[1] The first European explorer was English geologist Sir Henry George Lyons in 1892, and was excavated without Sudanese permission, by the French Egyptologist Jean Vercoutter from 1962 to 1969.

[5] The occupation of the region dates back to 7500 BCE as shown by the evidence obtained at Akha, an important Mesolithic site located a few hundred meters east of the great fortress.

According to various artifacts unearthed at the site, such as jars, millstones, bread molds, beer mugs, and plates, the city appeared to have been occupied by a strictly Egyptian population during the Middle Empire and the Second Intermediate Period.

It was built by the pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom to defend their southern border and control trade routes that passed through the Nile from Sudan and Africa.

Together with Dabenarti, situated on a rocky islet measuring 2.5 square kilometres (0.97 sq mi),[8] the two fortresses formed a barrier to prevent invasions from the south.

During excavations, only the foundation remained of the smaller Dabenarti fort, dating from the Twelfth Dynasty, its purpose having been to protect the harbor and dock located at the southern end of The Boat Slide.

[9] While eleven forts were built during the reign of Senusret III in the region between the 2nd and 3rd cataracts, including Shalfak, Uronarti, Askut, Semna, Kumma, and Sumna South,[10] Mirgissa was the largest of them.

Composed of evenly spaced wooden cross beams set in silt and spread mud layers, it was low enough to wet the clay and make it very slippery, thus reducing friction between the boat hull and the track.

The expedition of Jean Vercoutter made a discovery in the surrounding desert, west and not far from the city open, of a grave filled with some 3,500 fragments of pottery sherds; some were inscribed.

The Execration texts listed the names of foreign countries and their leaders, their purpose apparently being a form of ritual magic designed to curse the enemies of Egypt.