Dulwich Despatch
Page 12
Black History Month Talk by Sam Osman
Sam Osman was interested in literature from very early on in her life and spent time reading books and writing to follow her dream and become an author! “As a child I considered myself a swot,” remarked Sam. Her inspiration for books comes mainly from stories she’s heard, places she’s been and her own exciting experiences. She worked on BBC documentaries, and would travel to amazing places and see and experience amazing things. As a child she used to read books by Charlotte Bronte, like Jane Eyre . She was especially inspired by Charlotte as she came from a very poor family and didn’t have the best education, but despite this went on to be an amazing author. When Sam’s father died she didn’t really know him as he lived in Sudan and she in England. When she went over to Sudan for the funeral she became interested in this side of her family after her aunt showed her a picture of her grandfather. This hooked Sam immediately and she started to explore her grandfather’s past. Sam said, “I was interested about his past as it seemed so close and familiar but, at the same time, so alien.” It turned out that even though her grandfather Sam Osman
was a wealthy man, he was illiterate. But now, only two generations later, Sam is making her living as a writer. Sam’s research into Sudanese history was the basis of our Black History Month talk in the Raymond Chandler Library. Sam told us about the ancient Kingdom of Kush which was a civilisation dating back before Egypt and is further south down the River Nile. This civilisation made wonderful and beautiful pottery, jewellery and buildings.
Isis is represented in this gold jewellery
It became very industrial later on as it had iron ore, trees (unlike Egypt, Kush had lush jungle-like vegetation and trees, amazing animals and plants) and water, “and these are what you need for making iron,” Sam told us. The people then developed a smelting industry and because of this a few things occurred. 1. The Kushites made weapons out of iron and so had a military advantage over its opponents and it became very powerful. 2. The smelting created masses of slag, which can still be found today. 3. . Unfortunately, it destroyed the beautiful, lush environment . Kush had masses of gold and iron, so it was often attacked and raided by many other warriors. However, the weapons they had (Continued on page 13)
The tombs of some of the kings of Kush are part of the Meroe archaeological site in northern Sudan.
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