Protecting Egypt\'s antiquities during turmoil

[Epictetus]

It looks like Egyptian authorities are taking steps to protect their antiquities. According to the BBC:

The army secured the Egyptian Museum, next door to the NDP building and home to such treasures as the gold mask of King Tutankhamen, to protect it from looters.

There is no news from Zahi Hawass or the Supreme Council of Antiquities, though. The website for the Ministry of Culture is down at the time of writing.

[Jona Lendering]

There is no news from Zahi Hawass or the Supreme Council of Antiquities, though.

If Mubarak has indeed sacked the Cabinet, the vice-minister of culture is probably fired as well.

[M. Demetrius]

I wonder if they will replace him with someone else when the trouble subsides, providing, of course, that the present leader stays in office. They could do better, but then, they could do a lot worse.

I'm just thinking about the huge cliffside statues destroyed in Afghanistan by the Taliban. Imagine the irreparable harm that could befall the Egyptian nation (and the world's historical treasures) if similar action were taken there. Scary.

[john roberts]

So far, (fingers crossed)we haven't seen the "mindless mob" effect, just people who feel they have legitimate grievances protesting against the government. I don't know of any looting or destruction for the sake of destruction going on. Of course, this could change in a moment and it's just the sort of situation that extremists take advantage of. Let's hope it gets resolved before that happens.

[Vindex]

I think the authorities - whoever they may be - may be trying to secure their antiquities against the organised gangs aka treasure hunters (or "collectors") who seemed to have done a very good job of raping Baghdad after the end of the last Gulf War. A little bit of chaos is all they need and that covers up their activities.

I heard a report from a reliable source (US military)that objects were being stolen to order in Iraq...

[Cheyenne]

i think Egypt is a little different to Afghan, There are particular international legislative structures in place in Egypt to protect some of the heritage as both the government and the people are well aware that if tourism in Egypt dies, then so does the nation state.

Some people did try and enter the museum from the roof and attempts were made to 'smash and grab' some of the artifacts on the upper floors.. but the military has since secured the building with the help of local people who stopped some of the prospective looters. Hawass appeared to 'confirm' that nothing has been stolen.

The army have the National museum surrounded and the people have more respect for the military than they do the police and the government.

On the other hand, maybe the removal of Hawass as head of the council of Antiquities wouldn't be such a bad thing if the whole 'reshuffle' had a knock on effect to his department. He was actually accused of cultural genocide by copts in 2008-9 with the destruction of many coptic community buildings to accomodate the construction of new tourist access to various dynastic monuments

c

[Vindex]

You may find this interesting...

http://historyoftheancientworld.com/2011...tiquities/

[Epictetus]

Al Jazeera is reporting something similar:

Soldiers enter museum

Meanwhile, soldiers have entered the Egyptian Museum in Cairo to secure it from looters, as anti-government protests continued in the capital in defiance of a curfew.

Early on Saturday morning, soldiers secured the museum and its grounds, located near some of the most intense of the mass anti-government protests in the capital.

The museum is home to priceless ancient artifacts, some dating back 5,000 years. Many artefacts lay damaged on the floor, but officials said nothing had been stolen.

Before the army arrived, young Egyptians - some armed with truncheons grabbed off the police - created a human chain at the museum's front gate to prevent looters from making off with any of the artefacts.

Zahi Hawass, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the would-be looters only managed to vandalise two mummies, ripping their heads off. They also cleared out the museum gift shop.

He said the museum's prized King Tutankhamun exhibit, which includes the boy pharaoh's gold death mask, had not been damaged and was safe.

However, the museum's contents could still be damaged by the potential collapse of a neighbouring building gutted by fire, Hawass said.

[A_Volpe]

it would seem horrifically ironic, that if Egypt's cultural-historical significance was damaged and destroyed by angry mobs, et cetera, to lead to a further collapse of the country's economy and standing, seeing as international tourism is obviously a major leg the country is standing on. And, I really hope the [bad, evil] people second-guess themselves for going down in History as the jerks who destroyed their own cultural heritage and history.

I do truly hope cooler heads prevail in Egypt, as well as the other countries recently going up in smoke. And not just for the sake of the historical stuff.

[Cheyenne]

He said the museum's prized King Tutankhamun exhibit, which includes the boy pharaoh's gold death mask, had not been damaged and was safe.

Aren't some of them in Manchester for that massively overpriced exhibition on tuts tomb?

[Epictetus]

It looks the museum didn't escape unscathed: Al Jazeera had images of damaged artefacts, some of which have been identified by Egyptologist Margaret Maitland.

[john roberts]

I was in the Cairo Museum a number of years ago, and for what it's worth, nobody is getting Tut's gold without high explosives and a lot of expertise (or friends inside). The Tut exhibit fills several rooms, but all the gold is in an armored room with massive, bank-vault doors at each end. I suspect those doors were closed and locked the minute the demonstrations started. I would be far more concerned about the less-protected exhibits. for the moment, though, it looks like the Cairenes are determined not to have a scene like that in the Baghdad Museum after the fall of Saddam.

[Robert Vermaat]

it would seem horrifically ironic, that if Egypt's cultural-historical significance was damaged and destroyed by angry mobs, et cetera, to lead to a further collapse of the country's economy and standing, seeing as international tourism is obviously a major leg the country is standing on.

Even more so, because in the past decade Egypt (with the indomitable Mr Hawass in front of the troops) has been screaming and threathening to get all their once-looted/sold ancient objects back... It would be very ironic if some of these objects were now lost..

[qcarr]

"Before the army arrived, young Egyptians - some armed with truncheons grabbed off the police - created a human chain at the museum's front gate to prevent looters from making off with any of the artefacts."


I heard this on the news and was very impressed that ordinary citizens were concerned enough about their national treasures (or actually WORLD treasures) to bodily protect them. Very hopeful, and I hope the unrest ends peacefully and soon!

[Nathan Ross]

"young Egyptians - some armed with truncheons grabbed off the police - created a human chain at the museum's front gate to prevent looters from making off with any of the artefacts."

Makes one wonder what the police themselves were doing in this scenario? ... unless they were the looters hock: