Khartoum - Culture
The capital city of the Sudan, the largest African nation, is Khartoum, a name that means "elephant's trunk." Khartoum lies just south of the junction of the Blue Nile and the White Nile rivers. The city has bridge connections with its sister towns, which are Khartoum North and Omdurman. As the country's seat of government and higher education and the center of its commerce and industry, Khartoum is firmly established as the Sudan's greatest metropolis. Most of the people speak Arabic. The city is also Sudan's communications hub. Its rail lines connect with Egypt as well as the cities of Port Sudan on the eastern coast and Al Ubayyid in the central part of Sudan. Khartoum has an international airport, and heavy commercial boat traffic plies each of the Nile rivers.
Places to visit in Khartoum
-
National
Museum. This contains antiquities and artefacts from several
periods of Sudanese history and pre-history, including glassware,
pottery, statuary and figurines from the ancient kingdom of Cush.
Ancient Nubia's Christian period is well-represented, with frescoes
and murals from ruined churches, dating from the 8th to the 15th
century. The Museum's garden contains two reconstructed temples, which
have been salvaged from the Nubian land flooded by Lake Nasser. These
Egyptian temples of Buhen and Semna were originally built by Queen
Hatshepsut and Pharaoh Tuthmosis III respectively. The temples have
corrugated iron covers built over them to protect them from humidity
during the wet season. The original concept was to roll back these
covers during the dry season, but whether this ever happened or not is
unclear. The covers are rusted into place and are now permanent and
immovable!
-
Ethnographical Museum. This is a small museum which contains an interesting collection of items relating to Sudanese village life. These include musical instruments, clothing, cooking and hunting implements.