Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
In a dimly lit office within the French National Institute for Art History, Sudanese archaeologist Shadiya Abdrabo carefully examines a photograph of pottery produced in her homeland around 7,000 BC.
Her fingers type the exact details of Neolithic artifacts into a spreadsheet, a small but important task in a race against time.
as a devastating conflict between rapid aid force As tensions between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) continue, Abdrabo, curator of Sudan’s National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), is taking a one-year research grant in France.
Their sole mission is to build a comprehensive online database African The country’s archaeological sites, museum collections and historical archives.
The war, which began in April 2023, quickly led to the looting and destruction of many museums.
Although the full extent of what has been lost is unclear, Abdrabo says his immediate task is to find out exactly what is missing.
“We have to work fast to protect our collections. We have already lost two museums and we don’t want to lose more,” Abdrabo told the Associated Press.
He confirmed that two regional museums in El Jenina and Nyala were almost completely destroyed. In khartoumThe national museum, which contained an estimated 100,000 objects before the conflict, was ransacked by the militia, who later posted videos online showing their fighters inside the storeroom.
The National Museum’s collection spans millennia, including pieces from the prehistoric period, including artifacts from the Kerma Kingdom and the Neptun era, when Kushite kings ruled the region.
It contained later Christian and Islamic objects as well as treasures from the Meroitic civilization, which was responsible for the pyramids of Sudan.
Among its most priceless objects were mummies dating back to 2,500 BC, considered the world’s oldest and most archaeologically important, as well as royal Kushite treasures.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has expressed grave concern over reports of widespread looting, stating that “the threat to culture has reached unprecedented levels.”
Abdrabo expressed his deep sorrow, saying, “My heart is broken, you know? It’s not just objects that we’ve lost. We’ve lost research, we’ve lost studies, we’ve lost many things.”
The personal impact of the conflict on Abdrabo has been immense. Last month, hundreds of people were killed and more than 80,000 displaced after the RSF captured El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
“I’m from Nubia, from the north, a region full of monuments, archaeological sites and ancient life,” he explained. The region was once home to some of the world’s earliest empires, rivaling Ancient Egypt in power and wealth.
Abdrabo was working at the National Museum in Khartoum when the war began.
“We thought it would be over soon… but then life started getting really hard: not only the bombings, but there was no electricity, no water,” he said. She fled north with her three sisters, first to Atbara, then Abri, and eventually Port Sudan.
During this difficult period, Abdrabo and his NCAM colleagues worked tirelessly to protect Sudan’s 11 museums and sites, some of which UNESCO World Heritage Situation
His efforts included moving precious pieces to secure rooms and secret locations. However, Sudanese cultural heritage lawyer Ali Nour believes that these protective measures were too slow.
“While the applications were being prepared, the sites were being evacuated. While the risk assessments were being reviewed, entire archives disappeared,” Noor wrote in an article for the UK-based International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.
In response, UNESCO has conducted inventories, trained police and customs officials to identify stolen antiquities, and appealed to collectors to “refrain from acquiring or participating in the import, export or transfer of ownership of cultural property from Sudan.”
Yet, researcher Maryam Amrir says that, unlike similar cultural emergencies in Afghanistan Iraq“Sudan has not benefited from strong media coverage condemning the degradation and plundering of its cultural heritage. This lack of visibility has dampened the international response.”
Ancient Sudan, through trade and military activity, maintained strong ties with Egypt, the Mediterranean world and MesopotamiaAccording to Geoff Emberling of the Kelsey Museum of Archeology at the University of Michigan, it served as the primary source of gold for the area.
“If we’re interested in these ancient cultures, we have to be interested in Sudan as well,” said Emberling, who is involved with the recently established Sudan Cultural Emergency Recovery Fund.
This task force, requested by NCAM, aims to unite institutions, scholars and donors in urgent recovery efforts for Sudan’s heritage.
Emberling emphasized the critical nature of Abdrabo’s work: “What Shadia Abdrabo is doing is urgently needed – establishing what is missing. And with a team of about 15 Sudanese now working to clean and restore what has been damaged in the museum in Khartoum, they will soon be able to compare what is now left there.”
Abdrabo has secured funding to complete data compilation and platform development by April 2026, but she fears that may not be enough time.
The work is laborious; Some datasets come in the form of spreadsheets, others as handwritten lists or decades-old photographs. While colleagues at institutions such as the Louvre and the British Museum offer support, she works largely alone.
“I’m trying to finish this database, but it’s a lot. I’ve done about 20%. Just for the national museums, I’ve recorded 1,080 objects so far… And then I have to create other museums, sites, archives… I need to add pictures, ID numbers, coordinates…” As winter sets in Paris, the crisis in Sudan remains Abdrabo’s driving force.
“We’re working on tracking down what was looted,” she said, her voice heavy with emotion.
“I cry when I talk about it. My only goal and message is to bring back as much as I can, to do as much as I can for Sudan, but it is not easy for us.”
Beyond the direct conflict, the consequences of the war, such as displaced populations and the presence of militias, further threaten the country’s heritage.
“Living in unsafe places is not safe for art,” he concluded with a stark reminder: “Until the war ends, we don’t know what’s going to happen.”