A small stone statue of King Akhenaten's daughter (18th dynasty, 1352-1336 B.C.) was among the stolen artifacts. [Photograph by Alain Guilleux]
Posted on 08/25/2013 2:34:09 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Amid the deadly chaos that has erupted in Egypt, the country's cultural heritage took a hit last week when looters ransacked the archaeological museum in the town of Mallawi.
Located about 190 miles (300 kilometers) south of Cairo, the museum was opened in 1963 to showcase the finds from excavations at nearby sites.
"The museum contained irreplaceable artifacts, many not yet studied," says Salima Ikram, a professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo. "The looting leaves enormous gaps in our understanding of ancient Egyptian religious and funerary rites."
...According to local news reports, looters -- as yet unidentified -- broke into the museum while supporters of recently deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi were holding a sit-in protest in the museum's garden. From the 1,089 artifacts on exhibit, an estimated 1,050 were stolen.
After the looters had departed, gangs of what one source calls "local bad boys" entered the building and began to burn and smash what was left...
This incident is just the latest of countless attacks on Egypt's archaeological riches since the 2011 revolution...
To help warn dealers and collectors away from the Mallawi loot, Egyptologists are turning to social media to publicize the objects as quickly as possible. A group on Facebook called Egypt's Heritage Task Force is leading the effort.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
A small stone statue of King Akhenaten's daughter (18th dynasty, 1352-1336 B.C.) was among the stolen artifacts. [Photograph by Alain Guilleux]
Egyptian archaeologists demand countries mind their own business
Al-Ahram | 8-16-2013 | Nevine El-Aref
Posted on 08/16/2013 6:13:51 PM PDT by Renfield
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3055676/posts
Those jihadists , they're all about culture and learning aren't they. Hey, maybe 0bama can use NASA to teach everyone all about the contributions they made to space exploration. </s>
I am wary of this sort of story, after what occurred in that Iraqi museum. Portable artifacts with high monetary value are far more likely to have been stolen, and who has the easiest access to them?
It’s got a little of the cut down olive trees propaganda thing going on that’s always used by Palestinians to smear Israel, too.
Just to clarify, those proesting are in opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood being in control in Egypt, correct?
Islam means pieces.
This is why the West should NEVER return any of the loot it picked up in Africa, the Balkans, Middle East, West and East Asia, etc. You shouldn’t cast pearls before swine.
Yes, but there is considerable debate about how much was left to destroy by that point.
Numerous wars, insurrections, earthquakes, etc. over the centuries, and transfer of contents to Rome and Constantinople.
Also the early Christians of Alexandria were particularly feisty and reportedly did at least some damage to the pagan Library and Museum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria#Different_Theories_Regarding_Destruction_of_the_Library
Part of the reason it is contentious is that various groups want to blame other groups they dislike for the destruction of the Library.
Morsi supporters have threatened to destroy the Sphinx and Pyramids as well.
“The looting leaves enormous gaps in our understanding of ancient Egyptian religious and funerary rites.”
That subject has been studied to death...if you’ll pardon the pun.
Paging Neil Caffrey.
;’)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2904773/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2904876/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2905480/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2959634/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2959850/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3008418/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3039847/posts
bingo.
“supporters of recently deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi were holding a sit-in protest in the museum’s garden”
I stopped taking news reports at face value for good during the Clinton administration. Things are espevially not as they apoear for western consumption in the Middle East. Rational response would be to secure the facility and prevent such a protest in a garden on the actual grounds, unless sympathetic.
When this reportedly happened in Iraq, it made headlines as “Bush’s fault”. Obama seems to be clear of criticism even though his hands are all over the “arab spring”. He even gave a “mission accomplished” speech at the United Nations.
Thank you for the great links!
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![A small stone statue of King Akhenaten's daughter (18th dynasty, 1352-1336 B.C.) was among the stolen artifacts. [Photograph by Alain Guilleux]](http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/705/cache/egypt-mallawi-museum-looting-6_70589_600x450.jpg)
