Category: Great Civilizations

A Heritage of great civilizations on the African soil

UK Museums “Long-term Loan” looted Asante Gold Artifacts to Ghana

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations, Great Moments4 Comments
The V&A is lending 17 items including an Asante gold ring (top left), a gold badge worn by the king’s “soul washer” and a ceremonial pipe (Source: V&A / BBC)

Last week, the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) and the British Museum “returned” some artifacts looted from the Ashanti Kingdom in modern-day Ghana, after over 150 years. When one reads the headlines in the news, one can only clap, until learning that this is a “long-term loan“! Wait! What? About 32 gold and silver items which had been stolen from the court of the Asantehene (Asante king) in the 19th century, have been sent on a long-term loan back to the Asante court. First, how long is a “long-term loan”? Second, why is it a loan, when these objects were looted from the Asantehene’s court back in the 19th century? They were not gifted, they were not sold, they were STOLEN! And to top it off, there has been a chief negotiator on the Ghanaian side to ensure that the objects will be in safe hands in Ghana! What? So, these objects do not belong to Ghanaians, and if something were to happen to these Ghanaian objects that were stolen by the British but are now hosted in British museums while on Ghanaian soil on long-term loan, then one can only bet that the British would make the Ghanaians pay for something that is theirs! Which world are we living in? Knowing the treacherous nature of these people, who is to say that they will not orchestrate a new theft of these objects so as to further deepen the debts under which Ghanaians are already crumbling? Actually, long-term in this case means 3 years, with the option of renewing for 3 years! This loan is probably not even free! Why, oh why, do we, Africans, agree to such deals?

Read for yourself… excerpts from the BBC

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Burning of Kumasi by British troops in 1874

The UK has returned [how can it be called return when it is a loan?] dozens of artefacts looted from what is today Ghana – more than 150 years after they were taken [i.e. stolen].

Some 32 gold and silver items have been sent on long-term loan to the country by the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) and the British Museum.

They were stolen from the court of the Asante king, known as the Asantehene, during 19th century conflicts between the British and powerful Asante people.

The objects are expected to be returned [loaned – see how the writer of this piece wants to create confusion in our minds?] to the current king on Friday.

His chief negotiator, Ivor Agyeman-Duah, told the BBC that the objects are currently in “safe hands” in Ghana ahead of them being formally received. They are due to go on display next month at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region, as part of celebrations to mark the silver jubilee of the current Asante King Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

British troops ransacking Fomena Palace en route to Kumasi in 1874

… Among the returned artefacts are a gold peace pipe, a sword of state and gold badges worn by officials charged with cleansing the soul of the king. The gold artefacts are the ultimate symbol of the Asante royal government and are believed to be invested with the spirits of former Asante kings.

… The loan, which was negotiated with the king and not with the Ghanaian government [always the divide-and-conquer scheme – negotiate with smaller entities, so as to exert more bending power over them], will last for three years with the option to extend for a further three years. [and they have the audacity to call it “long-term”! and for what belongs to you!]… The return of the Asante items comes a month ahead of celebrations marking the silver jubilee of the Asantehene.

The Asante people built what was once one of the most powerful and formidable states in west Africa – trading in, among others, gold, textiles and enslaved people. The kingdom was famed for its military might and wealth. 

…

Happy Taombaovao Malagasy: Celebrating the Malagasy New Year

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Madagascar
Madagascar

Last week, March 10-11 marked the celebration of Malagasy New Year… the Malagasy new year is not in January, because the Malagasy calendar is a lunar calendar with thirteen lunar months of 28 days. Each lunar month starts with the first moon. Up until 1810, every region of Madagascar had its own calendar; then under the Kingdom of Madagascar whose kings reigned from 1810 to 1896, the calendar was standardized. From 1810 to 1881, the Kingdom of Madagascar’s new year always started with the first day of the month of Alahamady, i.e. the first moon of the month. This month corresponds to the end of the rainy season, and the rice harvest, rice being the staple food of the Malagasy people. Compared to the Gregorian calendar, the fararano and the Alahamady occur between March and April around the first moon closest to the 21 March equinox. With the fararano, in the olden days, Malagasy people would congratulate themselves on having emerged victorious from the violent winds, the torrential rains, landslides, devastating fires, but also from the period of Maintso ahitra or famine. The month of Alahamady is a month of celebration, and symbolizes power, wealth, and even royal power. The great king  Andrianampoinimerina, at the origin of the unification of Madagascar, is quoted with this famous formula, “I have no enemy, except famine.” He was also born on the first day of the month of Alahamady, thus his formula symbolized victory in general, but victory over famine in particular.

Depiction of the 1895 French war in Madagascar.

Starting in 1897, the celebration was officially abolished by the French colonial period which viewed it as pagan, and as a tradition that would undermine the Malagasy conversion/obedience as it linked them to their pasts, their ancestors, and culture; it was thus celebrated in secret by some. Since the 1990s, the celebration is now seeing a resurgence. Today, it is a national celebration known as the Taombaovao Malagasy, literally Malagasy New Year. It lasts 2 days and is observed throughout the entire territory. It helps to convey and spread the 7 foundations of the Malagasy philosophy: faith in zanahary (The Creator, God), the value of Aina (life), the fahamasinana (the sense of the sacred), the fihavanana (solidarity and mutual aid), the fahamarinana (the sense of fairness and justice), the fahasoavana (happiness) and the link to ancestral heritages.

Queen Ranavalona III of Madagascar

This year, it was celebrated on 10 and 11 March. In the opening, Princess Ratsimamanga, a descendent of Queen Ranavalona III, the Last Monarch of the Kingdom of Madagascar, performed the rite of Tsodrano, the blessing, and said during the official ceremony to all officials and public present, “I bless you in the name of the seven royal tombs so that you and your families be in good health, so that you could have the strength to contribute the the well-being of the nation.” She added, this Taombaovao ceremony symbolizes “a spiritual renewal in the hearts of Malagasy people… Us, Malagasy, our ancestors have not gone far, and are always with us. It is our ancestors who pray for us to be together, for us to produce good things in the future, for the harvest to be good.”

After the blessing, comes the ceremony of Tatao, where the people share a plate of rice cooked in milk and sprinkled with honey. Princess Ratsimamanga explained, “rice represents abundance so that there will be no famine. Milk is for offspring. And the honey is to make things sweet. These three things that we put in the pot and share with everyone symbolize the fact that we are productive, that we have the strength to fight evil in the country.”

History Repeats Itself: Destabilization of Africa during Slavery times – Alcohol as a tool

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Gungunyane, the Lion of Gaza

We have seen that there were quite a few African kings who forbade the sale of liquor by Europeans on their territories: Gungunyane of the kingdom of Gaza in Mozambique, Mirambo: the Black Napoleon, king of the Nyamwezi people in Tanzania, and now the Almanny (which means leader) cited during Wadstrom report to the British Committee in 1790s (Royal Resistance to Slavery: the Case of an Almany of West Africa in 1780s). Just like Gungunyane, Mirambo thought that alcohol weakened societies. There are quite a few other African leaders throughout history. Why would they prohibit the sale of alcohol on their territories? In history, we have seen this tactic used by the Europeans in the Americas where they gave cheap liquor to the Native Americans turning them drunkards, violent, in order to dispossess them of their lands.  Below is an account by the abbey Gregoire who clearly saw alcohol as a tool used to destabilize African societies during slavery times. It is good to note that history repeats itself: today in many African countries, the main breweries are owned by European companies, and particularly in countries with a lot of resources, the people have been slowly turned into drunkards (this will be a story for another day) while their resources get siphoned out.

Mirambo, towards the end of his life

Abbe Gregoire, for his part, emphasizes that Barrow attributes: “…the current barbarity of some parts of Africa to the slave trade. To obtain it, the Europeans created it, and they perpetuate the usual state of war; they poisoned these regions with their strong liquors, by the accumulation of all kinds of debauchery, seduction, rapacity, cruelty. Is there a single vice whose example they do not daily reproduce before the eyes of the Negroes brought to Europe, or transported to our colonies? I am not surprised to read in Beaver, certainly a friend of the Negroes, and who in his African memoranda is full of praise for their native virtues and their talents: “I would rather carry thither a rattlesnake than a Negro who would have lived in London “.

Bwemba Bong, Quand l’Africain etait l’or noir de l’Europe. L’Afrique: actrice ou victime de la traite des noirs? MedouNeter (2022), p. 165; Barrow, African memoranda, relative to an attempt to establish a British settlement in the Island of Boulam, by Phylips Beaver, in 4, London 1805. I would rather carry thither a rattle snake, etc., p. 397, cited by abbey Gregoire, p. 43-44.

Industries in Pre-colonial West Africa

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Carl Bernhard Wadström

The Swede abolitionist and explorer Carl Bernhard Wadström (Charles Berns Wadström) once described his travels in West Africa from October 1787-1788 with fellow Swede Anders Sparrman and Carl Axel Arrhenius. They were sent by King Gustav III of Sweden, with the official goal of making new discoveries in natural sciences, history, and of course the non-official goal to help with the king’s colonial ambitions. The scientific expedition was quickly aborted when they were in Senegal, where they then witnessed diverse aspects of the transatlantic slave trade. As we saw earlier, Wadström was later called in 1790, to testify in front of the British Government Select Committee; published in a report entitled “Minutes of the evidence taken before a Committee of the House of Commons, being a Select Committee, appointed to take the Examination of Witnesses respecting the African Slave Trade.” Wadström described the advanced industries found in that part of Africa, ranging from textile, indigo, soap, leather, and gold… he even noted that he had never seen such advanced work in Europe! Accompanied by his doctor friend Sparrman and chemist Arrhenius, they were dumbfounded to realize that Africans had a large materia medica which listed over 3000 plants.

View from Joal on the coast of Guinea, 14° and an idea of the kidnapping of slaves there

The Select Committee on the Slave Trade was keen to know about the quality of culture in that part of Africa. They asked Wadström: “Have they any manufactures amongst them?”

Mr Wadström’s reply was most edifying: “I have been surprised to see with what industry they manufacture their cottons, their indigo, and other dying articles, as well as several sorts of manufacture in wood; they make soap; they tan leather, and work it exceedingly well, and even with good taste … they work bar iron … into several articles, as for instance, lances, instruments for tillage, poniards, &c.; they work in gold very ingeniously, and so well, that I never have seen better made articles of that kind in Europe; a great number of articles for ornaments of gold, silver, brass, leather, &c.”

Wadström further stated that: “Their cloth and their leather they manufacture with uncommon neatness; and I have samples with me to shew [sic] in case it should be desired.” 

As we saw earlier, the king who was called Dalmanny was a well educated man; he had held the position of Grand Marabout before becoming King. His subjects were very honest and hospitable and showed Wadström “all civility and kindness.” In addition, they had “an extraordinary genius for commerce.” Interestingly, they also had a “Materia Medica” of “about 2,000 or nearer 3,000” plants. 

Royal Resistance against Slavery: the Case of Afonso I, King of the Kongo Empire

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Mbanza Kongo, capital of the Kingdom of Kongo, in 1745

History repeats itself! It is extremely important to know our history. We have already shown that the narrative that states that African kings sold “their” own into slavery was very flawed and was made up to shift the blame of slavery from the European merchants and their powers (kings and queens, the Catholic church with the papal bull, and much more) to the Africans themselves (the victims). How many times in modern day have we seen how the blame is placed on the victim rather than the aggressor? As we read here another account of an African king who hated slavery, it is important to note the similitude with modern days: the king did not want slavery, therefore attempts were made on his life; does it not remind you of Patrice Lumumba, Sylvanus Olympio, Amilcar Cabral, Ruben Um Nyobé, and so many… when African leaders opposed the narrative being played, they were eliminated! And this behavior spans centuries! Below is the account of an attempt made on King Afonso I [King Nzinga Mbemba] on his life; this is the same Kongo king who wrote to the King of Portugal against Slavery.

“The hatred devoted by Affonso I [King Nzinga Mbemba] to the overseas slave trade and the vigilance he maintained so as not to see his authority erode earned him the animosity of some of the Portuguese merchants living in the capital. On Easter Sunday 1540, eight of them tried to make an attempt on his life while he was attending mass. He escaped, a bullet having simply passed through the fringe of his royal tunic, but one of the nobles of his court was killed and two others wounded.“

Adam Hochschild,  King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa p. 228

Ghana Artefacts “Return” Home 150 years later … on Loan

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Asante ceremonial cap worn by courtiers at coronations is among the items that will be loaned back to Ghana (Source: British Museum / BBC)

The news is everywhere, Asante gold artifacts are returning home after 150 years … on loan from the UK to Ghana. Let’s repeat that, Ghanaian artifacts looted 150 years by British forces in modern-day Ghana, are now being returned to Ghana on a loan from the UK. What the heck? So someone comes to your house, steals from you, and then years later, after you have begged, says “I am returning some of the stuff I stole from you on loan only!” How does that make sense? People say, “it is a step forward, we need to acknowledge it, and be grateful for progress.” Grateful? Grateful for what? Because the British are loaning things they stole from the Asante kingdom of Ghana, back to Ghana? Some of these loaned items are like the crown jewels of the kingdom, and have high spiritual values as well. And this comes after Ghanaians have negotiated for very long … can you imagine? … a loan!

Excerpts below are from the BBC.

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The V&A is lending 17 items including an Asante gold ring (top left), a gold badge worn by the king’s “soul washer” and a ceremonial pipe (Source: V&A Museum / BBC)

The UK is sending some of Ghana’s “crown jewels” back home, 150 years after looting them from the court of the Asante king.

A gold peace pipe is among 32 items returning under long-term loan deals, the BBC can reveal.

The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) is lending 17 pieces and 15 are from the British Museum.

Ghana’s chief negotiator said he hoped for “a new sense of cultural co-operation” after generations of anger.

Some national museums in the UK – including the V&A and the British Museum – are banned by law from permanently giving back contested items in their collections [somehow, they are not banned by law from taking stolen goods], and loan deals such as this are seen as a way to allow objects to return to their countries of origin .

But some countries laying claim to disputed artefacts fear that loans may be used to imply they accept the UK’s ownership. Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, told the BBC that the gold items of court regalia are the equivalent of “our Crown Jewels“.

The items to be loaned, most of which were taken during 19th-Century wars between the British and the Asante [known as the Anglo-Ashanti wars, series of conflict wars which lasted from 1824 to 1900], include a sword of state and gold badges worn by officials charged with cleansing the soul of the king.

British troops ransacking Fomena Palace en route to Kumasi in 1874

Mr Hunt said when museums hold “objects with origins in war and looting in military campaigns, we have a responsibility to the countries of origin to think about how we can share those more fairly today. It doesn’t seem to me that all of our museums will fall down if we build up these kind of partnerships and exchanges.” [that’s why they only loan a minuscule number at a time … so their museums don’t fall apart].

However, Mr Hunt insisted the new cultural partnership “is not restitution by the back door” – meaning it is not a way to return permanent ownership back to Ghana. [The UK are still the owners of these Ghanaian artifacts stolen from Ghana].

The three-year loan agreements, with an option to extend for a further three years, are not with the Ghanaian government but with Otumfo Osei Tutu II – the current Asante king known as the Asantehene – who attended the Coronation of King Charles last year. [Did the negotiation include attending the British King’s coronation, as a condition for loaning?]

… The items will go on display at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi, the capital of the Asante region, to celebrate the Asantehene’s silver jubilee.

The Asante gold artefacts are the ultimate symbol of the Asante royal government and are believed to be invested with the spirits of former Asante kings.

They have an importance to Ghana comparable to the Benin Bronzes – thousands of sculptures and plaques looted by Britain from the palace of the Kingdom of Benin (Benin City: the Majestic City the British burnt to the ground), in modern-day southern Nigeria. Nigeria has been calling for their return for decades.

Nana Oforiatta Ayim, special adviser to Ghana’s culture minister, told the BBC: “They’re not just objects, they have spiritual importance as well. They are part of the soul of the nation. It’s pieces of ourselves returning.” She said the loan was “a good starting point” on the anniversary of the looting and “a sign of some kind of healing and commemoration for the violence that happened“.

UK museums hold many more items taken from Ghana, including a gold trophy head that is among the most famous pieces of Asante regalia. The Asante built what was once one of the most powerful and formidable states in west Africa, trading in, among others, gold, textiles and enslaved people. The kingdom was famed for its military might and wealth. …

Burning of Kumasi by British troops in 1874

Europeans were attracted to what they later named the Gold Coast by the stories of African wealth and Britain fought repeated battles with the Asante in the 19th Century. In 1874 after an Asante attack, British troops launched a “punitive expedition”, in the colonial language of the time, ransacking Kumasi and taking many of the palace treasures.

[The items on loan] include three heavy cast-gold items known as soul washers’ badges (Akrafokonmu), which were worn around the necks of high ranking officials at court who were responsible for cleansing the soul of the king. …

The British Museum is also returning on loan a total of 15 items, some of them looted during a later conflict in 1895-96, including a sword of state known as the Mpomponsuo.

…

Description of Emperor Tewodros II after He was Crowned

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Emperor Tewodros II

When Emperor Tewodros II was crowned King, the British Consul Walter Plowden who knew well the political events of Ethiopia during the 1850s and had foretold the rising star of Kassa, the Emperor’s birth name, the freelance warrior from Qwara, described him as such:

“The King Theodorus is young in years, vigorous in all manly exercises, of a striking countenance, peculiarly polite and engaging when pleased, and mostly displaying great tact and delicacy. He is persuaded that he is destined to restore the glories of the Ethiopian Empire and to achieve great conquests: of untiring energy, both mental and bodily, his personal and moral daring is boundless… When aroused his wrath is terrible, and all tremble; but at all moments he possesses a perfect self-control. Indefatigable in business, he takes little repose night or day: his ideas and language are clear and precise; hesitation is not known to him; and has no counsellors or go-between. He is fond of splendour, and received in state even on a campaign. He is unsparing in punishment — necessary in a wilderness as Abyssinia (at that time). He salutes his meanest (poor) subjects with courtesy, is sincerely though often mistakenly religious, and will acknowledge a fault committed to his poorest follower in a moment of compassion with sincerity and grace. He is generous to excess, and free from all cupidity, regarding nothing with pleasure or desire but munitions of war for his soldiers. He has exercised the utmost clemency towards the vanquished, treating them more like friends than enemies. His faith is signal: without Christ I am nothing.”

UK rejects Calls to Return Ethiopian Prince’s Remains

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Prince Alemayehu, son of Emperor Tewodros II, as photographed in 1868 by Julia Cameron

This is a heartbreaking news. Last week, Buckingham Palace, and the UK government refused to return the remains of Prince Alemayehu, son of Emperor Tewodros II, to Ethiopia. Prince Alemayehu’s remains are still in Great Britain 150 years after his death. How preposterous is this! Few years ago, when the Ethiopian government asked, the British said that they could not identify his bones (Ethiopians urge Britain to return bones of ‘stolen’ prince after 150 years). Today, Ethiopians thought that now that there is a new occupant in Buckingham Palace, King Charles III, Prince Alemayehu’s remains will finally return home. However, Buckingham Palace said that returning his remains will not be possible, as it will disturb the resting place of several others in the vicinity. From not being able to identify his bones a few years ago (when in this day and age the remains of King Richard III of England have been identified 500 years after his death), to disturbing others buried there, it makes us wonder if they ever even took the time to look. These are the same people who only returned the hair of Emperor Tewodros II only in 2019. It is so painful to hear… it feels like part of Emperor Tewodros II is still stuck in England. As one looks at pictures of the young orphaned prince who arrived in the UK at the age of 7, and who died at the age of 18, there is so much pain in his face.

Below are snippets of the article; for the full version, go to the BBC.

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Emperor Tewodros II

Buckingham Palace has declined a request to return the remains of an Ethiopian prince who came to be buried at Windsor Castle in the 19th Century.

Prince Alemayehu was taken to the UK aged just seven and arrived an orphan after his mother died on the journey. Queen Victoria then took an interest in him and arranged for his education – and ultimately his burial when he died aged just 18.

But his family wants his remains to be sent back to Ethiopia. “We want his remains back as a family and as Ethiopians because that is not the country he was born in,” one of the royal descendants Fasil Minas told the BBC. “It was not right” for him to be buried in the UK, he added.

… in a statement sent to the BBC, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said removing his remains could affect others buried in the catacombs of St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. “It is very unlikely that it would be possible to exhume the remains without disturbing the resting place of a substantial number of others in the vicinity,” the palace said. The statement added that the authorities at the chapel were sensitive to the need to honour Prince Alemayehu’s memory, but that they also had “the responsibility to preserve the dignity of the departed“.

How Prince Alemayehu ended up in the UK at such a young age was the result of imperial action and the failure of diplomacy. In 1862, in an effort to strengthen his empire, the prince’s father Emperor Tewodros II sought an alliance with the UK, but his letters making his case did not get a response from Queen Victoria. Angered by the silence and taking matters into his own hands, the emperor held some Europeans, among them the British consul, hostage. This precipitated a huge military expedition, involving some 13,000 British and Indian troops, to rescue them [no diplomacy, always force and violence].  

British Camp at Zoola, Abyssinia expedition 1868-9 (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

The force also included an official from the British Museum. In April 1868 they laid siege to Tewodros’ mountain fortress at Maqdala in northern Ethiopia, and in a matter of hours overwhelmed the defences. The emperor decided he would rather take his own life than be a prisoner of the British, an action that turned him into a heroic figure among his people. 

Departure of the British expeditionary forces from Maqdala with the loot – Illustrated London News 1868

After the battle, the British plundered thousands of cultural and religious artefacts. These included gold crowns, manuscripts, necklaces and dresses. Historians say dozens of elephants and hundreds of mules were needed to cart away the treasures, which are today scattered across European museums and libraries, as well as in private collections. [In the case of Maqdala in 1868, it is said that 15 elephants and 200 mules were needed to cart away all the loot from Maqdala. British forces looted the place with no restrain].

The British also took away Prince Alemayehu and his mother, Empress Tiruwork Wube. [The loot was not enough… the young prince and the Empress too].

…

The Ibis, the Sacred Bird of Ancient Egypt

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Ibises near a marsh

It is no secret that the ibis was highly regarded in Ancient Egypt. It was seen as a sacred bird, and the embodiment of Djehuty or Thoth, the god of wisdom, the scribe of the gods and inventor of writing and Egyptian hieroglyphs; he was depicted with the head of an ibis. The bird has been painted on murals, and often been found mummified in tombs. However, the Sacred Ibis has been extinct in Egypt for over a hundred years and can now be found throughout the Ethiopian region, in marshes, swamps, pasture lands, and more (Experts crack mystery of ancient Egypt’s sacred bird mummies). Apart from Thoth being a scribe to the gods in Egyptian mythology, he was also represented as a baboon, Aani, the god of equilibrium, in

Djehuty or Thoth in his form as an ibis-headed man

the underworld, Duat, who reported when the scales weighing the deceased’s heart against the feather, representing the principle of Maat, was exactly even. As Thoth, he is credited with making the calculations for the establishment of the heavens, stars, Earth, and everything in them. For ancient Egyptians, he is attributed as the author of all works of science, religion, philosophy, and magic; while ancient Greeks further credited him as the author of every work of every branch of knowledge, human and divine. The Sacred Ibis, from its scientific name Threskiornis aethiopica has white plumage and dark feathers on its lower back; at 30 inches long, it is a striking bird found near marshes, swamps, pasture land, and flood plains in the Ethiopian region.

Ibises and a crocodile

The Hadada Ibis, also known by its scientific name as Bostrychia hagedash is common in East Africa where it can be found in marshes, swamps, edges of lakes, and pasture land. They are often seen in villages and towns, and the bird is quite tamed. Often heard at daybreak and sunset, its entire plumage is olive-brown, with pale underparts, while the head and neck often have a metallic green sheen. It is a sociable bird, but unlike other ibises, it is a solitary nester.

There are many more species of ibises around the world, but today the focus is on the African species, and particularly the Sacred Ibis. Just to think of how much that bird was venerated in Ancient Egypt makes us wonder about its magnificence. It would not be a surprise if the hotel brand Ibis was inspired by this magnificent bird and all it encompassed in the Ancient world of Egyptians.

Saï Island: Influences from Pharaonic Egypt, Christianity, and Islam in Nubia

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Church pillars on Sai Island (Source: Atlas Obscura)

Our hearts go out to our brothers and sisters in Sudan whose country is going through unrest again. This unrest is part of the New Scramble for Africa, and to a greater extent the great global war between the West and the East which as always plays on other continents.

Today, we will continue our exploration of Saï Island, an island in Sudan which contains ruins spanning thousands of years and several empires. It is the largest island on the Nile river, about 12 km long and 5.5 km wide. Although Sudan is today an Islamic country, Saï was once occupied by Egyptians during the New Kingdom, and later was the site of the ancient medieval Christian Nubian Empire known as Makuria which flourished in Sudan between the 7th and 14th centuries. Later, during the 16th century, the Ottomans founded a fortress on the island. Saï Island has always been Nubian, and over the centuries has seen different cultures, religions, and much more.

Ruins on Sai Island (Source: Lendi Travel)

Many Empires have prevailed on the island. The presence of the Egyptian town and temple which dates back to 1500 BC is a good example of the strong imprint of the Pharaonic Egypt, with among many other things a spolia bearing the  cartouche of Amenhotep IV, amongst other 18th Dynasty rulers: the fort was founded by Pharaoh Ahmose and then overbuilt by Amenhotep I and his successors. Saï Island was also an important royal site during the Meroitic period as testified by the discovery of pillars/columns with the names of the Queen Amanitore and King Natakamani of Nubia. It is clear today that Saï Island was the seat of a Nubian Bishop as indicated by the remains of a Medieval Christian cruciform church, identified as a cathedral, the largest in Nubia; while the Ottoman presence is noted by the remains of a fort built in the 2nd half of the 16th century AD. The place is full of pottery dating several centuries, if not millenia. However, part of the island, the northern part, was flooded when Lake Nasser was created in 1971 (most monuments that were destroyed were on the Nubian/Sudan side of the dam, while a lot on the Egyptian side were recovered and moved to higher ground – don’t get me wrong, Abu Simbel is amazing and worthy to have been saved, but wasn’t the fortress at Buhen just as important?).

Chert pebble with ochre residue from Sai Island, Sudan. (Source: Illustration by Van Peer, et al.
(2004))

Saï Island is an exceptional testimony to early human occupation in this part of Africa, notably the Homo-erectus and the Homo-Sapiens. It provided early attested evidence for the use of color in the world with rare finds of ochre and ways to manipulate it (Saï Island in Sudan – Earliest Site with Evidence of Ochre Use by Modern humans). It is one of the key sites in Sudan (which was not flooded) which shows the prime influence of Egyptian culture in Nubia during the 2nd millennium BC, and the evolution and fusion of both cultures with mutual influences from Nubia and Pharaonic Egypt across centuries. All these attributes qualify Saï Island as unique with an outstanding Universal Value.

To learn more about the findings of this cathedral and more on Saï Island, check out these articles on the Smithsonian Magazine, UNESCO World Heritage, the Art Newspaper, Sudan National Museum‘s website, Tomb26 on Saï Island, and much more.