UPDATED WITH MORE PICTURES- This is pretty impressive and is one of the only good stories I’ve seen so far come out of Egypt. I had read earlier that the Egyptian National Museum in Cairo had been broken into by rioters and looters. This deeply saddened me because I am a huge history nut and have always been fascinated by ancient Egyptian history. Then, I saw that a human chain had developed to protect the museum from the riot and further looting. I’ve got to say, this is pretty cool. I’m glad some people realized how valuable these artifacts are and are taking steps to protect them so they will be here for future generations. For pictures showing the damage to the museum caused by the looters, click here.
UPDATE- I found a site called The Eloquent Peasant, that explains what some of the artifacts are that have been destroyed by the looters. Here are some pictures from the site;
Statue of King Tut on Papyrus Skiff
King Tut atop a Panther
It’s so sad that these historical treasures have been destroyed like this. Hopefully some good can come out of what’s happening in Egypt.
UPDATE 2 It now seems that in addition to the Museum in Cairo being looted, a warehouse full of antiquities near the city of Ismailia has also been broken into. From Reuters,
A worker at the warehouse said the looters had said they were searching for gold. The worker told them there was no gold but they continued to pillage the storehouse, smashing some items and taking others.
An archaeologist said warehouses near the pyramids of Saqqara and Abu Sir were also looted.
Sad…
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