Sudanese Campaign to Recover Mummy of ‘Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt’ from Vatican

The mummy of Amani Ridis
The mummy of Amani Ridis
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Sudanese Campaign to Recover Mummy of ‘Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt’ from Vatican

The mummy of Amani Ridis
The mummy of Amani Ridis

Sudanese and archeological experts renewed their calls for returning from the Vatican Museum in Rome the mummy of the “Kandaka”, the god Amun’s wife (Amani Ridis), who was addressed as "Her Highness the wife of God Amun.”

Muahannad Othman, an archaeological researcher who is part of the campaign for retrieving the queen, says that the Vatican Museum has been asked that the princess's mummy be returned to the Sudanese National Museum.

Othman explained that the campaign, along with its initiative to retrieve the mummy, is trying to figure out how it got to the Vatican Museum, especially since it falls into the twenty-fifth sequence of the families of the Pharaonic kingdoms, and is a religious symbol of the worship of the god Amon.

Its presence at the Vatican is bewildering despite the stories that the mummy was gifted by the British colonialists.

He went on to say that the campaign spreads awareness about the history of the Nubian kingdoms of Sudan, and that he is awaiting the signing of the Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites to recover the mummy and other Sudanese monuments in museums around the world.

"We need an official document that supports the campaign because some laws prevent the recovery of monuments after 50 years."

Munawar Sayed Ahmed, an archaeological activist, called on Sudan’s National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums to endorse the campaign, plan for retrieving the Sudanese artifacts and antiques scattered across museums in the world, communicate with The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and sign the 1977 agreement, which allows for recovering of monuments upon request.

He added: “The National Corporation should find out which international museums hold Sudanese monuments. The Louvre Museum, for example, includes 340 artifacts and antiques.”

Director of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums Ghalia Jar El-Nab told Asharq Al-Awsat that networks of experienced foreign archaeologists facilitated the theft of antiquities.

While much was lost during the colonial period (1898 - 1956), "the great disaster hit with the Antiquities Law of 1999, which allowed foreign archaeological missions to share the discovered antiquities with Sudan."



Private European Aerospace Startup Completes 1st Test Flight of Orbital Launch Vehicle

In this photo taken from video provided by Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media, Isar Aerospace test rocket "Spectrum" explodes felling back down after the launch at Andoya Spaceport in Nordmela, on Andøya island, Norway, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media via AP)
In this photo taken from video provided by Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media, Isar Aerospace test rocket "Spectrum" explodes felling back down after the launch at Andoya Spaceport in Nordmela, on Andøya island, Norway, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media via AP)
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Private European Aerospace Startup Completes 1st Test Flight of Orbital Launch Vehicle

In this photo taken from video provided by Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media, Isar Aerospace test rocket "Spectrum" explodes felling back down after the launch at Andoya Spaceport in Nordmela, on Andøya island, Norway, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media via AP)
In this photo taken from video provided by Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media, Isar Aerospace test rocket "Spectrum" explodes felling back down after the launch at Andoya Spaceport in Nordmela, on Andøya island, Norway, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Isar Aerospace, Photo Wingmen Media via AP)

A rocket by a private European aerospace company launched from Norway on Sunday and crashed into the sea 30 seconds later.
Despite the short test flight, Isar Aerospace said that it successfully completed the first test flight of its orbital launch vehicle by launching its Spectrum rocket from the island of Andøya in northern Norway.
The 28-meter-long (92-foot-long) Spectrum is a two-stage launch vehicle specifically designed to put small and medium satellites into orbit. The rocket lifted off from the pad at 12:30 p.m. (1030 GMT) Sunday and flew for about a half-minute before the flight was terminated, The Associated Press quoted Isar as saying.
“This allowed the company to gather a substantial amount of flight data and experience to apply on future missions,” Isar said in a statement. “After the flight was terminated at T+30 seconds, the launch vehicle fell into the sea in a controlled manner.”
Video from the launch shows the rocket taking off from the pad, flying into the air and then coming back down to crash into the sea in a fiery explosion.
The launch was subject to various factors, including weather and safety, and Sunday's liftoff followed a week of poor conditions, including a scrubbed launch on March 24 because of unfavorable winds, and on Saturday for weather restrictions.
“Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success,” Daniel Metzler, Isar’s chief executive and co-founder, said in the statement. “We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System.”
The company had largely ruled out the possibility of the rocket reaching orbit on its first complete flight, saying that it would consider a 30-second flight a success. Isar Aerospace aims to collect as much data and experience as possible on the first integrated test of all the systems on its in-house-developed launch vehicle.
Isar Aerospace is separate from the European Space Agency, or ESA, which is funded by its 23 member states.
“Success to get off the pad, and lots of data already obtained. I am sure @isaraerospace will learn a lot," ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher posted on X. "Rocket launch is hard. Never give up, move forward with even more energy!”