The appetite for Egyptian antiquities is undiminished, and so long as there is a demand, illegal excavations and the smuggling of antiquities will continue. Unscrupulous connoisseurs are always on the lookout for interesting artefacts to add to their private collections or to donate to the nation, and interested parties are prepared to pay large sums in order to acquire the objects of their desire. During the Nubia Salvage Operations in the 1960s, when Sarwat Okasha was Minister of Culture and a member of UNESCOs board of directors, the looting of sites in Egypt and the smuggling of antiquities abroad reached an all-time high. The Egyptian government turned a blind eye. Emerging on the international sphere for the first time, they were not willing to admit that they had not taken care of their monuments. Only in 1972, under the newly formed Egyptian Antiquities Organisation (EAO) founded by Gamal Mokhtar, another prominent and passionate advocate of Egyptian culture, who was appointed archaeological consultant to UNESCO in 1967 and held the post of the organisation's presidency until 1977, was it admitted that storehouses at archaeological sites had not been inspected for 50 years; that more than 300 artefacts had been stolen and smuggled abroad over the previous ten years, and that some storehouses even lacked locks on their doors. Steps were immediately taken to conserve and protect archaeological sites and storehouses. This was an extremely difficult task because, while the former Egyptian Antiquities Department was concerned primarily with pharaonic monuments, the EAO included Graeco-Roman, Byzantine, Coptic, Islamic and Nubian monuments, as well as early 19th-century buildings. Mokhtar had the responsibility of supervising hundreds of thousands of antiquities all over the country, and of a staff of some 16,000. He held a great deal of accountability but had no authority to actually get anything done. Major conservation projects were carried out at Giza, Luxor and other identifiable archaeological sites. But on archaeologically protected land in urban areas there was a great deal of friction with government officials in different ministries. With the advantage of hindsight it is clear that encouraging group tourism was a grave mistake, because mass tourism caused injury to the monuments, damage which was at first barely perceptible, and then unmistakable. Another mistake was the decision that the income from tourism should go directly to the Ministry of Culture for allocation to its own chosen priorities. These included cultural centres and provincial theatres rather than the safeguarding of recently dug archaeological sites and storehouses. So the pillage continued, and the trade in antiquities increased. Ironically, it was only in the 1990s, under the reformed antiquities organisation under its new name, the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), that strong ties were procured with Interpol and customs agencies all over the world which, together with the new Department for the Recovery of Stolen Artefacts, watched for signs of lost treasures. Attempts were also made to train local inspectors in field archaeology and upgrade the skills and knowledge of SCA employees who are able to carry out site management and protection. That the promised integrated planning and development programmes were not carried out, however, is clear from the extent of the neglect of archaeological sites and their pillage, which only came to light when the objects appeared for sale at auction houses. In 2000, no fewer than 619 pharaonic artefacts were stolen from the Egyptian Museum and smuggled to London via Switzerland. Following the arrest of the thieves by the British authorities, some were retrieved and returned to Egypt. In 2002 a set of granite reliefs from the Temple of Isis at Beihbet Al-Hegara in the Delta turned up on the auction block at Christie's in New York. The sale was stopped, the objects withdrawn, and they were returned to Egypt. In 2004, another piece from the same temple -- a fragment of granite relief featuring the face of a deity facing left -- turned up. It was confiscated by the United States authorities, who took steps to ensure its safe return it to Egypt. Then 15 objects stolen from the officially closed but ill-protected Maadi Museum came up for auction in United Kingdom -- also successfully returned to Egypt. A seven-member gang trading in illegal antiquities, operating in Establ Antar west of Assiut, was traced by antiquities police traced and arrested. At Giza, the protective wall raised around this famous site did not prevent robbers from carrying out their illegal and lucrative activities. They did not even wait until darkness fell. It is needless to remind readers of the looting and destruction of antiquities from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo during the January 2011 uprising, and the subsequent pillage of archaeological sites all over the country when the antiquities police were withdrawn from service. Fortunately steps have already been taken to slow down the traffic in illegal antiquities. ICOM (the International Council of Museums), CIPEG (the International Committee for Egyptology), and the SCA have banded together to produce a Red List for Egyptian artefacts, which is expected to be launched officially early in 1012. Its circulation will not stop the plunder of sites and monuments, but it will curb its occurrence and also, one hopes, provide a valuable tool in heritage management.
