Nuba of Sudan.

Sulle tracce dell'antica Nubia


di Emilio Radice



Sudan. Piramidi, emozioni e scoperte nel deserto dei faraoni neri, in un Paese che custodisce millenni di storia

Contenuti correlati

LE IMMAGINI



Comunque sia, è bene armarsi di buon senso. Poi via, attraverso il deserto, in una dimensione che è di maggiore libertà, fino a raggiungere il Nilo fra la Terza e la Quarta Cataratta. Ed ecco Old Dongola, i bei palmeti sul fiume, i campi arati con i buoi, i villaggi con le porte decorate con mille colori, la gente gentile che accoglie i visitatori e offre il chai. Siamo nel cuore della Nubia, le radici africane dell'Egitto, dove i faraoni cercavano oro, schiavi e donne di bellezza leggendaria, belle tuttora. Alcune ti trafiggono gli occhi con lo sguardo, quasi sfacciate. Poi via, deserto ancora, cammelli, scorci d'un Nilo pre-moderno, con feluche e campi arati. Miraggi che tremolano di calore in lontananza.



Fino alla magia di Kerma, con le tombe incise di geroglifici sulle rocce a strapiombo in riva al fiume e il piccolo museo dei Sette Faraoni: trovati intatti in un buco di terra nel 2003 sono belli da mozzare il fiato. Ovvio, a questo punto, che ci siano anche le piramidi: sulla strada per Karima, a Nuri, nei pressi del grande tempio di Jebel Barkal, la "montagna sacra" dell'antico regno di Napata, patrimonio mondiale dell'Unesco. Poi, piegando verso sud, le tante aguzze piramidi della necropoli reale di Meroe, dove i re nubiani si rifugiarono per sfuggire all'avanzata degli Egizi.



Ma fra una pagina di storia e l'altra c'è la gente. Ed è in un piccolo punto del deserto di Bayuda che vorremmo concludere questo racconto del Sudan: il cratere di El Atrun, uno dei pochi posti al mondo dove si torna indietro di un paio di millenni. Ci si arriva attraverso piste sabbiose e capanne di pastori che sembrano nidi di uccello. Nel cratere ci si infila attraverso un bordo sbrecciato, ed è un incantesimo: sul fondo del vulcano una ventina di donne nomadi raccolgono da un pozzo acqua salmastra e la spargono in vasche di fango. Le loro vesti sono macchie di azzurro, di giallo, di verde. Tutto il resto è bruciato dal sole. Poi attendono che l'acqua evapori e loro, accosciate per ore, con le mani raschiano il sale fangoso, ne fanno sacchi che poi caricano su carovane di asini e cammelli. Tutto accade con un caldo soffocante, un caldo che non dà tregua. È così da millenni, salvo il fatto che ora c'è qualcuno che le osserva. Noi. (12 settembre 2013)

Relationship between Italy and Sudan.

H.E. Ambassador Armando Barucco Visits the IFRC Distribution Center in East Nile Locality


H.E. Armando Barucco, the Ambassador of Italy in Sudan, together with the Secretary General of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society, Dr. Osman Gaafar and the Country Representative of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Dr. Aisha Maulana, visited today the IFRC Center in East Nile Locality for the distribution of basic necessities to the flood victims. This humanitarian assistance comes within the framework of the IFRC appeal denominated “Emergency appeal: Sudan Floods”, 50 percent of which has been covered by the Italian Government donation of 350,000 Euros.



It is worth mentioning that Italy was one of the first countries to respond to the appeal of the Sudanese Government and the Italian donation is among the largest provided so far in favor of the flood victims.



The IFRC plan is to provide technical and logistical support for the identification of needs, in order to provide assistance to approximately 35,000 people (7,000 families) in the three states most hit by the floods: Khartoum, River Nile and Northern States, for a period of six months. In particular, basic necessities like hygiene kits and water purification products to improve sanitary conditions and provide emergency services in the areas of health reference, shelters, relief items, as well as sanitations and hygiene interventions to prevent and mitigate disease outbreaks, will be distributed.



Finally, for the period 2011- 2013, Italian Aid to Sudan has reached approximately 20 million Euros. Main contributions of the Italian Government are used to implement bilateral projects, especially in the health sector in Eastern Sudan, and finance multilateral projects carried out by International and UN Agencies, such as WFP, UNFPA, UNMAS, UNICEF, WB, UNHCR, UNIDO, and support Italian NGOs, like Emergency, OVCI, VIS, COSV, COOPI and INTERSOS, which are very active at grassroots level in the Sudan.



By Press Release, 1 day 18 hours ago

No hate for the Arabs I beg the Darfurians !!!

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE Built Eleven Model Villages for Returnees in Darfur


Khartoum – Governor of the Central Darfur State said a total of 3 million acres of land in various localities will be cultivated during the current agricultural season.



Speaking to Sudan Vision, Mohamed Musa Ahmed said the State is witnessing major voluntary return of IDPs during the agricultural season, stating that the voluntary return commission provided free seeds to IDPs.



The State has rich and fertile lands which encouraged residents to grow many important crops such as millet, sesame, groundnut, cicer and wheat, which are cultivated during the rainy and winter seasons, the governor said. Sunflower will also be cultivated in an area estimated at 1000 acres after studies are conducted in collaboration with the Arab organization, he added.



About 14,000 IDPs, 60% of the total number of IDPs, left the camps and headed for the agricultural areas for cultivation, said Radi Ali Al-Amin, voluntary return commissioner.



The stability of the security situation contributed directly to the success of the agricultural season, he said, adding that no breaches or assaults on citizens were reported.



Radi announced the construction of 11 fully-equipped model villages in various localities to receive IDPs. The construction of the villages was funded by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and the League of Arab States, he said, adding that 50% of these villages were ready and IDPs have begun to settle around them; a matter which indicates a tremendous voluntary return in Central Darfur after the considerable stability witnessed in the area.



By Hana Abdul Hai, 13 hours 37 minutes ago

Sudanese book.

Publications: Living with Colonialism: Nationalism and Culture in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan


Histories written in the aftermath of empire have often featured conquerors and peasant rebels but have said little about the vast staffs of locally recruited clerks, technicians, teachers, and medics who made colonialism work day-to-day. Even as these workers maintained the colonial state, they dreamed of displacing imperial power. This book examines the history of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1898-1956) and the Republic of Sudan that followed in order to understand how colonialism worked on the ground, affected local cultures, influenced the rise of nationalism, and shaped the postcolonial nation-state.

Relying on a rich cache of Sudanese Arabic literary sources, including poetry, essays, and memoirs, as well as on colonial documents and photographs, this perceptive study examines colonialism from the viewpoint of those who lived and worked in its midst. By integrating the case of Sudan with material on other countries, particularly India, Sharkey gives her book broad comparative appeal. She shows that colonial legacies—such as inflexible borders, atomized multi-ethnic populations, and autocratic governing structures—have persisted, hobbling postcolonial nation-states. Thus countries like Sudan are still living with colonialism, struggling to achieve consensus and stability within borders that a fallen empire has left behind.



By The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 12 hours 10 minutes ago