Pyramids in Sudan: yep. The ties between ancient Egypt and Sudan should make it unsurprising when cultural elements are borrowed (or, ehh, imposed) here and there; and yet, walking amongst dozens of 'mini-pyramids' off a highway in the north of the Sudan feels completely off. Especially that you're walking amongst them truly on your own - Sudan isn't exactly a tourist magnet - so it's a bloody impressive experience.
The pyramids stood proud until an Italian dick by the name of Guiseppe Ferlini decided to blow them up to try to find gold in 1834. Yes, yes. All of them. Fucking cultural terrorist. Now the pyramids, to quote the Bradt guidebook, look like a row of broken teeth. Still impressive nevertheless; plus some have been restored.
Smaller and steeper than Egypt's, they're impressive mainly by their number - there used to be about 100 but many are long gone - and by the fact that, well, you don't expect to see them there!The pyramids are close to the city of Meroe - once the capital of the Kushite kingdom, a Nubian reign which had this love-hate relationship with all things Egyptian. Not unlike us bitching about America as we wear Nike and sip Coca-Cola, the Kushites hated the living bejesus out of Egypt - and tried to, and at one point succeeded in invading its northern neighbour, until it got its ass kicked - all while adopting Egyptian gods and culture, including the pyramids.
Mind you, Kush wasn't always a wimp - at one point in time it conquered North East Africa, all the way to Libya and Palestine. That's badass.
Two comments to conclude:
b) In Israel, "Kushi" is the equivalent of "nigger" - a racial slur vis-a-vis black people. How Kushi became associated to such a negative connotation I fail to understand; but I would love it if black people would reclaim 'Kushi' as something to be proud of. Had I been a descendent of the Kindgom of Kush, I'd have been honoured.
11 comments:
Great post Mohamed. I hope to travel all over Africa someday (maybe I'll join Doctors without Borders). I have never heard of Sudan's pyramids, and that's embarrassing. But I think you are asking too much of Egyptians. They barely know anything about their own history. For example, my younger bro is in 3rd prep and I asked him if he knew who was president before Mubarak. He answered Mohamed Naguib (I corrected it). My cousin doesn't know what the 23rd of July commemorates. A taxi driver I was with last week didn't know why April 25th was a holiday (Sinai Liberation Day). This is my favorite: here in Alexandria, there are people who think the Roman amphitheatre is (and this is not a joke) Pharaonic. This despite the fact that its name in Arabic is "almasra7 al younany alromany".
Egyptblogger,
If you join doctors without borders don't expect a holiday trip. Funny how you put both sentences together as if one went with/by the other. MSF/DWB It's er...an actual professional organisation. Like, hum, a job. Healing people the best they can, in war/conflict/disaster affected areas. A very hard life, by people who actually have a professional skill to contribute. It's not a way to travel.
Mohammed,
I like your posts and language you use . It's always fun to read.I think "kush" means "black" (the colour) in some semitic language?) gonna check that out...
Egyptblogger -
LOL at the roman amphitheatre. Love it. :)
Well, my point of reference is often - and unfairly - Europe. While kids there know a fair deal about their geographic neighbourhood, we barely know the city next door...
Maria -
Glad you like it! We aim to entertain. :)
I don't know if Kush means black in any language really. Someone on Twitter sent me a link to a wiki page about 'kush in the bible' and that sounds like a good explanation.. but it nevertheless doesn't explain why it became an insult! Grmph!
wrt Kushi - its not *nearly* as bad as n*gger, and a few decades ago was probably passable non-racist language. Its definitely based on the biblical Kush ("...did reign from India to Kush..." from the esther scroll) it became an insult *because* it became the translation of n*, as "shachor" ("black") became, naturally enough, the translation of "black".
Probably not the exact equivalent of n* - which I understand also carries the baggage of the slavery era - but still the worst thing in Hebrew you can call a black man, no?
In any case, thanks for the precisions.
:)
well, it probably gets a bit fuzzy here, but I think that would actually be "kushon" - dimunitive, dergatory suffix there, absoloutely an insult. You could still - especially if you're older - say "Kushi" and claim not completely disingeneously that you mean quite neutrally "of african descent" and that this is the proper hebrew word.
Interesting! Well, thanks for the info, Tamara.
Great piece, and I like the pics, too!
I had no idea there were pyramids in Sudan...
(And in my opinion, Kushi and Kushon should never be used. ever.)
maria,
Funny, I thought Doctors Without Borders was an African Thomas Cook. Duh, of course it's a professional organization for (guess what!) doctors.
Ami -
Thanks! I had no idea either until I saw them, actually..
would love to go there..
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