I was fortunate to be allowed to join a group of tourists to take in the sites in Khartoum. This was my first opportunity to really see the city and also to learn how Sudanese represent themselves through history, art, and religion.
The first visit to the ethnographic museum was an interesting glimpse into some of the Sudan ethnic groups but the lack of details and informed guides to understand the traditions and practices of the peoples portrayed, I felt like little more than a voyeur. It would have been nice to have at least one person with a vested interest in informing the public of the meaning and purpose of the ethnographic museum other than to say that Sudan has over 500 ethnic groups and 150 languages. Still the display of traditional clothing, pottery, and hunting and fishing tools were interesting. I think you all would appreciate the image of the hippo hunting spear that involved embedding a spear in a heavy object like a trunk of a tree and then releasing it from a limb of a tree to kill a large mammal or stun it long enough to move in to kill it. Really innovative and brutal at the same time. Okay, that may be a boyish thing to have highlighted so I will move on.
We also visited the national museum, which contained a lot of history about Nubian civilization. Egypt is referred to as lower Nubia at times in the same way that Sudan is referred to as upper Egypt in their national museum. I was particularly interested in the transitions from ancient religious practices focused on the Ram god Amon to Christianity and Islam.
The guide underlined several times that Christianity came from the north and not from the south, making direct reference to the long-standing north-south conflict that took on a Islamic north versus Christian south tone as the conflict gained political support from outside interests. Sudan still has pyramids but unfortunately most of its monuments were flooded and submerged when the dam was built on the Nile. Lots of Sudanese tourist visit this free museum and it was heartening to see children reading about their own history with interest and pride. I hope to visit the pyramids from the Kush and Moroe periods on one of my vacation days.
For a speed session on Sudanese history, I highly recommend a visit to the Republican Palace Museum where the story of Sudanese independence is told with seemingly little attempt to mask the ugly sides of the tumultuous history. The section devoted to the rise and fall of presidents mentions military overthrows in the same breath as college diplomas. It is also a good museum to see some of the gifts that local associations and foreigners have bestowed upon the Sudanese heads of state. If you like cars, a quick tour of the silver shadows (Rolls Royce) of the past presidents is also worth a look. The museum is housed just across from the presidential palace and in an old church that was moved to another location. No mention how you move a church to convert it into a museum, but the curators retained many of the religious references in the building, so it felt respectful of the history of the building as a place of Christian worship.
The greatest highlight for me was the visit to the Friday sundown Sufi gathering in the older part of the city called Omdurman. The visit began with a drive through a cemetery composed of very shallow graves with makeshift tombstones made of stone, metal, wood, or plastic. When we saw the thousands of these earthen mounds all around the vehicle, conversations in the vehicle ground to a halt. It was hard to believe that we were actually driving into this site. I felt as though I was violating the sanctity of the place just being there. But then further down the road we saw a huge gathering of people in white tunics but also colorful patchwork tunics. These were the members of more than 40 different Sufi sects that make up the dominant religious in Sudan's northern populations. The Sufis are members of an Islamic sect that believes in praising God throughout our lives in thought and in deeds and use music and movement to drill home that realization.
The Friday sundown event takes place in the middle of this graveyard, bringing up thoughts of our own mortality as the members swayed to the beat of the drums, moving their arms in a pumping motion on either side of their bodies, singing out praise in the same way congregations would yell out "Amen" in a Baptist or AME church. It was really an uplifting environment. It reminded me of the Powwows I have attended in Indiana with the Pottawatomie tribe. At some point, members took off their shoes to dance in the center of the circle that had now become a place of worship. Mosque officials helped to keep the momentum of the energy constantly building by changing the chants and bringing incense for the crowd to cleanse their minds and bodies. The twirling dervishes were less formal or graceful than the ones you may have seen on stage touring the world, but the intensity of their movements and expressions on their faces told me that this was the real deal and not some performance for onlookers. I was approached twice by members of the Mosque asking whether I could feel the rhythm in my heart and whether I wanted to join their group. I just smiled and nodded that I felt it. It was a heady experience. i do plan to go again before I leave Sudan and take more pictures and video of the event. Many people in the crowd also had cameras, so I know that will not be a problem in the future.Perhaps the most bizarre part of the tour was the sight of the giant egg-shaped 5-star hotel that the Libyans are building in the center of town. It is not yet ready for visiting but I will keep you updated when it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment