Somalia's looted heritage

As conflict and insecurity prevails over most of Somalia, there is one aspect that is barely discussed. That aspect is of course the state of Somalia's archaeological sites, artifacts and museums. Somalia in the past notably had two official Museums. One was situated in the northern Somali town of Hargeisa, and the other in the capital Mogadishu. Today, none of them are in service and the facilities themselves are either completely destroyed or in need of rehabilitation. Because of the civil war, Somalia has become a country that is almost devoid of any visible heritage. 

This of course usually happens in conflict prone areas of the world, widespread looting and illegal excavations are the norm. Indeed you could see this occurring in the midst of civil war in Syria, and many other countries. The looted artifacts are usually sold in the international black market by a web of different criminal actors, and the buyers are typically wealthy collectors that spur demand for these items. That  however does not mean they are directly involved in the illegal excavations themselves.

According to a recent report, there is rampant illegal excavations and grave looting ongoing in Somalia. Grave robbing and illegal excavations are rarely reported in Southern Somalia. The nature of such crimes in Southern Somalia, is usually religiously motivated with relatively old Sufi graves bearing the brunt of the attacks. However most of the reported illegal excavations in Somalia are taking place in the Northern part of the country.

Sada Mire, a famous Somali archaeologist has been at the forefront in efforts of preserving important sites. In 2010, she documented 139 different historical preservation areas, but because of inadequate financial resources it has been difficult to preserve the sites. Sada Mire and her Archaeologist colleague Xavier Gutherz eventually discovered that there was systematic looting and grave robbing on going in northern Somalia. She and her colleague believed the artifacts were shipped through dealers in Djibouti, and then on to the black market in the Arabian peninsula. The situation is so bad that it was not even possible for Sada Mire to push for legislation, such as banning the sale of Somali artifacts abroad. This in one way can be interpreted as the "Somaliland" parliament being plagued by conflicting interests, even down to obvious matters such as national heritage.

                                                         Looted Somali Votive. photo by Mark Hay

Because of these issues, the preservation of Somalia's heritage is in critical condition. I believe the most damaging factor to our heritage is the political factor. Because of rampant separatist politics, Somalia's heritage is suffering. The obvious fact that "Somaliland" is unable to protect these various sites should not be surprising. There is simply not enough resources available for such projects. However the most important sites in these areas can be granted protection under a world heritage status. One such site that could qualify would be the famous Las Gaal cave .

World heritage status are given to national properties within recognized countries. Somalia's is entitled to apply for it. This would make it possible for Las Gaal and perhaps other important sites to be granted the world heritage status. But because of secessionist illogical hatred, these politicians are willing to put  important sites and artifacts in harms way. Thus making it possible for criminal groups to continue their crimes against our Somali heritage.

I believe it is of utmost importance that preservation of Somali heritage is done irrespective of politics. Common heritage for Somalis should have been logically off limits for any political brinkmanship. But because the country is ruled by men that rather pursue hate than unity, we are left with such a dangerous situation in Somalia.