Sada Mire facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sada Mire
Born	1976 (age 48–49) Hargeisa, Somali Democratic Republic (now Somaliland)
Education	Lund University SOAS, University of London (BA) University College London (MA, PhD)
Employer	University College London
Organization	Horn Heritage Organization
Awards	2011 Sweden Supertalent Awards

Sada Mire (born July 1976) is a Swedish-Somali archaeologist and art historian. She is a professor of Heritage Studies at University College London. Sada Mire is known for saying that cultural heritage is a basic human need. She shared this idea in her 2014 TEDxEuston talk.

In 2017, the Hay Festival chose Mire as one of their top 30 international thinkers. She became the Director of Antiquities of Somaliland in 2007. Sada Mire grew up in Mogadishu, Somalia. When she was 15, she fled the Somali Civil War and went to Sweden for safety. She later returned to the Horn of Africa as an archaeologist.

Early Life and Education

Sada Mire was born in Hargeisa, Somaliland, in 1977. Her family later moved to Mogadishu. Her father, a police official, died when she was 12. In 1991, during the Somali Civil War, she fled Somalia with her mother and siblings. They traveled by lorry to escape the conflict.

Mire and her twin sister, Sohur, moved to Sweden. An older sister lived there, and they received asylum. The twins later moved to the United Kingdom to continue their studies.

Sada Mire studied ancient history and animal archaeology at Lund University in Sweden. She then earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in History of Art/Archaeology of Africa and Asia from SOAS, University of London in 2005. She continued her studies at University College London, earning a Master of Arts (MA) in African Archaeology in 2006 and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Archaeology in 2009.

Archaeology Career

Sada Mire has done field research in many countries. These include Somaliland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, and Egypt. She has also worked for the United Nations Development Program.

She is a TED speaker. She has also been part of editorial teams for important journals like the African Archaeological Review.

Mire wanted to learn more about the history of Somaliland, her homeland. It was once a colonial country in Africa. She joined the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. She also became the head of the department of antiquities in Somaliland. In 2007, she started a big program of archaeological explorations.

Until 2019, Mire was an assistant professor at Leiden University. She is now an associate professor in Heritage Studies at University College London.

Discovering Ancient Rock Art

Sada Mire has led a team of 50 helpers. Together, they have found ancient prehistoric rock art at almost 100 sites in Somaliland. At least 10 of these sites might become World Heritage sites.

One important site is Dhambalin. It is about 40 miles from the Red Sea. This site has rock art inside sandstone shelters. Experts believe the art is about 5,000 years old. It shows animals like horned cattle, sheep, goats, and giraffes. Giraffes no longer live in Somaliland. The non-profit group Horn Heritage helps fund her work for Somali heritage.

Sharing Knowledge and Protecting Heritage

Sada Mire wants to teach people about their country's cultural heritage. She also wants to continue archaeological explorations. To help some rock art sites get UNESCO World Heritage Site status, she started "Horn Heritage." This non-profit organization helps fund her work. She also helped create Somalia’s Department of Tourism and Archaeology.

Through her charity, Horn Heritage, Mire has started digital 3D and virtual reality (VR) projects. These projects let anyone, anywhere, see her rock art discoveries. In 2006, Mire created the first website dedicated to Somali Heritage and Archeology.

Mire has run campaigns in the media to stop the stealing and destruction of Somali archaeological sites. The BBC Somali channel broadcast one of her messages. She warned the Somali public against looting.

Mire also works to make education and heritage protection available to everyone. She launched a free online course called Heritage under Threat in December 2016. This video course teaches people about heritage that is in danger. Mire wrote and presents the course.

Ideas About Heritage and Archaeology

Sada Mire believes that "cultural heritage, including archaeological knowledge, is a basic human need." She shared this idea in a 2011 NewScientist article called 'We need culture in times of war'. Her work connects archaeology and anthropology in the Horn of Africa. She studies ancient religions and traditions from before Islam and Christianity.

Mire has talked about how archaeology can be misused for politics. She also discusses how groups sometimes destroy heritage sites on purpose. For her work in the Horn of Africa, she suggests that archaeologists should look beyond modern country borders. She thinks they should study how different local peoples have influenced each other over time. She proposes a regional view for the archaeology of the Horn of Africa.

Mire is seen as a leader in studying how local communities manage their own heritage in Africa. Her article "Preserving knowledge, not objects: a Somali perspective for Archaeological Research and Heritage Management" (2007) is very important. She discussed the looting and destruction of Somalia's heritage after the civil war began. She developed an idea called "the Knowledge-Centered Approach." This idea suggests that objects and monuments are not always the most important things. Instead, knowledge, skills, and memories, as seen in landscapes, are key. Other scholars have discussed her ideas about using local ways of thinking in archaeology.

Other Activities

In 2011, Mire suggested to UNESCO that Somali sites that could become World Heritage sites should be saved digitally. She was a speaker at the first UNESCO Debate in September 2016.

Mire has spoken on several BBC Radio programs. This includes the BBC World Service Forum, where she discussed the effects of war.

She was also a speaker at the Europe Lecture in June 2016. She responded to UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. In September 2018, Mire took part in Hague Talks, discussing how to invest in lasting peace.

Mire was a speaker for the Swedish National Heritage Board. She also appeared on the BBC World Service radio documentary "Stories on the Rocks" in December 2018.

Awards and Honors

In April 2017, Sada Mire was chosen for the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts' list of 30 international thinkers and writers.

In 2016, Mire was included in a list of 12 pioneering women archaeologists. These women have greatly helped the field of archaeology throughout history.

Mire serves on the boards of several important organizations, including the Prince Claus Foundation.

Film and Media

CNN made a documentary about Sada Mire and her twin sister Sohur. The CNN African Voices Program showed the sisters working in their fields. Mire is an archaeologist, and Sohur is a medical doctor. They both give back to their community in Somalia. The documentary talks about how they fled the Somali civil war as child refugees and started new lives in Sweden.

For National Geographic's Don't Tell my Mother I'm in Somalia episode, presenter Diego Buñuel met Mire in Hargeisa. They visited some of Somaliland's landmarks together.

Brazil's Futura (TV Channel) aired a documentary in 2014 called Sada and Somaliland. It followed her work as Somalia's only Somali archaeologist.

Mire was one of the experts in the 2017 PBS series Africa's Great Civilizations. Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. presented the series.

Mire is also the presenter and writer for the online course Heritage under Threat.

Selected Publications

Articles

• "Somali Shield, Gaashaan". Hazina. 2006.
• "The Discovery of Dhambalin Rock Art Site, Somaliland". African Archaeological Review. 2008.
• "The Knowledge-Centred Approach to the Somali Cultural Emergency and heritage development assistance in Somaliland". African Archaeological Review. 2011.
• "Beautiful Somali buildings are rising up in a former war zone. It gives me hope". The Guardian. 2015.
• "Mapping the Archaeology of Somaliland: Religion, Art, Script, Time, Urbanism, Trade and Empire". African Archaeological Review. 2015.
• "The Role of Cultural Heritage in the Basic Needs of East African Pastoralists". African Study Monographs 53(Supplementary Issue): 147-157.
• "Black history has much to reveal about our ancestors – and ourselves". The Guardian. 2018.