{"id":53753,"date":"2025-09-03T00:32:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T21:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/?p=53753"},"modified":"2025-09-03T00:32:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T21:32:19","slug":"two-years-into-sudans-war-tracing-looted-antiquities-remains-elusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/03\/two-years-into-sudans-war-tracing-looted-antiquities-remains-elusive\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Years into Sudan\u2019s War: Tracing Looted Antiquities Remains Elusive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sudan Events \u2013 Agencies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Majestic and solitary, the colossal statue of King Taharqa\u2014who ruled the ancient Kingdom of Kush for more than two decades\u2014now stands alone in the courtyard of Sudan\u2019s National Museum in Khartoum. No longer surrounded by admirers or scholars, it is instead flanked by shattered display cases and broken statues, silently telling the story of a nation in ruin. Two years after the official announcement of the museum\u2019s looting, the search continues for tens of thousands of artifacts that vanished into the fog of war, some of which have since surfaced sporadically in neighboring countries such as Egypt, Chad, and South Sudan.<\/p>\n

Rowda Idris, a prosecutor representing the Sudanese Attorney General\u2019s office on the Committee for the Protection of Museums and Archaeological Sites, summed up the catastrophe bluntly: \u201cOnly the large or heavy objects that couldn\u2019t be carried away survived.\u201d At the museum entrance, what was once a lush garden of rare trees and a miniature Nile has become a barren patch of dry grass, guarded by silent statues of Kushite war deities beneath a roof scarred by shelling. Hatem al-Nour, former director of the Antiquities and Museums Authority, told AFP that the National Museum \u201choused more than 500,000 pieces spanning vast periods of history that together embodied Sudan\u2019s deep cultural identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March this year, antiquities officials stepped onto museum grounds for the first time since the army recaptured central Khartoum. What they found exceeded their worst fears: devastation and the loss of priceless collections. The most shocking blow was to the \u201cGold Room,\u201d which, according to Ikhlas Abdel Latif, director of museums at Sudan\u2019s Antiquities Authority, contained \u201citems beyond value\u2014pure 24-carat gold pieces, some dating back nearly 8,000 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abdel Latif, who also heads the unit tracking stolen antiquities, confirmed that the Gold Room was \u201cstripped bare.\u201d Among the missing treasures were royal Kushite jewelry, gilded tools, and statues inlaid with precious metal. These relics belonged to a civilization that flourished alongside the Roman Empire, with capitals at Napata and Meroe in northern Sudan\u2014an ancient culture as rich as Pharaonic Egypt, though far less recognized globally.<\/p>\n

A War Crime Against History<\/strong><\/p>\n

The war between Sudan\u2019s army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, erupted in April 2023. It has since split the country, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions. Amid this catastrophe, the Sudanese government accused the RSF of \u201cdestroying artifacts and treasures chronicling 7,000 years of civilization,\u201d calling it a war crime\u2014allegations the RSF flatly denies.<\/p>\n

Abdel Latif confirmed in June 2023 that the RSF had seized control of the National Museum, and earlier this year she revealed that looted artifacts were trucked from Omdurman to western Sudan before being moved toward the South Sudanese border.<\/p>\n

The systematic plunder prompted UNESCO late last year to issue a global appeal urging the public to avoid trading in Sudanese antiquities, stressing the significance of the museum\u2019s \u201cimportant artifacts and statues of immense historical and material value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Racing to Recover a Stolen Heritage<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sudanese authorities have since launched a race against time. An official source at the Antiquities Authority told AFP that close cooperation with neighboring states is underway to trace and retrieve smuggled relics. Abdel Latif noted that Kushite funerary statues, in particular, are highly sought after on the black market: \u201cThey are beautiful, small, and easy to transport.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fate of the most valuable items, however, remains unknown. Neither the Gold Room collection nor the funerary statues have appeared in public auctions or on the parallel market. Abdel Latif believes much of the trade is happening discreetly within tight circles, adding that the government, in coordination with Interpol and UNESCO, is \u201cmonitoring all markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interpol confirmed to AFP that it is involved in efforts to track Sudan\u2019s stolen antiquities, though it declined to disclose operational details. Some results have already emerged: Idris reported the arrest of a group in Nile River State, including foreign nationals, found in possession of artifacts. \u201cInvestigations are ongoing to determine which museum they came from,\u201d she said. Sources within the Antiquities Authority also recounted an unusual case: a group that crossed into Egypt contacted Khartoum, offering to return stolen relics in exchange for money.<\/p>\n

Destruction Across the Map<\/strong><\/p>\n

The tragedy of the National Museum is not isolated. Cultural heritage sites across Sudan\u2019s war zones have suffered devastating losses. \u201cMore than 20 museums have been looted in Sudan\u2014in Khartoum, Gezira, and Darfur,\u201d Idris lamented. \u201cWe still don\u2019t know the extent of damage in areas not yet retaken.\u201d The National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums estimates recorded losses so far at around $110 million.<\/p>\n

In Omdurman, the Khalifa House Museum still bears bullet holes and shell damage, with its 18th-century collections shattered. Al-Nour confirmed that the Ali Dinar Museum in El Fasher\u2014the largest in Darfur\u2014was also destroyed, along with museums in El Geneina and Nyala.<\/p>\n

The Nyala Museum in South Darfur, according to a local source, became the center of \u201cfierce fighting\u201d and now lies in ruins. \u201cNo one can move there except RSF fighters,\u201d the source said. Abdel Latif added that the site has been turned into \u201ca military barracks\u201d\u2014a chilling symbol of Sudan\u2019s cultural heritage crushed under the boots of war, as the memory of a nation is ground into dust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sudan Events \u2013 Agencies Majestic and solitary, the colossal statue of King Taharqa\u2014who ruled the ancient Kingdom of Kush for more than two decades\u2014now stands alone in the courtyard of Sudan\u2019s National Museum in Khartoum. No longer surrounded by admirers or scholars, it is instead flanked by shattered display cases and broken statues, silently telling …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53753"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53755,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53753\/revisions\/53755"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}