Rapid Report: Damage to the Episcopal Church of the Savior in Omdurman, Sudan, and the Al-Shaheed Mosque in Khartoum, Sudan

Since the onset of civil war in Sudan on 15 April 2023, cultural heritage sites, including religious ones, have sustained damage. The Episcopal Church of the Savior in Omdurman, Sudan, was damaged between 01 November 2023 and 03 November 2023. The Al-Shaheed 'The Martyr' Mosque in Khartoum, Sudan, was damaged between 30 September 2024 and 03 October 2024. Analysis conducted by the Cultural Heritage Monitoring Lab at the Virginia Museum of Natural History (CHML), in collaboration with the Museum Conservation Institute - Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative (MCI-SCRI) and the Penn Cultural Heritage Center at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (PennCHC), confirmed this damage. This review was undertaken after news reports of damage to the Church in Omdurman and fighting in areas around the Al-Shaheed Mosque.

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CITE THIS REPORT: Fitzgerald, K., Bassett, H., Hanson, K., Welsh, W., Maher, A., Carroll, C., Averyt, K., Muller, C. E., Kane, K. E., Gunter-Bassett, M., and Daniels, B. I. (2025). “Rapid Site Report: Damage to the Episcopal Church of the Savior in Omdurman, Sudan, and the Al-Shaheed Mosque in Khartoum, Sudan.” Virginia Museum of Natural History, Cultural Heritage Monitoring Lab; University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Penn Cultural Heritage Center; and Smithsonian Institution, Museum Conservation Institute - Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative. DOI 10.25573/data.28224995.