Kate Taylor reports the following at the NY Times Art Beat blog.
Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s powerful and controversial antiquities chief, resigned on Thursday along with the prime minister, after posting on his Web site for the first time a list of dozens of sites that have been looted since the beginning of the uprising that led to the fall of President Hosni Mubarak.“The world cannot sit by and permit unchecked anarchy to jeopardize the cultural heritage of one
Among the places Mr. Hawass named as having been looted were the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s storerooms at its excavation site in Dahshur, south of Cairo. In a statement the Met’s director, Thomas P. Campbell, described that incident as having taken place several weeks ago. Mr. Campbell expressed alarm about continuing looting, calling it “a grave and tragic emergency.” In a statement, which was issued before Mr. Hawass’s resignation was confirmed, he said:
of the world’s oldest, greatest and most inspiring civilizations. We echo the voices of all concerned
citizens of the globe in imploring Egypt’s new government authorities, in building the nation’s future,
to protect its precious past. Action needs to be taken immediately.”
Dr. Hawass' blog
5 comments:
I should mention that the Museum in Cairo and a number of other sites have now reopened to the public. The thing that upsets me most about the break-ins is the destruction. It wasn't a matter of stealing so much as it was vandalism. If Mubarek forces were really behind it in order to rally support for his shaky position, he should answer for it. It's a crime!
Debi,
While these things are definitely disturbing and a crime, we have to remember that God is in control, and it's all going to burn up in the end anyway. I sometimes find myself thinking about old cultures with a bit of wistfulness until I remember how God has used nation against nation to work out His purposes. Because He is in control of all nations, He is obviously allowing this looting for His own glory. I don't disagree that it's a crime, but let's not forget to look at the big GOD picture. I know you know this already, but I couldn't resist responding!
-Susan
We don't want to elevate anything to a status of worship, but we should appreciate them for what they can tell us. There is a general dearth of understanding of ancient history & culture in modern times, which in turn has a negative effect upon how we understand the culture within which the Bible was written. To wantonly destroy artifacts in order to affect public opinion in an attempt to bolster your crumbling political position is heinous, if true. (Some of the looters are reported to have had secret police ids on them... whether or not that's true remains to be seen.) For an American, it might be helpful to imagine a US President sending out thugs to destroy the Declaration of Independence or the flag that inspired Frances Scott Key to write "The Star Spangled Banner". Yes, those things will be consumed eventually, but wantonly destroying them for personal gain would be a blow to our understanding of our own civilization & culture.
As a follow-up to this story...
"Zahi Hawass, chief of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, announced that he had been re-appointed as Minster of Antiquities following a meeting with Prime Minister Essam Sharaf on Wednesday (March 30)." I guess we'll be seeing his familiar face for a while longer.
Latest update: I just read Dr. Hawass was removed from his position & archaeological oversight has been completely restructured. It's no longer a cabinet level position. I'll post something later with the details.
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