The El Ali (Arabic) / Ceel Cali (Somali) / Shiid-birood (local name) Meteorite Project.
Reaearch and Status Notes on its World Cultural and Natural Heritage Significance.
A National Treasure of Somalia.

Website created 15 July 2021. Last updated 30 October 2023. / nick.gessler@duke.edu / http://people.duke.edu/gessler

EL ALI, a 15.15 tonne IAB Iron Complex Iron meteorite. the world's 9th largest.

Vagn Buchwald wrote, in his 1975 HANDBOOK OF IRON METEORITES,
"Probably no other meteorite has been so intimately connected
with the life and fate of so many people as Cape York" (p. 410).
El Ali, 4x larger and 4x more extensively cold-forged and mined for metal, now deserves that standing.

Bearer of 3 new minerals to Earth: Elaliite, Elkinstantonite, Olsenite.

Impact radiometrically dated at 2-3000 BP.
Further 10B, 14C, 22Na, 26Al, and 41Ca dating in process.

Donations greatly appreciated.

ODE TO EL ALI
Oh meteorite, El Ali by name, Of massive weight and ancient fame, The eighth or ninth largest on this Earth, With evidence of human worth.	Since times of old, it's been in use, An artifact of great repute, Found in Somalia, now for sale, Who'll buy it? Who'll prevail?	Shall it be sliced for baubles, small, To market souvenirs for all? Or shall it be conserved with care, For world heritage, beyond compare?	Let's seek a buyer wise and just, To keep it whole, for future trust, And for Somalia, might we pray, To have it back, some future day.

https://biea.ac.uk/the-world-of-iron-at-10/	SOMALIA’S IRON AGE BEGINS WITH EL ALI. - N. Gessler, A. A. Hussein, A. H. Egeh. EL ALI is the world’s most significant culturally modified meteorite. It is also the world’s 9th largest, and the bearer of 3 new minerals from space to Earth. El Ali could be proclaimed an object of world cultural and natural heritage significance, a tribute to the innovation and creativity of the prehistoric peoples of Somalia. EL ALI is a 15.15 tonne “IAB Iron Complex” meteorite, which landed 2-3,000 years ago. It was ripped from its impact site by heavy equipment in 2020, trucked 300 km to Mogadishu, seized and then released for export to Zhenjiang, China, where it is now for sale. In 2021 it was officially published in the Meteoritical Bulletin by our team of Somali, Canadian and US researchers. 17 minutes from 16 videos show EL ALI in situ, unearthed, and displayed. These images reveal that its entire exposed surface bears evidence of extensive, intensive, and prolonged removal of flakes of meteoritic iron by cold forging. EL ALI has been mined-for-metal to make knives and points. A similar discovery was made 200 years earlier, at Cape York in Greenland. Iron imposes a unique subsistence calculus on any society that embraces it. Whether smelted or mined from meteorites, it transforms one’s way of life. The ethnohistory of the Cape York provides a context for EL ALI. In 1818, Captain James Ross wrote of the Inuit: “Each of the natives was provided with a kind of knife, made of small pieces, or plates of iron, which were set close together in a groove made in a piece of narwhal’s horn: the end piece was rivetted, but the others were kept in their places merely by being driven tightly into the groove. Very diligent enquiry was set on foot as to where they found the iron of which these knives were made; but all we could learn from them was, that they met with it near the shore, at some distance from this place… They procure the iron… from a mass of native iron, distant… about a day’s journey eastward of this place… Their only object, in coming so far from their own country… is to procure some of this iron, which they break off with some difficulty by means of stones, and then beat out into small plates of which the knives are made. Thus far their description agrees so well with what we find these rude instruments to be, that I think there cannot be any doubt of the truth of what they related,” Seventy tonnes of basalt were carried 50 km for use as hammers and the meteoritic flakes were traded, found in archaeological sites 2500 miles away. Cape York’s mined meteorites weigh only 4 tonnes. In the back-dirt at EL ALI’s impact site are many basalt hammerstones. Traditions and claims of ownership await translation from over 10 Somali media. The Ministry of Mines’ offers to support a scientific excavation. Three Meteoritical Society presentations and other evidence are available at: https://people.duke.edu/~ng46/El-Ali/
.pptx and .mp4 presentations Los Angeles 13-18 August 2023
Right Click > Save Link as...		SOMALI FOLKLORE - A TALE OF THE EL ALI METEORITE A. A. Hussein, Almaas University, Mogadishu, Somalia. rector@almaas.edu.so Abstract - #6056 Introduction: In June 2020, a team of artisanal miners were in search for opal minerals and were prospecting in West Hiiraan, in El Ali and Buq Aqable area. The team belonged to a small-scale company called Kuraim. As they scoured the bushland in the search of opal, they spent weeks and left no rock unturned. However, their effort paid off when they spotted a huge brown rock with metallic lustre. The rock was different from the sandstone/limestone rocks that dominated the area. It was very dense, magnetic, with unusual shape – rounded with potholes and partly immersed in a small impact crater. One of the miners recognised the rock as a meteorite, and took a sample for a laboratory chemical and mineralogical analysis from the massive rock. It was a very difficult job to chop off small pieces from it. The result was a find of 15.15 tonne meteorite, that was moved away in September 2022 to Mogadishu. *More..*.
*Double Click*		WHAT THE LOCAL PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THE EL ALI METEORITE. A. H. Egeh, Almaas University, Mogadishu, Somalia, egeh@almaas.edu.so. Abstract - #6057 Introduction: In the past, the El Ali meteorite was not unknown to the locals; rather it was one of their most important landmarks in the area. Its cultural heritage significance was the elephant in the room. El Ali has been a symbol for the local people for a long time and was known as “Shiid-birood,” which means the iron stone (because of its properties of resonance and its ductility). Eventually, the name was given to the area surrounding it.1 The characteristics of the El Ali meteorite’s (Shiid-birood’s) environment include: plants do not grow up around it for a distance of about 10 meters, and it is surrounded by black rocks that appear as a burnt stones.2 Past familiarity with this stone is evidenced by local stories saying that “during the colonization period, the Italians tried to take it, but they couldn’t due to its heavy weight and to the locals who were against it.”2 At sunset, the stone appears in the shape of an animal, and the livestock fear it and run away from it. People describe it as looking like a horse, and the local children play on it and ride it like a horse. More...
*Right Click > Save Link as...*		SOMALIA’S IRON AGE BEGINS WITH EL ALI. N. Gessler, Duke University (retired), nick.gessler@duke.edu Abstract - #6011 Introduction: El Ali, a 15 metric ton iron meteorite, was found in Somalia in 2020. It’s cultural context and physical characteristics were reported in 2021.1 El Ali is now for sale in China with an asking price of $4,000,000. Concerns were raised about El Ali’s future in 2023.2 Two centuries ago the Inuit use of cold-forging to mine the meteoritic boulders at Cape York was discovered. Their surfaces share a common attribute with El Ali; Their many concave facets reveal intense, extensive, and prolonged hammering. At Cape York the harvested iron was reworked into knives on those same rocks, attested to by those who did the mining. Iron imposes a unique subsistence calculus on any society that embraces it. Whether smelted from ores or mined from meteorites, its production is expensive. There is every reason to expect that the like Cape York irons, the El Ali meteorite was used to fashion knives. *More...*
*Right Click > Save Link as...*		THE MINERALOGY OF THE EL ALI IAB IRON: CONDITIONS OF FORMATION Christopher D.K. Herd , Andrew J. Locock , Radhika Saini , and Chi Ma Introduction:: The El Ali meteorite is a 15.2 ton iron meteorite from Somalia, originally known by camel herders and others in the region as “Nightfall.” Further insights into the history of this significant meteorite are provided in this meeting. The meteorite belongs to the IAB Complex, a group that spans a diversity of bulk compositions and that is typified by silicate or other inclusions. IAB irons may have formed by melting due to impact heating on a porous chondritic body. Detailed study of phosphate inclusions in El Ali revealed the occurrence of at least three new minerals. Analysis by EPMA (University of Alberta) and by SEM-EBSD (Caltech) on specimen MET11814/2-1/EP1 of the University of Alberta Meteorite Collection revealed the occurrence, and enabled the description of: elaliite (Fe2+8Fe3+(PO4)O8, IMA 2022-087), elkinstantonite (Fe4(PO4)2O, IMA 2022-088), and olsenite (KFe4(PO4)3, IMA 2022-100). Details of elaliite and elkinstantonite can be found in LPS LIV Abstract #2220; olsenite is described in LPS LIV Abstract #1883. Here, we discuss the origin of these minerals and the implications of their occurrence for the petrogenesis of the El Ali meteorite. *More...*
		Radiometric analyses by Dr. Timothy Jull, University of Arizona. Initial sub-samples of 3.22 and 5.88 grams from UCLA specimen 1 provided radiometric dating that tentatively established the age of the fall of El Ali at less than 2 to 3 thousand years. This means that the meteorite would have been available for use by people back into the Iron and Bronze Ages. A new sample with a mass of 17.5 grams is arriving soon. Age estimates and other data will be generated from further analyses of radioactive Carbon (14C), Beryllium (10B) , Calcium (14C) and Aluminum (26Al) isotopes.
Official entry in the Meteoritical Bulletin	Meteoritics & Planetary Science 58, Nr 6, pp. 749-751, June 2023. Ode to El Ali	National Geographic Press Release	University of Alberta Release Meteoritical Bulletin Entry	Site Visitors Map
Site Visits from: Australia,Austria,Canada,,China, Congo, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopa, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Guinea, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malasia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Phillipines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Unknown, United States.

Panoramic Images Merged from Casual Video Frames

Video 3 - El Ali in situ in Hiiraan. Composite view.

Credit Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein. Note the thousands of culturally transported rocks nearby.

Video 3 - El Ali in situ in Hiiraan.
Composite view showing multifaceted side.

Credit Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein. Note the thousands of culturally transported rocks nearby.

Video 6 - El Ali prepared for storage in Mogadishy.
Composite view showing its right side multifaceted face.

Credit Nicholas Gessler. El Ali in Mogadishu on 24 April 2021. A composite of 16 detailed video frames of its above-ground right multifaceted face. Detail shows smooth hammered surfaces as well as layering along the right diagonal edge and numerous linearly deformed pits illustrating cultural alteration and removal of metal by cold forging..

Cape York 3-ton individual called "the Woman," Courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.

Utilized as a source of meteoritic iron removed by cold forging, and as an anvil for its manufacture into sharps (knives and points), by the Inuit of Greenland. It shows the same polished crowns used as anvils and the same multifacted sites of cold forging as El Ali. Both were also surrounded by piles of hammerstones.

The cultural use of El Ali / Ceel Cali likely predates the beginning of the introduction of smelted iron iron in the Horn of Africa.
The only analog to such intensive, extensive, and prolonged hand cold forging of meteorites was witnessed among the Inuit in Cape York, Greenland, 200 years ago.

Captain John Ross: exploring the probability of a north-west passage. London: J. Murray. 1819

Second voyage in search of a north-west passage,
in the years 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833

The Arctic Career of
Captain Sir John Ross

Library holdings of the 1819 publication.

Library holdings of the 1935 publication.

Inuit accounts of mining iron from the Cape York meteorites.

Inuit accounts of mining iron from the Cape York meteorites.

Illustrations from Robert Peary (1898).

Northward Over the Great Ice, v2 (1898)

The Cape York "Woman" iron meteorite surrounded by a massive ring of hammerstones. We would expect to find an analogous assemblage of hammerstones at the El Ali / Ceel Cali impact site, and we have..

Sketch for a proposed diarama of the Cape York "Woman" iron meteorite being harvested for iron. The basaltic hammerstones were broght from 50 miles away.

METEORIFACTS
Inuit knives made from coin-sized flakes of the Cape York "Woman" meteorite. Traded well into Canada.

The Cape York "Woman" meteorite being moved on rollers to the ship.

Size comparison of the three Cape York meteorites collected by Robert Peary.

Peary's ship ramming packed ice.

Video Analyses

Sequence ID Number	Tracking point cloud & camera path.	Tracking point cloud & camera path.	DISCRIPTION	SPECS
#1	Static camera, no parallax.		Chiseling a sample at the impact site. Credit: Global Resources Staticcamera	12.6 MB 30 fps 640 w 352 h 225,280 pixels 1 min 19 sec 79 sec 2,370 frames
#2	Static camera, no parallax.		Cutting a sample in Mogadishu. Source: Global Resources Static camera	10.2 MB 30 fps 640 w 352 h 225,280 pixels 0 min 52 sec 52 sec 1,560 frames
#3	Meshroom, 174 frames, every 10th frame.		In situ at the impact site. Credit: Abdulkadir. Good tracking shot. 1,740 frames	2.3 MB 30 fps 352 w 640 h 225,280 pixels 0 min 58 sec 58 sec
#4	Meshroom, 960 frames, every 3rd frame.	Meshroom, 960 frames, every 3rd frame.	Good coverate at Mogadishu. Credit: Abdulkadir Good tracking shot. 3,296 frames	7.8 MB 30 fps 480 w 848 h 407,040 pixels 1 min 36 sec 96 sec
#5	Meshroom, 3340 frames, every 3rd frame.	Meshroom, 3340 frames, every 3rd frame.	Pulled from the dirt at the impact site. Credit: Nick Gessler Good tracking shot. 10,020 frames	37.2 MB 30 fps 640 w 352 h 225,280 pixels 5 min 34 sec 334 sec
#6	A detailed composite of 16 video frames of EL ALI's most faceted face. Two pans.	No point cloud available.	Detailed panning shots in Mogadishu. Credit: Nick Gessler Suitable for Photoshop Photomerge. 1,320 frames	9.0 MB 30 fps 640 w 352 h 225,280 pixels 0 min 44 sec 44 sec
#7	Chaotic, no easily discernable parallax.		In chains on crane in Mogadishu Credit: Nick Gessler Chaotic 2,670 frames	13.5 MB 30 fps 640 w 352 h 225,280 pixels 1 min 29 sec 89 sec
#8	Confined, partial parallax.		In container in Mogadishu Credit: Nick Gessler Dark, confined space. 760 frames	9.8 MB 20 fps 1072 w 1920 h 2,058,240 pixels 0 min 38 sec 38 sec
#9	Meshroom, 660frames, every 10th frame.		In situ at impact site. Credit: Abdulkadir Good tracking shot. 660 frames	0.9 MB 30 fps 272 w 480 h 130,560 pixels 0 min 22 sec 22 sec
Subtotal of section above			24,396 frames	13 min 10 sec
#10
Vid-11:: At the borehole of the town of EL ALI	El Ali Borehole		390 frames	2.35 MB 30 fps 368 w 672 h 247,296 pixels 0 min 13 sec 13 sec
Vid-12: At the borehole of the town of EL ALUI	El Ali Borehole		930 frames	5.58 MB 30 fps 368 w 672 h 247,296 pixels 0 min 31 sec 31sec
Vid-13: At the impact site. Look for dark hammerstones..	#13 Shiid-birood (griinding metal). Vid-13: A clip of one of many classic hammerstones at the impact site of EL ALI.		1,770 frames	10.5 MB 30 fps 368 w 672 h 247,296 pixels 0 min 59 sec 59 sec
Vid-14: At the impact site. Look for ark hammerstones.	Shiid-birood (grinding metal)		1,770 frames	10.7 MB 30 fps 368 w 672 h 247,296 pixels 0 min 59 sec 59 sec
Vid-15: The landmark stone called Afeelaha.	Afeelaha		390 frames	2.38 MB 30 fps 368 w 672 h 247,296 pixels 0 min 13 sec 13 sec
Vid-16: The landmark stone called Afeelaha.	Afeelaha		1,170 frames	7.0 MB 30 fps 368 w 672 h 247,296 pixels 0 min 39 sec 39 sec
Subtotal of Ali's videos			6,420 frames	3 min 34 sec
TOTAL			30,816 frames	16 min 44 sec

* Pans are excellent for creating composite panoramas. Tracking shots are excellent for creating 3D stereo imagery.

Images from Global Resources Ltd. Credit: Global Resources Ltd.

Video #1
Removal of a few grams.
1m19s

Video #2
Removal of a few kilos.
0m62s

Image A
EL ALI unearthed in Hiiraan.

Image B
EL ALI unearthed in Hiiraan.

Image C
EL ALI unearthed in Hiiraan.

Image D
EL ALI unearthed in Hiiraan.

Image E
EL ALI unearthed in Hiiraan.

Images from Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein, Rector, Almaas University, Mogadishu. Credit: Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein.

Eng. Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein.
Rector
Almaas University, Mogadishu.
Facebook page.

El Ali vicinity nomadic camel herders.

Image F
In situ. Note the hammered surface and culturally transported rocks (manuports) surrounding it.

In situ. Red/Cyan stereo anaglyph (limited depth).

In situ. Note the hammered surface and culturally transported rocks (manuports) surrounding it.

Image H
In situ. Who is this?.

Image I
Six etched slices. Probably shown being cut in Video #2.

Image J
Weighbridge certificate. 12/08/2020
(12 August 2020).

Image K
In situ. Note the hammered surface and thousands of culturally transported rocks (manuports).

Image L
In situ. Note the hammered surface and thousands of culturally transported rocks (manuports).

Image M
In situ. Note loose rocks and hammered surface and the thousands of culturally transported rocks (manuports).

Image N
Mogadishu. Showing the buried underside. Note the odd whorl.

Abdulkadir Facebook Post:
"a National Treasure for the National Museum of Somalia?

Abdulkadir Faceboook Post:
On the deep history of the stone...

Abdulkadir Facebook Post:
On two new minerals discovered...

Video #3. El Ali in situ.
0m 58s

Video #4. El Ali in Mogadishu.
1m 36s

Video #9. El Ali in situ
0m 22s

Images from Anonymous sources. Credit: Nicholas Gessler

Video #5
In situ. Pans back and forth.
Good source for a composite.
5m44s

Mogadishu. Close-up from video..
24 April 2021.

Video #6
Mogadishu. Excellent detail.
24 April 2021
0m44s

Video #7
Mogadishu. Unloading.
1m29s

Video #8
El Ali in Shipping Container
0m38s

Image O
Mogadishu. Beauty shot.
24 Aprl 2021.

Image P
Weighbridge certifacate.
12/08/2020.
(12 August 2020).

Image Q
In situ. Note loose rocks.

Images from Christopher D. K. Herd. Credit: Christopher D. K. Herd

Chris Herd

Image R
Mogadishu. Note hammered surface.

Red/Cyan stereo anaglyph (limited depth).

Image S
Mogadishu. Note hammered surface.

Images from Ali Hassan Egeh, Vice-Rector, Almaas University, Mogadiskh. Credit Ali Hassan Egeh.

Eng. Ali Hassan Egeh
Vice-Rector
Almaas University, Mogadishu.
Facebook page.

Vid-11:: At the borehole of the town of EL ALI

Vid-12: At the borehole of the
town of EL ALUI

Vid-13: At the impact site of the meteorite. Look for dark hammerstones..

Vid-13: A clip of one of many classic hammerstones at the impact site of EL ALI.

Vid-14: At the impact site of the meteorite. Look for dark hammerstones.

Vid-15: The landmark stone called Afeelaha.

Vid-16: The landmark stone called Afeelaha.

Discussions on heritage values, ownership, and export.
El Ali / Ceel Cali was Found by Abdikarim Farasle, Abdi Shigshigow, Noor Hassan,
Abukar Murasade and Faqi Qubeys of the Kureym Mining and Rocks Company in 2020.
As of June, 2023, the meteorite is reportedly still awaiting sale in Yiwu, Zhejiang, China.

Google Translate may provide the "gist" of a conversation,but it does not understand metaphors, idioms, allusions, or poetic language. El Ali stone = dhagax ceel cali.

Eng Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein, 29 November 2022

Goobjoog Television Interview on El Ali
9m01s

Eng Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein,30 November 2022
HUDHUD1: "The stone was found near the village of El Ali in Hiiran and removed from the country." 7m0s

Eng Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein,1 April 2023

Somali National Television Interview on El Ali 12m 9s

Eg. Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein, 27 February 2020

Shabelle TV: "What can be explained by the stone that brought the discussion of El Ali? 5m52s 33m57s total.

Article posted 3 June 2023 by the
Horn Afrik News Agency for Human Rights (HANAHR)

From a server in France, its "Who we are?" link yields the following: "This page doesn't seem to exist." Similarly it's Governance & Administration Chart is empty.
https://hanahr.net/somalia-el-ali-meteorite-in-the-light-of-history-and-culture/

Email from Geologist Fayssal Mezgouri,
with offices in Agadir, Morocco and China

apparently in charge of shipment from Mogadishu to China and sales

MP Dahir Jesow, 23 February 2020.

2https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=539735773558662

1) Somali Cable: "Dhagax laga soo qaaday Deegaanka Ceel Cali" (Stone taken from the Ceel Cali area) With Member of Parliament MP Dahir Amiin Jesow. 311k views, 511 comments. 5 min 12 sec.

MP Dahir Jesow, 26 February 2020.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgFl90wCbfs

2) Youtube: "What is the stone held by the government of Somalia & its value?" MARACADDE SHOW: 60k views, 84 comments, all 3 years old, all archived and Google translated..10 min 07 sec.

MP Dahir Jesow, 11 July 2023.
https://www.facebook.com/dahir.jesow/videos/1420758382052710

3) "The prince of Hiiran region of Al Shabaab Abdicasis Guuleed who was arrested by Galjecel in Jowhar city. Guuleed is the man who sold the stone that was dug in Ceel Ali and taken from it and killed the boys of Gaaljecel." Dahir Jesow. (Ceel Cali is not mentioned in this interview. -NG) 5 min 23 sed.

Hon Dahir Jesow Official Member of Parliament page.

Dahir Jesow page (current)

Dahir Jesow page (not current)

25 February 2020.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB46J_2LPoU

4) Kulmeye News Network. "Is the stone found in a well gold or pearl?" 3K views, 3 comments.11 min 19 sec.

2020.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pqIlR937jI

5) Kulmeye News Network. "What happened to the stone tken from the well? 2.6K views, 19 comments.3 min 55 sec.

MP Maryan Ahmed Haroun 2020.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=573XIvFfBe0

6) Kulmeye News Network. MP Maryan Ahmed Haroun, Peoples Assembly, El Ali constituency, "We are afraid of other resources of El Ali." 1.4K views, 0 comments.13 min 07 sec.

 1) 5:12
 2) 10:07
 3) 5:23
 4) 11:19
 5) 3:55
 6) 13:07
tot 49:03

El Ali Samples Received

Alberta: Sample from Video 1. 15.0 and 54.2 grams received.	Alberta: Sample as received.	Alberta: BSE image.	Los Angeles: Photo from Somalia: 19.23 gram sample from Video 1.	Los Angeles: 19.23 gram weathered surface.
Los Angeles: 19.23 gram cutting.	Los Angeles: 19.23 gram three slices.	Los Angeles: 19.23 gram etch a.	Los Angeles: 19.23 gram Eetch b.	Los Angeles: 19.23 gram d istribution
Los Angeles: 17.5 gram sample	Los Angeles: 17.5 gram sample.	Los Angeles: 17.5 gram video.	Los Angeles: 17.5 gram sample.	Los Angeles: 17.5 gram sample.

Maps and satellite imagery:

Somalia. Cities and towns.	Somalia: Administrative.
Hypothetical impact site (July 2023). 2016 Google Earth image of a 9 hectare field.	Hypothetical impact site (July 2023) 2004 Google Earth image of a 9 hectare field.
Google Earth imagery of assumed location of meteorite and the town of El Ali.	Google Earh imagery of assumed original location of meteorite. Note the changing sites of houses and fields between the years 2004 and 2018.
Google Earth 2004 imagery showing cultural features.	Google Earth 2018 imagery showing cultural features.
Map El Ali - Pixelated 11 April 2021 Maxar Satellite 40cm Imagery (SecureWatch access is being provided courtesy of MAXAR).	Map El Ali - Pixelate 11 April 2021 Maxar Satellite 40cm Imagery, portion showing town of El Ali and assumed location of the meteorite (SecureWatch access is being provided courtesy of MAXAR)..
In Google Earth imagery, note the frequent remains of domed houses and fenced areas..
Google Earth image of the town of El Ali.	UN OSHA Somalia Administrative Details Map closeup. Entire map. .

The El Ali (Arabic) / Ceel Cali (Somali) / Shiid-birood (local name) Meteorite Project. Reaearch and Status Notes on its World Cultural and Natural Heritage Significance. A National Treasure of Somalia.

Website created 15 July 2021. Last updated 30 October 2023. / nick.gessler@duke.edu / http://people.duke.edu/gessler

Donations greatly appreciated.

ODE TO EL ALI

Oh meteorite, El Ali by name, Of massive weight and ancient fame, The eighth or ninth largest on this Earth, With evidence of human worth.

Since times of old, it's been in use, An artifact of great repute, Found in Somalia, now for sale, Who'll buy it? Who'll prevail?

Shall it be sliced for baubles, small, To market souvenirs for all? Or shall it be conserved with care, For world heritage, beyond compare?

Let's seek a buyer wise and just, To keep it whole, for future trust, And for Somalia, might we pray, To have it back, some future day.

.pptx and .mp4 presentations Los Angeles 13-18 August 2023

.pptx and .mp4 presentations Los Angeles 13-18 August 2023

Panoramic Images Merged from Casual Video Frames

The cultural use of El Ali / Ceel Cali likely predates the beginning of the introduction of smelted iron iron in the Horn of Africa. The only analog to such intensive, extensive, and prolonged hand cold forging of meteorites was witnessed among the Inuit in Cape York, Greenland, 200 years ago.

Captain John Ross: exploring the probability of a north-west passage. London: J. Murray. 1819

Second voyage in search of a north-west passage, in the years 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833

The Arctic Career of Captain Sir John Ross

Library holdings of the 1819 publication.

Library holdings of the 1935 publication.

Inuit accounts of mining iron from the Cape York meteorites.

Inuit accounts of mining iron from the Cape York meteorites.

Illustrations from Robert Peary (1898).

Illustrations from Robert Peary (1898).

Video Analyses

Images from Global Resources Ltd. Credit: Global Resources Ltd.

Images from Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein, Rector, Almaas University, Mogadishu. Credit: Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein.

Eng. Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein. Rector Almaas University, Mogadishu. Facebook page.

Images from Anonymous sources. Credit: Nicholas Gessler

Images from Christopher D. K. Herd. Credit: Christopher D. K. Herd

Images from Ali Hassan Egeh, Vice-Rector, Almaas University, Mogadiskh. Credit Ali Hassan Egeh.

Article posted 3 June 2023 by the Horn Afrik News Agency for Human Rights (HANAHR)

From a server in France, its "Who we are?" link yields the following: "This page doesn't seem to exist." Similarly it's Governance & Administration Chart is empty. https://hanahr.net/somalia-el-ali-meteorite-in-the-light-of-history-and-culture/

Email from Geologist Fayssal Mezgouri, with offices in Agadir, Morocco and China

apparently in charge of shipment from Mogadishu to China and sales

El Ali Samples Received

Maps and satellite imagery:

Archive

The El Ali (Arabic) / Ceel Cali (Somali) / Shiid-birood (local name) Meteorite Project.
Reaearch and Status Notes on its World Cultural and Natural Heritage Significance.
A National Treasure of Somalia.

Oh meteorite, El Ali by name,
Of massive weight and ancient fame,
The eighth or ninth largest on this Earth,
With evidence of human worth.

Since times of old, it's been in use,
An artifact of great repute,
Found in Somalia, now for sale,
Who'll buy it? Who'll prevail?

Shall it be sliced for baubles, small,
To market souvenirs for all?
Or shall it be conserved with care,
For world heritage, beyond compare?

Let's seek a buyer wise and just,
To keep it whole, for future trust,
And for Somalia, might we pray,
To have it back, some future day.

.pptx and .mp4
presentations
Los Angeles
13-18 August 2023

.pptx and .mp4
presentations
Los Angeles
13-18 August 2023

The cultural use of El Ali / Ceel Cali likely predates the beginning of the introduction of smelted iron iron in the Horn of Africa.
The only analog to such intensive, extensive, and prolonged hand cold forging of meteorites was witnessed among the Inuit in Cape York, Greenland, 200 years ago.

Second voyage in search of a north-west passage,
in the years 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833

The Arctic Career of
Captain Sir John Ross

Eng. Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein.
Rector
Almaas University, Mogadishu.
Facebook page.

Article posted 3 June 2023 by the
Horn Afrik News Agency for Human Rights (HANAHR)

From a server in France, its "Who we are?" link yields the following: "This page doesn't seem to exist." Similarly it's Governance & Administration Chart is empty.
https://hanahr.net/somalia-el-ali-meteorite-in-the-light-of-history-and-culture/

Email from Geologist Fayssal Mezgouri,
with offices in Agadir, Morocco and China