«Тахиййат»: Сборник статей в честь Н. Н. Дьякова

Wadi Halfa: Bride of the Nile m 33 n support and maintenance of traditional Nubian communities, whether the goals are to preserve the culture of hospitality or to create a supportive environment for Nubian languages, poetry and music. There is no problem of access to Wadi Halfa. Some guests at the Cultural Festival arrived by plane at the airport. Although it is small, there is space for expansion. There is now access by paved roads between Wadi Halfa and Khar- toum in Sudan and between Wadi Halfa and Aswan in Egypt. Many short day trips are now practical. Some of the most spectacular monuments of Ancient Egypt, such as the great temples of Abu Simbel, could be accessed quickly by a boat trip. The island of Sawárda, the birthplace of Mohamed Wardi where he took the first steps in his musical life, is also easily accessible. In fact, the develop- ment of a permanent camp for music-lovers is a real possibility in Sawárda. This could be a place for musicians, young and old, domestic and internation- al, who, like Wardi, might be fascinated by Nubian music with its pentatonic scale and by the traditional tambour (Nubian: kísir ), a Sudanese lyre with five strings. “ Camp Wardi ” would have great potential. A rather different venue might be “ Camp Ambassador Jamal Mohamed Ahmed ” named for the late Nubian scholar and Ambassador to the Court of St. James. This camp would be devoted to oral literature and to the world of tra- ditional story-telling in Serra East (Nubian: Serrenmátto ), an ancient Egyptian fortress and medieval Nubian town now submerged beneath the waters of the Nile 1 . In the vicinity of this site scholars could learn about the close links of the Nubians with the amandogor-kúu , the mythical beings who live beneath the surface of the Nile. Ambassador Jamal published an English translation of the stories 2 . Additionally, such stories are a cornerstone of the literature published by the Egyptian Nubian author al-Ustadh Haggag Oddoul (also available in English) 3 . Similarly, there is potential for “ Camp Kikiláañ ” in honour of a Nubian king from the oral traditions of Fáras. He was called “father of 100, grand- father of 1000”. Fáras was the centre of a medieval Nubian school of wall- painting. Paintings removed from Fáras in 1962–1964 are now preserved in both Khartoum and Warsaw. “ Camp Kikiláañ ” could be a centre for creative individuals concerned with visual arts. An international agreement might be negotiated with Poland to encourage and publicise this centre. There are a number of other important sites to be visited in Nu- bia. The ϐlood waters of 1964 did not reach certain sites, which are still 1 Visits to this location would require the creation of a “virtual” site, and consequently, the logistics would be a matter for careful consideration. 2 Ahmed (1985). 3 Odoul (2005).