En brittisk tidning har en sällsyntögonvittnesberättelse från det stora
arkeologiska området omkring Saqqara,
Memphis och Abusir ett par mil söder
om Kairo. Det tycks vara hårdast drabbat
av plundring och förstörelse.
**
Vakter och turistpoliser flydde från området
i fredags och lämnade över till plundrarna.
Först igår tycks armén ha återtagit
kontrollen. Arkeologer och vakter försöker
nu inventera vad som försvunnit och för-
störts:
Hundreds of thieves yesterday swarmed like
locusts over a revered site in the shadow of
the pyramids - taking advantage of the chaos
to ransack the House of the
The raid came after mummy skulls were stolen
from
Museum
worker said: "It started when a villager came
down from pyramids shouting,
'I've found treasure - I'm rich!'
**
"Within hours thieves were swarming over the
site, digging and smashing their way into tombs
with picks and shovels.
"There was nothing we could do to stop them."
The worker went on:
It was worst at the sites below the pyramids
marking the tombs of the pharaohs Neferefre
and Sahure, which are among the oldest in
The bandits were smashing their way into the
rooms known as 'magazines' where the
treasures are stored.
**
They find most rooms empty but have been
smashing and tossing priceless stones covered
in ancient script over their shoulders as they
work. Some are taking away irreplaceable items,
fragments and relics.
The scale of the devastation is vast - virtually
everything here has been damaged and stripped.
It's happening at sites all over the country.
treasure its history - and Mubarak and his
men are watching it happen.
**
The gangs fired shots at the handful of site
staff who begged them to stop. Stone carvings
and fragments of ancient friezes and statues
are among spoils loaded into a steady stream
of trucks.
Yesterday army units finally arrived - firing
warning shots to scatter looters. But thugs
quickly reformed into organised gangs and
were soon knee-deep in tombs, trying to
smash their way into long-protected
underground chambers.
**
Archaeologists inspecting the desecration in Abusir fought back tears last night as
they said the cost was "impossible to
calculate".
The scenes of destruction were mirrored
a few miles south on the ancient site at
at Quantara.
Three thousand stored Roman and Byzantine
artefacts were pillaged - and others smashed.
****
Läs också
Islamister plundrar och förstör Egyptens kulturarv
*
Turisterna i Egypten borde evakuerats - igår !
*****
Se också de ständiga uppdateringarna på
Egyptology News