Museums on high alert for the spoils of ancient Egypt

Museums on high alert for the spoils of ancient Egypt

Egypt has been rocked by an unprecedented nine days of demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarak's 30 years of government, and fears are high for the invaluable heritage of the country after looters broke into the Egyptian Museum in Cairo last week .
Photo by: Khaled Desouki, Getty Images


international museums are on high alert for looted artifacts and Egyptian archaeologists have even offered to fly the country to help protect its ancient treasures, museums, said on Wednesday.

Egypt has been rocked by an unprecedented nine days of demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarak's 30 years of government, and fears are high for the invaluable heritage of the country after looters broke into the Egyptian Museum in Cairo last week .

The Phantom of the fall of Baghdad in 2003 looms large in the minds of Egyptologists, when thousands of ancient artifacts were stolen or destroyed by looters in the chaos after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

"The situation in the fall of Baghdad is the worst, but we believe it will happen because there is a movement to protect the antiquities," said Karen Exell, president of Egypt Exploration Society of Great Britain and curator of the library Egypt at the Manchester Museum.

Egyptologists have been encouraged by the reaction of ordinary Egyptians to chaos and anarchy.

In Cairo, hundreds of people formed a chain around the museum to protect it after looters broke into the museum on Friday and destroyed two Mummies, authorities said.

Western museums are urging vigilance.

"All who are friends of Egypt can help efforts to stop the looting of archaeological sites, museums and shops, focusing on the international antiquities trade," said London's Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology in a statement.

Exell said an international alert had gone to see the stolen items and offers of help. One had been placed in an Egyptologist global electronic bulletin board by a team of Spanish archaeologists, offering to help catalog artifacts.

Egypt is home to one of the greatest ancient civilizations of the world, which is also an important source of tourist income.

The British Museum, which houses one of the world's most important collections of Egyptian antiquities, including the famous Rosetta stone, called for greater protection of heritage.

"It's a matter of great concern that these irreplaceable items should be fully protected to ensure their safety and survival for future generations," said museum.

Many key works of ancient Egypt were allowed to leave the country in previous centuries and are stored in international museums. Some critics say this is because the authorities do not recognize their true value when they were discovered.

Exell said that this is not the case now.

"It was very encouraging that ordinary people are the protection of the sites closest to them, understand their value ... The people are very proud of their heritage."