Egypt back in the tourist business: all ancient sites reopening tomorrow

by Sean McLachlan on

Egypt’s economy was hit pretty hard by the recent political upheaval. More than a million tourists fled the country and much of the nation’s industry ground to a halt.

Now things are getting back to some semblance of normalcy and Zahi Hawass, who’s still Egyptology’s top man despite the change in government, has announced all archaeological sites will reopen tomorrow.

Luxor and its famous temples started reopening earlier this week.

While Egypt is hoping to draw back the tourists to help shore up its economy, the political situation remains uncertain and the U.S. State Department issued an updated travel warning on Egypt yesterday reiterating that Americans should avoid all nonessential travel there. The embassy in Cairo is on a reduced staff and only an emergency staff is there at the moment. A curfew from midnight to 6am also remains in effect for everyone, Egyptians and foreigners alike.

So it’s your call. the Egyptians need a bit of help right now, but with the volatile situation it may be a good idea to wait and see how things develop before buying any plane tickets. In the meantime check out the video to see what is waiting for you by the Nile.

[Photo courtesy Karen Green]

Tutankhamun statue and other artifacts stolen from Egyptian Museum, Zahi Hawass reports

by Sean McLachlan on

The Head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass, has posted some sad news on his blog. During the recent political upheaval in Cairo the Egyptian Museum was broken into and some artifacts were stolen. We reported earlier that two mummies were damaged but nothing was stolen. Now that the museum staff have been able to do an inventory it appears that during that incident the intruders also took some artifacts.

The most famous is a gilded wood statue of Tutankhamun being carried by a goddess, shown here. Another Tutankhamun statue was damaged. Several other priceless artifacts are also missing. A complete list can be found here. Dr. Hawass writes that 70 artifacts were knocked over or damaged.

Dr. Hawass also reports a storeroom near the pyramid at Dashur was broken into. There were attempted break-ins at a few other museums as well. No word yet on any missing artifacts.

The Egyptian Museum is on Tahrir Square where the Cairo protests were centered. Dr. Hawass and museum employees have been sleeping in the museum to protect it. On several occasions during the past weeks many protesters made a human barrier to protect the building. Sadly, the thieves took advantage of the confusion on the street level to break in through the roof.

The BBC reports that previous reports of damaged mummies appear to be incorrect and were the result of confusion over a couple of skulls that had been taken from their cases. Also, a group of suspects have been arrested and are being questioned in relation to the break in. The museum remains closed for an indefinite period.

Treasures of ancient Egypt discovered at bank

by Sean McLachlan on

The Al-Ahly Bank has recently handed over two hundred ancient Egyptian artifacts that have been sitting in safety deposit boxes for a century.

The artifacts were collected by expats and visitors in Egypt and deposited in the bank in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were never recovered and sat untouched for years. The artifacts include Islamic coins and statues of Egyptian deities such as Hathor, pictured here.

Egypt has been fighting for the return of archaeological treasures taken by various countries in the past. Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, has spearheaded the fight and got an unexpected victory when the bank announced it had artifacts and was handing them over.

The artifacts are now being studied and will hopefully appear in one of Egypt’s museums sometime soon.

[Image courtesy user Néfermaât via Wikimedia Commons. This is an image of a Hathor statue from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and not one of the recovered artifacts]