[CPProt.net] Egypt: Arrests in 'museum curse' case

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Arrests in 'museum curse' case
The three Ancient Egyptian limestone statuettes which disappeared three
weeks ago from the basement of the Egyptian Museum have been recovered in an
undercover operation, reports Nevine El-Aref 

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It seemed that the Egyptian Museum's basement had been afflicted with the
Pharaohs' curse. Three weeks ago, when the Giza archaeological inspectors
asked for the return of 14 objects placed on loan with the museum last April
to celebrate World Heritage Day, curators realised that three of the pieces
had vanished. In an attempt to find the missing objects up to 40 inspectors
have been exploring the museum's basement, sorting through the
overwhelmingly large collection of stored artefacts, but with no luck. That
was until early this week, when the Tourism and Antiquities Police (TAP)
arrested two men who were trying to sell the objects to a policeman working
undercover as an antiquities trader. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni has
called for an investigation into the theft.

The three statuettes date back to the Old Kingdom era. They are a headless,
seated limestone figure of the commander of the royal guard; a seated pair
statuette of the director of artisans, Neferref-Nessu, and his wife, who
wears a colourful collar; and a burnt clay Osirian statuette.

Major-General Abdel-Hafiz Abdel-Karim, director of TAP, told Al-Ahram Weekly
that the two men belonged to a team of workmen engaged in the restoration of
the basement. The duo concealed the statuettes in cement bags and removed
them from the museum with rubble they were clearing during restoration. 

The men were able to escape with the objects as they were not subject to
routine security checks. They hid them in a house overlooking a canal in
Ayatt, Giza, and tried to sell them by showing photographs to antiquities
traders. Abdel-Karim said that TAP were tipped off and sent an undercover
agent who offered LE500,000 for the statuettes. The pair were arrested as
they handed them over.

They are expected to be sentenced from 10 to 15 years hard labour. The
statuettes have been confiscated until a verdict is handed down. 

These are not the first objects to disappear from the museum basement. Last
year a sandstone relief of the Nile god Hapi was misplaced, but was found
after a thorough search which lasted two weeks. Also last year, 38 gold
bracelets from the Roman period vanished. The gold bracelets, found in 1905
in the area of Kom Abu Bello in the Delta governorate of Beheira, are
snaked-shaped and decorated with precious stones.

Last week there were press reports that a limestone statuette of the
Fourth-Dynasty ruler Khafre had been dropped and broken in two pieces while
being moved from display. Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme
Council of Antiquities (SCA), denied the incident and issued a press
release. "The statue in question does not belong to King Khafre, but is an
unidentified royal statuette discovered by myself in 1988 to the west of
Khafre's pyramid. It has been safely stored in the museum basement since its
discovery," it said.

What really happened, Hawass said in the press release, was that the
shoulders of the bronze statue of King Merenre came off his body in the
hands of a curator. The statue was immediately restored in the museum
laboratory. The statue was discovered in very poor condition in 1897 in the
torso of a larger one belonging to the king's father, Pepi I of the Sixth
Dynasty. As it was made of beaten copper sheets assembled with nails, the
statue had been subjected to much restoration, the last in 1996 by a German
team.

However there is no disputing the need to find a solution to the problems
besetting the Egyptian Museum. At a press conference held at the museum last
Saturday, Hawass announced that the disappearance of the three statuettes
was due largely to a security loophole. From now on all museum staff will be
searched on leaving, following the practice in other international museums.
He also promised to make an ID profile for each object in the museum so that
transfer from one hall to another could be followed. 

Hawass praised the work underway to upgrade the storage facilities in the
basement. He said that within a month a training course for curators would
be held under the supervision of UNESCO in an attempt to upgrade their
skills and raise their awareness of new methodology.

Wafaa El-Sediq, director of the Egyptian Museum, described the task of
clearing the maze of corridors in the basement as a "mission impossible". 

"We not only have to deal with sand and dust, but also with insects
consuming the organic remains," she said. The team exploring the basement
have uncovered painted sarcophagi, huge statues of Pharaohs and deities,
mummies and other remains. 

Hawass described the incident with the Merenre statue as a "normal issue"
that happens every day in any museum around the world. "It is part of the
museum's routine work," he said. 

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/