Bayuda Desert

The Bayuda Desert, located at 18°N 33°E / 18°N 33°E / 18; 33, is in the eastern region of the Sahara Desert, spanning approximately 100,000 km2 of northeast Sudan north of Omdurman and south of Korti, embraced by the great bend of the Nile in the north, east, and south and limited by the Wadi Muqaddam in the west.

[2] In July 2020, it was found that gold hunters had used heavy machinery at the Jabal Maragha archaeological site, destroying it by digging a huge trench.

[3][4] Throughout the Meroitic civilization, the Bayuda Desert became the lifeline connecting the northern and southern districts of the Kingdom of Kush, with Napata and Meroe as the termini.

The king Nastasen Stela provides testament of the existence and use of this route, describing his progress across the desert from Meroe to Napata for his coronation.

The Desert Column was led mainly by Major General Sir Herbert Stewart, but after he was mortally wounded, command passed to Brigadier General Charles Wilson, the column's intelligence officer.