The Politics of Constructing the Sudan National Museum
Downloads
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52200/docomomo.74.03Keywords:
Archeology, modern architecture, Nubian heritage, post-independence, Sudan National MuseumAbstract
In April 2023, just weeks after the armed conflict broke out in Sudan, the National Museum was damaged by fire and later broken into by the militias of the Rapid Support Forces. In the months to come, it would be reported that a part of the museum’s collection of over a hundred thousand priceless antiquities was looted. These events chronicle the most recent entanglements of the Sudan National Museum with politics and power relations in Sudan. However, examining the museum’s history unveils deeper connections to pivotal moments in the nation’s history. The museum’s colonial roots, as a building, archive, and educational institution, reveal how the British perceived it as a potential tool for establishing sovereignty over Sudan through the politicization of archaeology. As the project was given new life after Sudan’s independence, external influences continued to shape the museum when it became entangled in the geopolitics of the Nile Waters Agreement and the construction of the Aswan High Dam. The International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, launched by UNESCO in response, was a vital moment during which the endangered Nubian antiquities were ‘displaced’ to the museum. While the museum was positioned as a repository for cultural heritage protected by conservation law, the museum building itself fell outside of this protection because it does not apply to modern heritage.
Since the museum is a national project, it would come to be governed by the politics of Sudan’s successive military governments, each leaving its imprint on the project. All these political influences cannot be separated from the museum, rendering it an archive of critical moments that shaped the country. Unraveling this archive allows us to trace the interwoven threads of displacement, national identity, and representation embedded within the museum complex. It allows us to understand the museum not merely as a static collection of objects, but as a dynamic reflection of Sudan’s evolving socio-political landscape.
How to Cite
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Mai Abusalih
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Plaudit
References
ABDALLA, I. H. (1970). The choice of Khasm al-Girba area for the resettlement of the Halfawis. Sudan Notes and Records, 51, 56–74. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42677987.
ABDALLA, I. H. (1971). The 1959 Nile Waters Agreement in Sudanese-Egyptian Relations. Middle Eastern Studies, 7(3), 329–341. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4282387. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00263207108700185
ABUSALIH, M (2024). Sudan National Museum. Pottgiesser, U., Tostões, A., Docomomo International (eds.) (2024). Modernism in Africa. The Architecture of Angola, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda. Basel, Berlin: Birkhäuser. Open Access: https://birkhauser.com/books/9783035628357
ADAM, A., & TAHA, S. (2022). Archaeology in Sudan: A Sudanese Perspective. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology. https://oxfordre.com/anthropology/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.001.0001/acrefore-9780190854584-e-565 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.565
ADAM, A. (2017). Museums in Sudan: History, Current Situation and Challenges. Der Antike Sudan. Mitteilungen der Sudanarchäologischen Gesellschaft zu Berlin e. V., 28, 103-113.
AKCAN, E. (2022). Decolonize or redistribute? Abdel Moneim Mustafa and mid-century Modernism in Sudan. Canadian Centre for Architecture. https://www.cca.qc.ca/en/articles/85227/decolonize-or-redistribute-abdel-moneim-mustafa-and-mid-century-modernism-in-sudan
ALSADIG, S. O. (2006). Dirāsāt Sūdānīyah fī al-athār wa-al-fūlkulūr wa-al-tārīkh [Sudanese studies in archaeology, folklore, and history]. Dar Azza Publishing.
ARKELL, A. J. (1946). Editorial Notes. Sudan Notes and Records, 27, 1–3. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41716736.
ARKELL, A. J. (1947). Editorial Notes. Sudan Notes and Records, 28, vi–viii. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41716502.
BASHIER, F. (2007). Modern architecture in Khartoum 1950-1990. [ResearchGate]. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235962579_Modern_Architecture_in_Khartoum_1950-_1990
BUNDI, M. E. (2019). Museums, memory and meaning: Politics of identity and representation in Sudanese archaeological museums [Doctoral thesis, Université de Neuchâtel and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin]. https://libra.unine.ch/handle/123456789/28399
CARRUTHERS, W. (2022). Flooded pasts: UNESCO, Nubia, and the recolonization of archaeology. Cornell University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501766442.001.0001
DAFALLA, H. (1975). The Nubian Exodus. C. Hurst & Company.
DEUTSCHES ARCHÄOLOGISCHES INSTITUT (DAI), Berlin, Archiv der Zentrale, Archiv Friedrich W. Hinkel, Z1721, Z3108, Z3111, Z3113, Z3118, Z3139-1-2.
GIBB, PETERMÜLLER & PARTNERS. (1966). Gibb, Petermüller & Partners, Architects and Consulting Engineers. Athens, Nairobi, Khartoum.
GINAT, R. (2007). Egypt’s Efforts to Unite the Nile Valley: Diplomacy and Propaganda, 1945-47. Middle Eastern Studies, 43(2), 193–222. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4284537. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00263200601114067
GRZYMSKI, K. (1993). Nubia: Rediscovering African kingdoms. American Visions, 20. https://www.proquest.com/magazines/nubia-rediscovering-african-kingdoms/docview/1297834441/se-2
GUNTER-BASSETT, M., et al. (2023). Cultural Heritage Monitoring Lab Rapid Report: Damage to the Sudan National Museum (May 18 2023) (Version 1). Office of International Relations. https://doi.org/10.25573/data.22963304.v1
HAMAD, B. (1995). Sudan Notes and Records and Sudanese Nationalism, 1918-1956. History in Africa, 22, 239–270. https://doi.org/10.2307/3171916. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3171916
HINKEL, F. (1978). Exodus from Nubia. De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783112651964 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783112651964
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION. (2025). Sudan crisis regional response situation update. International Organization for Migration. https://sudan.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl1606/files/documents/2025-04/sudan-regional-crisis-response-an.pdf
LAWRENZ, S. (2017). Building a national heritage registry for the Sudan: The Friedrich W. Hinkel archive digitization project. In The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences (Vol. XLII-2/W5, pp. 435–440). https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLII-2-W5/435/2017/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W5-435-2017.pdf DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W5-435-2017
LEMOS, R., et al. (2024). Preserving Heritage Amid War: A Protocol for Recording and Disseminating the Tomb of Djehutyhotep at the Sudan National Museum. African Archaeological Review, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-024-09604-6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-024-09604-6
MALLINSON ARCHITECTS & ENGINEERS. (2012). Sudan National Museum: Renaissance Project. Report Prepared for the Qatar Museum Authority and the Sudan National Corporation of Antiquities and Museums.
MALLINSON, M., et al. (2020). Western Sudan Community Museum (WSCM) – British Council Cultural Protection Fund, in partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport – the story so far. Sudan & Nubia, 24, 193–200. https://www.sudarchrs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SARS_SN24_Mallinson_et_al.pdf
MOHAMED, A. A., & EMBERLING, G. (2021). The Sudan National Museum and national heritage in Sudan. In National Museums in Africa (pp. 38-55). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003013693-2
OSMAN, O. S. (2005). Sudanese architecture around independence. In ArchiAfrika Conference Proceedings: Modern architecture in East Africa around independence (p. 56). Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
OSMAN, O. S., BAHRELDIN, I. Z., & OSMAN, A. O. (2014). Architecture in Sudan 1900–2014. An Endeavor Against the Odds. Fundamentalists and Other Arab Modernisms. Architecture from the Arab World.
RICHTER, S. (1975). Sudanesisches Nationalmuseum Khartoum [Sudan National Museum Khartoum]. Neue Museumskunde, 18(3), 210-223.
SÄVE-SÖDERBERGH, T. (1987). Temples and tombs of ancient Nubia: The international rescue campaign at Abu Simbel, Philae and other sites. Thames and Hudson.
SUDAN GOVERNMENT. (1905, August 24). The Antiquities Ordinance, 1905. Sudan Gazette, 80. pp. 376–379. Sudan Archive, Durham University. https://iiif.durham.ac.uk/index.html?manifest=t1m7d278t05f&canvas=t1tbc386k31j
SUDAN RADIO AND TELEVISION CORPORATION. (1964). Antiquities Rescue Campaign. Film. Sudan Memory. https://www.sudanmemory.org/image/SRTC-0000003/1/
TAHA, F. A. (2009). The Sudanese Role in Negotiating and Reaching a New Nile Waters Agreement, 1949-1959. Journal of Faculty of Arts, 27. University of Khartoum. DOI: https://doi.org/10.53332/jfa.v27i.626
UNESCO. (1960). The World campaign gets under way. UNESCO campaign is launched. The UNESCO Courier: a window open on the world, XIII(5), 4-5. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000064563
UNESCO. (2024). Sudan: UNESCO raises the alarm on reports of illicit trafficking of cultural heritage. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/sudan-unesco-raises-alarm-reports-illicit-trafficking-cultural-heritage?hub=701
VERCOUTTER, J. (1960). Sudanese Nubia, ‘terra incognita’ of archaeologists. The UNESCO Courier: a window open on the world, XIII(2), 46-49. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000064519
WINGATE, R. (1904). Memorandum by Major General Sir R. Wingate. In Reports on the finances, administration, and condition of the Sudan: Part II. p. 39. Sudan Archive, Durham University. https://iiif.durham.ac.uk/index.html?manifest=t2mmp48sc84j&canvas=t2t0c483m26g
YORK, G. (2025, April). Sudan museum curators get first devastating look inside after two years of warfare. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-after-museums-destruction-sudan-counts-ancient-treasures-among/
