Sudan’s ongoing civil war, which began in April 2023 between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), has devastated the country’s irreplaceable cultural heritage, with museums looted, archaeological sites damaged, and priceless artifacts destroyed or missing. Archaeologist Shadia Abdrabo, a curator from Sudan’s National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), is working on a yearlong research grant in France to create a comprehensive online database of Sudan’s archaeological sites, museum collections, and historical archives to document what has been lost and aid in recovery efforts. The National Museum in Khartoum, which housed an estimated 100,000 objects including mummies dating back 2,500 years, royal Kushite treasures, and artifacts from the Kerma Kingdom, Napatan era, and Meroitic civilization, was ransacked by militias who posted videos of their destruction online. Regional museums in El Geneina and Nyala were almost completely destroyed, while the Khalifa House Museum was looted and the Ethnographic Museum was looted and burned down following the SAF’s March 2025 recapture of the Al-Mogran area in Khartoum. Beyond the capital, international cultural heritage sites such as Meroe Island and Jebel Barkal face severe threats, and displaced populations have turned to agriculture and gold mining on archaeological sites, causing additional damage and vandalism. UNESCO has raised alarms about the unprecedented level of cultural destruction and has trained police and customs officers to recognize stolen antiquities, while appealing to collectors to refrain from acquiring looted Sudanese cultural property. Abdrabo’s painstaking work involves compiling data from various sources including spreadsheets, handwritten inventories, and decades-old photographs, with support from international institutions like the Louvre and the British Museum, though she works mostly alone. The task is urgent because the full extent of damage remains unclear due to RSF restrictions on access, and efforts to protect heritage have been hampered by logistical challenges, insufficient funding, displaced experts, and inadequate communication infrastructure. Unlike similar cultural emergencies following wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Sudan has not received strong international media coverage, reducing the visibility of the crisis and limiting the global response to recovery efforts. Abdrabo has funding until April 2026 to complete the database platform, but she expresses concern that this timeframe may be insufficient given the scale of the work and the ongoing security threats to remaining collections. The loss extends beyond physical objects to research, studies, and entire archives that have vanished, representing an irreplaceable loss of knowledge and identity for the Sudanese people. With a team of about 15 Sudanese professionals now working in the Khartoum museum to clean and restore damaged items, efforts are underway to assess what remains and facilitate international recovery initiatives, though the uncertainty of the ongoing conflict continues to threaten Sudan’s cultural future.
Why it matters:
- Sudan’s cultural heritage, including 2,500-year-old mummies and artifacts from ancient kingdoms, faces systematic destruction and looting during the civil war
- International response has been limited compared to similar crises, making documentation and preservation efforts critical for preventing permanent loss of irreplaceable historical records
Key Points
- Archaeologist Shadia Abdrabo is building an online database of Sudan’s archaeological sites and museum collections to document losses and aid recovery
- The National Museum in Khartoum, holding 100,000 objects including ancient mummies and royal treasures, was ransacked; regional museums in El Geneina and Nyala were nearly destroyed
- Displaced populations turning to gold mining and agriculture on archaeological sites, combined with militia looting and vandalism, threaten heritage across multiple regions
- UNESCO and international institutions are training personnel and appealing to collectors, but Sudan lacks the media coverage and funding support seen in Iraq and Afghanistan crises
- Abdrabo has funding until April 2026 to complete the database, but faces challenges including insufficient time, displaced experts, and ongoing security threats
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Summary
Sudan's ongoing civil war, which began in April 2023 between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), has devastated the country's irreplaceable cultural heritage, with museums looted, archaeological sites damaged, and priceless artifacts destroyed or missing. Archaeologist Shadia Abdrabo, a curator from Sudan's National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), is working on a yearlong research grant in France to create a comprehensive online database of Sudan's archaeological sites, museum collections, and historical archives to document what has been lost and aid in recovery efforts. The National Museum in Khartoum, which housed an estimated 100,000 objects including mummies dating back 2,500 years, royal Kushite treasures, and artifacts from the Kerma Kingdom, Napatan era, and Meroitic civilization, was ransacked by militias who posted videos of their destruction online. Regional museums in El Geneina and Nyala were almost completely destroyed, while the Khalifa House Museum was looted and the Ethnographic Museum was looted and burned down following the SAF's March 2025 recapture of the Al-Mogran area in Khartoum. Beyond the capital, international cultural heritage sites such as Meroe Island and Jebel Barkal face severe threats, and displaced populations have turned to agriculture and gold mining on archaeological sites, causing additional damage and vandalism. UNESCO has raised alarms about the unprecedented level of cultural destruction and has trained police and customs officers to recognize stolen antiquities, while appealing to collectors to refrain from acquiring looted Sudanese cultural property. Abdrabo's painstaking work involves compiling data from various sources including spreadsheets, handwritten inventories, and decades-old photographs, with support from international institutions like the Louvre and the British Museum, though she works mostly alone. The task is urgent because the full extent of damage remains unclear due to RSF restrictions on access, and efforts to protect heritage have been hampered by logistical challenges, insufficient funding, displaced experts, and inadequate communication infrastructure. Unlike similar cultural emergencies following wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Sudan has not received strong international media coverage, reducing the visibility of the crisis and limiting the global response to recovery efforts. Abdrabo has funding until April 2026 to complete the database platform, but she expresses concern that this timeframe may be insufficient given the scale of the work and the ongoing security threats to remaining collections. The loss extends beyond physical objects to research, studies, and entire archives that have vanished, representing an irreplaceable loss of knowledge and identity for the Sudanese people. With a team of about 15 Sudanese professionals now working in the Khartoum museum to clean and restore damaged items, efforts are underway to assess what remains and facilitate international recovery initiatives, though the uncertainty of the ongoing conflict continues to threaten Sudan's cultural future.
Why It Matters
Sudan's cultural heritage, including 2,500-year-old mummies and artifacts from ancient kingdoms, faces systematic destruction and looting during the civil war
International response has been limited compared to similar crises, making documentation and preservation efforts critical for preventing permanent loss of irreplaceable historical records
Key Points
- Archaeologist Shadia Abdrabo is building an online database of Sudan's archaeological sites and museum collections to document losses and aid recovery
- The National Museum in Khartoum, holding 100,000 objects including ancient mummies and royal treasures, was ransacked; regional museums in El Geneina and Nyala were nearly destroyed
- Displaced populations turning to gold mining and agriculture on archaeological sites, combined with militia looting and vandalism, threaten heritage across multiple regions
- UNESCO and international institutions are training personnel and appealing to collectors, but Sudan lacks the media coverage and funding support seen in Iraq and Afghanistan crises
- Abdrabo has funding until April 2026 to complete the database, but faces challenges including insufficient time, displaced experts, and ongoing security threats
Source: www.livemint.com
Original Publish Date: 29/11/2025
Entities: Shadia Abdrabo, National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), UNESCO, The Louvre, British Museum, National Museum of Sudan
