The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has commented on what was circulated through the various media outlets regarding the exposure of a number of Egyptian artifacts on the Museum Island in Berlin to vandalism.
Officials of the ministry contacted the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as soon as the information was received.
Khaled Galal, Egypt's ambassador to Germany, contacted the relevant authorities of the German government and various museum departments.
He also paid an inspection visit, accompanied by the managers of these museums, to find out the state of the Egyptian artifacts displayed in them.
The Egyptian artifacts are among the holdings of the German museums and are not part of a temporary Egyptian exhibition of antiquities held in Germany, as it was rumored. The ministry affirmed that there are no Egyptian antiquities exhibitions in Germany currently.
Examination and investigations revealed that an unknown person poured olive oil on 69 artifacts displayed in museums in Berlin, including 16 Egyptian pieces, excluding the head of Queen Nefertiti (c. 1370 – c. 1330 BC) or any other artifacts belonging to the Queen.
Galal expressed to the German authorities his concern about the possibility of a recurrence of such an incident and called for all necessary security measures to be taken to preserve the Egyptian antiquities as a civilized legacy for all humanity.
He stressed the importance of restoring the monuments that were affected by the accident. He also offered to the German side the participation of a group of Egyptian restorers in removing, cleaning and restoring Egyptian pieces from traces of oil and returning them to their previous state.
The German side thanked Egypt’s interest in following up the matter and its keenness to treat the vandalized pieces and restore them to their original state.
Contributed by Ahmed Moamar
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