Ain Farah moved one author to quote Macaulay – “like an eagle’s nest that hangs on the crest”, for it is built some 100 metres (330 ft) above a spring.

There is a brick and stone edifice which appears to have served as a mosque, a large stone group which may have served as a public building, and a main group on the highest point of the ridge, described variously as a royal residence or military defence.

It lies in the Furnung Hills some 130 kilometres (81 mi) northwest of El Fasher, and 600 miles (970 km) to the southwest of Dongola.

The archaeological site is situated close to a hill, about 100 metres (330 ft) above the source lakes.

One of the corroded iron objects yielded a surprisingly early date (1500 +/- 200 bp, Q 3155), falling at least six and perhaps as many as eleven centuries before the likely time of the Tunjur; Mohammed interprets this as signifying a pre-Islamic presence and continuation into Islamic times.