In its heyday, the city covered approximately 275 hectares, but the excavations carried out prior to 2019 only encompassed about 1% of this area.[3] The research was conducted by, among others, expeditions from the Sudanese National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM) and the British Institute in Eastern Africa, mostly as part of salvage excavations resulting from the construction of an asphalt road and the building activity along it. During the last 20–30 years, modern architecture has covered about half of the site.[4] In 2019, the interdisciplinary project “Soba – the heart of Alwa” was commenced.