Ancient Egyptian artefacts come under the hammer despite Egyptian efforts to obtain their return. Nevine El-Aref reports Egyptian antiquities are once again for sale on the international auction scene. Last week in New York, 75 ancient Egyptian artefacts were on display at Christie's auction house and 32 others at Sotheby's. These include a collection of limestone statues, marble pots, sarcophagus lids, reliefs and torsos of the pharaohs Tuthmosis III and Amenhotep III. The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) contacted the Egyptian Embassy in New York in an attempt to postpone both auctions until it can be ascertained whether the 89 prices for sale had been stolen, and if they should be returned to Egypt. Both auction houses confirmed the legitimacy of the auctions, saying they would not sell any object of dubious origin. According to Christie's Web site, the auction house devotes considerable resources to investigating the origin of all objects offered for sale. A Sotheby's spokesman said its experts work hard to ascertain whether or not a piece should be auctioned. "It is a shame, but unfortunately, we can do nothing, unless we can prove possession and that [the pieces] were stolen and smuggled out of the country," commented Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the SCA. "We simply filed an official complaint with the Egyptian consulate in New York and warned all international museums against purchasing these objects," he continued He also explained that before law No 117 of 1983 came into effect, which prohibits the trade of Egyptian antiquities other than pieces already in private collections at that time, the buying and selling of antiquities was a legal activity. This means most of the pieces now on display in auction houses in Europe and US had been legally shipped out of Egypt. Six months ago, Egyptian authorities successfully prevented the sale of a limestone relief by Christie's, which had been taken from a wall of the Behbeit Al-Heggara temple in the Nile Delta. Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, head of antiquities for southern Egypt, told Al-Ahram Weekly, that officials are now searching all SCA records and documents in order to determine if the SCA does, in fact, own these objects. "If we determine our possession, even after they have been sold, Egypt has the legal right to retrieve these objects from their collectors," he asserted. Abdel-Maqsoud wonders why the UN Security Council failed to issue a decree condemning the illegal looting and trading of antiquities from Third World countries, similar to the decree issued a month ago with regard to antiquities of Iraq. He added that, in order to protect Egypt's heritage, a data base of all Egyptian artefacts, whether currently on exhibition in museums or in storage, is being compiled. This will act as an identification card for every artefact, as well as providing an overall view of the extent of the collection. "This project will be completed with the next four years and we expect to cooperate with all archaeological institutes and missions in Egypt. These will provide comprehensive data and information about excavations and restoration work as well as the objects which have been unearthed," Maqsoud said.
