traditional musical styles of Sudan are ancient, rich and diverse, with different regions and ethnic groups having many distinct musical traditions. Music in Africa has always been very important as an integral part of religious and social life of communities. Performances of songs, dance and instrumental music are used in rituals and social ceremonies like weddings, circumcision rites or to accompany the long camel treks of the Bedouins. In these performances, music always has been a social event, marked by the combination of performers, lyrics, music and the participation of the community, like dancing or other types of sharing a musical event. Traditional music and its performance have been handed down from generation to generation by accomplished musicians to younger generations and was not written down, except in recent times by formally trained musicians or ethnomusicologists. In contrast to traditional Arabic music, most Sudanese music styles are pentatonic, and the simultaneous beats of percussion or singing in polyrhythms are further prominent characteristics of Sudanese sub-Saharan music. The music of Sudan also has a strong tradition of lyrical expression that uses oblique metaphors, speaks about love, the history of a tribe or the beauty of the country. In his essay 'Sudanese Singing 1908–1958, author El Sirr A. Gadour translated an example for the lyrics of a love song from the beginning of the 20th century as follows: One of the most typical East African instruments, called tanbūra or kissar in Nubian music, was traditionally played by the singers as the usual accompaniment for such songs, but this Sudanese lyre has largely been replaced in the 20th century by the Arabic oud. Drums, hand clapping and dancing are other important elements of traditional musical performances, as well as the use of other African instruments, like traditional xylophones, flutes or trumpets. One example for this are the elaborate wooden gourd trumpets, called al Waza,Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: played by the Berta people of the Blue Nile state. The History of the World in 100 Objects features a large wooden slit drum in the shape of a buffalo from southern Sudan, probably made in the 19th century for traditional performances in larger ensembles or to summon warriors, that is now held in the British Museum in London. A copper kettle drum that was reputedly used by Mahdist forces in the Battle of Omdurman (1898) is in the collection of the National