Nubia: A Land that Continues to be Cherished by Its People

“Through festivals, events, storytelling, poetry, music, songs, genealogy and traditions Nubians have kept the story alive. The study emphasis the paramount importance of heritage and the value of cultural diversity.”

Abstract

This research explores the displacement^[i]  of Nubian communities as a result of economic development and the construction of dams along the River Nile. These dams include the Aswan Dam, built in 1898, and subsequently heightened in 1912 and 1929, the construction of Aswan High Dam in the 1960s, Meroe Dam inaugurated in 2009, and other proposed dams on the River Nile. The study highlights the vital role of intangible Heritage in the context of development, by focusing on the displaced Nubian communities and the threats to, loss of and attempted maintenance of their Heritage. The building of dams was a traumatic experience for local communities, who lost everything and watched in despair as their familiar landscape and all that was meaningful to them disappeared under water. This history is within the living memory of those who were forced to relocate. It is a history carried with people and transcends generations.

The focal point of this study is how the Nubian communities managed to keep their history alive and how younger generations who have never visited Nubia connect and remember the history. It is a multigenerational story. It is about displacement and separation, identity, memory, belonging, togetherness, community, homelands, place, language, culture and traditional knowledge. It is about the past and the place of the past in the present. Through festivals, events, storytelling, poetry, music, songs, genealogy and traditions Nubians have kept the story alive. The study emphasizes the paramount importance of heritage and the value of cultural diversity.

Introduction

In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, demand for new dam construction increased in developing countries. The twenty-first century has witnessed the building of a large number of dams in Africa, with significant human, cultural, social and environmental impact. The forced resettlement of native communities following the construction of dams along the River Nile in Sudan and Egypt provides an excellent example to consider the relationships between homeland, landscape, people, history, heritage, the intangible, and the sense of place and belonging (Figure 1). The homelands left behind are meaningful places to the local communities as part of their lived experiences and remembered landscape, holding multiple memories, stories, attachments and meanings. These areas also have local, national and international heritage significance.

The artificial lakes created by the dams submerged cultural heritage and had enormous effects on both the landscape,  environment, and the people, their social and cultural life and heritage Their ancestral homeland, homes, date groves and their economic assets, distinct way of life and unique type of architecture were all lost under the dam lakes (Dafalla 1975; Al Hakem 1993; Elhassan 1998; Arif 2002; 2000a; Askouri 2004, 2004a, 2008; Hashim 2006, 2010;  Haberlah 2005, 2011, 2012; Bell 2009; 2006; Lawler 2006; Hassan 2007; Näser et al. 2007; Bosshard 2008; International Rivers 2008; Ali 2010 ; El Moghraby 2013; Dirar et al. 2015; Taha 2021).

Figure 1   The River Nile showing the location of Dams and scheduled Dams along the River Nile (Source International Rivers, People, Water, Life. Major Dam Projects in Sudan [P:1]. Date accessed 17 January 2017)

Prior to the construction of Aswan Dam in 1898 and its heightening in 1912 and 1929, Egyptologists and archaeologists focused mainly on the rich and famous monumental heritage.  Similarly, before the building of the Aswan High Dam and the UNESCO International Campaign to rescue the Nubian heritage, there was a rush to save the monuments. No ethnographic research was conducted, so the effects on the displaced people, their feelings of loss, grief, anguish and despair, were not studied. Fortunately, Dafalla – a government representative who lived among the people for six years – wrote a moving and expressive book describing the impact on the people and the loss and suffering they endured (Dafalla 1975). Likewise, Bell, in his book ‘Paradise Lost’ (2006; 2009), documented the unique and extraordinary lost homelands and way of life and the dam’s effect on the people. Concentration on tangible heritage was repeated during the building of Meroe Dam. Ethnographic research was undertaken later on and was not part of the salvage plan. 

First, I will begin by giving a brief background about Nubia. Second, I will discuss the people and their distinctive heritage and way of life. Finally, I will demonstrate how Nubian history and memory has endured and is passed on to the younger generations. I argue that the intangible heritage, stories, traditions and practices are crucial for the sense of identity, place and belonging.

Contextualising Nubia: The Land and The People

The Land

Nubia used to be topographically, historically, culturally, ethnically and linguistically a single country, that was later divided by an arbitrary border between Sudan and Egypt (Shebeyikka 1964; Dafalla1975; Shaggier 2007; Taha 2013). It was one entity located within the current day Sudan until 1821 (Fig. 2). There was not a country called ‘Sudan’ until 1821, when Mohamed Ali Pasha invaded the area and extended the boundaries. Several regions were brought together for the first time in an administrative unit under Ottoman rule, and later under British administrative influence. Consequently, the unit was created by the Ottomans and fixed by the British in 1899 and consolidated in 1956 (when Sudan gained its independence)^[ii].  Dafalla (1975) affirms that neither Cromer nor Winston Churchill clarified the choice of latitude 22 as the international border. Churchill remarked that latitude 22 is the ‘dividing line between civilization and barbarism’ (Dafalla 1975: 34). This was certainly a false statement, and it illustrates the prejudice and racist views about Sudan and its ancient civilisations during the nineteenth century and until the third quarter of the twentieth century.

Nubia, which is the area in present day northern Sudan and southern Egypt, was known by different names. Ancient Egyptians referred to this area as "Ta-Seti", which means the Land of the Bow, because the Kushites were well known to be highly skilled and powerful archers. It was also known as the land of ‘Kush/Cush’ to the ancient Egyptians and the Assyrians, a name also found in biblical sources. The Greeks and Classical writers called it ‘Aethiopia’^[iii], the ‘land of the burnt faces’, to the Romans it was Nubia (Reisner 1918; 1919, 1923; Arkell 1955; Trimingham 1964; Collins 1967, 2008; Abd al Rahim 1969; Nelson 1973; Ahmmed 1997; Sharkey 2003; Sharief undated).

Nubia came under the control of the New Kingdom between 1500-1100 BCE, following Pharaoh Tutmose’s I attack and the destruction of Karma. In 1100 BCE Nubia gained independence and from 760 BCE they controlled Egypt for over a century and created the largest ever empire along the Nile Valley. Budge (1907), MacMichael (1922; 2011), Crawford (1951) and Arkell (1955) all state that the Ottomans during the rule of Saleim Pasha occupied lower Nubia around1517 CE. However, Halt (1967) questions the accuracy of these accounts, arguing that there are two contradictory narratives by Shaggier (1903; 2007) and Burckhardt (1819) regarding Nubia. Likewise, Metz (1991) emphasises that while the Ottomans governed Red Sea ports including Suakin, they did not extend their rule to the interior. They relied on the self-governed Kashif, Mamluks who had fled Egypt after the Ottoman occupations, as agents. The Kashif were occupied with collecting taxes and the slave trade. Daffalla (1975) asserts that Nubia remained an independent and autonomous region. Nubia’s independence from the Ottoman territory is confirmed by travelers and explorers, for example, Thomas Legh (1817), Frederic Ludwig Norden (1730).  Similarly, Makkiy Shebeyikka (1964), Alexander (2006; 2007; 2009) Collins (2002, 2008) confirmed Nubia’s independence.

Historical, social and cultural factors were not taken into consideration when Lower Nubia was given to Egypt, and Nubia could have stayed as one whole (Daffalla 1975). Despite the separation of Nubia, the border was not a real barrier. Nubians maintained their family links even when the border changed (Daffalla 1975; Taha 2013; Adam and Taha forthcoming).

Life Before the Dams

Nubia is separated by natural boundaries. To the east and west it is cut off by the Sahara Desert and the river course is blocked- up by six cataracts. The relative insularity has led to the creation of a distinctive and unique Nubian culture and way of life. Their life revolved heavily around the Nile. In order to explain the magnitude of the resettlement and sudden rupture to their way of life, this section illustrates the Nubian’s intimate relationship with the river, the land, the landscape and the interconnection between culture and nature. The Nile was visited before a wedding ceremony, after giving birth or when boys were circumcised, it is an omen of good luck, abundance and fertility and used for various medicinal purposes.  Thereby, the River formed a great part of their life from birth to death in all aspects of their lives, and for that reason, they were profoundly affected by the displacement.

Local, National and International Significance

Nubia’s cultural heritage has local, national and global significance. The dislocation robbed the Nubians not only of their land, but also of their past. The construction of a series of dams and the damage to the cultural landscape threatened the destruction of the meanings of place, social networks, attachment, belonging, memories, language and identity. Resettlement endangered the continuity and the passing on of traditional knowledge to future generations. Displacement disturbed native group’s sense of attachment to place and expression of cultural identity.

Date Palms

In Nubia the whole riverbank was lined by dense date palm groves. Date palms were the Nubians’ most valued and cherished possessions. Every village, every household and every individual owned at least one palm tree or a share of a tree. They were the backbone of their local economy, a steady source of cash return and undoubtedly the only sign of wealth. Date trees were sold for cash, they could be mortgaged, and the simple existence of a tree was by itself an economic insurance and security. Date trees were also given as wedding gifts and inheritance, they bequeathed them to their children (Leach 1919; Dafalla 1975; Elhassan 1994; Salih 1999; Hlebach 2012; El Moghraby 2013; Dirar et al. 2015; Taha 2021).

Palm trees were known as one of the symbols of Nubian culture. The trees had a symbolic element in all ceremonies (birth, circumcision, weddings and burials), the branches were used for decorations in ceremonies, and as coffins for female funerals, and they were used as grave markers.  Leaves also had an important meaning in many ceremonies (Leach 1919; Dafalla 1975; Näser et al 2007; Haberlah 2005; 2011; 2012).

Dates were used in many dishes and were one of the staple items of diet. The date fruits were eaten either when they were freshly ripe, soft or dry. They were offered to guests, made into jam, local gin, vinegar, cakes, syrup and puddings. Palms have many uses; trees give shelter from the desert sun and were the source of inspiration for poetry and singing, they are almost sacred. The Nubians are very knowledgeable about the different kinds of palm trees and the use of their products. Products of the trees provide important raw materials for locally manufactured tools, and handicrafts, for making tools, household items for garden and as building material.

Fiber was used to stuff mattresses and preferred over cotton. They wove ropes, mat trays, sponges for bathing and for cleaning their utensils. With the branches they roofed their houses, lined their beds, and made baskets for fruit and vegetables.  Out of the trunks they made furniture and water wheels (Saqia), and roofs, doors and window for their houses. What remained was used as fodder for animals and as fuel. Out of the bunch laces they made brooms to clean their homes (Dafalla1975; Salih 1999; 2012; Author’s knowledge of the traditions). They got all they needed from their local environment.

Palm trees were a source of pride, identity and belonging to the land. The special relationship between the Nubians and their palm trees was reflected in their local traditions, poetry and sayings (Helbash 2012, Salih 1999, Crowfoot, Leach 1919). Dafalla (1975:82) suggests that ‘perhaps no tree in the history of horticulture has ever penetrated into the social and economic life of a region as deeply as the date tree did in Nubia. It affected many sides of the inhabitants’ lives, and its traces could be observed everywhere. Its uses were varied and considerable and nothing was ever wasted’. Date palms were fundamental to Nubian history, culture, heritage and social life, and imperative for everyday life.

Nature/Culture

The River Nile was a vital cultural and economic resource for thousands of Nubians living on its banks. The river was not merely a lifeline - IT WAS THE SOURCE OF LIFE - and critical to their very survival. The Nile was the center of life and on its banks all activities were concentrated.  It was central to their psychological existence and very significant to their traditions. It was the main gateway between the Nubian villages. Traders and merchants used boats to travel between the villages, selling goods and merchandise. Moreover, it was their only method of transport to Egypt and to the rest of the country. The river was used for medicine, entertainment and leisure. They had an intimate relationship with the Nile. They feared the Nile (giving it offerings), they respected the Nile, and they adored the Nile. Furthermore, they had a mystical relationship with the Nile. They believed in supernatural powers held to reside under its deep waters: the angels of the Nile.  This story is found in different versions and was told in villages along the riverbanks (Crowfoot 1919; Dafalla 1975).

The strong relationship was manifested in the various ceremonies (marriage, birth, circumcision, and death) all involving a visit to the Nile, bathing and drinking its water. Crowfoot suggests that ‘The river spirits are more prominent in myth and ritual simply because the river plays so great a part in the life of the people’ (Crowfoot 1919:184). The river shaped their daily lives, was the source of their identity, of life, of belonging, place and identity, and is integral to their culture, history and heritage (Figs 4 & 5). Most importantly, they used the landscape as a whole; they did not fragment it conceptually into culture/nature or tangible/intangible. Moving away from the river, their palm groves, they became the casualties of development and modernisation.

Traditional Knowledge

Traditional knowledge refers to the know-how, experiences, innovations and practices of Indigenous communities. Their knowledge is gained over the centuries and adapted to their environment. Traditional knowledge is transmitted by practice as well as orally through generations. The Nubians have extensive knowledge of their locale which they have been using and managing for thousands of years.

Owing to the scarcity of rainfall in the region, the Nile was the only source of irrigation. The innovation of the waterwheel, the Saqia (waterwheel) was a great success and shows skills in engineering and woodwork. It has been the strength of the Nubian economy for over two thousand years. The shaduf is ancient machinery for lifting water into the fields. Much more ancient than the waterwheel, it continued to coexist with the waterwheel until the petrol pump was introduced (Dafalla 1975; Author’s knowledge of the area). The invention of the water wheel allowed the Nubians to irrigate more land and to manage and control the Nile flood (Dafalla 1975; Salih 1978; Herbach 2012).

Nubians had one of the most sustainable agro-ecosystems, based on experiences gained over centuries. They were directly involved with conservation and sustainable use of their natural environment. The traditional methods of cultivation, way of life and traditions were linked to their landscape along the banks of the river. They adapted to their dry climate and acquired skills and expertise to cope with and control the flood and the drought. Living in scattered, extended villages separated by dunes and rocky hills, the Nubians continued to develop their distinctive ways of survival and growth.

Damming Nubia: Construction of Dams Along the Nile

The building of several dams along the River Nile threatened the people, their homelands and heritage. The building of Aswan Dam in 1898 and the raising of the Dam in 1912 and 1929, resulted in the relocation of Nubian communities from Lower Nubia as their homeland was submerged under the Dam Lake. The construction of Aswan High Dam in the 1960s created a vast lake that flooded a huge area in lower and upper Nubia. The Dam necessitated the relocation of over150,000 Nubians (60,000 from lower Nubia and 70-90,000 from upper Nubia). The construction of Meroe Dam (inaugurated in 2009) and proposed Al Kajbar dams and Dal dams would dislocate more local communities away from the river (Fig. 6). Archeological campaigns were carried out to rescue the Nubian heritage as the tangible evidence of civilizations which had played a most important role in the history of that part of the Nile valley. Native communities strongly opposed to the dams and to moving away from the river. More dams are planned in upper Nubia heritage (Dafalla 1975; Al Hakem 1993; Elhassan 1998; Arif 2002; 2000a; Askouri 2004, 2004a, 2008; Hashim 2006, 2010; Haberlah 2005, 2011, 2012; Bell 2009; 2006; Lawler 2006; Hassan 2007; Näser et al. 2007; Bosshard 2008; International Rivers 2008; Ali 2010; El Moghraby 2013; Dirar et al. 2015; Taha 2021)

Social, Environmental and Cultural Impact of Dams on People and the Environment

The construction of the dams has a negative impact on the people and the environment. They have social, environmental and cultural effects (McCully 1996; Elhassan 1998; Adams 2000; Arief 2000, 2001; Askouri 2004, 2004a, 2008; Lawler 2006; Bosshard 2008; Hashim 2006, 2010; International Rivers 2008). Native communities lived in small farming villages along the banks of the Nile and on the small islands from time immemorial. They represented continuity of culture. Native communities were generally self-sufficient. Farmers grew vegetables, both for their own consumption and for trading at the weekly regional markets. However, their main source of income - and their most valuable possession - were the groves of date palms growing in the rich silt on the river banks. Thousands of Nubians were forced to leave the productive land behind and move to an infertile land. Dams cause enormous environmental challenges. The effects of large-scale hydrological power plants include the alteration of the natural river system, which has a major impact on the environment, water quality and the ecosystem.  They also cause the erosion of the riverbed and its banks and increasing greenhouse gas emissions. The ecology and fish habitat are impacted and the river flow is changed. This area was an extension of one of the important political centres of the powerful ancient kingdoms and it was part of an extensive trading network and centralised power. The dams flooded thousands of archaeological sites forever under the rising water levels, including ancient settlements from the first Nubian Kingdoms, Nubian tower houses, rock carvings, medieval churches and forts. Pyramids and Christian frescos/paintings were also lost, as well as more recent heritage.

Impact on the People

The effect on the people and the human suffering caused by the forced relocation as a result of the building of Aswan High Dam was powerfully and vividly described by Dafalla (1975). He described the evacuees’ mental, emotional and physical state and the effect on the people. Likewise, Bell (2006; 2009)^[iv]depicted the grief and sorrow of the displaced communities. Dafalla reported that the people were in a state of shock and disbelief and felt helpless and powerless. Poetry was composed about their precious land and sung around all the villages. As narrated by Dafalla ‘The future was a blank, and the ordeal they were heading for looked like the day of judgment’ (Dafalla 1975:90). Nubians adored the Nile, which was the main source of life, culture, economy, entertainment, transport, medicine and myth. The remains of ancient civilisations all around them were a source of pride.

Even after splitting Nubia between Sudan and Egypt, Nubians had families in both upper and lower Nubia, they maintained their close family ties and intermarriage. The steamboat between Wadi Halfa and Aswan linked the relatives, so the border was not a real barrier, the river still connected families. The construction of Aswan High Dam separated families as Nubians in Egypt were relocated to Kom Ombo, while Nubians in Sudan were resettled at Khashm al-Girba on the Atbara River, around 900 kilometres away from their homelands. Many of these families never met again. It was a personal trauma, they left the cemeteries of their ancestors behind, flooded underwater, and the living were separated some distance apart. The ordeal and pain of the relocation is still in the living memory and just as painful now as it was nearly 60 years ago. People absolutely resisted the dams in the past, but their protests came to nothing. Nubians were not only lamenting the loss of their homelands, but also their way of life, their familiar landscape, their ancestors and their civilisations that had expanded for thousands of years (Dafalla 1975; Elhassan 1998; Arif 2002; 2000a; Askouri 2004, 2004a, 2008; Hashim 2006, 2010 Elhassan 1998; Arif 2002; 2000a; Askouri 2004, 2004a, 2008; Hashim 2006, 2010; Bell 2006; 2009; Lawler 2006; International Rivers 2008; Taha 2021).

With the construction of more dams along the River Nile (Meroe, scheduled Al Kajbar and Dal Dams and more planned) Nubian communities were once again displaced away from the river. They resisted in vain, as under a dictatorial regime in Sudan at the time, the building of the Dams was accepted by a Presidential decree (Elhassan 1998; Adams 2000; Arif 2002; 2000a; Askouri 2004, 2004a, 2008; Hashim 2006, 2010; Bosshard 2008; International Rivers 2008; Ali 2010; El Moghraby 2013; Dirar et al. 2015; Taha 2021). Nubians objected to the buildings of theses dams for the same reasons as the previous dams. Arif Gamal, who was displaced by the Aswan Dam, accurately expresses his feelings ‘the Nubians are reduced to a group of people with no sense of memory, no past and no future to look for’ (Arief 2000, 200a). The affected communities were united against building more dams and firmly resisted the construction of the Kajbar and Dal Dams. The declaration of the committee of affected villages states that ‘We will never allow any force on the earth to destroy our heritage and nation. Nubians will not sacrifice for the second time to repeat the tragedy of the Aswan Dam’ (Elhassan 1998).  Al-Hassan Hashim, Secretary General of the Nubian Body for Development and Resistance of Dams’ stresses that the ‘Dams do not only destroy villages and property, they destroy an entire civilisation, a civilisation that includes pyramids, monuments, lifestyle and a language’ (2006; 2010).

The building of Meroe Dam went ahead regardless.

Maintaining History

Nubian communities were used to their secluded way of life. They socialised with their own communities and intermarried between the groups. The feeling of injustice and loss has brought them even closer together.  In both Sudan and Egypt, Nubians did not assimilate to a national identity, although the land was lost, they held on to their identities, pride in their history and their sense of belonging. Memories of resettlement and feelings of loss are still very much alive. Cultural and social activities - whether organised events or just day-to-day recreational experiences sustain community identity and belonging. For many communities their cultural and social values are inseparable from their knowledge, experiences and understanding of place. How do the younger generation, those who were born and brought up in other areas and have never seen the homeland, feel about the place? Storytelling, poetry, festivals, family gatherings and other methods, the story is brought to life and passed on to the younger generations and the place could still be imagined and visualized.

My study demonstrates that, in addition to normal conversation, poetry is also frequently used either as a point of reference or through actual quotes as part of the evidence and as a particular part of the conversation. Common themes in the poetry are sorrow and sadness, and the poems are often pessimistic, sad, mourning the former vibrant, energetic, exciting, place full of life. Neither the physical landscape, the village, nor the Nile have disappeared from people’s memories, and are remembered as they were. Their songs and poetry are routinely about longing for the homeland^[v].Nubians, even those who moved far away, continue to identify with their towns or region. It helps them to ground themselves and to know who they are and where they come from. As asserted by Stegner, referring to place as a point of origin is a common means of claiming identity: ‘I may not know who I am, but I know where I am from’ (1962:20 cited in Riley 1992:21).

Dance, music, ceremonies, practices and traditions have a special function. Traditions act as a bridge which links the past to the present and to the future and secures continuity. They also serve to reinforce and strengthen identity, a sense of place and belonging and attachment to specific places. People feel connected to particular places through the practices, rituals and experiences of social and cultural traditions. Genealogy is almost mentioned at every gathering. Genealogy and memories are usually the main topic of conversation in all gatherings of family and friends. When they talk about their life in their villages/region and their homes they connect every area with an experience, a memory or events shared with family and friends. The stories focus on the spatial, the temporal and the social. They talk about family trees, but most of the time, the family tree is not on a document but known cognitively from memory. Genealogy connects people and land through historical identification of place and family or community.

Young Generations

Younger generations who do not live in Nubia and have never visited the land experience it through family stories, events, festivals, music, songs, poetry and social media. The seventh of July is Nubia’s International Day.  Nubians around the world celebrate the history and heritage of the Nubians who were dislocated to areas far from their beloved Nile at the end of the nineteenth, and in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. On Nubia’s International Day, young people who have never seen or lived in the land, are singing about Nubia and they sing in Nubian. They have learnt about the lost homelands from their families. It is not only about nostalgia, but also about identity, homelands, belonging, community, networks, family, togetherness, the landscape, history, culture and pride. Social Media and the internet are an important medium for spreading information. It is the medium young people use, as it is more accessible.

There are numerous Sudanese Nubians and Nubians in Diaspora of all age groups who sing for Nubia in their own language. For example, A Sudanese Nubian icon an artist, composer and poet Mohamed Wardiy, (1932-1912), dubbed the ‘Last King of Nubia’, sang in Arabic as well as in Nubian. He was well loved, and his songs are popular among all age groups. In a song titled ‘Iyikkayjily Kmshkka’, the YouTube video portrayed a photo of Pharaoh Taharqa and a photo of Mohammed Wardiy side by side, in fact there is great resemblance^[vi].

(https://www.youngountube.com/watch?v=SHdwM15Cjys&list=RDSHdwM15Cjys&start_radio=1&rv=SHdwM15Cjys&t=144)

A famous sisters group ‘Al Balabil’ sing in both Nubian and Arabic. Below is the song they sang in Nubian on the Nubian International Day entitled Babour Kossona/ A journey to Aswan’^[vii] . 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqajqv11Op8&t=86s)

Likewise, Nubians in Egypt, young and old, sing in Arabic and Nubian^[viii].  Fayrouz Kaddal, a young Egyptian Nubian whose master’s degree entitled ‘On Displacement and Music: Embodiments of Contemporary Nubian Music in the Nubian Resettlements’, investigates the link between displacement and music in the Nubian setting.  Kaddal was trained in Western classical music; she swapped from classical music to Nubian music. She explains that when she visited her family village to celebrate Eid Al Adha and a family wedding, she found Nubian music and dance very moving ‘Attending a Nubian wedding I was mesmerized with the highly skilled drum playing, their body moving and dancing whilst playing and the call and response singing of singer. It all crept into my heart and body, touching my soul in a way that no piece for Bach or Mozart could do’ (Kaddal 2021:19)^[ix]. She became eager to know more about the Nubian story^[x].

Children learn about the Nubian exodus from their families. Storytelling is an excellent transmitter of knowledge. Kaddal highlights the lack of teaching the Nubian history of displacement at school and universities: ‘The absence of telling the history of displacement in school curricula and through the Nubian Museum in Aswan, as well as advertising Nubia in state media as the place where people live happily by the Nile, all contribute in creating “the wrong reaction” about Nubia. In this case, Nubia’s history is partially remembered only by the Nubians’ (Kaddal 2021: 141-142).

It is the same situation in Sudan. Kaddal emphasises the vital part of mothers and grandmothers in keeping the story alive, in telling personal histories and memories of the tragedies and trauma, the injustice of the resettlement. Additionally, Kaddal affirms that Nubian forums, websites and social media platforms are the platforms where young Nubians learn ‘What Does it Mean to be Nubian’ (Kaddal 2021:117)^[xi]. 

Discussion

Nubia is a significant place for the local communities, it was part of their lived experiences and remembered landscape. They hold multiple memories, stories, attachments and meanings for the homeland. Nubia is not just a homeland, nor is it just any region; it is beheld as the epitome of civilisation, achievements and success. Nubia’s contribution to the earliest civilisations and agricultural achievements gives them great pride in their past, a clear sense of history and uniqueness. Nubia was not only portrayed as a significant place, but that it contributed to the history of the Nile Valley and to the history of the World.The examples I gave above relate different aspects and dimensions which include both tangible and intangible heritage. They have been used to assert a sense of pride, identity, historicity and attachment. They further integrated the indivisible nature of heritage, the tangible gave a kind of authenticity and reality to the present, and the intangible associations give meaning to the tangible. The past is closely tied to the present and gives the community identity and a sense of historical grounding (Johnston 1994).

Nora (1989) argues that social memory relies on storytelling. He distinguishes between an elite, institutional memory preserved in archives and the memory of ordinary people, unrecorded and rooted in customs, traditions and everyday life. Personal past, as opposed to official past, is remembered and passed on orally, representing a different and individual sense of the past derived from personal and family experiences, such as personal memories and family histories (Davies 1979; Halbwachs 1992). Stories about all attributes of the past, both of their glorious past, its outstanding architecture and genealogy of their individual family and friends, are told time and time again, routinely remembered at family gatherings and when socialising with friends. Former homes, deceased relatives, relatives who reside abroad and ancestors are all part of the stories; it is in their memory and oral history. It is engraved in their memories and recited as if reciting a text.

Memory is important as it restores and reactivates their social and cultural identity and belonging. According to Friedman ‘Identity is literally unthinkable without narrative’ (Friedman 1998:8-9). People know who they are through the stories they tell about themselves and others. Narratives influence identity through the stories, communities and individuals talking about how they came to be and are always spatially grounded. They are associated with specific locales that become ingrained with historically produced cultural meanings. Degnen, in describing the use of memory in Dodworth, South Yorkshire, maintains that memories of places and people are used as landmarks (Degnen 2005: 738). Memory provides a sense of continuity which is strengthened through practices, performances and traditions. These are essential for the formation, strengthening and reaffirmation of identity, sense of belonging and attachment to place. Myth, narratives and genealogy are also useful for enforcing memories and creating new memories.  Bahloul (1992) describes how her family house in Algeria was diminishing from a tangible reality but continued to be recalled in the genealogical memory and family stories: ‘I visited it in my relatives’ memories, having missed knowing it physically […] The house ‘regularly and spontaneously accompanied ritual gatherings’ (Bahloul 1992:2-3). Genealogy links their past to the present, providing temporal and spatial continuity, it explains the social history, social and cultural relations of the home, the neighbourhood, the community, and the cultural landscape. Genealogy connects people and land through historical identification of place and family or community. It is not only about the past, but also about the past in the present.

Conclusion

Displacement, specifically mass relocation, endangers the continuity of all that is familiar and the feeling of being embedded in a place. It disrupts and affects the sense of identity and belonging. Native communities have one of the most sustainable ecosystems, based on practices and experiences gained over centuries. They adapted to their dry climate and acquired skills and expertise to cope with flood and the drought. Dislocation threatens the continuity of their ecological and environmental knowledge. Local knowledge relies on the transmission of the know-how and traditions to the younger generations orally as well as by practice. These processes are central to the continuation of their skills and heritage.

Narratives, stories and family histories reinforce their cultural and place attachment by linking them to the land by means of storytelling. The telling of the stories actively bonds them to people and places, connecting family, kin, and community to the cultural landscape (Friedman 1963; Rayan 1963; Low 1992). The house where their ancestors lived is important to their memories and they try to position themselves in the memories, which offer a kind of security and certainty and above all identity and belonging, which are affirmed through these narratives: ‘narratives bind people to their worlds by their grounding in place’ (Harvey 1996:23-45). The memory of the house, the village and the community are enriched by the social and personal history and the telling of stories assists them to locate themselves and their ancestors in place and time. By keeping in contact with old friends and families, recalling old memories, people are able to maintain and enliven the past, to reaffirm it. Stories and memories bring everything to life, but they do more than that. They are not only about the ancient past, but they also construct the past in the present. Through the methods I illustrated above, the untold history, the personal and individual histories are passed on to the younger generations. Social media, music and other media used by young Nubians make their history easily accessible. Nubians lives in the heart and soul of the community, still lives as a place in the memory, is still imagined, visualised and cherished.

End Notes

[1]  The dictionary defines the term ‘migration’ as ‘Human migration involves the movement of people from one place to another with intentions of settling, permanently or temporarily, at a new location (geographic region). It involves voluntary and sometimes by necessity movement. Whereas the term ‘displacement’ is defined as ‘the situation in which people are forced to leave the place where they normally live’. It entails forced movement. As the Nubian communities were forced to move against their wishes, I will use the term displacement. 

[1]  The period between 1821-1899 is known as the first Turkyyia in Sudan, when Mohammed Ali Pasha’s armies controlled the rest of the Sudan with the exception of Suakin, and the term second Turkyyia to the Anglo-Egyptian rule from 1899-1956. However, the term Turko-Egyptian is misleading, as Egypt itself was one of the Ottoman properties until 1914 (Alexander 2006; Taha 2013). Therefore, the term ‘Egyptian’ is deceptive, as Sudan was not conquered or ruled by Egyptian natives, but by Turkish-speaking rulers who had dominated Egypt since Medieval times and conquered Sudan under the Ottoman flag (Holt 2000, Nelson 1973). This period in Sudan is referred to as the 2^nd Turkyyia. Although the Ottoman Empire lost all its territory in 914; the rulers of Egypt were the descendants of Mohamed Ali and Turkish speaking.

[1]  Ethiopia in Classical writings refers to the area of northern Sudan and not modern-day   Ethiopia.

[1] The extract of a poem in an article by Herman Bell (2006:110) is a good example. The poem is written by Mustafa Abd al Qadir:

I rejoiced when they told me that I would go …

I rejoiced that before my death I would be able to see …

That I would travel and see the homeland …

That I would see the country for which I longed …

 

I rejoiced when they told me that I would go …

We went as we did long ago, and we boarded

the postal steamer,

The ‘Ibis’ which we used to admire to death, the

White postal steamer.

The steamer set off with its paddlewheel beating

the water.

My spirit rejoiced and my heart danced

For now, I was going to see the homeland.

 

Turning again, my spirit became anxious and my

heart uneasy.

Why was there only a lake?

South and north …only a lake?

East and west …only a lake?

My spirit became anxious.

Seeking here and seeking there

I did not find Nubia.

 

[1] Mohammed Wardiy song in Nubian ‘ايكايجلي كمشكا’ (Arabic translation (available on YouTube)

[1] Al Balabil Song (Babour Kosonga/My journey to Aswan) Song in Arabic available on you Tube.

Translation from Fadekka to Arabic by Nawal Fakkir and English translation by (Kadaal 2021:131).

[1]  Examples of pomes collected by Kaddal in Egypt to illustrate that resettled Nubians in Sudan, Egypt or in Diaspora the story of pain, suffering and loss is still remembered.

[1] Kaddal joined a music band (Higvii. Dam) in 2010. Members of the band are all Nubians, originally from different villages of the relocated villages but born and brought up in Alexandria.

x  A poem by a Nubian from Wadalfa moved to Elephantine, it is about pride and history.

 

Poetry lamenting Nubia, Translation to English by (Kaddal 2021: 127)

 

 

 

 

List of References

• Abd Al-Rahim, Muddathir,1969. Imperialism and nationalism in the Sudan. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Adams, W.M., 2000. The Social Impact of Large Dams: Equity and Distribution Issues. Thematic Review I. Prepared as an Input to the World Commission on Dams, Cape Town.
• Adam, Ahmed, Taha Shadia, 2021. Archaeology in Sudan: A Sudanese Perspective. Oxford Encyclopedia of Anthropology (Forthcoming).
• Ahmed, Salah Mohammed, 1997. More than a century of archaeology in the Sudan. In: Dietrich Wildung (ed.), Sudan: ancient kingdoms of the Nile. Paris/New York: Flammarion.
• Al-Hakem, A.M.A,1993. Merowe (Hamadab) High Dam and its Impacts. Kush 16: 1–25
• Alexander, John, 2009. Personal Communication
• Alexander, John, 2007. The shaping of modern Sudan. The Ottoman-Turkish Empire and the Republic of Sudan. In: P.G. Hopkins (ed.), The Kenana handbook of Sudan. London: Kegan Paul.
• Alexander, John, 2006. The real Turkiyya. CRIPEL 26, (2006) pp.17-28.
• Ali, E.H.M., M.M. Salih, and O.M.M. Ali, 2010. Dams Implementation Unit: The Craft of Sustainable Development Quest in the Sudan. Dams Implementation Unit Booklet.
• Arif Gamal (University of California, Berkeley) Kajabar Dam: One More Threat to Nubians and Their -Cultural Heritage. P: 32- 33
• Arif, Gamal in: Brandt, S.A. and Hassan, F., 2000. Dams and cultural heritage management. Recuperado el, 21.
• Arkell, A.J., 1955. A History of the Sudan from the Earliest Times to 1821.
• Askouri, A., 2008. Sudanese Government Forcibly Displaces More Than 6000 Families Affected by Merowe Dam. Statement by the Leadership Office of Hamadab Affected People LOHAP (London). International River
• Askouri A. 2004b. A culture drowned. Sudan dam will submerge historically rich area, destroy Nile communities. World Rivers Review 19 (2): 8-9, 15.
• Askouri, A. 2004. Sudan Dam Will Drown Cultural Treasures, Destroy Nile Communities. Sudan Tribune. Available at: http://www.sudantribune.com/ sudan-dam-will-drwon-culural,27148
• Bahloul, Joelle, 1992. The architecture of memory: a Jewish-Muslim household in colonial Algeria, 1937-1962. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Bell, H., 2009. Paradise lost: Nubia before the 1964 exodus. Khartoum: DAL Group, 1.
• Bell, H., 2006. Paradise Lost: Nubia before the 1964 Exodus. Sudan & Nubia, no 10, Published by The Sudan Archaeological Research Society, 2006: PP: 110-120
• Bosshard, P.,2008. Thousands Flooded Out by Merowe Dam in Sudan. International Rivers Network
• Budge, E.A., 1907. Wallis: The Egyptian Sudan, its history and monuments.  I. London.
• Burckhardt, J.L., 1819. Travels in Nubia, (reprint) London.
• Collins RO, 2008. A History of Modern Sudan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Collins RO., 2002. The Nile. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
• Crawford, O.G.S., 1951. The Fung kingdom of Sennar: with a geographical account of the Middle Nile region.
• Crowfoot, J.W., 1919. Angels of the Nile. Sudan Notes and Records, 2(3), pp.183-197.
• Dafalla, H., 1975. The Nubian Exodus. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet; C. Hurst & Co
• Degnen, Catherine (2005). Relationality, place, and absence: a three-dimensional perspective on social memory. The Sociological Review, 2005, 53(4), pp.729‐
• Dirar, A., El Moghraby, M.J. Hashim, and M. Zeitoun. 2015. Displacement and Resistance Induced by the Merowe Dam: The Influence of International Norms and Justice. DEV Reports and Policy Paper Series, The School of International Development, University of East Anglia, UK.
• Elhassan, M. S. (1998). The Story of the Drowining of the Most Beautiful Town in Sudan. Damascus: Nader Press.
• El Moghraby, A.I. 2013. Some Reflections on the Management of the River Nile and the Merowe Dam. Khartoum: Khartoum University Press
• Frederick Ludwig Nordon, Travels in Egypt and Nubia (based on travels to Egypt in the 1730s discussed in Curl, Egyptian Revival, 97.
• Haberlah, D., 2012. Cultural landscape of Dar al-Manasir. Nihna nâs al-bahar–We are the people of the river”: Ethnographic Research in the Fourth Nile Cataract Region, Sudan, pp.49-74.
• Haberlah, D., 2011. The Culture of the Manasir- Subproject of the Humboldt University Nubian Expedition, HUNE. Retrieved 07 04, 2014 from Humbodt University Nubian Expedition. Haidar, A. S
• Haberlah, D., 2005. August. Cultural landscape of Dar al-Manasir. In Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Archaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract. Berlin(pp. 159-178).
• Halbwachs, Maurice., 1992. On collective memory. Translated by L. Coser. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Hashim, M.J., 2010. The dams of Northern Sudan and the policy of demographic engineering. International Journal of African Renaissance Studies, 5(1), pp.148-160.
• Hashim, M.J., 2006, August. The policies of de-Nubianization in Egypt and Sudan: An ancient people on the brink of extinction. In Pan-Africanism International Reparation Conference, Ghana.
• Hassan, F., 2007. The Aswan High Dam and the International Rescue Nubia Campaign. African Archaeological Review 24 (3): 73–94.
• Holt, P.M., 1961. The beylicate in Ottoman Egypt during the seventeenth century. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 24(2), pp.214-248.
• International Rivers Network. 2008. Dam-Flooded Communities in Sudan Appeal for Humanitarian Assistance. Available at: http://www.internationa lrivers.org/resources/dam-flooded-communities-in-sudan-appeal-for-hum anitarian-assistance-3819.
• Johnston, Chris (1994). What is social value? A discussion paper. Technical publications Series No. 3, Australian Heritage Commission. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service
• Kaddal, F., 2021. On Displacement and Music: Embodiments of Contemporary Nubian Music in the Nubian Resettlements...
• Lawler, A. 2006. Sudan Archaeology. Global Apathy Threatens a Way of Life and an Unexpectedly Rich Heritage. Archaeology (November/December): 36–41.
  
  
• LEACH, T. A. (1919): Date-Trees in Halfa Province, Sudan Notes & Records 2, 98-104.
• MacMichael, H.A., 2011. A History of the Arabs in the Sudan: And Some Account of the People who Preceded Them and of the Tribes Inhabiting Dárfūr(Vol. 2). Cambridge University Press.
• McCully, P. 1996. Rivers No More: The Environmental Effects of Dams, 29–64. London: Zed Books.
• Metz, Helen Chapin (ed.) 1991. Sudan: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1991.
• Näser, C. and Lange, M. eds., 2007. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Archaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract, Berlin, August 4th-6th, 2005(Vol. 23). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.
• Nelson, Harold D. (ed.), 1973. The Democratic Republic of Sudan. Area Handbook. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
• Nora, Pierre, 1989. Between memory and history: les lieux de memoire. Representations, Vol.26, No.1, pp.1-19.
• Reisner, George A., 1923. Excavations at Kerma I-III/IV-V. Harvard African Studies, Vol.V. Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum of Harvard University
• Reisner, George A., 1919. Discovery of the tombs of the Egyptian 25th Dynasty at ElKurruw in Dongolla Province. Sudan Notes and Records, Vol. 2, pp.237-254.
• Reisner, George A., 1918. Outline of the ancient history of Sudan. Sudan Notes and Records, Vol. 1, No.1, pp.3-15.
• Shaggier, Naom, 2007. The geography and history of the Sudan. 3rd ed. Khartoum: Azza Publishing House.
• Sharkey, Heather J., 2003. Living with colonialism: nationalism and culture in the AngloEgyptian Sudan. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
• Shrief, Nagem al Deen (undated). The history of the Antiquities Service in Sudan. Archaeology Journal, Museum Report No.4.
• Shebeyikka, Makkiy, 1964. Sudan through the centuries. Beirut: Dar al Jabal.
• Taha, S., 2021. Mega Developments in Africa: Lessons from the Meroe Dam. In African Heritage Challenges(pp. 127-155). Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.
• Taha, S., 2013. Attachment to abandoned heritage: The case of Suakin. Archaeopress, BAR International Series S2477, Oxford,
• Thomas Legh, Narrative of a Journey in Egypt and the Country Beyond the Cataracts (London: John Murray, 1817), 21.
• Trimingham, J. Spencer, 1965. Islam in the Sudan. 2nd ed. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.