Quarzite Head of an Amarna Princess, 7 cm. high, missing from Egyptian Museum
Photo from list published by Supreme Council on Antiquities
It’s about time!
The website of Egypt’s Supreme Council on Antiquities (which still lists Zahi Hawass as its “secretary general”) has now posted a link to what it says is the final list, with (mostly grainy) photographs, of 54 objects missing from the Egyptian Museum, which was looted on Jan. 28, during the people’s uprising in Tahrir Square.
Until now, the only other authoritative illustrated list was the much shorter one compiled, from the fragmentary information available, by the Penn Cultural Heritage Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Penn’s list included photos of three possible candidates for the missing Amarna princess, now blurrily documented in the photo above.
After a week-long hiatus, Hawass has posted an entry today on his website, linking to the SCA’s list and expressing his regret for being unable to attend the international conference in Paris celebrating (a little late) the 40th anniversary of the 1970 UNESCO Convention against illicit trafficking of cultural property. Hawass had been scheduled to speak today at that conference.
In other recent developments, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm describes the allegations against Hawass made to Egyptian prosecutors by Abdel Rahman al-Aidy, chairman of the Central Administration of Middle Egypt Antiquities, and Nour Eddin Abd al-Samad, director general of the Department of Archaeological Sites. The account also quotes Hawass’ response to those allegations.
Nevine El-Aref of the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reports that Tarek El-Awadi, the director of the Egyptian Museum, has called for the land occupied by the National Democratic Party’s (NDP) building to be turned over to his institution for possible use as an open-air museum or as the site for a building to house gold Tutankhamun objects. The NDP building, adjacent to the museum, famously and frighteningly caught fire during the Egyptian uprising and may now be demolished. The museum is adjacent to that property, which “originally belonged to the Egyptian Museum,” El-Awadi stated.