Efforts to Save Sudan’s Antiquities

Moatinoon – Agencies
Sudan is struggling to safeguard its ancient heritage after more than two years of war left devastating damage to its antiquities. At the National Museum in Khartoum, fragments of pottery and shattered statues lie among broken glass and spent bullets, while experts warn that thousands of artifacts have been stolen or smuggled into neighboring countries.

Rehab Khidr Al-Rashid, head of the committee assessing damage to heritage sites, said the museum was “severely damaged,” stressing that every stolen artifact “represents an important part of Sudan’s history.”

According to the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, nearly 4,000 artifacts are missing, including 700 from museums in Darfur. In El Geneina, the museum curator was killed when the building was shelled.

Among the most affected sites is the Temple of Buhen, built by Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut around 1500 BC and relocated to Khartoum in the 1960s to save it from the Aswan High Dam floods.

Restoration and protection efforts are estimated to cost up to 100 million, but limited funding and insecurity continue to hinder progress. Around 45 archaeological missions once active in Sudan have halted since the war began, leaving local experts with very few resources to carry on the rescue work.