Upon investigating, I discovered it was one of many artefacts looted from Sudanese museums. Nor was this the only such piece for sale. Hundreds of other rare artefacts are daily sold online, along with kitchen appliances, clothes, or food.

Recently, The Times published an investigative report on this issue. The items for sale included priceless antiquities, many of which are registered in the collections of the National Museum in Khartoum, which is located in an area now controlled by the Rapid Support Forces led by Hemedti.

But other Sudanese museums have been looted as well. At least five have been pillaged, including the Natural History Museum, which houses displays on Sudan’s natural heritage from prehistory to the present. Some of the items on sale are actually from ancient Egyptian heritage, as they date to periods when Egypt ruled over Sudanese lands.

Last week, UNESCO released a statement expressing its deep concern over the looting and destruction of Sudan’s museums, heritage and archaeological sites by armed groups. The predation has extended to Meroe, the seat of the ancient Kingdom of Kush, which was a superpower of the ancient world from the 8th to 4th century BCE, with some of its pharaohs ruling over ancient Egypt.

The UNESCO’s statement warned that “the illegal sale or displacement of these cultural items would result in the disappearance of part of the Sudanese cultural identity and jeopardise the country’s recovery.”

More than material artefacts are at risk. UN experts have recently called for the urgent deployment of an “independent and impartial force” to protect civilians in Sudan from the atrocities committed by armed groups.

 The world has forgotten Sudan amidst the ongoing genocide in Gaza. While over 40,000 innocent civilians have been brutally and systemically massacred by Israel in Gaza since October last year, over 150,000 innocent civilians have been killed in Sudan since the start of that conflict in April last year.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 26 September, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly