SUDAN IS THE LARGEST COUNTRY IN AFRICA, stretching from the deserts of southern Egypt and Libya deep into central Africa.Land of the Nile: Cush and Meroë
The Nile River in Sudan (soo-DAN) is part of a tangled skein of tributaries and waterways that led explorers eastward into the mountains of Ethiopia or southward into the swamps and lakes of central Africa. The river has always been a route for trade and invasion and has also determined the herding and farming patterns of the region.
Northern Sudan, often referred to as Nubia, was already inhabited by hunting and fishing peoples over thirty thousand years ago. They may have made permanent settlements about nine thousand years ago and were herding domesticated animals by about 3000 B.C.E.
The ancient Egyptians called Nubia "the Land of Cush." Cush supplied them with slaves, gold, ebony (a black hardwood), and frankincense for making perfumes and the fragrant incense burned in Egypt during religious ceremonies. By about 1500 B.C.E. Egypt was at its most powerful, and its center of government had moved to the south of the country. Cush became part of the ancient Egyptian Empire, and by 712 B.C.E. it was a Cushite king called Piankhi who came to rule all of Egypt. However, in 671 B.C.E. the Cushite ruler Taharqa lost Egypt to invading Assyrians.
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CLIMATE |
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Sudan is a tropical country, at its hottest in May and June. Rainfall in the north is minimal, but heavy rains fall in the south. Mountain regions are cooler than the rest of the country.
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FACTS AND FIGURES |
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Official name: Jamhuriyat as-Sudan (Republic of Sudan) Status: Independent state Capital: Khartoum Other towns: Omdurman, Khartoum North, Port Sudan, Wad Medani, El Obeid, Kassala, Juba Area: 967,500 square miles (2,505,825 square kilometers) Population: 41,200,000 Population density: 43 per square mile (16 per square kilometer) Peoples: 49 percent Arab; 12 percent Dinka; 8 percent Nuba peoples; 6 percent Beja; 5 percent Nuer; 3 percent Azande; 3 percent Bari; 2 percent Fur; 2 percent Shilluk; 2 percent Lotuko; 8 percent other Official language: Arabic and English Currency: Dinar National day: Independence Day (January 1) Country’s name: When the Arabs conquered northern Africa, they referred to all the lands south of the Sahara Desert as Bilad as-Sudan, meaning "the land of the blacks."
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In their homeland the Cushites reestablished their former capital, Napata. After 600 B.C.E. their capital moved to Meroë (MEHR-oe-wee). The Meroë Empire made great advances in farming and in mining and working iron ore. Iron was exported to Egypt and also to the Mediterranean region. Over the following 250 years, many temples were dedicated to Egyptian gods, and pyramid tombs were built.
Meroë declined as its timber resources were gradually used up, and it was encircled by more and more enemies. The Romans, now rulers of Egypt, attacked in 23 B.C.E., and the nomadic ancestors of the Beja (BAE-jah) people also invaded the north. The powerful Aksum (AHK-soom) Empire, based in Ethiopia, finally defeated Meroë in 350 C.E.
