In recent years,
we have been made aware of the widespread looting in war zones, especially in
Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. However, looting in other countries has not subsided
either, and Egypt is no exception.
The Egyptian
Ministry of Antiquities started with the good news that they were working on inventorying
some 5,000 artifacts from their Alexandria
seaside warehouses. Until now, countless antiquities were stored in
Egyptian warehouses, but the artifacts were never studied or documented. What a
shame! How on earth can they keep track of what they have and what is being
stolen or displaced?
[A fragment of an ancient Egyptian artifact is
displayed at the opening of the Repatriated Objects exhibition at the Egyptian Museum
in Cairo , Egypt , January 14, 2016. (photo by REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih)]
The problem is
familiar, for the Archaeological Museum of Cairo
started with the inspection and sorting of their basement not so long ago!
Incredible but true. Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities has revealed that
there are no less than 72 archaeological warehouses, 35 of which belong to a
museum, 20 are labeled as expedition warehouses, and another 17 are small
on-site warehouses spread all over the country. So far, only 14 of these
warehouses have been “inspected” – whatever that means.
It seems that a mere
fraction of Egypt’s antiquities made it to a museum; all the other treasures
resulting from decennia of excavations have simply been stored awaiting
registration and restoration. Some speak of hundreds of thousands of neglected
artifacts about which nothing is known and are making an easy target for
thieves. This means there is much more to see and learn from these artifacts
than in any museum. Who knows, some Alexander statue or cartouche may still be hidden
somewhere?
Of course, these
warehouses are guarded, but these people are unarmed, and often they cannot prevent theft. How authorities can still establish how many
artifacts are being stolen from different locations is quite remarkable. The
following is only a short list:
On September 12,
2013, 238 items were stolen from the Mit Rahina at Giza
On December 31,
2013, 96 small and rare antiquities disappeared from Aswan
On May 27, 2015,
three fake lanterns replaced the originals that were removed from Old
Cairo
On December 23,
2015, nine antiquities from the Pharaonic era disappeared from Buto
On February 11,
2016, 157 artifacts from the Saqqara era were stolen in Giza .
On April 30, 2016, a statue from the Middle
Kingdom was replaced by a fake one at Mit Rahina in Giza
Decent
security with modern means like camera surveillance must be implemented,
especially when you realize that some of these warehouses have never been
inspected. So it is no surprise to see treasures disappear to the black market.
It is no news that when artifacts are documented in international libraries, it
becomes much easier to recover them.
One of the main
problems, however, is the limited financial resources of the responsible
ministries, and the decline in tourism combined with the difficult economic
situation is not helping either.
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