ABSTRACT
The Sudan National Museum, built in 1971, displays ancient and medieval art and archaeological artifacts from the Nile Valley in the northern part of the country, a region known in antiquity as Kush and in medieval times Nubia. Ethnographic artifacts, which form the basis of national museum collections in some other African countries, are displayed separately in a much smaller museum and do not figure prominently in national heritage discourse. This chapter presents the historical and disciplinary developments that led Sudan to elevate its archaeological past as a focus of national unity. It discusses some of the challenges of adopting a single ancient culture as a symbol of a diverse modern nation and notes the absence of critical museum discourse in Sudan today.
