Egypt: history doesn't repeat, but it certainly does rhyme
Remember the looting of the National Museum of Iraq during the first stage of the Gulf War? It took more than six years for that museum to reopen.
Something very similar almost happened to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The stories below detail the vandalism and attempted looting of the exhibits, as well as the successful looting of the gift shop as part of the ongoing unrest.
Archeology in Egypt was very lucky--this time. As for whether their luck will hold, we'll see.
Al-Masry Al-Youm (Egypt): Vandals ravage Egyptian Museum, break mummies
Louise Sarant
The Egyptian Museum overlooking Tahrir Square in Cairo’s city center was vandalized Friday night by nine convicts, who broke artifacts and attempted to steal two mummies.
Convicts were forced to leave the mummies behind when they broke into pieces as they carried the ancient artifacts towards the museum doors...
Glass display cases were broken, although the ancient Egyptian jewels inside were not taken. Statues were broken into pieces and sarcophagi were displaced.
The Eloquent Peasant on Blogspot: Statues of Tutankhamun damaged/stolen from the Egyptian Museum
January 29th, 2011 by Margaret
Devastating footage from Al Jazeera posted on Twitter and Flickr now shows significant damage and destruction in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Some of these images can be found at these sites. The footage appears to show wooden statues from the tomb of Tutankhamun with the gilded figure of the king ripped from the smashed bases.
Images of the damaged items at the link in the headline.
The National (United Arab Emirates): Germany rejects Egypt's demand to send Nefertiti home
David Crossland
Last Updated: Jan 27, 2011
BERLIN // Germany regards the exquisite painted bust of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti as one of its national treasures, and Egypt's dreams that she will return home one day - even on loan - are unlikely to come true.
The 3,350-year old artwork, discovered by German archaeologists in 1912, is the foremost piece in the city's recently rebuilt cultural showpiece, the Neues Museum, where she attracted 1.2 million visitors last year. She is to the German capital what the Mona Lisa is to Paris, only more so. Her startlingly timeless beauty and grace are appreciated all the more in this often grey city that still bears the scars of war.
So it came as no surprise that German officials swiftly and firmly rejected the latest demand on Monday by Zahi Hawass, the head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, that the bust be handed back. They denied his claim that a top German archaeologist had obtained Nefertiti by cheating Egyptian officials.
While we're on the subject of Egypt, here's a story not related to the current situation.
Agence France Presse via physorg.com: Great Pyramid has two secret chambers: French architect
A French architect campaigning for a new exploration of the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid of Giza said on Thursday that the edifice may contain two chambers housing funereal furniture.
Jean-Pierre Houdin -- who was rebuffed three years ago by Egypt in his appeal for a probe into how the Pyramid was built -- said 3-D simulation and data from a US egyptologist, Bob Brier, pointed to two secret chambers in the heart of the structure.
The rooms would have housed furniture for use in the afterlife by the pharaoh Khufu, also known as Cheops in Greek, he told a press conference.
"I am convinced there are antechambers in this pyramid. What I want is to find them," he said.
Above will be part of tonight's Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday on Daily Kos.
In other news, Al-Masry Al-Youm, Al-Jazeera, and Al-Arabiya look to be the hot sites and Facebook pages until things calm down. That might take a while.
Something very similar almost happened to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The stories below detail the vandalism and attempted looting of the exhibits, as well as the successful looting of the gift shop as part of the ongoing unrest.
Archeology in Egypt was very lucky--this time. As for whether their luck will hold, we'll see.
Al-Masry Al-Youm (Egypt): Vandals ravage Egyptian Museum, break mummies
Louise Sarant
The Egyptian Museum overlooking Tahrir Square in Cairo’s city center was vandalized Friday night by nine convicts, who broke artifacts and attempted to steal two mummies.
Convicts were forced to leave the mummies behind when they broke into pieces as they carried the ancient artifacts towards the museum doors...
Glass display cases were broken, although the ancient Egyptian jewels inside were not taken. Statues were broken into pieces and sarcophagi were displaced.
The Eloquent Peasant on Blogspot: Statues of Tutankhamun damaged/stolen from the Egyptian Museum
January 29th, 2011 by Margaret
Devastating footage from Al Jazeera posted on Twitter and Flickr now shows significant damage and destruction in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Some of these images can be found at these sites. The footage appears to show wooden statues from the tomb of Tutankhamun with the gilded figure of the king ripped from the smashed bases.
Images of the damaged items at the link in the headline.
The National (United Arab Emirates): Germany rejects Egypt's demand to send Nefertiti home
David Crossland
Last Updated: Jan 27, 2011
BERLIN // Germany regards the exquisite painted bust of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti as one of its national treasures, and Egypt's dreams that she will return home one day - even on loan - are unlikely to come true.
The 3,350-year old artwork, discovered by German archaeologists in 1912, is the foremost piece in the city's recently rebuilt cultural showpiece, the Neues Museum, where she attracted 1.2 million visitors last year. She is to the German capital what the Mona Lisa is to Paris, only more so. Her startlingly timeless beauty and grace are appreciated all the more in this often grey city that still bears the scars of war.
So it came as no surprise that German officials swiftly and firmly rejected the latest demand on Monday by Zahi Hawass, the head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, that the bust be handed back. They denied his claim that a top German archaeologist had obtained Nefertiti by cheating Egyptian officials.
While we're on the subject of Egypt, here's a story not related to the current situation.
Agence France Presse via physorg.com: Great Pyramid has two secret chambers: French architect
A French architect campaigning for a new exploration of the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid of Giza said on Thursday that the edifice may contain two chambers housing funereal furniture.
Jean-Pierre Houdin -- who was rebuffed three years ago by Egypt in his appeal for a probe into how the Pyramid was built -- said 3-D simulation and data from a US egyptologist, Bob Brier, pointed to two secret chambers in the heart of the structure.
The rooms would have housed furniture for use in the afterlife by the pharaoh Khufu, also known as Cheops in Greek, he told a press conference.
"I am convinced there are antechambers in this pyramid. What I want is to find them," he said.
Above will be part of tonight's Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday on Daily Kos.
In other news, Al-Masry Al-Youm, Al-Jazeera, and Al-Arabiya look to be the hot sites and Facebook pages until things calm down. That might take a while.