Khartoum

Sudan

January 31, 2020

Please stroll with me through the Sudan National Museum in Khartoum.

Please celebrate with me at Mausoleum of The Madhi in Omdurman.

Jan

National Museum of Sudan

Founded in Khartoum in 1971, the National Museum of Sudan, which includes glassware, pottery, statuary and figurines from both Sudanese history and pre-history, is the largest in the entire country. Ancient Nubia's Christian period is well-represented, with frescoes and murals dating back to the 8th century, while the Egyptian temples of Buhen and Semna, built by Queen Hatshepsut and Pharaoh Tuthmosis III and relocated to Khartoum before Lake Nasser was flooded, currently reside in the Museum gardens.

The National Museum holds many treasures of Sudan’s ancient and medieval past. They’re well-presented and labelled and give a good narrative of Sudanese history. Spread out over two floors, the ground floor starts with Sudan’s prehistory and covers the rise of Kerma and Kush in great detail. Kerma is particularly well represented through its famous pottery. The Kushite displays show the wide variety of cultural exchange in play throughout the kingdom.

Mausoleum of the Mahdi

Muhammad Ahmad, also known as the Madhi, is one of the most colorful and controversial Muslim figures of the 19th century.  He is held by many as an ardent Sudanese Nationalist and champion of Sharia law and vilified by many as a violent extremist and Jihadist.  Both points of view recognize him as a determined foe of European colonialism and western cultural influences. 

Today he is honored as the national hero of Sudan.  This is especially true in Khartoum, which he captured in a brilliant battle against the colonial army of Britain and their Egyptian allies.  Though it is not a mosque, his shrine in Omdurman is generally considered to be the country’s most important Islamic shrine.