Smuggling Egyptian Antiques between Auctions, State Efforts

By Ali Abo Dashish and Nawal Sayed

CAIRO, Feb. 17 (SEE) - The whole world is fascinated by the vagueness of ancient Egyptian civilization, to the extent that every person in the world wants to own a piece of it. The Egyptian antiquities are characterized by mystery and magic as well as the secrets written in the papyrus that spread widely throughout the world.

The world museums were filled with the treasures of the Pharaonic civilization and the Pharaonic obelisks decorated the greatest squares worldwide. The passion for Egyptian antiques is due to the spread of The Description of Egypt book in Europe.

Theft of the Egyptian antiquities is as old as the antiques. We have many texts that indicate the theft of tombs in the time of the pharaohs and the raid on the royal tombs to loot precious pieces, perhaps the most important of which is the attempt to steal the golden tomb of Tutankhamun.

Thieves entered the tomb of the young king but were caught by royal guards.

In Nov. 1922, archeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb.

The Museum of Berlin embraces the Nefertiti statue and the British Museum embraces the Rosetta stone and other treasures that mimic how the Pharaohs excelled in making the greatest civilizations of the earth.

Egyptian archaeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass said the antiquities were officially sold and bonded until the 1970s.

"What's happening to the Egyptian Antiques motivates us to restore them," Hawass said.

The Egyptian Antiques existing abroad were illegally whether by giving them by Egyptian rulers before passing the antiquities' law or so-called missions' quotas.

In the past, discovering missions were allowed to share what they found with Egypt.

The problem is that some antiquities were officially sold until the 1970s, according to Hawass.

"I found out that the Banque du Caire, which is located before the Egyptian Museum, was called the sales hall. We sold the antiquities there and there are bonds for the sale of antiquities bought from an Egyptian dealer for LE2," Hawass revealed.

The Egyptian law states that whoever steals an antique, registered by the concerned authorities or found after digging in some places, should be sentenced to life imprisonment and be fined with not less than one million Egyptian pounds.

Auction Archeology

People who own antiques that are called "private collections" exploit them and display them in galleries and shops to sell them, as well as international museums that have Egyptian antiquities.

The UNESCO Convention of 1970 prohibits the illegal import, export and transfer of cultural property and it's one of the most important international conventions.

Some of the gaps that are exploited in the process of auctions and ownership of special collections, there are countries holding auctions of artifacts that were not registered in the convention or may have been smuggled before the issuance of that agreement.

In other words, calling for restoring such antiques is not eligible. Thus, the UNESCO was demanded to amend some of the terms of the agreement to include property that were smuggled before 1970.

State Efforts to Stop Auctions, Restore Antiques

The Ministry of Antiquities has taken some steps to stop the auctions. It tracks these auctions and artifacts and compares them to the missing pieces. If it is proved that these pieces were lost, the auction houses are then asked to claim them by proof of ownership.

If Egypt is unable to prove its ownership of the antiques, if it leaves the country by illegal excavation or theft, the auction houses are required to submit the ownership documents as the country of origin, and not only; Nefertiti, which is exhibited at the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, the statue of Ham Iuno, which is exhibited at the Hildesheim Museum in Germany, the Rosetta Stone displayed in the British Museum, and many other pieces.

In recent years, the Ministry of Antiquities has been able to recover a number of artifacts smuggled abroad through diplomatic efforts in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Egyptian embassies abroad.

The ministry also is trying to retrieve the pieces displayed in international museums and comes on the list of priorities, the statue of the head of Queen Nefertiti, which is displayed in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, and the statue of Ham Iono, which is displayed at the Hildesheim Museum in Germany and the Rosetta Stone displayed in the British Museum.

In recent years, the Ministry of Antiquities has been able to restore a number of artifacts smuggled abroad through diplomatic efforts in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Egyptian embassies abroad.