Evidence of large-scale gold extraction in the ancient Nubian kingdom of Kush has been found along the Nile River, archaeologists will announce today (see pictures).

The discovery is part of a race to save as many antiquities as possible before a dam inundates a hundred-mile (160-kilometer) stretch of the Nile in northern Sudan.

The presence of gold in the African region "may have been one of the main reasons for the colonization of Sudan by the ancient Egyptians," said Salah Mohammed Ahmed, the head of Sudan's antiquities agency.

"Nubia was renowned for its gold deposits," said Geoff Emberling, a leader of the expedition.

The new discovery is part of an international effort to salvage artifacts before the Merowe Dam creates a 108-mile-long (174-kilometer-long) reservoir south of an area of rapids known as the Fourth Cataract.