Carpe Diem #798 Sudan

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I have had a wonderful weekend with my grandkids, but it ended not so good. Today my father has had another heart attack and is in the hospital again. So again a time of worries has begun. This time my dad looks more ill than the first time (three weeks ago). I hope he will recover again ...

Several days ago I challenged you all to write a choka, but I hadn't the opportunity to write/compose one myself. I have written my first choka ever yesterday and published it on my personal weblog at Wordpress Chèvrefeuille's haiku.

Today we are sailing into Sudan following The Nile to find its source. Yesterday we sailed Lake Nasser and now we have reach the upper side of this lake. Sudan has a very interesting history.

Flag of Sudan

Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is an African Country in the Nile Valley of North Africa, bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Djibouti to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west and Libya to the northwest. It is the third largest country in Africa. The River Nile divides the country into eastern and western halves. Its predominant religion is Islam.

Sudan was home to numerous ancient civilizations, such as the Kingdom of Kush, Kerma, Nobatia, Alodia, Makuria, Meroë 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. By virtue of its proximity to Egypt, the Sudan participated in the wider history of the Near East in as much as it was Christianized by the 6th century, and Islamized in the 7th. As a result of Christianization, the Old Nubian language stands as the oldest recorded Nilo-Saharan language (earliest records dating to the 9th century). Sudan was the largest country in Africa and the Arab world until 2011, when South Sudan separated into an independent country, following an independence referendum. 

Credits: Hibiscus, the National Flower of Sudan

Sudan suffers from several challenges. For much of Sudan's history, the nation has suffered from rampant ethnic strife and has been plagued by internal conflicts, including two civil wars and the War in the Darfur region. Sudan suffers from poor human rights, most particularly dealing with the issues of ethnic cleansing and slavery in the nation.

The National Flower of Sudan is the Hibiscus. And of course you can use that also for your inspired haiku or tanka for this episode. I was inspired by this wonderful flower, the Hibiscus, and wrote/composed the next haiku:

between Meroe’s pyramids
where the sun never shines
a Hibiscus shrub

© Chèvrefeuille

Credits: Ruins of Meroe Pyramids

Sudan ... a new country to follow The Nile in our full sails papyrus boat, so find the source of The Nile. I hope you did like this episode and that it will inspire you.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until August 19th at noon (CET). I will try to post our next episode, Nubian pyramids Meroë, later on.