Archaeologists have discovered a royal decree bearing the signature of a once-legendary African monarch – retrieved directly from a centuries-old refuse pile along the Nile’s edge. The remarkable discovery, uncovered by a Polish research team from the University of Warsaw at Old Dongola in northern Sudan, carries the name of King Qashqash – a sovereign previously regarded as mythical, comparable to Britain’s King Arthur. Specialists have determined the document dates to the late 16th or early 17th century, establishing it as the earliest tangible archaeological proof of Qashqash’s genuine rule. Instead of chronicling military conquests, the Arabic decree, written by a royal scribe named Hamad, instructs a man called Khidr to exchange textiles for livestock and deliver everything to its rightful owner, concluding with a sharp directive: “do not hesitate!” Scholars suggest that instruction provides insight into the genuine royal authority and administration of a sparsely recorded period, reports The Jerusalem Post. The study describes it as a “rare glimpse into Sudanic kingship during one of the least‐documented periods in Sudanese history” and, echoing a …