Dr Rebecca Bradshaw is an award-winning archaeologist, researcher and television presenter
May 19, 2023
It has now been a little more than a month since fighting erupted between the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces. In that time, civilians and combatants across the country have died. Homes and businesses have been destroyed and the cost of basic goods has surged to near-insurmountable levels. Most services, including internet access, have been interrupted.
Amid this chaos – which shows little sign of abating – the preservation of Sudan’s cultural heritage might seem like a low priority. However, as we have seen with conflict before, it is anything but. Cultural heritage is a powerful symbol of identity and, as such, is often the target of violence during conflicts such as this.
Although fighting has taken place in several locations across the nation, it has been concentrated in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, which hosts a number of historic monuments and has the largest number of museums in the country. On May 12, Unesco said there had been “reports of damage to the Presidential Palace, a historic building which also includes the Republican Palace Museum”, but these have not been verified. So far, then, it seems difficult to confirm whether or not any major damage has been done to sites, monuments or museums in the capital.
The threat of looting – although widespread in post-2003 Iraq and in Egypt during the Arab uprising – seems low. Geoff Emberling, a researcher at the University of Michigan and director of a major project at Sudan’s Unesco World Heritage Site at Jebel Barkal, told me that “Sudan fortunately does not have a history of large-scale looting of archaeological sites”.
The pyramids at Nuri near Karima in Sudan. Stuart Butler
Sadly, the Sudanese have also been rocked by the deaths of beloved cultural figures
“It's true that some pieces have appeared on the international antiquities market … and that there is a network of small-scale antiquities trading [based partly on legal discoveries of antiquities by private people on their own property],” he added. “But I am not concerned in the short term about massive looting of sites as that would require an established network of dealers to make it worthwhile.”
This does not necessarily mean destruction or looting won’t happen in Khartoum in the future. Sara Abdalla Khidir Saeed, director of the Natural History Museum, has said on Twitter that “museums are now without guards or censorship to protect them”. As noted by Tohamy Abulgasim, co-director of community archaeology for Mr Emberling’s project at Jebel Barkal, “the area between the Natural History Museum and the Sudan National Museum is a central fighting ground” between the military and the RSF.
“This means that the museums may become collateral damage,” he added.
Indeed, remembering that cultural heritage is about both the tangible and intangible, the man-made and the natural, the greatest loss of cultural heritage in Khartoum so far is of the live animals at the Natural History Museum. The animals, which included crocodiles, rare snakes and birds, were subject to a slow death because no one was able to give them food or water since the conflict broke out.
Sadly, the Sudanese have also been rocked by the deaths of beloved cultural figures, such as the famous actress Asia Abdelmajid, former footballer Fozi El-Mardi, and most recently, popular singer Shaden Hussein, who was killed in the crossfire between the warring factions in the city of Omdurman last week.
Outside Khartoum, information is thin on the ground, even though River Nile state and Northern State are home to the country’s two Unesco World Heritage Sites – at Meroe and Jebel Barkal.
Sami Elamin, regional director of antiquities in Northern State, has been working at Jebel Barkal for years, where he is also resident manager, and is there now. He told me that the greatest damage being done to the site is the result of the significant influx of people who fled Khartoum for Karima, the town in which Jebel Barkal is located.
Khartoum burns amid fighting between the forces of two rival generals in Sudan. AFP
A Sudanese girl at her family's makeshift shelter across the border in Koufroun, Chad. Reuters
Sudanese refugee women build a makeshift shelter in Koufroun, Chad. Reuters
Air strikes battered Khartoum as fighting entered a fourth week. AFP
People dig holes to get pure water at the banks of the White Nile in Khartoum. Reuters
Army sodliers and tanks on a street in Khartoum. AFP
A looted petrol station in southern Khartoum. AFP
Sudan's warring generals have repeatedly failed to honour multiple agreed ceasefires. AFP
People board the Spanish frigate Reina Sofia during an evacuation from Port Sudan to Saudi Arabia. AFP
Evacuees disembark at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. AP
“The people who have come to Karima are very interested in the ancient site, which is fantastic, but they don’t realise the damage that they do by climbing the pyramids and other parts of the site,” he said. “There are also so many people that they are very difficult to manage with such a small number of guards.”
When I spoke to Mr Elamin, he was at the regional police station asking for more personnel to protect the site. Sustaining sufficient country-wide manpower will no doubt be a challenge for all cultural heritage sites, ancient or modern, as the government of Sudan has imposed "extended leave" without pay on most state employees.
In response, Mr Emberling said that several groups of archaeologists “are urgently raising money to support colleagues in the short term until larger international funding might become available”.
“It is urgent that we find ways to support site managers, inspectors and guards so they can continue to monitor sites and inform the Sudan Antiquities Service and the international community of any issues that may develop,” he added.
Looking to the future, the preservation of cultural heritage depends – like everything else in Sudan – on supporting those who work in the sector, first and foremost, and on a sustainable peace agreement between the armed forces and the RSF.
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Source: American Paediatric Association
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Six large-scale objects on show
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The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
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1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
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8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
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Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
