While Egypt celebrates the ousting of its unpopular President Mubarak archaeologists are taking stock of the revolutions unsung victims- the priceless antiquities that were destroyed, damaged, or stolen during the protests.
While many Egyptians flooded the streets in peaceful protest others saw the upheaval as their chance to loot the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, along with several other archaeological warehouses located just outside the city. Because of the sheer amount on antiquities that are found in Egypt on a daily basis many finds are kept in storage facilities at the ongoing archaeological sites where they are found. These seemed to be targeted by the looters.
When the protests started only the Imhotep Museum and the sites immediately surrounding it were put under military protection. A former director of the Egyptian Museum has stated that he believes the looting done in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo was done by underpaid security guards at the cultural center.
Among the stolen and damaged artifacts are several pieces from the tomb of King Tut. One badly damaged item is a statuette of the young Pharaoh standing on top of a leopard. While many of King Tut’s possessions seemed to be targeted looters left iconic items, such as his gold headdress and bevy of chariots, untouched. CNN falsely reported that the headdress had been stolen shortly after the robbery was discovered.
The thieves entered the museum through the gift shop, stealing many pieces of gold jewelry. Several mummies were decapitated by the looters. The museum is currently trying to decipher which heads belong to which bodies. Click here to learn more about the Curse of the Pharaohs, said to strike anyone who disturbs a mummy.
Three stolen items were found on the grounds of the museum this past week but several more are missing and the storage rooms that were looted contained hundreds of priceless treasures. Egyptian officials have asked the world to be on high alert for ancient artifacts that are being or have been smuggled out of Egypt. Five of the items taken from the Egyptian Museum are registered on the International Museum Registry and should be hard for the thieves to sell, it is unclear how well documented the items stolen from other looted sites are.
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