Ancient treasures shed light on past glory of Sudan

LONDON – Sudan, torn by civil war, human misery and upheaval, was not always that way.

For centuries Africa’s biggest country was a jewel in the continent’s cultural crown — rich, powerful and a meeting point between the Mediterranean, southern Africa and the Middle East. In a bid to offset the modern image of violence and misery epitomised by the crisis in the western region of Darfur where thousands of people have been killed and more than a million uprooted, the British Museum is staging a major exhibition.”We are trying to highlight what an amazing country Sudan is,” curator Derek Welsby told Reuters on a pre-opening tour.”Most people don’t know anything except the bad news about Sudan.We want to show the other side of the story.This is a country of rich history and vast potential.”The exhibition, which runs to January 9, takes the visitor from 200 000 years BC to the end of the 19th century — running through Egyptian rule and defeat, the Romans, Christianisation, Islamification and up to joint Anglo-Egyptian rule.Entry is free, but visitors will be asked to make a contribution to one of the aid organisations working to bring relief to Darfur where Arab militias are accused of killing and raping mainly African farmers, some say with government backing.RICH PASTMany of the 320 objects on show have never been seen in public before let alone outside the country.Among some of the funerary objects are small carved figurines dating back to 4500 BC which would not look out of place in a modern exhibition of abstract art.Visitors are welcomed by a full-sized statue of the Kushite ruler Anlamani which reflects Sudan’s position on the cusp of the Arab world and Africa.Anlamani stands in a classically Egyptian pose but has unmistakably African features.It is a contradiction that recurs through much of the early part of the compact but well-designed show.”The ancient Sudanese were always very confident of being Sudanese — and they still are to this day.They don’t fit neatly into any particular African pigeonhole,” Welsby said.Further into the exhibition is an intricately inscribed funerary slab for an evidently Egyptianised local Nubian ruler Amenemhat dating from 1,450 BC.”We know he was a Nubian.But he had adopted all the attributes of the Egyptians.We see that time and again in these artefacts.But when the invaders withdraw, the underlying ‘Africanness’ resurfaces,” Welsby said.The flourishing Egyptian-Nubian civilisation was known as the Kush.Indeed, as Egyptian rule waned, the Kushites or ancient Sudanese pushed into Egypt and reversed the process for a while.And, with the fertile Nile running the length of the otherwise arid country, these were prosperous times with evidence of many and varied towns and villages, full granaries, large herds of cattle and travelling artisans.FINEST POTTERY IN THE WORLDAnd while Egypt is known for its pyramids, archaeologists have actually found over 300 in modern Sudan and are still uncovering more.The exhibition includes many examples of delicate gold jewellery and well as fine pottery dating back to 2500 BC.”This is some of the finest pottery anywhere in the world,” Welsby said.”Yet this is all hand crafted.There were no potters wheels around at the time and no kilns.”This is low level technology producing very high level results.It is delicate and artistic at the same time,” he said.The exhibition also definitively answers an age-old question.Is the dwarf god Bes — which looks like a gargoyle but is an apparently friendly deity in charge of protecting the household and usually depicted in hermaphroditic form — ever shown as purely female? One of the highlights of the show is a statue of an indisputably all woman Bes, discovered by Welsby himself.The exhibition ranges over the conversion to Christianity of Sudan in the sixth century AD, followed by its replacement by Islam 900 years later, with many examples of art and buildings through the centuries.Archaeologists are working to save as many artefacts as they can from a 170 km stretch along the Nile in the arid northern desert of Sudan that is due to be flooded by 2008 in a giant hydroelectric scheme.”This area is extremely rich archaeologically,” said Welsby.”We are finding new sites all the time.There are major monuments in the flood zone.”- Nampa-ReutersIn a bid to offset the modern image of violence and misery epitomised by the crisis in the western region of Darfur where thousands of people have been killed and more than a million uprooted, the British Museum is staging a major exhibition.”We are trying to highlight what an amazing country Sudan is,” curator Derek Welsby told Reuters on a pre-opening tour.”Most people don’t know anything except the bad news about Sudan.We want to show the other side of the story.This is a country of rich history and vast potential.”The exhibition, which runs to January 9, takes the visitor from 200 000 years BC to the end of the 19th century — running through Egyptian rule and defeat, the Romans, Christianisation, Islamification and up to joint Anglo-Egyptian rule.Entry is free, but visitors will be asked to make a contribution to one of the aid organisations working to bring relief to Darfur where Arab militias are accused of killing and raping mainly African farmers, some say with government backing.RICH PASTMany of the 320 objects on show have never been seen in public before let alone outside the country.Among some of the funerary objects are small carved figurines dating back to 4500 BC which would not look out of place in a modern exhibition of abstract art.Visitors are welcomed by a full-sized statue of the Kushite ruler Anlamani which reflects Sudan’s position on the cusp of the Arab world and Africa.Anlamani stands in a classically Egyptian pose but has unmistakably African features.It is a contradiction that recurs through much of the early part of the compact but well-designed show.”The ancient Sudanese were always very confident of being Sudanese — and they still are to this day.They don’t fit neatly into any particular African pigeonhole,” Welsby said.Further into the exhibition is an intricately inscribed funerary slab for an evidently Egyptianised local Nubian ruler Amenemhat dating from 1,450 BC.”We know he was a Nubian.But he had adopted all the attributes of the Egyptians.We see that time and again in these artefacts.But when the invaders withdraw, the underlying ‘Africanness’ resurfaces,” Welsby said.The flourishing Egyptian-Nubian civilisation was known as the Kush.Indeed, as Egyptian rule waned, the Kushites or ancient Sudanese pushed into Egypt and reversed the process for a while.And, with the fertile Nile running the length of the otherwise arid country, these were prosperous times with evidence of many and varied towns and villages, full granaries, large herds of cattle and travelling artisans.FINEST POTTERY IN THE WORLDAnd while Egypt is known for its pyramids, archaeologists have actually found over 300 in modern Sudan and are still uncovering more.The exhibition includes many examples of delicate gold jewellery and well as fine pottery dating back to 2500 BC.”This is some of the finest pottery anywhere in the world,” Welsby said.”Yet this is all hand crafted.There were no potters wheels around at the time and no kilns.”This is low level technology producing very high level results.It is delicate and artistic at the same time,” he said.The exhibition also definitively answers an age-old question.Is the dwarf god Bes — which looks like a gargoyle but is an apparently friendly deity in charge of protecting the household and usually depicted in hermaphroditic form — ever shown as purely female? One of the highlights of the show is a statue of an indisputably all woman Bes, discovered by Welsby himself.The exhibition ranges over the conversion to Christianity of Sudan in the sixth century AD, followed by its replacement by Islam 900 years later, with many examples of art and buildings through the centuries.Archaeologists are working to save as many artefacts as they can from a 170 km stretch along the Nile in the arid northern desert of Su
dan that is due to be flooded by 2008 in a giant hydroelectric scheme.”This area is extremely rich archaeologically,” said Welsby.”We are finding new sites all the time.There are major monuments in the flood zone.”- Nampa-Reuters