60% of Sudan's National Museum Looted, Report Says

"Over 60% of the Sudan National Museum's holdings had been looted in the two years that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had control over the capital city of Khartoum. That statistic came from Ghalia Jar Al-Nabi, director of the General Authority for Antiquities and Museums, who told NBC that the plundered works 'are not merely inanimate objects, but represent a people's history and a nation's entity.'"

"In the last three years, the deadly civil war tearing through Sudan has not only decimated its population but also destabilized the nation's culture, history, and identity. On top of the more than 150,000 people killed and millions displaced, the looting and destruction of cultural heritage objects, artifacts, archaeological sites, and museums threatens to distort the past and present beyond recognition, fracturing Sudan's future."

"By September 2024, the National Museum reported that tens of thousands of antiquities had been looted from its collection of 150,000 objects - several of which had been put up on eBay for hundreds of dollars."

Sudan's ongoing civil war has devastated the nation beyond human casualties, with over 150,000 deaths and millions displaced. The conflict has systematically destroyed cultural heritage through looting and destruction of museums, archaeological sites, and artifacts. The National Museum in Khartoum lost over 60% of its 150,000-object collection during the Rapid Support Forces' control of the capital. Other institutions suffered worse fates: the Nyala Museum was looted and converted into a military base, while the Sultan Ali Dinar Palace museum was completely destroyed. Stolen artifacts have appeared on commercial platforms like eBay. These losses represent irreplaceable historical records that define Sudan's national identity and cultural continuity.

Read at Hyperallergic