Adventures with Julia

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Back in the SUV at 7:30am, we drive an hour and a half south and then north following the Nile as it changes course to the remains of Old Dongala, the medieval Christian kingdom of Makuria, which flourished from the 7th to the 14th centuries. Set on a hill overlooking the east bank of the river, it controlled a large stretch of river activity. The land was agriculturally rich, the city walled and easily defended and trade, both river and desert was easily controlled. Although most of the city is long since ruined and abandoned, we visited the site to see the remains of a few Coptic churches, including a cathedral called the Church of the Granite Columns, which had been pilfered from ancient Egyptian temples; the sprawling remains of the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, which is being unearthed by a Polish archeological team; and a nearby 18th century Sufi cemetery, complete with its own style of “pyramids”.

19th century Sufi cemetery at Old Dongala

Christian missionaries sent to Africa by the Roman queen Theodora, according to Abdel, established churches and monasteries along the Nile and made Coptic Christianity the dominant religion among the Nubians from Aswan to the confluence of the Nile for 600 years until Islam took hold in the 1500’s.

I really liked the hill top setting and view of the Nile, and thought the ruined churches and monastery were mildly interesting. More captivating were the Sufi pyramids, of which there are a dozen or so that are shaped like bee hives and made of mud bricks. Already a few have collapsed and surely the rest will in time. They are built over the graves of Sufi leaders, have a low arched doorway and can be entered. I entered two. One had only lumpy dirt and empty offering bowels inside and the other had two elevated tombs covered in green cloth. Both of them smelled stale and musty. Mark thought they stank. Abdel told us the bodies of Sufi’s are laid on their right side facing Maka. This is an active cemetery with hundreds of mostly unmarked graves. The most recent marked one we saw was dated 2015. Abdel thinks Sufi’s are good muslims as they are not militant and are not strict followers of Sharia law.

By 10:30 we were too hot to care about anything except getting back into the Air Conditioned SUV. Such relief. As we cooled down we headed for our planned visit with a Nubian family in their village called Gadar.    Hassan, the master of the house greeted us at the entrance to their walled and whitewashed courtyard. He introduced us to his wife, Zakia, and his daughter Rashida.  Look closely and you will notice three vertical scars on Zakia’s cheeks.  These represent her specific tribe.  The practice has been abandoned in recent years as “out of fashion”. Friendly, easy going people, they showed us around their whole property, which consisted of several one roomed buildings all opening onto the courtyard in what we learned is the Nubian style. All the walls are painted every year; white outside with blue floral patterns added for accent and red and turquoise inside.

One room had a 12 inch round hole in the floor that the women use as a smoke house to steam themselves, as they cannot get enough water to bathe. They wrap themselves in a large blanket and stand over the smoking hole, which is filled with burning acacia wood. Somehow this makes their skin soft and clean. I did notice that both women have lovely smooth skin and no odor, so it must do the job. They offered us tea, but I declined. Mark drank it and seems ok, so maybe I will the next time any is offered. Then we had our picnic lunch at a table alone in one of their rooms. That felt strange to me, but Abdel insists we eat by ourselves. Apparently Sudanese use their hands to eat by scooping up the food with bread. I guess he did not want fork and knife eaters to mix with hand eaters.   Hmmm.

Hassan and Zakia’s lovely daughter, Rashida, who is 21 and married with an 18 month old son.

We took several photos of the family and their home and finally bid them good bye. It was a very nice experience. As we left the village we stopped by a secondary school to photograph the high school parking lot – a herd of tethered donkeys.

Then we drove back to Karima. Hot and tired, we hardly talked. I deleted bad images from my phone and enjoyed the scenery. We made one photo stop at a water rest area. Both of us have noticed large ceramic pots of water set up inside open shelters along the road side every where we go and wondered what they were for. Abdel explained that they were placed there and kept full by people who lived nearby as a hospitable gesture. We stopped at one that had customers and had a friendly exchange with them as well as getting a few images.

A typical roadside rest stop offering free water.

PS  We survived the desert and are back in Khartoum with clean hot and cold water, constant AC, a bright room with windows and reliable internet.  Hope to send more news soon.