PORT SUDAN: Sudan's priceless archaeological heritage is being stripped from museums as looters load figurines and fragments of ancient palaces onto trucks, smuggle them out of the war-torn country and sell them on the Internet.
More than a year of war between rival generals has killed tens of thousands of people, forced millions more to flee their homes and left the country's prized antiquities at the mercy of looters.
On Thursday, UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural body, said that “the threat to culture appears to have reached an unprecedented level, with reports of looting of museums, heritage and archaeological sites and private collections.”
In the capital Khartoum, where fighting broke out between the army and paramilitary forces in April 2023, the recently renovated Sudan National Museum has been the victim of theft of valuable artefacts, archaeologists and officials say.
The museum houses prehistoric Paleolithic artifacts and items from the famous Kerma site in northern Sudan, as well as Pharaonic and Nubian pieces.
Opened in 1971, the museum was founded in part to house objects salvaged from an area that would be flooded during the construction of the massive Aswan Dam in Egypt.
Now, their artifacts are threatened by war.
“The Sudan National Museum has been subject to significant looting,” said Ikhlas Abdel Latif, director of museums at the national antiquities authority.
“The archaeological objects stored there were taken away in large trucks and moved to the west and to border areas, particularly near South Sudan,” he said. AFP.
'Refrain' from trade
It is difficult to determine the extent of the looting because the museum is located in an area controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Officials and experts have accused the RSF of looting the site. Contacted by AFPA spokesman for the force had no comment.
In May, RSF said it was “vigilant” to “protect and preserve the antiquities of the Sudanese people.”
Throughout history, combatants have used loot to finance their war efforts.
UNESCO has called on “the public and the art market… in the region and around the world to refrain” from dealing in Sudanese items.
The agency also said it was planning training in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, for law enforcement and judiciary officials from Sudan's neighbouring countries.
“Because of the war, the museum and the objects are not under surveillance,” explained Hassan Hussein, a researcher and former director of the National Antiquities Authority.
The army, led by Sudan's de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, is in conflict with the RSF, led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
On sale
The island of Meroe, a UNESCO World Heritage Site home to the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Kush and dozens of its pyramids, is also under threat.
Artifacts and display props were stolen from the museum in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, Abdel Latif said.
In Omdurman, across the Nile River from Khartoum, part of the Khalifa House museum was also destroyed, he said.
Last week, the Association of Friends of Sudanese Museums condemned “in the strongest terms” the looting taking place across the country.
Experts have expressed alarm after discovering stolen items put up for sale on the Internet.
On auction site eBay, a user offered items presented as Egyptian antiquities that Sudanese media said were looted from Sudan.
AFP I saw listings with items offered for a few hundred dollars, but I was unable to independently verify the authenticity or origin of the items.
A Sudanese archaeologist, speaking anonymously for security reasons, said AFP that the pottery, gold objects and paintings on sale appeared to come from the National Museum in Khartoum, although at least one statuette was an imitation.
He said he feared for the larger statues, which “need to be handled by specialists in a precise manner” and could be damaged if looters gained access to them.
The issue is expected to be discussed at an upcoming conference in Germany, which Hussein will attend.
“The current state of the collections is a concern for anyone who cares about the heritage of humanity,” he said.
