 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 July 2000 Issue No. 490 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 July 2000 Issue No. 490
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Focus International Economy Opinion Interview Interview Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters No mystery here
By Nevine El-Aref
Much has been said of the illicit trade in Egyptian antiquities, usually with regard to clandestine operations spiriting away priceless objects uncovered from Egypt's abundant archaeological sites. Much has also been said of the glaring lack of security at these sites and the nation's museums. But as a recent gaffe at Alexandria's Qait Bey fortress has shown, little has been done about either.
Six golden coins, minted some 500 years ago under Egypt's Mameluke ruler El-Ashraf Qait Bey, were stolen on Saturday from a temporary Islamic exhibition at Qait Bey fortress in Alexandria. The coins were part of a collection displayed in the corridor of the fortress' main tower, where other Islamic artefacts, including pieces borrowed from Cairo's Museum of Islamic Art and objects recovered from Napoleon Bonaparte's sunken fleet, are also exhibited.
The district prosecutor promptly opened an investigation after the theft was discovered on Sunday and fortress guards and inspectors were questioned. Police believe the robber entered the fortress as an ordinary visitor, stole the coins, and escaped unnoticed.
Investigators said that the lock on the showcase in which the coins were displayed was broken, probably with a hammer or a similar instrument, and the rope used to cordon off the exhibits from the visitors' path was missing. It was later found hanging out of a window near the site of the theft.
Gaballa Ali Gaballa, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said that a committee of antiquities specialists has been formed to check out the condition of other objects on display and follow up on the investigation. He also said that the SCA has decided to return all the objects from the temporary exhibition to the museums they were originally brought from -- the Islamic artefacts to the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo and the weapons, soldiers' clothes and cannons of Napoleon's fleet to the Maritime Museum located near the fortress.
Gaballa explained that a major restoration project is under way at the fortress, which stands on the site of the ancient lighthouse of Alexandria. The larger part of the outdoor restoration work has been completed and work indoors will start soon, but the fortress has many large openings overlooking the sea and the street that are left uncovered.
Archaeologists at the fortress blame the theft on an inefficient security system that depends primarily on guards, but inspectors have also pointed to the division of responsibility at the site. The first and third floors are the responsibility of the Islamic and Coptic department of the SCA, while the second and upper floors are the responsibility of the SCA's museum department.
The exhibition was officially inaugurated in 1984 to serve as a temporary museum where visitors could see Islamic objects dating from the same era as the fortress. A month ago, following a visit by Gaballa and Adel Mukhtar, head of the museum department, it was decided to dismantle the exhibition due to lax security.
