Sudan - Ancient Magical Land

Dossier

The history of Sudan stretches back thousands of years, to a time when they rivalled Pharaonic Egypt as a powerful civilisation. We explore some the highlights of Sudan’s little known ancient monuments on this two week tour, visiting collections of pyramids that few people even know exist and old temples lying in the desert sands. We spend our time camping out in Sudan’s stunningly beautiful deserts and hoping to meet nomadic groups on our way. We visit isolated villages where age old traditions still rule, and spend time learning about the lives of their Nubian inhabitants. This trip takes in some of the most beautiful areas of Sudan, from its deserts to the mighty Nile, lifeblood of the country, and by camping in this amazing landscape we gain a real sense of the overwhelming power of nature. Our Ancient Magical Land tour is our most comprehensive tour of the region, visiting spectacular sites and taking in the best of local culture. This is a journey of discovery through a little known civilisation, just as exciting as its better known northern neighbour but with the benefit that you are likely to have these world class attractions all to yourself.

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Day 1 - Khartoum
Arrive in Khartoum and transfer to the hotel. Overnight Holiday Villa Hotel or similar.

Khartoum
Strategically situated at the confluence of the Blue and White branches of the Nile, Khartoum has a relatively short history. It was first established as a military outpost of Egypt in 1821, and then grew rapidly in prosperity due to the slave trade, becoming as important in the trade as Zanzibar. In 1834 it became the capital of the Sudan, with many European expeditions into the ‘interior’ using it as a base. Khartoum achieved notoriety in Victorian Britain in the 1880s. A Mahdist rebellion to the west was gathering pace, and General Gordon was despatched to Khartoum to assist the beleaguered Egyptian forces. Gordon refused to evacuate the capital, and a long siege led to it eventually being overrun by rebels, with Gordon’s head being severed and presented to the Mahdi. Later, Kitchener reclaimed Khartoum for Britain and Egypt and began the rebuilding of the city, using the shape of the British flag to design its streets, believing that this would make it easier to defend. Today Khartoum is a quiet, unremarkable city. It has peaceful, tree-lined streets, and in some ways still bears the unmistakable mark of an outpost of the British Empire.

Day 2 - Khartoum – Omdurman – Western Desert
This morning we visit the Archaeological Museum that, besides many beautiful objects, contains two full temples rescued by UNESCO and moved from the Lake Nasser area, when it was flooded by the water. We then drive to Omdurman and visit the Khalifa’s House and the Mahdi’s Tomb. Afterwards we drive north through the western desert, stopping at local teahouses before pitching camp. Overnight in camp. (BLD)

Omdurman
Omdurman is today effectively part of Khartoum, but was once a small village on the banks of the Nile which the Mahdi made his base during his campaign against the British in the late 19th century. With the massacre of British forces and the death of Gordon, the Mahdi’s successor moved the capital from Khartoum to Omdurman. This was only in place for a short while however, until the Battle of Omdurman in 1898, when the Khalifa was killed along with 10,000 of his men and General Kitchener re-established Khartoum as the capital of Sudan. Today it contains the tomb of the Mahdi, seen by some as the first African anti-colonialist, the house of the Khalifa, and the souq, the largest market in Sudan selling just about everything you can imagine. A walk through here is to experience the very essence of the country, and a quintessential Sudanese experience.

Day 3 – Old Dongola - Nubian villages
We visit the ancient Christian site of Old Dongola with its Coptic Christian temple and churches. We then continue our journey through the Nubian Desert, following the Nile. Here the population speaks a different language from the Arabs, and adopts a less ‘strict’ form of Islam - the women don't cover their faces and readily speak to foreigners. The villages are beautiful, between sand dunes and palm trees; some houses are painted and decorated with patterns and flowers. Enthusiastic hospitality abounds, people will often invite foreigners to visit their home and share a meal or a cup of spiced tea. Overnight in camp. (BLD)

Day 4 – Kerma - Tombos
In the small town of Kerma we visit the ‘Deffufa’, an ancient building made with mud bricks and probably once a sacred area for the Kerma civilisation. Not far from here, among the rocks near the village of Tombos, we can find a statue of the black Pharaoh Taharqa, left in the old quarries for 3000 years Overnight in camp. (BLD)

Kerma
Kerma was an ancient trading centre in Upper Nubia, founded around 2500 BC, and had links with ancient Egypt, whose rulers recognised it as a powerful kingdom. In its heyday it controlled an area between the 1st and 4th cataracts of the Nile, and acted as a ‘middleman’ for traders from sub-Saharan Africa and the eastern Mediterranean, trading incense, slaves and exotic animals. Kerma was eventually sacked by Egypt and became part of their expanding empire, but was one of the first urban centres of Africa. A large necropolis with approximately 30,000 burials is located at the site, including four massive royal tombs where rulers and their retainers were often buried together. These tombs are large mounds of earth and stone, called defuffas, two of which are associated with temples.

Days 5-6 - Sebu - Temple of Soleb – Isle of Sai - Abri
In Sebu, right on the river bank, there are many rock engravings on the mountain walls. From here we reach the granite boulders of the Third Cataract, a significant obstacle that the ancient Egyptians had to face when sailing on the Nile. We follow the Nile and visit the temple of Soleb, considered to be one of Sudan’s best preserved temples. We cross the river to reach the Isle of Sai, with its ruins of Egyptian temples and Turkish forts, and cross the Nile again by ferry to set up camp near the village of Abri. Dinners and overnights in camp. (BLD)

Soleb
The temple of Soleb is superbly preserved and was built by the Egyptians in around the 14th century BC. It contains many columns, the remains of a hippostyle hall and relief carvings depicting festivals and the spoils of war. It was built by the same pharaoh as built the Temple of Luxor in Egypt, and would have been around 130m tall when complete.

Days 7- 8 – Wadi Halfa – Lake Nasser - Station no.6 – Umm Nabari Gold mine
We drive north to the border town of Wadi Halfa where we stock up for the next few days, and take the opportunity to visit Lake Nasser, known to the locals as Lake Nubia. Continuing on we visit Station No. 6, somewhat reminiscent of a British railway station, and head to the Umm Nabari Gold Mine at the base of the Mountain Umm Nabari, standing out on the white sand plain that surrounds it. Stone grinders of the old miners are still found in the area as well as the steel carriages and other mining tools. Dinner and overnight in camp. (BLD)

Lake Nasser
The vast Lake Nasser was created in 1971 as a result of the Aswan Dam in southern Egypt, and is named after the Egyptian president at the time, Gamal Abdel Nasser. 550km in length, its creation courted controversy as the accumulation of water behind the dam flooded much of the traditional homeland of the Nubian people, who were forcibly relocated, many settling in Aswan. Many important temples were dismantled piece by piece, including the famous temple of Abu Simbel.

Day 9 – El Kab village - Nubian Desert
This morning we drive across the desert to the amazing village of El Kab, developed on the banks of the Nile between two Turkish forts built on the top of the hill. The surrounding area is characterized by big pillars of rocks and beautiful palm trees; a real oasis in the desert. In April 2008 the new Dam of Merowee on the 4th Cataract was been completed and the flooding of the artificial lake started. We visit the villages of the people located along the banks of the lake. Dinner and overnight in camp. (BLD)

Nubian people
Ancient Nubia, stretching through northern Sudan and southern Egypt, was the home of Africa's earliest black civilization with a history which can be traced back to 2000 BC, through monuments, artefacts and written records from Egypt and Rome. In antiquity, Nubia was a land of great natural wealth, of gold mines, ebony, ivory and incense which was always prized by her neighbours. Nubia’s location frequently brought it into conflict with its neighbour to the north, Egypt, and throughout ancient history there were periods when Nubian rulers held sway over Egypt, and vice versa. The traditional homeland of the Nubians was hugely disrupted with Nasser’s building of the Aswan Dam in southern Egypt, a project that flooded Nubian villages and monuments and caused the local population to have to relocate. Nubians today have their own language and are divided into three main groups – the Mahas, the Danaqla and the Sikurta, each speaking slightly different dialects.

Day 10 - Karima – El Kurru - Karima
We head to the small town of Karima at the foot of the ‘holy mountain’ Jebel Barkal. We visit El Kurru, an important Napatan necropolis with beautifully decorated tombs. Close by are several enormous petrified tree trunks. Dinner and overnight in tents. (BLD)

El Kurru
El Kurru contains a number of tombs but only two are able to be visited. These are the tombs of Tanwetamani, successor to the famous Napatan king Taharqa, and his mother Qalhata. The tombs, which are excavated in the rock under pyramids - partially collapsed – are empty but are beautifully decorated with images of the Pharaoh, of the gods and multicolour hieroglyphic inscriptions.

Jebel Barkal
A landmark in the Nubian Desert, Jebel Barkal (‘Jebel’ means mountain in Arabic), can be seen from dozens of kilometres away. At the foot of this wonderful, isolated red sandstone mountain, considered holy since the ancient times, there is a large temple, dedicated to the Pharaohs of the New Reign and to their patron Amun. Besides the ruins of the temple there are several sculptured granite rams that supposedly formed a border along an avenue that led to a pier on the Nile, and a big room in the mountain wall decorated with bas-relief. We visit the Royal Necropolis of the ancient city of Napata, the Nubian capital (from 800 to 400 BC) before the Meroitic period. It has a large number of pyramids in three different locations: a few hundred metres north of Jebel Barkal, at El Kurru, southwards from the mountain and at Nuri, which is located on the other bank of the Nile.

Days 11-12 – Nuri – Atrun Crater – Bayuda Desert - Meroe
Visit the pyramids of Nuri before taking a cruise along the river and exploring its small islands and beaches. We cross the Nile and we enter in the Bayuda Desert, area bounded by the loop formed by the Nile between the 4th and 6th Cataracts. In the centre of this desert, we reach the Atrun Crater, where nomads gather salt from the edge of a green coloured pool to sell it in the markets of the towns outside the desert. Reaching the town of Atbara, we cross the Nile for the last time and head to the pyramids of Meroe, where we visit the ruins of the ancient royal city. Overnight camping near the pyramids. (BLD)

Nuri
The royal cemetery at Nuri cemetery was founded by the Napatan king Taharqa in around the 7th century BC, and he was followed by eighteen kings and fifty three queens, who were all buried here in pyramids. The Kushite kings and queens of this period were mummified according to Egyptian custom. Their fingers and toes were capped with gold; their faces were covered with gold masks; and they held gold implements in their hands. Their internal organs were removed from their bodies, separately mummified, and placed in large jars with animal heads. The sight of these ruined structures rising from the desert is quite arresting – an enchanting Sudanese experience.

Bayuda Desert
The Bayuda Desert is characterised by sharp black basalt mountains, most of them volcanic and typically cone-shaped. They alternate with level pebble stretches and large valleys with dry wadis passing through areas where only a little vegetation can be seen, together with some gazelles. It is very likely we will meet isolated groups of the Bishariyyin nomads. They live in family groups in small huts made of intertwined branches close to the rare water wells, in areas where surviving seems almost impossible.

Meroe
Meroe was the capital of the kingdom of Kush, becoming more important when the Royal Cemetery was moved there from its previous position at Napata. Its significance and power within the region was based on the skill of its metalworkers, iron being a product that was in great demand in the ancient world, and it was also an important trading power with links to both India and China. During its prominence, from around the 8th century BC to the 3rd century AD, the Kushite or Meroitic empire held sway over large swathes of the surrounding area, including as far away as Lake Chad. Its rich civilisation has left numerous pyramids, very different from their better known cousins in Egypt and with far fewer tourists, making them an absolute pleasure to explore. Each one has its own funerary chapel with the walls fully decorated with bas-reliefs that depicting numerous scenes. In the afternoon we move along the Nile to visit the ruins of the royal city. The excavations confirm that the town of Meroe used to cover a large area and the royal city was located in a central position, surrounded by suburbs and a boundary wall. Most of the area where the city is located, formed by many small hills covered by red clay fragments, has still to be excavated by the archaeologists.

Day 13 - Musawwarat - Naqa
Continuing on we reach Mussawarat El Sufra and explore this interesting site. We then head to the beautiful site of Naqa for our last night of camping. Dinner and overnight in tents. (BLD)

Musawwarat
In Musawwarat, a short distance from Naqa, a settlement was located in a valley crowned by hills. Today the ruins of a very large temple, which once played an important role, are visible. A large number of elephants can be seen on the walls, which indicate that this animal used to have an important role in this area. Beyond the large wadi there is another temple - recently restored by a German archaeological mission, dedicated to the Apedemak God.

Day 14 – Naqa – Khartoum
Explore the temples of Naqa before returning to Khartoum. On the way we stop in Omdurman to visit the souq. In Khartoum, day use rooms are available until your flight. Tour ends with a transfer to the airport for your onward flight. (B)

Please note that on occasion this itinerary may be run in the reverse direction.

Tour style: Pioneer

Inclusions:

Arrival and departure transfers
All accommodation on twin share basis
Services of English speaking guide / tour leader
Meals as listed (B – Breakfast, L – Lunch, D – Dinner)
Entrance fees for sites listed as part of the itinerary

Excluded:

International flights
Any airport taxes
Travel Insurance
Visas
Drinks

Please note that this tour is operated and sold in conjunction with our local partner, and so you may be travelling with people of different nationalities.

Please note that you should also read the Country Notes in association with this itinerary for practical information about your trip and the destination you will be visiting.

The itinerary and supplementary information has been compiled with care and provided in good faith. However it may be subject to change, and does not form part of a contract between the client and Undiscovered Destinations.