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Posted on 01/29/2011 12:23:53 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
...Then dozens of would-be thieves started entering the grounds surrounding the museum, climbing over the metal fence or jumping inside from trees lining the sidewalk outside.
One man pleaded with people outside the museum's gates on Tahrir Square not to loot the building, shouting at the crowd: "We are not like Baghdad." After the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, thieves carted off thousands of artifacts from the National Museum in Baghdad — only a fraction of which have been recovered.
Suddenly other young men — some armed with truncheons taken from the police — formed a human chain outside the main entrance in an attempt to protect the collection inside.
"I'm standing here to defend and to protect our national treasure," said one of the men, Farid Saad, a 40-year-old engineer.
Another man, 26-year-old Ahmed Ibrahim, said it was important to guard the museum because it "has 5,000 years of our history. If they steal it, we'll never find it again."
Finally, four armored vehicles took up posts outside the massive coral-colored building in downtown Cairo. ....
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
Darn, eBay was about to be barraged with stuff from there.. I always wanted an obelisk but would settle for a lion or a sphinx. mummies smell the place up.
Not yet anyways.
Great place to spend days if you’re into hugh museums .. I spent a good portion of a day there.
It would be a real shame and a true crime against humanity in a sense were the antiquities to be looted and black marketed, never to be seen again.
—
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo
http://www.akhet.co.uk/cairo.htm
I thought I read that this was just one of the "smear Bush" lies.
Watching ping.
I thought so, too. Would swear we heard that when it was truly evaluated that, “Not as much was taken as feared and most of that has been recovered.”
.
I believe tourism is the main industry of Egypt.
My understanding was the museums in Baghdad were “cleaned out.” By the curators, to protect the stuff from looters. Not much, if anything, is missing.
Then they better keep a lid on this stuff.
UPDATE:
For the second time in the 21st Century, looters have struck at a great museum, vandalizing antiquities that comprise the common heritage of us all.
Al Jazeera just broadcast heartbreaking images of the vandalism at the Cairo Museum, with priceless historical relics lying smashed beneath the shattered glass of their display cases.
Among the artifacts smashed we were able to identify some of the furniture recovered from the tomb of Tutankhamen as well as a large number of ushabti funerary figurines.
Earlier reports had noted that citizens had formed a protective barricade around the museum, but it’s now obvious that some looters did manage to enter.....
http://richardbrenneman.wordpress.com/2011/01/29/another-great-tragedy-cairo-museum-looted/
It is. Anazing how the media reporting persists even after it is comprehensively disproved.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2003/jun/10/art.highereducation
The staff were all appointed by the Baath Party, had plenty of incentive to lie about Americans, and it is highly suspected those items that were looted were done mostly as an inside job.
The Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t give a damn about any history that pre-dates Mohammed. Many of the radicals (and that’s most or close to most) in the Islamic movement would destroy any artifacts that don’t glorify Islam. Look at how the Taliban destroyed the Buddha statues in Afghanistan. These people are anti-civilization and those in the West had better start realizing what we are up against.
Egyptians have been stealing stuff buried with Pharaohs for 3500 years!!! Must be a record!!
News UPDATE:
[excerpt] Banks, junctions and important buildings previously guarded by the police and state security were left abandoned on Saturday and civilians have quickly stepped in to fill the void.
“There is no police to be found anywhere,” said Ghadeer, 23, from an upscale neighbourhood. “Doormen and young boys from their neighbourhoods are standing outside holding sticks, razors and other weapons to prevent people from coming in.”
She added: “The community is working together to stop this and protect ourselves.”
Police withdrew from the streets when the army was sent in to take over security in Cairo. Witnesses have since seen mobs storming supermarkets, commercial centres, banks, private property and government buildings in Cairo and elsewhere.
Egyptians have called for army intervention to bring back law and order. On Saturday, many protesters changed: “No to plundering and no to destruction.”
Dozens of shops across Egypt have painted display windows white to hide contents and discourage looting. A cash machine was broken in an upscale neighbourhood, witnesses said.
“They are letting Egypt burn to the ground,” said Inas Shafik, 35.
Several government buildings were set ablaze during days of protests against President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. They were often left to burn without the intervention of authoritie [end excerpt]
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/29/us-egypt-vigilante-trib-idUSTRE70S3AZ20110129
This actually turned out to be false. The curators of the National Museum, not being as stupid as the average media skank, took pains to secure the vast majority of pieces in subterranean vaults and safe havens. National Geographic Channel had a major program on this process before the invasion occurred.
That's good. True civics in action.
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