KHARTOUM (AFP).- Archaeologists feared the worst when record Nile floodwaters threatened to overwhelm priceless ancient royal baths in Sudan, but prompt action averted disaster -- for now, at least.

Authorities last week declared a three month national state of emergency over the flooding affecting swathes of land adjoining the Nile, and more than 100 people have lost their lives to the elevated waters in the country.

Starting Sunday, teams set up sandbag walls and pumped out water to prevent damage at the ruins of Al-Bajrawiya, once a royal city of the two-millenia-old Meroitic empire.

Priceless open-air royal baths are situated among two pavilions and include a bathroom and relaxation area, decorated with statues.

"If water had entered the royal baths, whose paintings and statues were recently restored by the German Archeological Institute, it would have caused a disaster," Mahmoud Suleiman, who is in charge of the site, told AFP.

"We managed to avoid it thanks to the rapid intervention of our teams," he added.

In antiquity, fresh water arrived from the Nile through a sophisticated aqueduct system.

The wider site consists of a mega-necropolis, stunning sand-coloured pyramids -- listed as a UNESCO World Heritage attraction -- palaces, temples and administrative buildings.

Some 200 kilometres (125 miles) northeast of Khartoum, it was the capital of an empire that controlled vast territories from 350 BC to 350 AD.

Between the site and the Nile River, there are patches of agricultural land, where farmers depend on annual floods.

But water levels have risen much further than usual this year.

"Each rainy season, the Nile covers" this vast expanse, said Suleiman.




"But this year it penetrated the limits of the archaeological site. It reached the exterior of the buildings."

'Immediate danger over'
The baths are surrounded by rudimentary brick walls, built to protect the priceless ancient retreat and proving crucial to the sandbagging efforts.

On September 5, a warden sent Suleiman photos of water seeping onto the site.

The next day, he went there with eight inspectors and three volunteers who began erecting two sandbag levees and pumping water out.

By Wednesday, the Nile had receded and the immediate danger was over.

"There was no damage. We arrived at the right time and intervened quickly. We protected the baths and also the old perimeter wall built in sandstone," Suleiman said.

"It would have started eroding if the water had stagnated for too long," he explained.

But Marc Maillot, head of the French Archaeological Unit in the Sudan Antiquities Service, remains wary of the mighty flow of the Nile, the world's longest river.

"There is a potential rise in the underground water level and the Nile can gradually create a new arm. We must build a solid levee in stone and concrete," he said.

The current objective, according to the Sudanese Antiquities Ministry, is to replace the walls surrounding the royal baths with a lighter structure in order to allow the public to visit.

It also wants to build an iron and brick roof to add an extra layer of protection from natural disasters.

Over 110,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged in Sudan by this year's flooding, according to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, while over half a million people have been adversely affected in one way or another.

© Agence France-Presse