While the fort at Semna South was described by Reisner (1929), it was not formally excavated until 1956–1957 by the Sudan Antiquities Service under the direction of Jean Vercoutter and Sayed Thabit Hassan Thabit.[2] This excavation explored the majority (four-fifths) of the fort and “made a limited trial digging” in the adjacent Meroitic cemetery.[4]