Things to see and do North Province الولاية الشمالية

The Oasis of Salima is located approximately kilometres west of the shelter. It is one of the largest oases in Sudan. Desert trekking enthusiasts will certainly enjoy getting lost, especially since this oasis has a long history, linked to the ancient caravanière route of which Salima was an important step.

Déjà already mentioned a Commercial Road through the Desert that connected Egypt to the heart of Africa. A road that required a trip length of "40 days". Still, the track through the sands is borrowed by the nomads and retains its nickname of "El al-Arbain" (track of the forty), although the route has evolved and that the duration of forty days has little relevance!

Historically, the runway began at the oasis of Kharga in southwestern Egypt. Kharga is the largest oasis in southern Egypt, and another route connects it to the Nile. It crossed the Desert desert to Kutum, near the current El Fasher, the historic capital of Darfur. Over time, the word'runway'was used to designate all the desert caravan roads from the far north of Sudan to Khartoum or in Kordofan, in addition to Darfur. Following a trail of known Bedouin wells, these roads had the merit of avoiding the large consuming loops formed by the Nile in northern Sudan, but also limited the risk of caravanes the caravans. From the end of the th century, the English reduced traffic trailers specialized in the slave transit. The marginalization of both Darfur and the hosting roads in the next century, with the development of the railways, has definitively put an end to the permanent use of the runway.

If you're interested in this "40 days" journey, check with specialist tour operators or get started in adventure, provided you are properly equipped and equipped with the necessary permits. It's much better to be already a great breed of such expeditions.

The last thing: for security reasons, forget the Libyan border and Darfur.

So hold! Des pyramids in this napatéen decor… Dating from the period from Napata's decline to Merowe's rise in power, these pyramids were built at an "intermediate" moment that made them forget about Sudanese imagery. There is, however, a crucial difference in relation to the pyramids of Merowe. Four of them still have their summit. Why did these sovereigns choose this place? Perhaps because it lies between the sacred piton and the horizon where the sun is couche.

The jebel itself is a place of visit because it can climb on its southern slope and have a superb panorama of this region of the Nile, close to 100 m high: Karima, Nuri, Merowe, as well as the archaeological site at the foot of the mountain. The temples of Mut and Amun revèlent their Plan. Once at the top of the "python", take a dream of all the conquerors on these shores… Bring yourself water and take a quarter of an hour to climb (no need for equipment) and 30 seconds to get down! The sands accumulated by the elements for centuries on this wall allow an express and original descent. Moving slides or stairs… Make sure you don't leave your sandals, if you have!

Built in the very flank of the jebel, this temple dedicated to the wife of Amun retains bas-reliefs to disappeared colours and walls which have obviously suffered for centuries of ashes and vandals. From the temple, "out of the mountain", remain two proud columns surmounted by capitals effigy of a Hathor at Mona Lisa smile. The reference to these feminine merit figures can make it felt that this temple, located just at the foot of the very phalliforme rocky cobra, had the power to stimulate the fertility of its visitors.

Don't forget that there is a small museum south of the site

Free visit. Built in the th century before our era by the successor of Amenhotep III, the "monotheistic" heretical, but famous Akhenaton, the temple was located in a fortress town designed to monitor the border with Kush. There are only three pillars of the temple to be observed. The ruins of Egyptian fortifications are visible at the summit of the Sesi Sesi, overlooking the village of the same name.

The temple of Amun in Soleib, the temple is dedicated to Tiye, the wife of the Sovereign Amenhotep III. It leaves little more than a single column, with its top dominating a heap of ruins. The remains of a vast necropolis (probably used until the méroïtique period) and pyramid bases are hardly visible in proximity. 

Why not take Wau time? In addition to the décor, the site surprises the generosity of its inhabitants and its historical richness. The island was the subject of the first French excavations after the independence of the country, under the direction of Jean Vercoutter, who was also director of the Antiquities Service in Sudan.

Inhabited from the Palaeolithic, the island of Wau served as a border at several times, as in antiquity or during Ottoman domination. A fort was built on the ancient site of another strong place, located half an hour walk upstream from the landing site along the river. From the Christian era there are four columns, one of which is to the overthrown top, unique remains of an extinct church. These two sites are still being searched and their visit is free. The largest village on the island is a quarter hour walk through fields, west of the landing site. There are some small grocery stores and tea houses, open in the afternoon for reasons of supply. Don't hesitate to walk around the area, not to mention a lot of water.

At 10 km south of the shelter, the landing is in principle accessible by taxi, for 10 SDG, or by minibus. Coming from the south, ask the driver of the minibus to drop you in the exact place where you go; he will have a duty to drive you there. The ferry goes back and returns every 2 hours. There is no lokanda on site.

It is very broad and does not reveal its treasures. It is now a Polish mission that is carrying out the excavations. Unfortunately, the most beautiful frescoes are visible only when the team is on the site, that is almost exclusively in winter. The two-storey building, on the hill overlooking the entire site, is visible several kilometres to the round. Probably a church originally, whose interior seems to have been dedicated to the royal scene. Along the river lies the remains of a brick palace, which remains a few floors, walls and arcades. Thousands of pieces of pottery litter the surrounding soil.

If you spend the night on the spot, the light at sunset is beautiful.

Formerly located in the heart of the city, the western deffufa is nearly 20 m high and may suffer as much from the birds that nest in its walls as wind and sand. A staircase leads, in two stages, until its summit, passing the corridor that probably led to the burial chamber. The old location of the houses is symbolized in the surroundings by the bases by the way.

As its name indicates, eastern deffufa is located a few kilometres farther east. With smaller proportions, its remains can see that there are two inner halls, the entrance of which is still mentioned by remnants of columns. Fragments of cylindrical stone form a line on the ground through both pieces.

A museum opened in 2008 on the western deffufa site and is expected to expand to accommodate more visitors on the site. His interest is certain because he brings together very beautiful pieces which testify to the past richness of Kerma, including statues, pottery and objects of everyday life. The inhabitants of the Région region, which archaeologists gather under the impersonal label of "Group C", were farmers, fishermen and livestock breeders. Kerma had developed a refined art of pottery and worked a lot of metal. Traditional mud houses and land bricks protected heat. They are always built in the same way in 2010, even though the climate of the time was probably more lenient than these days.

Funeral practices are also mentioned. Inspired by their prehistoric ancestors of the group said "A", Nubian used to build circular graves and place their dead in foetal position, looking east and sunrise. Depending on the degree of tension with neighbours, particularly Egypt, there is the presence of weapons in funeral sites. More commonly, it is pottery, food or jewellery for women who accompany the deceased.

All ages from Neolithic to Islam are covered, with figurative reconstructions.

The best preserved medieval monastery in Sudan. Located in the desert of the Bayuda, a decor peculiar to contemplation and prayer, it was relatively preserved armed assaults and still retains high walls thick walls, marble slabs as well as arcades and enceinte. With Old Dongola and Faras frescoes, this is the most beautiful testimony of the Christian era in Nubia. Certainly linked to the monastery of Saint-Antoine in the Egyptian Sinai and the Church of Alexandria, the monastery fell into désuétude as Islam was required in the region.

By schématisant a little, one might say that the Site site is Le napatéen. However, it is not in the same state as its illustrious counterpart. Let us remember that it is older and that the construction stone is not the same. In fact, the necropolis of Nuri précéda that of Merowe. It probably welcomes, in the highest pyramid and the oldest of the site, the most famous Des sovereigns, Taharqa, Pharaoh Black of the xxviii dynasty. This is a little difficult to see nowadays, given the level of erosion of the building, but it is in principle the fourth, starting from the south, in the main alignment. The site has over fifty tombs of sovereign and sovereign.

In 664 BC, Taharqa decided to stand out from his predecessors by settling permanently over 5 km north of Karima on the other shore. He was not really followed by his successors, perhaps unhappy about what he left from Lower Egypt to the Assyrians, returning to El-Kurru. After the fall of the Black Pharaohs, Nuri became, until the third century, the necropolis of the sovereigns of Kush. Note that, for Taharqa, controversy has long divided archaeologists as to the real location of its last stay, after the discovery in Sedeinga in the 1960 s of a grave with a cartridge bearing its name.

Egyptian influence was now considerable at the peak of Napata's power. As with architecture, funeral rites were inspired by those in the north. The use of gold masks for the deceased and that of canopes vessels for its organs bears witness to this. During the first European excavations, in 1917, we were able to discover several funeral chambers, with some of their treasures, including many chaouabti (or oushebti), momiformes figurines symbolizing servants accompanying their master in the other world.