Egyptian protesters today at headquarters of Supreme Council of Antiquities
Photo on Twitter by Gigi Ibrahim
By the end of the day, we may know more about how much of the following information on Twitter is fact and how much is rumor and speculation. There has been no further posting today, at this writing, on the website of Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities, who was promoted to that position in the waning days of the Mubarak Administration from his long-time post as head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).
Francesca Cicardi, a freelance journalist in Cairo, and Nora Shalaby, a Tahrir Square protester who was interviewed by the BBC and who identifies herself as an archaeologist, have each posted several tweets about a protest in front of the SCA’s headquarters, where Hawass was believed to be located.
From Cicardi, beginning at about 4 a.m. and ending at about 6 a.m., New York time:
—Protest
at the Supreme Council of Antiquities: I think Zahi will be the next to
fall, despite his good and international reputation.
—Around 200 protesting at Supreme Council Antiquities: The building is closed. Zahi inside??—Zahi IS inside! People want him to come out…young archaeologists asking for job with their CVs!
—People saying that if he doesn’t show up in 1 hour they will break into the SCA building.
From Shalaby, all in rapid succession at about 9 a.m., New York time:
—Army just arrived at SCA.
—Army probably here to get Zahi Hawass out safely from bldg.—Archaeologists demanding proper wages, contracts and end of corruption, end of Zahi
I can’t vouch for the reliability of these eyewitness accounts and interpretations, but we’ll surely be hearing more soon if there’s anything to them.
[UPDATE: The Associated Press now has posted a report on the protest, with photos (in upper right corner). It states, “Whether Hawass, entrusted with preserving Egypt’s museums and monuments, will go the way of Mubarak and resign is uncertain.”]
This demonstration could merely be a part of what the NY Times describes (in an article just posted online) as “a fresh wave of smaller demonstrations by state employees, including
ambulance drivers, journalists, police officers and transport workers,
demanding better pay and working conditions.”
Or it could be part of regime change.
In other Egyptian antiquities news: CNN reports that two of the 18 objects missing from the Egyptian Museum have now been found. I’ve posted some of my musings on the antiquities crisis on today’s HuffPost Arts.