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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 February 2000 Issue No. 468 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 February 2000 Issue No. 468
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Profile Travel Books Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Finders keepers
By Jill Kamil
The return to Egypt of the 13th-century BC bust of Meryet, stolen and smuggled out of the country over a decade ago by British art dealer Jonathan Tokely Parry, marks the triumphant end of a two-year High Court battle against some formidable legal muscle -- and perhaps an auspicious turn in Egypt's struggle to regain its stray hoard of valuable ancient artefacts. Gaballa Ali Gaballa, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), is resolute in his pledge that Egypt will not tolerate the illicit trade of its treasures. "We will do everything we can to procure their return," Gaballa promised.It is not as easy as it sounds. For every recovered object, there are dozens of artefacts successfully taken out of Egypt, many never to be seen again as they make their way into private collections. For every apprehended smuggler, scores are thriving on sales abroad. Let's face it: so long as there are people prepared to pay enormous sums of money for genuine objects of historical or artistic value, plundering of our historical heritage will continue.
In recent years, the SCA and the antiquities police have concentrated their efforts on three main areas: smuggling of objects from well-known sites; museum theft; and the pillage of storerooms of archaeological sites. Hi-tech controls like closed-circuit TV with laser-operating warning systems have been installed in the national museums, and more attention is being paid to the protection of storehouses at archaeological sites; but this is not to say that the plundering does not continue. As new sites are opened, the possibility of theft increases -- and there are more archaeological digs going on in Egypt now than ever before.
Recently-opened and inadequately-guarded archaeological sites are especially vulnerable. Whether it be pottery or stela fragments, figures buried in tombs or a large bust like that of Queen Meryet; where "culture" meets money, objects disappear. There is no foolproof way of preventing this fact; no system by which thieves can be thwarted in their attempts to illegally export antiquities. The risk may be great but the temptation is greater.
When treasures leave the country, Egypt is denuded of valuable historical data, as well as cultural wealth; they are lost forever to the world of culture and scholarship -- or are they? One common argument is that artefacts procured by collectors are more lovingly cared for and, in fact, seen by more people for the valuable object that they are, than when left languishing in store rooms or piled beside unfinished archaeological digs. What good is there in "saving" an object, only to bury it again, this time in a basement -- albeit with a studiously marked label -- or even worse, to leave it exposed to the relentless Egyptian weather? During a recent visit to the temple of Al-Sebua, I walked across the desert toward my cruise ship on Lake Nasser. I passed dozens of fragments of relief and rock-drawings placed in sand-filled crates by archaeologists who had salvaged these objects prior to the inundation of Nubia 30 years ago. The objects were never collected or put in storage and I cannot help but wonder whether they would not be better off in museums -- or even in private collections -- around the world, where people could appreciate them, rather than left to fade and fragment in the searing heat of Nubia.
But then again, there is the other side of the coin: legal ownership. It is outrageous to claim that items stolen and smuggled out of the country should be legally protected as one's own. In the case of the bust of Meryet, Parry covered the piece with plaster and painted it to look like a fake copy. He later argued unrepentantly that protection in the houses of wealthy collectors "is the best protection of all".
The late Egyptologist Labib Habachi once related a story about Britain's Flinders Petrie, who carried out excavations all over Egypt. "He was a bit like Ramses II," Habachi said, "in that he left no site untouched." Apparently, Petrie's activities were enthusiastically watched by potential thieves. "As chief inspector in the Delta," Habachi explained, "I heard stories that the khawaga (foreigner) "Badri" (Egyptians pronounce the "p" as a "b") was always followed by robbers." The thieves pounced on the inadequately protected sites as soon as Petrie moved on to another and according to Habachi, "They claimed that he showed them where to find treasure!"
Fortunately it is not so simple today. Measures have been taken to protect newly opened sites, but again, there is no system impervious to the enterprising smuggler. Archaeological areas, like the early settlement site at Merimda Abu-Salem (at the edge of the Delta) and sites flanking agricultural land in Upper Egypt are often ill-defined and only sporadically attended to. Some monuments, like those in Nubia, are so isolated that thieves can freely take their pick.
And take they will. While prevention is still the best solution, a sharp eye to illicit international trade and a vociferous call for the return of items discovered abroad are crucial if we want to fight our way out of a legacy of tomb-robbery and antiquities theft. Meanwhile, Meryet is home and we await the return of an even more important bust of Amenhotep III, still in the custody of the British Metropolitan Police Arts and Antiquities Squad. Let's hope that upon its return, it will be as prominently placed as it was in its previous home.
