Q&A

 

Tens of thousands of artefacts have allegedly been looted from the Sudan National Museum in Khartoum. The museum, near the confluence of the White and the Blue Niles, holds a history of the region, home to ancient civilisations, temples and pyramids. The Conversation asked Mohamed Albdri Sliman Bashir, an archaeology scholar who knows the museum intimately, what’s at stake.

 

When was the museum established and what is its importance? The Sudan National Museum is a testament to the region’s rich historical and cultural heritage and serves as an important repository for the country’s antiquities. It was founded in 1959, ahead of the construction of the Aswan High Dam. A Unesco-led salvage campaign was launched in 1960 to protect and preserve the ancient monuments that would be flooded by the dam, which would alter the landscape of the Nubian region. Archaeologists faced a daunting challenge: They had to document and relocate countless artefacts and structures from Egyptian and Sudanese Nubia before they were lost. The scale of the task was immense. Entire temples were painstakingly dismantled and rebuilt in safer locations. While Egypt was home to important temples, Sudan’s archaeological treasures were smaller but just as valuable. 

What are the most notable collections? The Sudan National Museum houses artefacts ranging from prehistory to the Islamic period. The museum’s collection of more than 100 000 artefacts is an important source for understanding what shaped this region. One of the most remarkable collections is that of the Neolithic civilisations dating from 5 000BC to 3 500BC. Artefacts from this period offer insights into the early agrarian (farming) societies that laid the foundations for later social organisation and cultural expression. Particularly fascinating are the remains of daily life, including pottery and tools, which illustrate the technological progress of these prehistoric communities. The museum also displays artefacts from the period of Egyptian colonisation in Nubia, which led to a fusion of cultures and artistic styles. Among the most important collections are objects from the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms of Egypt (2660BC to 900BC) that illustrate the intertwining of two great civilisations.

What would the impact be of losing these collections?  The reported loss of parts of this collection represents a profound and multi-layered tragedy for future generations. Cultural collections serve as an anchor for a society’s identity. They embody the shared memory of a community and foster a sense of belonging and continuity with the past. Losing this not only undermines our understanding of who we are, but also hinders the transmission of knowledge and cultural values to our descendants. And their role in the world. The restored materials in the National Museum serve as touchstones of Sudanese identity and symbolise resilience. Future generations will no longer have access to the reminders of their ancestry that express the complexity of their identity. 

 

 

Full Q&A interview