CAIRO — On July 2, Gharib Sunbul, head of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities' central administration for maintenance and restoration, announced that a massive inventory of 5,000 artifacts would soon be completed at Alexandria's seaside warehouses. He said that a team of specialists are studying, documenting and carefully repackaging the items as well as planning for any needed restoration.

The plan is part of the campaign announced by the ministry June 23 to document and protect the artifacts found in its archeological warehouses and to protect Egypt’s archaeological treasures against theft.

Mustafa Amin, the secretary-general of the ministry’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, told the local Al-Ahram newspaper Jan. 18 that there are 72 archaeological warehouses in Egypt. Of them, 35 are museum warehouses, 20 are expedition warehouses and 17 are smaller on-site warehouses spread across Egypt’s governorates. Only 14 warehouses out of 72 have ever been inspected.

The ministry’s inspections include creating an inventory of all the artifacts in these warehouses, in order to facilitate the recovery process in case of theft.