Dr Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, has expressed anger at the outrage of looting and smashing of some of Egypt's most ancient and valuable antiquities in an apparent security lapse in Cairo on Friday. In an Al Jazeera news broadcast from within the shattered museum and amid broken artefacts, such as the gilded statuette of the boy king Tutankhamen riding on a panther, he thanked tourist police who had eventually secured the building and guarded it through the night.
Dr Hawass did not directly link the event to the sudden disappearance of police from Cairo's streets, but there was a crucial time lapse between the police being ordered to withdraw from the streets and the army taking over patrols, BBC Newsnight reported, 31 January 2011. Onlookers suggested that the police may have been withdrawn to encourage criminal activity to destabilise the relatively disciplined pro-democracy protests.
Looting for Jewels and Gold
On Friday about a thousand people went over the wall into the grounds of the Cairo Museum, Dr Hawass's newsfeed reported, and attacked and looted the souvenir items from the new shop and visitor facility. All the replica jewellery was taken, and there is evidence that some realised that these were fake and went looking for the originals. A handful continued into the museum itself but did not get far.
Others broke in through the glass roof, damaging two mummies, and proceeded to create mayhem among about seventy five small exhibits. After action taken by some tourist police and concerned citizens to guard the museum overnight, the army put heavy security in place. As late as Monday looters were still being arrested in the museum, their escape blocked by earlier curfews and armed snipers patrolling the area.
Anxiety for Alexandria, Port Said and Coptic Museums
Hawass said of Egypt's other antiquities sites, "I was receiving messages all night from my inspectors at Saqqara, Dahsur, and Mit Rahina." At Abusir, he said, he could not find anyone to protect the antiquities at the site. At Sinai, a large store containing antiquities from the Port Said Museum was plundered by a large group armed with guns. Dr Hawass expressed anxiety for security at the National Museum of Alexandria, Royal Jewellery Museum, El Manial Museum, and the Coptic Museum, but reportedly is assured that some employees had effective security in place.
While there is no suggestion that the weekend's looters had political motives, it is true that Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities has been greatly aided in recent decades by support from American institutions, and co-operation from American museums in returning stolen antiquities to Egypt. The damage shown on film suggests robbers who looted for easily melted down gold rather than knowledgeable thieves who might attempt to sell on to unscrupulous antiquities traders.
Dr Hawass cancelled his lecture in Manchester UK on Friday 4 February with over 1,500 ticket-holders being offered refunds. The Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, was due to hold a press conference on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at 11:00 am in the Cairo Museum to discuss the new evidence emerging from the study on the family of Tutankhamen conducted through the Egyptian Mummy Project. It is to be hoped that the mummies destroyed were not central to this evidence.
Valerie Williamson - Dr. Val Williamson is a freelance journalist and academic specialising in historical and popular culture topics.
