Rapid Site Report: Flood Damage to Cultural Heritage Sites in Shendi, Sudan

Cultural heritage sites in Shendi, Sudan, were damaged in August 2024 during unprecedented flooding. Based on an analysis of commercially available satellite imagery, the areas impacted by the flood contain six mosques that appear to have been damaged between 7 August 2024 and 12 August 2024. These six sites are the Mohamed Ahmed Taha Mosque, Taiba Mosque, Rawda Mosque, Al Farooq Mosque, Station Mosque, and Altaqua Mosque. Analysis conducted by the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative (SCRI), in collaboration with the Cultural Heritage Monitoring Lab at the Virginia Museum of Natural History (CHML) 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 reports of flooding across Sudan.

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CITE THIS REPORT: Fitzgerald, K., Bassett, H., Hanson, K., Gunter-Bassett, M., Welsh, W., Maher, A., Muller, C. E., Kane, K. E., Daniels, B. I., and Wegener, C. (2024). “Rapid Site Report: Flood Damage to Cultural Heritage Sites in Shendi, 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, Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative. DOI: 10.25573/data.26977699.