Video: How an invaluable 2,000-year-old heritage site was destroyed because of gold
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Jabal Maragha is an ancient archaeological site in the Eastern Sahara Desert in Sudan. Experts from the Sudan Department of Antiquities and Museums visited the site last month. What they saw terrified them - two earth-moving machines and five people were working on the spot. Part of the ancient history of the mysterious kingdom of Kush (the Meroite kingdom) - the main competitors of Ancient Egypt, was destroyed by greedy hunters for gold.
This place, so ruthlessly devastated by greedy hunters for the yellow metal, has more than two thousand years of history. It refers to the Meroian period, that is, to the 4th century BC. There was a small border village. The gold diggers used the large stones of these ancient structures to support the roof of the place where they rested and dined.
All the horror of what the experts saw was crowned by a huge trench sixteen meters deep and almost twenty meters wide. Treasure seekers simply lose their minds in their pursuit of profit. They do not look at anything - just to unearth the precious metal.
Archaeologist Habab Idriss Ahmed says: “This is just crazy! They even used heavy machinery to speed up the process! The expert suggests that the pests probably found traces of yellow metal in the sand. It is pyrite, which, together with sandstone, forms the layers of the local landscape.
The 21st century proved disastrous for Jebel Maragi, part of the Kush kingdom that existed during the Meroi period (1070 BC - 350 AD). Much has been mercilessly destroyed and plundered. Now this place has been destroyed. Researchers are now unlikely to get to the bottom of the truth in the history of this place. In any case, Kush is something of a gray zone. Since this kingdom is usually identified with Ancient Egypt, there is very little information about it.
The political structure and social structure of the kingdom of Kush, as an independent ancient state, did not attract such close attention of historians as did Ancient Egypt. The influence of Egyptian socio-political models was extremely great. Despite this, there are a lot of blank spots and ambiguities in the history of Kush, especially in relation to the earliest periods of the state's existence.
Similarities between Kush and the Land of the Pharaohs include the building of the pyramids and the presence of certain gods such as Ammon and Isis. Experts have established that this kingdom gained independence around 1070 BC, after the collapse of the New Kingdom of Egypt.
Although Jebel Maragha was not completely destroyed, scientists emphasize that there is almost nothing left there. They say, "What's especially offensive is that inattentive workers stacked ancient cylindrical stones on top of each other to support the roof of their dining room." The archaeologists were lucky that they arrived at the scene accompanied by the police, otherwise it is not known how the whole story would have ended. Illegal gold diggers were arrested and taken to the police station. Later, however, they released him without presenting any charges. The situation clearly indicates that corruption was involved.
Sudan is Africa's third largest gold producer and mining is big business. Last year alone, according to official figures, commercial gold mining brought the state more than $ 1.2 billion. Needless to say, shadow mining brings in even more. It is believed that this merciless destruction of Jebel Maragha was orchestrated by some very wealthy people, or at least those seeking to get rich. Experts say that such incidents are not so rare in their country. Precious metal hunters destroy everything from cemeteries to temples in an effort to cash in. Local authorities are encouraging young people and desperate unemployed people to get involved in this dirty business.
The number of incidents involving the aggressive destruction of the ancient history of Sudan has long since lost count. The pyramids, built during the time of the pharaohs, were ruthlessly plundered and destroyed by marauders. The director of the department of antiquities and museums, Hatem al-Noor, said: "Out of a thousand more or less known sites in Sudan, at least one hundred have been destroyed or damaged in similar circumstances." He adds: "There is one police officer in thirty precincts … and he has no means of communication or suitable transport." In addition, a very important detail in all this is that all these people simply do not know the history of the ancient world of Sudan and do not realize the full importance of this priceless heritage. There is a hope that the education of the next generation in the coming years will be of better quality and they will not be so mercilessly wielding shovels in search of precious metal …
Unfortunately, stories like this happen all over the world. People for the sake of profit destroy objects of historical heritage, as, for example, in a completely civilized Australia. Read about it in our article for which today they have destroyed the ancient artifacts of the Australian aborigines, created more than 46,000 years ago.
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