There has been civilisation for millennia at the place where the Blue and White Nile meet, but the current incarnation of Khartoum is relatively recent. Today, three cities have grown together here, each on a different bank of the Nile. In the South is the original city of Khartoum, in the west is Omdurman, founded by the Mahdi (more on him later) in the 19th century, and Bahri in the north east.
On the bus from Aswan across the Sahara, I met Idris, a native of Sudan who was returning home for the first time in three months. He invited me to stay with his family is Omdurman, which I accepted. My experience in Sudan would not have been the same without him.
My first two days in Khartoum were mostly filled with bureaucracy – foreigners are required to complete a complicated registration process in the capital – but I did manage to see the major sights when I wasn’t filling out paperwork.
The dated architecture of the National Museum doesn’t do justice to the impressive objects it houses.
The garden is home to three Nubian temples, all salvaged from the rising waters of the Nile when the Aswan High Dam was built. They are some of the best preserved Nubian temples that survive.
I spent another day seeing the major historical sites in Omdurman – the Tomb of the Mahdi and the House of the Khalifa, his successor.
The Madhi rose to power as a religious and political leader in the late 19th century. He and his followers revolted against the Turko-Egyptian government of the Sudan, which was heavily influenced by the British. After a series of victories, the Mahdi and his followers, called the Ansar, advanced on Khartoum, which was defended by the British General George Gordon. After a protracted siege, Khartoum fell, Gordon was beheaded, and his head was placed in public view. His last stand (London refused to give him meaningful assistance in time) was romanticised in the British press, and he became a national hero.
Just a few months after Khartoum fell, the Mahdi died and control passed to his successor, called the Khalifa. The Khalifa controlled Sudan until 1888, when British forces under Lord Kitchener retook Sudan.
The original tomb of the Mahdi was destroyed on the orders of Lord Kitchener, and the Mahdi’s remains were thrown into the Nile. (Kitchener allegedly kept the skull.) It has since been rebuilt, and the Mahdi’s descendants have been buried there as well.
I was surprised to learn that the Ansar still have a significant following and some political power. Support for the Mahdi is especially strong in Omdurman, the city he founded.
Across the street from the Mahdi’s tomb, is the house of his successor, the Khalifa. It contains a museum to the period of Mahdist rule, including many original documents and artifacts. Most interesting to me were the original dies and presses used to create coins during the time of the Khalifa.
After a few more days relaxing and chatting with my host’s family, friends, and neighbours, it was time for me to move on to Ethiopia. I took a bus to Gedaref, a primarily agricultural town that serves as the jumping off point for the border. One minibus took me across town and another took me on the four hour drive to the border. Road quality was poor and progress was slow. I arrived at the border 30 minutes too late to cross (my first bus left late), so I spent one more night in Sudan, crossing on foot and catching another minibus into the Ethiopian highlands in the morning.
The difference in scenery as you cross the border is immediate. One of the first buildings on the Ethiopian side is a bar (alcohol will get you 40 lashes in Sudan), the twin is much larger, and the scenery is greener. The differences became only more probounced as I made my way up into the highlands towards Gondar.
