CAIRO: Eight ancient artifacts were stolen from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square on 28 January during the protests calling for the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak, Egypt announced today. Protesters said they caught policemen attempting to steal items from the museum and handed them over to the army after police withdrew from greater Cairo on the 28th after clashes with angry protesters. Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass said in a statement on Sunday that the missing objects are a gilded wood statue of the 18th dynasty king Tutankhamun (1336-1327 BC) being carried by a goddess, the torso and upper limbs of a gilded wood statue of Tutankhamun harpooning, a limestone statue of Akhenaten holding an offering table, a statue of Nefertiti making offerings, a sandstone head of an Amarna princess, a stone statuette of a scribe from Amarna, wooden shabti statuettes from Yuya, and a heart scarab of Yuya. It was discovered that the artifacts were missing during a museum a full inventory examination. Additionally, seventy pieces were broken. Hawass said investigations have been launched to arrest the thieves, those who were not arrested while attempting to escape on 28 January, and restore the missing items. “I am really very sad of the disappearance of these objects,” Hawass said. In another terrible turn of events, Hawass said Saturday night a storehouse in the Dahshour necropolis, called De-Morgan, was broken into. The store contains large blocks and small artifacts. Five more objects, stolen from the Qantara East storage facility in Sinai, have been found in the desert by the police. “It seems that these objects were dropped by the thieves while escaping,” he said. “I believe that it will be impossible for the people who stole the objects to sell them. No museum or private collector will buy Egyptian antiquities now, they will be too scared. I am very happy that my calls for the return of these objects on television and in the newspapers have been so successful.” BM
