Allt som symboliserar ordning, civilisation
och tolerans ska förgöras....
Egyptiska järnvägarna berättar om
noteringar om islamism, antisemitism och terrorism -- utgivare: Hans C Pettersson -- startad i maj 2005
Åter till plundringen av Egyptens forn-
minnen under anarkin den senaste månaden.
Det ser bekymmersamt ut sedan armén
börjat strunta i vakthållningen kring muséer
och utgrävningar. Istället hänvisar de till
de dåligt beväpnade och underbetalda
turistpoliserna. Grävningsplatser och
magasin över hela landet plundras nu
på nätterna av tungt beväpnade ligor.
**
Riksantikvarien och Arkeologiministern
Zahi Hawass har därför beslutat avgå.
På sin blogg avfyrar han en rejäl salva
mot regeringen, armén och ohederliga
kollegor, som säljer antikviteter till
“I am leaving because of three important
reasons. The first reason is that, during
the Revolution of January 25th the Egyptian
Army protected the antiquity sites.
And they protected
the last 10 days the Army left. Actually,
they have other tasks to do. Those who
are now in charge of the protection of
the antiquity sites are the Tourist Police.
But there is no Tourist Police to protect the
sites. Therefore, what happens? Egyptian
criminals, thieves (you know, in every
Revolution bad people always appear…),
began to destruct tombs.
They stole a tomb at
tomb of Hetepka) another tomb at
Abu Sir (the tomb of Ptahshepses),
another tomb at
a storage magazine at
opened all the storage magazines.
We don’t know how many artefacts
are missing. They opened 2 storage
magazines at
19th Dynasty, actually it is only one in
the Delta. It was destructed, at Ismailiya.
A store at El-Qantara-east has been
broken and they took antiquities. They
began to build houses, they began to
excavate at night, everywhere.
I had to write a report and to send it to the
Director of UNESCO. That’s why at the Egyptian
cabinet, yesterday, I had my speech and I said:
“I cannot stay in
being stolen, and I cannot do anything”.
This is not me! I have been always fighting to
return artefacts. I did fight Ahmed Ezz, the man
in the Parliament, who was the most powerful
man:
he wanted antiquities to be sold in
The second reason: crooks in the Antiquities
Department. There are two of them… They have
been accused of stealing antiquities. They have
been accused of doing illegal things, all the time…
Their files talk about this. A third person was a
professor at the University who stayed almost
6 years as Antiquities Director, and he never
did anything. As a corrupt man, he even signed
for a rich lady from an Arab country to take
manuscripts out of
These 3 people brought kids against me, to shout
that they need jobs. I cannot give a job to everyone…
They began to say in
antiquities.
How? How a man who gave his life to antiquities
can steal antiquities? Therefore, I found that if I
stay for six months from now in Antiquities, I will
never be able to protect antiquities and I’ll never
be able to work during this mess…
During all my life, I have been excavating,
discovering, writing books, giving lectures all over
the world.
Actually, I am responsible for bringing many tourists
to
at the same time, now I cannot do this! Therefore,
I decided to resign”.
***
Här är ytterligare en lista från dr Hawass
över plundrade och vandaliserade grävningar,
magasin och muséer. Och ett tillägg.
***
En alltför optimistisk artikel....?
**
Den schweiziske professorn Collombert
som var på plats i Saqqara berättar:
“Then I saw something incredible happen:
The looters rushed.
Hundred, two hundred young people from
10 to 15 years, from the villages of
of ten. Some were armed with pistols and
fired into the air to frighten the ghafirs (guards).
Taking advantage of the chaos, they hoped to
find treasures. “Wheeling shovels, picks and
baskets, they began to dig frantically
Each time they guess something under the
sand. “These are young people without education.
They believe they will find gold, jewelry, the
mask of Tutankhamun …
(översättning från franska: Google)
En brittisk tidning har en sällsyntHundreds 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.
“The
as well as the areas of Memphite Necropolis
south of the Pyramids. One can only imagine
what is happening at the sites in more
remote areas in
Discovery News.
Reports also are circulating about looters at
the Supreme Council of Antiquities’ storage
magazine in Qantara Sharq, as well as some
other magazines in
Indeed, Abusir and
to have suffered great damage.
“All the sealed tombs were entered last night.
Only the
central magazines are currently protected by
the military. Large gangs are digging day and
night everywhere,” Hanna said.