I enjoyed learning about the Kingdom of Kush, which is in modern day Sudan and bordered to the east by the Red Sea. Throughout it's history, people from the Neolithic Era, the Iron Age, the Bronze Age folks lived there. Kerma was their large city and was called "the first big urban center in Sub-Saharan Africa" by an historian and commentator in the film.
My favorite part was when the narrator visited a home in the area and spoke with the women about artifacts and technology they use in their everyday lives that have ancient roots. The home she visited still had large pottery jars used to cool water, and others to store grain. They also still had in use a stick/straw-woven bed that has cultural significance for the people. These beds served an entire lifetime of needs: wedding night, a place for circumcisions, and it held the body once the person was deceased.
Another part I enjoyed was when the narrator visited the women during a wedding celebration. The women wore gold and had kohl-lined eyes and henna on their feet and hands. These artistic traditions have been handed down since the Kingdom of Kush. Gold played a large part in this area's history, as well.
Kelli,
I also watched this video, and those were my highlights as well! I loved how the narrator highlighted women's role in carrying the traditions and the culture. I too found the wooden beds so beautiful thinking about how they truly carrying people through their major life events.
@ami-molkentine I agree! I watched this video as well, and the role women played in keeping the traditions and culture alive really stood out to me too. I also thought the wooden beds were beautiful and meaningful, especially how they were part of people’s lives through so many important moments.
watched this episode too, and those scenes left a deep impression on me as well. At the wedding, the woman applying eyeliner was even worried about sweating and smudging her makeup. It just goes to show that the desire to look beautiful is universal.
Kelli, I did not watch this video, but of course want to watch them all. I'm curious about the clay jars used to cool water. I wonder if they are similar to the ones used by indigenous cultures of my area, hung and porus so they also act as air conditioners. I also saw these in Oman and wonder what the history of their existence is. Indigenous groups here have also buried them with the top exposed as an efficient way to irrigate the surrounding soil.