SUDAN 2004   

Andy Simpson

Our speaker at the March meeting, Herbert Runciman, was introduced as a well-travelled specialist in thermal imaging. He then gave us a fascinating and beautifully illustrated talk on Sudan, the biggest country in Africa, following on from his recent tour where permits were much in demand to travel anywhere.

The country hosts 570 tribes, with many different languages. The main theme of the evening was the area that formed the former kingdom of Kush, of which the presenter admitted he found it difficult to obtain a coherent story. The area lies in a loop of the River Nile, south of the Egyptian border. The kingdom flourished between around 800BC and 300 CE. Even the Egyptian 25th Dynasty of Pharaohs were Sudanese.

Our pictorial tour began at Khartoum, on the sixth cataract of the Nile, prompting your scribe to think of that Hollywood epic film with Charlton Heston playing the 19th Century British General Gordon and Laurence Olivier as the rebellious religious leader the Mahdi, who besieged and killed Gordon. Modern-day Khartoum is where the Blue and White Nile split.  The Mahdi's tomb is at Omdurman, where his forces were later defeated by General Kitchener; some remains of the old walls still stand there. The archaeological museum at Khartoum, where photography was "difficult" (due to closure for Ramadan), includes reconstructed temples recovered from the flooding caused by the Aswan Dam project.

We then moved on to Naga with its temples of the lion god and Amun.   The 1st Century AD Temple of the Lion God, Apedamak, at Naga, built by King Natakamani who was elected from amongst the Royal family, though quite small, shows much Egyptian influence, with use of Egyptian symbolism and copying of Egyptian hieroglyphs, sometimes incorrectly. The original suggested Indian influence has now been disproved. The Temple of Amun, of similar date, co- existed with the native lion cult, with an avenue of rams leading to the temple gate. The native script has not yet been deciphered, although the hieroglyphs are similar to Egyptian ones.

It is certainly hot out there - 110 degrees by day, a mere 90 degrees at night. Despite this, the need for water means that even today 600 feet deep wells are dug by hand.

The Lion and Elephant temples at Mussawwarat Es Sufra date from the 1st century BCE; the lion temple has now been reconstructed, featuring this characteristic Kushite lion-headed god, to whom human sacrifices are thought to have been made on occasion. There is an open space - sacred enclosure - between the two temples, making up a complex "Elephant Temple", as elephants were very important tothe kingdom of Kush through the ivory trade. The exact purpose of this complex remains enigmatic,however.

Near the former capital city of Meroe is a necropolis of pyramids. At Meroe, the first royal burial occurred around 250BC, with later pyramids originally plaster covered, with the funerary chapel of the king in front of each pyramid, with the royal tomb below, accessed by a sand- backfilled flight of steps. There are some tombs of nobles as well as royalty. Sadly, the tops of the pyramids were removed by treasure hunters in the recent past.

We then saw views of a 12^th Century Christian church; few Christians now remaining in a mainly Moslem area. Christianity originally came to the area through Byzantine influence, some churches featuring finely carved capitals.  Much of the architecture in the area is of mud-brick construction, though some imported granite has also been used.  Spectacular views from Jebel-Barkal mountain showed both styles of pyramid below, both Egyptian and Meroitic. One outcrop on the mountain was once gilded, as it was thought to resemble a cobra. Also in the area are beehive-shaped Islamic period tombs of holy men (koubbas),

dating from the 14th century onwards. Of interest were views of 14 million year old petrified trees drowned by a flash flood long ago. The first kings were buried in the El Kurru area, with Egyptian style tomb paintings found from around 800BC. They featured embalmed bodies placed on beds, and decapitated dogs, horses and servants buried nearby.

The journey concluded by returning to Kharoum via Old Dongola with its remains of an ancient palace/fort and early Christian churches. This fascinating talk received deserved applause at the end.