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Nubia Bulletin

March 2014 - Monthly newsletter issued by Nubia Project

Stop Destroying Nubia, the Land of Civilization

In This Issue

1. Letter from the Editor
2. Five tons of gold from Delgo Gold mine
3: Gold smuggled abroad.
3. Gold mine in Nubia suspected as cause of birds deaths!
4. Ancient Nubian statues stolen
5. Underground water threatens antiquities.
6. Links to Nubia Bulletins.
7. More Palm trees arsons!
8. Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project (QSAP)

Over 2000 houses at Alborgaig, south of Karma, Defufa collapsed due to underground which threatens the whole Nubian monuments. Merwe Dam is the main suspect for the increase of underground water level.

Links to Nubia Bulletins and supplements:

Save Nubia From Destruction
Nubia Joins Madiba's 95th birth day celebrations
Nubia Bulletin - September 2013
Donate to Nubia Project
Nubia Bulletin - August 2013
Nubia Bulletin - June 2013
Commemoration of the 6th anniversary of Kajbar massacre
Nubia Bulletin - May 2013
Nubia Bulletin April 2013
Nubia Bulletin - March 2013:
Nubia Bulletin – December 2012
Nubia Bulletin - November 2012
Nubia Bulletin – October 2012
Sudanese Youth LeadershipProgram - USIP`2`

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Please sign to the International Campaign to stop Damming Nubia and rescue its monuments
The International Campaign to Rescue Nubia and Stop Kajbar Dam

The site of the ill famed Kajbar Dam project oppsed by the Nubians.

Donkeys are important means of transportation in the Nubian land as the Nubians are still marginalized and use the premitive means of transportation due to lake of paved sphalt roads.

Ruins of Sai Island castle waiting for international attention. The gold seekers ruined and looted many artifacts including mummies

Palm Trees Arson Continue in Nubia

Last month a new mysterious arson occured in Karma. Hundreds of productive palm trees were burn and turned into ashes. As usuual, the case was registered against an anoymous culprit and the arsons continue in the whole Nubian land!!!! Many Nubian activists say that these arsons are intentional to destroy one of the most important cash crops to the Nubians and force the Nubians to leave their lands.

Next issue:
While this issue was about to be released, local and international media carried news about the bloody confrontation between the Nubians of Dabod and the Beni Hilal Arabs in Aswan, Egypt. We need more information from our corspondants in Egypt and Sudan. Please contact Nubia Bulletin at: info@nubiaproject.org

Killings in Aswan

Notice from the editor:
More details about the Qatari- Sudanese Archaeological Project (QSAP) will be covered in our April 2014th issue of Nubia Bulletin. Please forward your input to the bulletin before the end of April.

Letter from the Editor:

Killer gold in the land of gold:
Nubia was named the land of gold by the pharaohs of the Nile. Now Nubia is witnessing a rush for gold from different parts of Sudan, neighboring countries and countries like China and Turkey. The government of Sudan allowed for individuals and companies to excasvate for gold and all of a sudden Nubia started receiving thousands of people who came with their gold detectors and even machine guns to occupy the lands where they detect gold. This rush created a lot of environmental and social problems to the Nubians in the area. Many incidents of theft, sexual harassment and even killings happened. When Nubians of Wadi Halfa were relocated to Khashm Elgirba in mid sixties of last century, late Mr. Hassan Dafa Allah mentioned in his book " Nubian Exodus" that Wadi Halfa, the main Nubian city witnessed only three cases of killings through out its history and strangely they were committed by non Nubians and outsiders!

Another alarming incident was the shocking news about death of hundreds of birds near the mines of Duwaishat south of Wadi Halfa and the highly poisonous Potassium Cyanide used in extracting gold from ground rock forming minerals is suspected for this strange death toll.

Gold hunters are also suspected of looting antiquities and smuggling golden artifacts from the cemeteries and archaeological sites!

Five Tons of gold from one small mine in Nubia and nothing is given to Nubia!!

70% of gold mined in Sudan is smuggled outside Sudan! Sudan Parliament says!!!

Gold mine in Nubia suspected as cause of death of hundreds of birds!

The Sudanese daily newspaper " Al-Taghyeer" reported on March 4, 2014 that hundreds of birds were found dead around a small stagnant water pond near the gold mine of Duwaishat, few kilometers south of Wadi Halfa, the major Nubian town in the Northern State of Sudan. The company named Mahogany is a joint venture between an Italian company and Abdalla Elmahdi. In mid 60s of last century hundreds of Nubian men working in the same mine with the same partners died and their families were not compensated yet!

The newspaper said that some Nubian human rights activists suspect the potassium cyanide used in extracting gold may be the cause of these mysterious deaths and that they will approach the ministries of Minerals and Health to enquire about this alarming news. If that is true, the seepage of the contaminated water to the underground water and the Nile river water will pose a great danger to the human beings and to the environment. Authorities in Sudan and Egypt and the WHO as well are alerted to this threat.

Ancient statues stolen from Sudan heritage site

Agence France-Presse April 1, 2014 5:35pm

(Globalpost/GlobalPost)

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/140401/ancient-statues-stolen-sudan-heritage-site

Three statues linked to royal burial ceremonies in Sudan's ancient Napatan civilisation have been stolen from a museum near a UNESCO World Heritage site, an official said on Tuesday.

Their disappearance underscores the lack of protection afforded Sudan's rich but under-developed archaeological heritage.

"They are small statues, about 10-15 centimeters high (4-6 inches) but it's very significant because the Napatan kingdom is one of the important periods in Sudanese history," Abdurrahman Ali, head of the country's museums, told AFP.

He said the statues, dating from 450 BC, disappeared from a small museum at the Jebel Barkal heritage area in northern Sudan.

The loss was not discovered for three days, he said.

An AFP reporter who visited the museum recently found it protected by one guard at the gate. Artifacts, including many small statues, were held in a poorly-lit room. Some were displayed openly on tables.

Pyramids and other ancient sites are also poorly guarded and receive relatively few visitors in Sudan's remote desert.

Officials last month announced that the Gulf state of Qatar is giving $135 million to support Sudanese archaeology over five years.

Part of that money will go towards protecting the sites.

Nubian Archaeological Development Organization (Qatar-Sudan)!!!

The state of Qatar is investing US $135 million in developing the Nubian antiquities and tourism. Egyptian officials said that Sudan has sold its antiquities to Qatar and that Qatar is trying to undermine Egypt's tourism industry. No details were disclosed about this agreement yet like all agreements signed between Sudan and other countries!

Last week we received the following letter from the International Society for Nubian Studies (ISNS) Honorary Secretary, Dr. Julie Anderson informing us about a letter from Dr. Salah Mohamed Ahmed who resigned from his position as Director of the Fieldwork Section of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, Sudan (NCAM) on 23^rd February 2014 to join the newly formed Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project (QSAP) as General Coordinator. There is also another organization by the name: Nubian Archaeological Development Organization (NADO). It is not clear whether they are related to each other or not!

We ask the Honorable Secretary of ISNS, Dr. Julie Anderson and Professor Vincent Rondot, President of ISNS to enquire about this organization and feed us back.

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