UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova has been on a tour of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square as part of her official visit to Egypt, Nevine El-Aref reports Bokova has been showing UNESCO's support for the Egyptian revolution and giving her assurance that the international body would back the integrity of the nation's archaeological treasures after the thuggery and vandalism in the lawless days of the uprising. Guided by Tarek El-Awadi, director-general of the Egyptian Museum, Bokova visited the golden treasure galleries, the mummy mausoleum and the showcases displaying the artefacts that were reported missing and have since been recovered. El-Awadi told Al-Ahram Weekly that Bokova had expressed her satisfaction with what she had seen and with the restoration work that had been carried out on those objects that had been damaged. She said that the Egyptian Museum was "safe and sound", and said she was very pleased that 34 of the 54 objects that went missing had been retrieved. She promised that UNESCO would help Egypt recover all its missing items, not only those from the museum but also those stolen from other archaeological sites. Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, supervisor of the office of the minister of state for antiquities, told the Weekly that Bokova promised that UNESCO would leave no stone unturned when it came to protecting Egypt's heritage. Bokova was concerned that Egyptian archaeology was in the midst of the chaos during the revolution, when thieves and smugglers considered it a chance to steal priceless objects for the illegal market. She praised the actions of young Egyptian protesters who formed human shields to protect the Egyptian Museum and the Bibilotheca Alexandrina. Bokova also gave thanks to the international community for cooperating to rescue the monuments of Nubia after the building of the Aswan High Dam 40 years ago. It was this cooperation that in 1972 led to UNESCO's promulgation of the World Heritage Convention.
