Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry struggles with smuggling
Egypt is taking new steps to protect its antiquities against theft in a battle that has been waged since tomb raiders plundered the resting places of pharaohs thousands of years ago.
CAIRO — Egypt recently recovered another cache of smuggled antiquities, bringing attention once again to the challenges of protecting the country's ancient artifacts. Earlier this month, customs officers at Sharjah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates confiscated 354 artifacts dating from different eras of ancient Egyptian and Islamic civilization and handed them over to the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.
The pieces are among thousands of antiquities that have been exported illegally from Egypt and put up for sale at global auction halls, including some reputable houses. Christie's New York auction house held an exhibition Oct. 25 to sell some 164 Egyptian artifacts, prompting Egyptian parliament member and TV host Mustafa Bakri to ask during his Oct. 27 show, Hakaek wa Asrar (Facts and Secrets), “Who is responsible for stealing and selling the Egyptian antiquities at international auctions?” He called for a campaign to recover such items.
Christie's has held other controversial auctions in the past. In December, numerous items were sold, including a bronze statue of the goddess Isis and her son Horus that fetched almost $1.4 million. The statue dated to 747-656 B.C. The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities tried but was unable to prevent the sale.
Nour Yahya, a tour guide and expert on Islamic monuments, told Al-Monitor, “The foreign passion for Egypt and the diversity of Egypt’s Pharaonic, Coptic and Islamic civilizations has been and continues to be two strong motives behind the desire to acquire [artifacts] of this period of time. Add to this that ancient mosques are not appropriately protected, which leads to repeated robberies worsened by a lack of cooperation" between the Ministry of Antiquities and the Ministry of Endowments.
