Modern History of Sudan and its Transformations

Modern History of Sudan and its Transformations
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Modern History of Sudan and its Transformations

Modern History of Sudan and its Transformations

Sudanese novelist Imad Bulayk has released a new novel (Angels in Fars) in collaboration with Willows House Publishing in the Juba city, southern Sudan. His last two works, “Rama” by Cairo-based Dar Said Publishing, and “The Miracle of Buddha” by Kuwait-based Platinum Book Publishing, were published two years ago.

The novel revolves around the story of people displaced from the Wadi Halfa city, northern Sudan, after the construction of the high dam in the early 1960s, and the October Revolution (1964) against the military rule in the country, which caused a forced displacement that many historians overlooked.

In his book, the author talks about a Polish excavation expedition that comes to rescue what survived of the ancient church in the 600-year-old city of Fars before it drowns due to the dam’s flood. The main character is Carlos Giovani, member of the excavation expedition, coming from Athens with a mysterious history and life. He moves from Alexandria to Khartoum and lives in Sudan, where he discovers another world and contributes to the cultural and scientific life until he dies.

In his “surreal journey”, we read about his life as an academic, a cleric, a philosopher, and a human being searching for the truth and the aim of his existence.

Giovani conducts research about the church and Christianity in Sudan, the drowned kingdom in the northern of the country, and the history of the ancient Christian kingdoms that extended to the southern Egyptian borders. Then he fell sick, and although doctors say his case is hopeless, he eventually heels with the power of the places “we love”.

The novel uses Sudan’s modern history, from independence until our present time, as a background for the political and social developments, to reflect the image of the country known for its ethnic, cultural, and artistic diversity, as well as its wars and conflicts. Bulayk dives into the ancient history of Sudan, before Islam and the Arab settlement in the country, starting with the Idolatry and the Nubian kingdom, and explores a history of traditions and rituals that has survived until our days.

Imad Bulayk is a Sudanese novelist and journalist. He studied architecture at the Khartoum University, and wrote literary criticism articles in local newspapers. He worked in journalism in Sudan, Qatar, Oman, and wrote in many Arabic newspapers and websites. He has 26 publications including novels, stories, and books on literary criticism, thought, and political studies. He is currently the editor-in-chief of the London-based Independent Arabia.

He released his two first novels in 2004, “Contaminated Rivers” and “The World of Oday”. Among his other works are “Blood in Khartoum” (2008) and “Shawarma” (2014).



Remains of Mayan City Nearly 3,000 Years Old Unearthed in Guatemala

The city takes its name, 'Los Abuelos,' from two human-like sculptures of an 'ancestral couple' found at the site. Handout / Guatemalan Ministry of Culture and Sports/AFP
The city takes its name, 'Los Abuelos,' from two human-like sculptures of an 'ancestral couple' found at the site. Handout / Guatemalan Ministry of Culture and Sports/AFP
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Remains of Mayan City Nearly 3,000 Years Old Unearthed in Guatemala

The city takes its name, 'Los Abuelos,' from two human-like sculptures of an 'ancestral couple' found at the site. Handout / Guatemalan Ministry of Culture and Sports/AFP
The city takes its name, 'Los Abuelos,' from two human-like sculptures of an 'ancestral couple' found at the site. Handout / Guatemalan Ministry of Culture and Sports/AFP

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a Mayan city nearly 3,000 years old in northern Guatemala, with pyramids and monuments that point to its significance as an important ceremonial site, the Central American country's culture ministry said Thursday.

The Mayan civilization arose around 2000 BC, reaching its height between 400 and 900 AD in what is present-day southern Mexico and Guatemala, as well as parts of Belize, El Salvador and Honduras.

The city named "Los Abuelos," Spanish for "The Grandparents," once stood some 21 kilometers (13 miles) from the important archaeological site of Uaxactun, in Guatemala's northern Peten department, the ministry said in a statement.

It is dated to what is known as the "Middle Preclassic" period from about 800 to 500 BC, and is believed to have been "one of the most ancient and important ceremonial centers" of the Mayan civilization in the jungle area of Peten near the Mexican border, it added.

"The site presents remarkable architectural planning" with pyramids and monuments "sculpted with unique iconography from the region," said the ministry.

The city takes its name from two human-like sculptures of an "ancestral couple" found at the site.

The figures, dated to between 500 and 300 BC, "could be linked to ancient ritual practices of ancestor worship," said the ministry.

'Unique canal system'

The city, which covers an area of about 16 square kilometers (six square miles) was discovered by Guatemalan and Slovak archaeologists in previously little-explored areas of the Uaxactun park.

Nearby, they also found a pyramid standing 33 meters (108 feet) high with murals from the Preclassic period and "a unique canal system," according to the statement.

"The set of these three sites forms a previously unknown urban triangle... These findings allow us to rethink the understanding of the ceremonial and socio-political organization of pre-Hispanic Peten," said the ministry.

In April, scientists discovered a 1,000-year-old altar from Mexico's ancient Teotihuacan culture at Tikal, elsewhere in the Peten department.

That find was interpreted as proof of ties between the two pre-Hispanic cultures, which lived about 1,300 km apart.

Tikal, about 23 km from Uaxcatun, is the main archaeological site in Guatemala and one of its biggest tourist attractions.