira Plain, about 250 km south-southeast of Khartoum, in the north-easternmost valley of a granite massif. Fresh water rises to ground level around the outcrops from the Basement Complex aquifer, so the area is not entirely without water. The excavated area covers roughly a fifth of the 10.4-hectare site.

The granite hills of the Jebel Moya massif break through the Gezira Plain's sandstone, and the underlying Basement Complex holds an aquifer fed by the Blue and White Niles. Fresh water rises to the surface around such outcrops, which made the site a reliable water source in a plain without permanent surface water and helped support herds.