Egypt
I started this article in 2010 though it was forgotten in those days by the coming of the revolution. The article featured the plight of the museums staff who among other things I was wondering if they were happy in their jobs, paid well, and if differentiating opinion from the workers to the boss might be enough for them to loose their jobs.
The end of January 2011 brought the robbery of this national museum and the flaws in the museums security, presenting an image that the great museum for being more than 100 years old seems to have benefited little from its international standard. The revolution has been slower than anyone probably wanted with the result that the tourists have left, the traveling exhibitions have come home and the Cairo museum workers remain unpaid.
It sounds like the Cleopatra exhibition came home to Egypt from United states early because of a dispute of law which may have felt some of the pieces in that exhibition were too precious to leave Egypt in the first place. Hopefully the officials in partnership with international museums can put together another traveling exhibition that can be used to fund the Cairo museum,s staff, to pay their wages and provide the museum with all of its needs to function properly and secure.
Instead of filling a room, that few people visit, with stolen antiquities recovered from international schemes, perhaps the museum would be better served if that gallery's recovered material be sent on tour with life size images of stolen objects still missing. This in practicality would raise funds for the running of the museum while making familiar to millions of exhibition goers what the missing objects look like?
Hopefully the people of Egypt have turned a corner and are closer to the brighter future they have sacrificed for.
Photo: AP
- Tutankhamun's Last Leg?
Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref) Although Houston has fallen under the spell of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, it is widely thought that a large number of visitors could come to the exhibition because they think this might be the last chance to see Tutankhamun's...
- Ushabti Stolen During Revolution Returns
A well known ushabti from Egypt's XXVI Dynasty was among the stolen pieces taken from the Cairo Museum during the January revolution of 2011 and the robbery of the museum. The ushabti was broken during its theft and its lower half was left in the...
- Egyptian Museum Safe
There are rumours that the Cairo Museum has been looted again during the current unrest in Tahrir square. The museums Director Tarek El-Awady has said that the rumours are false and that the museum is open for business and has had 13, 000 visitors in...
- Five More Objects Returned To Cairo Museum
Five more objects stolen from the Cairo museum have been recovered including a bronze scepter head and four statuettes of gods. Four of the bronzes are in good condition however a bronze of an Apis bull was returned broken though the report says it can...
- The Rosetta Stone In The Cairo Museum
As the officials at the Cairo museum pick Yuya's heart scarab off the ground outside the museum the time to reflect on what has happened to the museum and to it's exhibits is here. Questionable press releases have come from Dr. Zahi Hawass'...
Egypt
The Cairo Museum
I started this article in 2010 though it was forgotten in those days by the coming of the revolution. The article featured the plight of the museums staff who among other things I was wondering if they were happy in their jobs, paid well, and if differentiating opinion from the workers to the boss might be enough for them to loose their jobs.
The end of January 2011 brought the robbery of this national museum and the flaws in the museums security, presenting an image that the great museum for being more than 100 years old seems to have benefited little from its international standard. The revolution has been slower than anyone probably wanted with the result that the tourists have left, the traveling exhibitions have come home and the Cairo museum workers remain unpaid.
It sounds like the Cleopatra exhibition came home to Egypt from United states early because of a dispute of law which may have felt some of the pieces in that exhibition were too precious to leave Egypt in the first place. Hopefully the officials in partnership with international museums can put together another traveling exhibition that can be used to fund the Cairo museum,s staff, to pay their wages and provide the museum with all of its needs to function properly and secure.
Instead of filling a room, that few people visit, with stolen antiquities recovered from international schemes, perhaps the museum would be better served if that gallery's recovered material be sent on tour with life size images of stolen objects still missing. This in practicality would raise funds for the running of the museum while making familiar to millions of exhibition goers what the missing objects look like?
Hopefully the people of Egypt have turned a corner and are closer to the brighter future they have sacrificed for.
Photo: AP
- Tutankhamun's Last Leg?
Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref) Although Houston has fallen under the spell of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, it is widely thought that a large number of visitors could come to the exhibition because they think this might be the last chance to see Tutankhamun's...
- Ushabti Stolen During Revolution Returns
A well known ushabti from Egypt's XXVI Dynasty was among the stolen pieces taken from the Cairo Museum during the January revolution of 2011 and the robbery of the museum. The ushabti was broken during its theft and its lower half was left in the...
- Egyptian Museum Safe
There are rumours that the Cairo Museum has been looted again during the current unrest in Tahrir square. The museums Director Tarek El-Awady has said that the rumours are false and that the museum is open for business and has had 13, 000 visitors in...
- Five More Objects Returned To Cairo Museum
Five more objects stolen from the Cairo museum have been recovered including a bronze scepter head and four statuettes of gods. Four of the bronzes are in good condition however a bronze of an Apis bull was returned broken though the report says it can...
- The Rosetta Stone In The Cairo Museum
As the officials at the Cairo museum pick Yuya's heart scarab off the ground outside the museum the time to reflect on what has happened to the museum and to it's exhibits is here. Questionable press releases have come from Dr. Zahi Hawass'...