Dongola Today: Sudanese Nubia Caught in Civil War

In northern Sudan, along the Nile, Dongola rises near the ruins of Kerma, one of Africa's oldest urban settlements, and not far from Old Dongola, medieval capital of the Christian kingdom of Makuria.

The region preserves Nubian pyramids less famous than Egyptian ones but equally suggestive, testimony to the kingdoms that flourished along this stretch of the Nile for millennia.

Dongola is located further from the main front of the Sudanese civil war compared to Khartoum, but the entire country is crossed by the conflict between the regular army and Rapid Support Forces that began in 2023.

The city has taken in a large number of displaced persons fleeing the capital, putting pressure on already limited resources and infrastructure in one of Sudan's poorest regions.

The national transportation network, including internal flights and safe road connections, has been seriously compromised by the war, making any movement in the country difficult and risky.

International recommendations advise against any travel to Sudan, Dongola included, until a stable ceasefire is reached on a national scale.

In a pacified Sudan, the Dongola region could offer the ruins of Kerma, Nubian pyramids, and the medieval city of Old Dongola, an archaeological heritage still little known internationally.

The end of civil war remains the essential prerequisite for this stretch of the Nubian Nile to finally open to informed archaeological tourism.