Sudan National Museum

Founded in Khartoum in 1971, the National Museum of Sudan, which includes glassware, pottery, statuary and figurines from both Sudanese history and pre-history, is the largest in the entire country. Ancient Nubia's Christian period is well-represented, with frescoes and murals dating back to the 8th century, while the Egyptian temples of Buhen and Semna, built by Queen Hatshepsut and Pharaoh Tuthmosis III and relocated to Khartoum before Lake Nasser was flooded, currently reside in the Museum gardens.

The National Museum holds many treasures of Sudan’s ancient and medieval past. They’re well-presented and labelled, and give a good narrative of Sudanese history. Spread out over two floors, the ground floor starts with Sudan’s prehistory and covers the rise of Kerma and Kush in great detail. Kerma is particularly well represented through its famous pottery. The Kushite displays show the wide variety of cultural exchange in play throughout the kingdom.

The upstairs gallery holds the museum’s most unexpected displays – frescoes from Christian Nubia, music instruments used by Christians in that country. Despite lasting for 700 years, Sudan’s early Christian kingdoms are little known to the outside world and repeated Sudanese governments have shown little interest in promoting this aspect of their history.