The Malawi Museum in the Upper Egyptian city of Al-Minya is regaining its original appearance four months after it was looted. In a closed meeting Monday with the governor of Al-Minya, Minister of State of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim set the outline of the restoration plan for the museum. In mid-August the Malawi museum was looted following widespread unrest sparked by the ousting of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Looters who broke into the museum made off with 1050 artefacts and damaged its showcases, colossi and sarcophagi -- objects too difficult to remove from the museum. So far, 900 artefacts of the 1050 looted were recovered in the last four months, according to Ahmed Sharaf, head of the museum sector for the antiquities ministry. Some were handed over by honest local residents, others were dropped off at the museum gardens and a third group was recovered from abroad after being smuggled. Ibrahim told Ahram Online that the restoration plan is to remove marks from the museum's walls, floors and showcases through polishing, replace damaged tiles with new ones and renew showcases. The huge artefacts that were damaged are now under restoration as well as the recovered objects to return them to their original display in the museum. The restoration plan, Ibrahim said, will be carried out by the National Service Agency of the Army under the supervision of the Ministry of State of Antiquities while the Al-Minya governorate will provide the budget of three millions Egyptian pounds. Ibrahim promised that once the work starts, it will take six months to reopen the museum, which will help promote tourism in Upper Egypt. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/89276.aspx
