A little way upstream from those enigmatic pyramids, the Nile's story becomes more complicated. Now there are two rivers. The Blue Nile and the White Nile. Here they meet and merge in what Arab poets call ''the longest kiss in history''. The clearly different colours of the Blue and White Nile suggest different characters and origins. This meeting of the waters is the site of another great human settlement. Khartoum. Khartoum is the capital of Sudan, a country of nearly 600 tribes and over a hundred languages. Centuries old, Khartoum remains to this day one of the most important crossroads in the African landscape. The Nile has seen Kushites, Christians and Arabs each rule here in their time. But Islam has emerged as the dominant voice in modern Khartoum.


从这些谜样的金字塔地区再往上游走一些，尼罗河的传奇故事变得更为复杂起来。两条大河：青尼罗河与白尼罗河。它们在被阿拉伯诗人吟颂为“史上最漫长的亲吻”中交汇。青、白尼罗河差异显著的色泽暗示着它们不同的特性与源头。大河的交汇之处是另一座人类大城——喀土穆的所在地。喀土穆是苏丹这个境内居住着将近六百个部落、流通着超过一百种语言的国家的首都。拥有几百年历史的喀土穆至今仍是非洲大陆上最重要的交通枢纽之一。尼罗河曾目睹库施人、基督徒以及阿拉伯人分别在他们各自的强盛时期统治这个地区，但称霸于现代喀土穆的却是后来崛起的伊斯兰势力。