Nubian Heritage at Neues Museum Connects Sudanese Diaspora in Berlin

A collection of objects from Kerma, Napata, and Meroe at the Neues Museum in Berlin offers Sudanese visitors a tangible link to their cultural heritage. The artifacts, part of the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, include royal sculptures, Meroitic pottery, and everyday items that reflect long-standing traditions along the Nile. A relief of Queen Amanishakheto highlights women's political and ritual authority in the Kingdom of Kush, while a stone sphinx of Shepenupet II represents the 25th Dynasty's rule over Egypt. Recent guided tours, led by curator Ilona Regulski and Shadia Abdul Rabo, deputy director of the National Museum of Sudan, brought together members of Berlin's Sudanese community. Conducted in Arabic, the tours facilitated discussions on heritage preservation amid Sudan's ongoing conflict. The project "Stories across borders. Reimagining Sudan's distant and lost heritage," funded by the German Foreign Office through the Agency for International Museum Cooperation, aims to explore the collection's meaning for a diaspora community. Further workshops are planned for August and September 2026.