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02:47 a. M.
Wednesday 09 September 2020
(BBC)
Floods in Sudan, due to the high level of the Nile River, threaten to besiege important archaeological sites north of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
There are warnings that antiquities in the “Al-Bagrawia” area, which is included on the World Heritage List, are threatened by floods.
Authorities are working to pump water and protect archaeological sites by building sandbags.
Sudan has seen torrential rains and floods in recent weeks, which have killed nearly a hundred people, and the government has declared a state of emergency.
The director of the French archaeological unit in Sudan, Marc May, told AFP: “It has never happened before that floodwaters affected archaeological sites, and the site is now under control.”
He warned that “if the level of the Nile continues to rise, the measures taken may not be enough.”
He noted that other archaeological sites along the Nile are threatened by floods.
The floodwaters leaked into the residence of Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok, north of Khartoum. The prime minister and his family did not need to be evacuated.
Sudanese authorities declared a state of emergency following the unprecedented floods.
Officials said authorities recorded the highest rise in the waters of the Blue Nile, which meets the White Nile, in the capital Khartoum, as the highest water level was recorded due to flooding.
It is noteworthy that the archaeological site of al-Bagrawiya, 200 km from Khartoum, was the capital of an empire that extended its influence over vast areas from 350 BC. Until 350 d. C.
Ancient Sudanese civilizations built a greater number of pyramids than those built in Egypt, but a large number of them have yet to be discovered.
