House of the Khalifa
 Foreground: dome of the first mausoleum of the Mahdi. Background: Today's mausoleum of the Mahdi. |
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| Data | |
|---|---|
| place |
Omdurman 
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| Art |
Ethnographic collection from the time of the Mahdist state
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| opening | 1928 |
The House of the Khalifa ( Arabic بيت الخليفة, DMG Bait al-ḫalīfa ) is a two-story mud building with several courtyards, erected between 1888 and 1891, in which Abdallahi ibn Muhammad , the successor of the Mahdi lived. The building, which is located in the center of the Sudanese city of Omdurman in the immediate vicinity of the Mahdi mausoleum, became the seat of an ethnographic museum in 1928 that documents the history of Sudan during the Mahdi uprising .
The Khalifa Museum contains items of daily life from that period such as armor, swords, coins and banknotes issued by Charles George Gordon during the siege of Khartoum . Some rooms contain materials from the Battle of Omdurman such as rifles, spears, flags and clothing.
The inner courtyards house the dome of the first Mahdi mausoleum and the first automobile to be used in Sudan, an Arrol-Johnston tractor originally used for military purposes .