Sudan’s cultural heritage under attack: Tens of thousands of artefacts stolen from museum

Tens of thousands of artefacts have been looted from Sudan’s National Museum in Khartoum, one of Africa’s most significant cultural institutions.

A museum official, who wished to remain anonymous, disclosed that satellite images from last year showed trucks filled with artefacts leaving the museum and heading towards Sudan’s borders, including South Sudan, according to a report by The Guardian.

While the official did not assign direct blame, Sudan’s national broadcaster had earlier reported a “large-scale looting and smuggling operation” at the museum, which is situated in a region controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The RSF, currently engaged in a civil war against Sudan’s regular army, has denied any involvement in the looting.

The National Museum’s vast collection of over 100,000 items includes some of the world’s oldest and most valuable artefacts, such as embalmed mummies dating from 2,500 BC, statues, pottery, and murals from various historical eras, from the Stone Age to Christian and Islamic periods.

The Guardian also reported looting at two other prominent museums in Sudan—Khalifa House in Omdurman and Nyala Museum in South Darfur.

“When we learned about the looting, we didn’t sleep for three or four days,” the museum official said. “These artefacts are our identity, the identity of the Sudanese people. Can you imagine what it feels like to lose your identity? You lose your existence in this world.”

Efforts are now underway to engage regional governments in hopes of retrieving the stolen artefacts. Under normal circumstances, the official said, it is forbidden to move artefacts within the museum without police supervision.

Dr. Julien Cooper, an archaeologist at Macquarie University in Sydney, emphasised the importance of the museum’s collection.

“The museum has a huge collection of artefacts from across history, time and culture. It’s something we should really treasure,” he told Australia’s ABC radio, as reported by The Guardian.

However, Cooper added that “no one is really sure about the objects that have gone missing” due to the chaos of war, making it difficult to obtain reliable information.

A video from June last year, circulated on social media, appeared to show RSF fighters entering the museum’s bioarchaeology lab and accessing storage containing mummies and other ancient remains, though the RSF denied that anything had been stolen.

The conflict, which erupted between the RSF and the army in April last year, has left thousands dead, displaced 8 million people internally, and forced a further 2 million to flee to neighbouring countries.

(with inputs from The Guardian)

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