UNESCO: Sudan National Museum subjected to major looting
The repercussions of the devastating war have reached Sudan The ongoing war for more than 17 months has led to museums being looted and artifacts being offered for sale on the Internet, raising concerns among researchers and international organizations.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) warned:UNESCO) Thursday that “the threat to culture (in Sudan) has reached an unprecedented level in recent weeks, especially in light of reports of looting of museums, heritage and archaeological sites and private collections.”
“Yes, the National Museum of Sudan was subjected to a major looting operation,” Ikhlas Abdel Latif, director of museums at the National Antiquities Authority and head of the Sudanese Antiquities Recovery Committee, told Agence France-Presse.
She added that satellite images had monitored “large trucks loaded with all the artifacts stored in the museum leaving via Omdurman, heading west.”
She pointed out that these stolen goods are sold in the border areas, especially on the border with South Sudan.
Sudan war
Fighting erupted in Sudan in April 2023 between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, plunging the country into what the United Nations described as “one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent memory.”
The size and value of the stolen items have not yet been determined due to the difficulty of officials reaching the museum, which is located in an area controlled by the Rapid Support Forces. Abdel Latif says that the National Museum’s warehouses “are considered a main repository for all of Sudan’s antiquities.”
The National Museum was opened in 1971. It is located in the capital and its entrance overlooks the banks of the Blue Nile. It contains collections and pieces that date back to all periods of Sudanese civilization, starting from the Stone Age to the Islamic period, passing through Nubian and Christian antiquities.
Among the reasons that led to the establishment of the museum was to save the artifacts and remains of some temples, whether from the Nubian or ancient Egyptian civilization, from being submerged by water during the construction of the High Dam in Aswan in southern Egypt.
Sell online
A spokesman for the Rapid Support Forces did not respond to a call from AFP seeking comment, but in May the force said in a statement it was “keen to protect and preserve the antiquities of the Sudanese people.”
Over the past few days, many Sudanese have circulated an advertisement on social media platforms, quoted from the e-commerce website “eBay”, for the sale of a piece that includes three statues on one base (a man, a woman and a child) and it was written on it that it is an ancient Egyptian artifact, offered for sale at a price of $280.
They denounced the sale of Sudanese heritage online, but a Sudanese antiquities expert, who requested anonymity, confirmed to France Presse that “the statue displayed (on the Internet) is an imitation of a piece in the museum.”
However, he pointed out that there are advertisements for “pottery, gold and paintings that were in the museum” for sale online.
“There are concerns that if the museum looters try to move the huge statues, they may be destroyed because they require specialists,” he added.
UNESCO called on the Sudanese “public and artistic community… in the region and the world to refrain” from trading in Sudanese art pieces.
