Whatever Happened to Egyptian Antiquities?

Ms. Sarah Marai wrote to me exactly 10 days ago with a detailed account of what has been happening in regards to the looting and theft of Egyptian Antiquities. Sarah Marai is an antiquities inspector in Ministry of Antiquities based in Giza. Working in stolen storages. Here is her report:

Antiquities have been badly hit since the beginning of the revolution and sadly did not receive much media coverage. I've been working for the past month writing articles and spreading the message. Not enough awareness had been raised let alone methods to protect them. 

As you will find on Dr. Zahi's website many site storages were looted and some tombs had the wall reliefs hacked out in Abu Sir. In Ismailia the only example of a 19th Dynasty tomb in the Delta was reduced to dust by a bulldozer trying to loot at night. 

There are three main attacks on antiquities:

1- Looting storages and sites

2- Illegal excavations on sites

3- Illegal building on antiquity sites

The looting was really bad at first escalating into large numbers of armed attackers. Two guards were shot in Kafr El Sheikh protecting the main storage facility when attacked by 40 armed men. But recently this type of looting has almost stopped (Aside from an armed attack yesterday in Luxor on the storage of the German expedition. 

Two statues were stolen and found this morning with the looters arrested). Problem is as I said in twitter is that site guards (el ghaffar) are unarmed and unwilling to stand and guard against armed looters and police are terrified and generally remaining hiding within offices. I'm worried this might lead to an escalation again in armed attacks. 

The illegal excavation is catastrophic. Not only are they permanently damaging the sites but whatever objects they find we can never track. This took place in great concentration in the site of Abydos in Upper Egypt, an unimaginably significant and rich site in the history of ancient Egypt. 

Finally some people are taking the opportunity to build whatever structures they want wherever. Many places had large portions of land appropriated for the Supreme Council of Antiquities and they are now being damaged and taken by force by these illegal constructions. A massive 3 year project in Luxor to re-link the avenue of rams from the Luxor temple to the Karnak temple has been built over. 

This is a summary of the situation at the moment. 

We are largely being ignored by the army. The police exist on some sites but in very small numbers. The media does not find this to be headline news. 

We need to call for the army to closely monitor all exits from Egypt (airports, ports and borders) to make sure objects do not leave the country. 

We need protection from whomever and wherever on the sites fast. 

Also I want to make it clear to everyone. If you are being sold an object that is supposedly an original check for any numbers written onto the object. As Egyptologists we immediately give an object a number when we first find it. Then its given more numbers as it enters storages and museums. Numbers may be in pencil or pen in any colour.