Sudan’s most valuable library set on fire

Islamists behind attack

No matter how much they say around the world that culture should remain out of politics and that historical heritage must be preserved in any circumstances, in fact, humanity regularly proves that it lives by the law of the jungle. The destruction of the most valuable library of Sudan is another confirmation of this.

Since April, the struggle for power between the Armed Forces of Sudan (state army) and the Rapid Reaction Force (local special forces that have fallen out of government control) has continued in this East African state. The conflict destroyed one of the country’s most important libraries, located in Omdurman, Sudan’s second largest city, at the Professor Mohamed Omer Bashir Research Center at Omdurman Aliyah University. Moreover, the funds were burned on purpose.

The fire destroyed to the ground rare books, manuscripts, studies on the social and cultural heritage of Sudan, which had been collected in the center for decades and had just recently begun to be digitized.

The director of the center, Dr. Al-Mutasim Ahmed Al-Hajj, explained that the territory where the university is located was under the control of the Rapid Reaction Force, and the destruction of the funds “was not motivated by theft, but was a systematic act against the university, which until recently remained a beacon of education in the country”.

It is not known who specifically set the fire, but it is clear that this was done, according to the director of the center, with the aim of “eradicating the historical, cultural and artistic heritage of Sudan.” Local scholars speculate that Islamists are behind the attack, following the same barbaric scenario as in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Something similar happened to the ancient monuments of Palmyra, which were then restored by specialists from around the world, including Russian ones from the Hermitage. Only in this case there is nothing to restore.

“Motivation? Completely erase the heritage of the country, depriving its people of the things that connected them to their history. When I heard about the destruction of the library, I felt that this was a loss on many levels: this is more than a conflict between two generals, this is a war against the people of Sudan,” said writer Reem Abass, whose family donated many books from his personal collection to the library , which was collected by his great-grandfather.

The library in Omdurman was not the only victim of the Sudanese civil war. Recently, the Rapid Reaction Force raided a museum in Khartoum, opened boxes of ancient mummies (the remains date back to 3300-3000 BC) and declared them victims of former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was in power for 30 years and was removed from his post as head of states this April. Perhaps the ancient remains have already been destroyed.

In the context of the civil war that has engulfed the country, all museums, libraries and cultural monuments (some of them are over 7,000 years old) have been left without protection and are in danger. The National Association of Antiquities and Museums of Sudan (NCAM) and the International Center for the Study, Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) are making efforts to preserve the artifacts and are developing a plan to evacuate them. But so far in vain.

ICCROM experts advise local researchers to document the damage caused to cultural heritage, that is, to create a database that, perhaps, someday will help restore some of the losses or at least leave some traces in history. However, in the current geopolitical turbulence, when all attention is focused on the conflict over Ukraine, the Sudanese cultural catastrophe and the whole situation in the country, due to which almost two million people have already left, have gone almost unnoticed.