Sheikh Hamed al-Nil Tomb, Dervish
Sudan is the third largest country in Africa. It is a federal presidential representative democratic republic with a legal system based on Islamic law, since Islam is the predominant religion. The River Nile divides the country into eastern and western halves. Sudan was home to numerous ancient civilizations, such as the Kingdom of Kush, Kerma, Nobatia, Alodia, Makuria, Meroe and others, most of which flourished along the Nile. During the pre-dynastic period Nubia and Nagadan Upper Egypt were identical, simultaneously evolved systems of pharaonic kingship by 3300 BC. Because of its proximity to Egypt, the Sudan participated in the wider history of the Near East inasmuch as it was Christianized by the 6th century, and Islamized in the 15th. Sudan is rarely visited by foreigners; yet it offers a wealth of historical treasures and extraordinary landscapes. Not to forget its amazingly welcoming people. A major event takes place every Friday late afternoon in Omdurman's suburb of Khartoum: whirling and chanting dervishes gather at Sheikh Hamed al-Nil Tomb. Sheikh Hamed al-Nil was a 19th-century Sufi leader of the Qadiriyah tariqa (order). While a sand storm has made the sky brown, seeing the dervishes perform their ceremony is both fascinating and soul-raising.
Size: 2689px × 4034px
Location: Sheikh Hamed al-Nil Tomb, Khartoum, Sudan
Photo credit: © François-Olivier Dommergues / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: africa, arab, british, brown, challenge, challenging, derviches, dervishes, desertic, embargo, empire, islam, islamic, isolated, mosque, mosqué, muslim, oil, portrait, republic, sandstorm, shrine, soudan, storm, sudan, sufi, tomb, tombe
