Bringing home
The recovery of Egypt's illegally smuggled antiquities continues. Nevine El-Aref reports
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Minister Farouk Hosni closely inspects one of the returned antiquities; while more treasures are shipped back home
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Last Saturday, the foyer of the Egyptian Museum in downtown's Tahrir Square was packed with journalists and photographers anxious for a glimpse of yet another batch of recovered antiquities. For several years now, Egyptian authorities have been actively pursuing the return of artefacts that had been smuggled out of the country. This time around, six items had been returned, and Culture Minister Farouk Hosni and Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Secretary- General Zahi Hawass were on hand to unveil the treasures.
"I am extremely pleased," said Hosni. "It is another great success." The culture minister vowed to recover all the antiquities that had been illegally removed from Egypt since 1972. According to the UNESCO Convention signed that same year, all artefacts that had been illegally smuggled must be returned back to their homeland.
Amongst this crop of six recovered items was a 350kg limestone relief of Pashen- Khunssu, a high-ranking official during the reign of 26th dynasty king Psamtiak I. According to Hawass, the relief was stolen in 1983 from Akhmim, a bountiful archaeological site in Sohag. It was handed over to Egypt early last week by the FBI, who recovered it during an investigation of New York art dealer Frederick Schultz, who was recently convicted of receiving and possessing stolen antiquities. The relief is divided into two sections: one filled with hieroglyphic texts, and the other featuring a group of three men and a woman standing in front of the god Osiris.
A limestone statue of Hathur, the goddess of love and motherhood, in the shape of a cobra, was also amongst the recovered goods. Hawass said the statue, which dates back to 1550 BC, had been in the possession of an unidentified Canadian woman who gave it to the Ontario Museum after she was convinced that her home was being haunted by it. The museum subsequently returned the statue to Egypt.
Also amongst the retrieved objects were four painted fragments from a limestone relief chopped off of Seti I's tomb in 1860. The pieces were returned by Atlanta's Michael C Carlos Museum, which, Hawass said, also promised to hand over a well preserved mummy of King Ramses I, the father of Seti I and the grandfather of the famous Ramses II. "This mummy will be displayed along with the collection scheduled for exhibit at the newly constructed Luxor museum extension commemorating the military glory of Thebes," said Hawass.
According to Hosni, the Culture Ministry is taking several important steps towards preventing any further smuggling or illegal trade in antiquities. Several new antiquities storehouses are being built, and those currently in existence -- some of which have not been opened for 50 years -- are being carefully studied to determine their contents. A digital database cataloguing every object on display and in storage is also being put together. Twenty-four archaeological units have also been established at Egyptian border points in order to check every container passing through.
On the legal front, a draft of a new antiquities law with harsher penalties is being developed, with expectations that it will be discussed and approved by the current session of parliament. As for the currently being tried stolen antiquities lawsuits involving Egyptian archaeological inspectors, Hosni expressed his satisfaction that those who loot their heritage -- as well as the world's history -- are finally getting their due.
The minister was keen to point out, however, that "the lawsuits involve cases of recovery rather than theft," explaining that "recovery" refers to the return of items that were unearthed from the Egyptian desert via illegal excavations, while "theft" involves stealing artefacts from museums and storehouses.
In collaboration with the Interpol, the FBI and international museums, Egypt has managed to recover almost 25,000 pieces that have been smuggled out of the country in the last 150 years.
Hawass told Al-Ahram Weekly that within a month, Egypt would be able to request the return of a 162cm long red granite statue of Alexander the Great currently being exhibited in a Frankfurt museum. The statue was among the objects lifted off the seabed during an underwater excavation mission.
Also set for retrieval, according to Hawass, are 17 items from Norway, three reliefs stolen from Tel Basta in Sharqiya, a relief from Sohag, and four objects from a Japanese museum. "Until last year Egypt was not able to demand the return of its objects in Japan because Japan did not sign the 1972 UNESCO convention," Hawass said.
At the Egyptian museum on Saturday, Hosni announced that the Culture Ministry's policy on recovering antiquities also involves banning foreign archaeologists who help antiquities traders from excavating in Egypt. British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves was banned from excavating in Egypt by the SCA after he helped smuggler Frederick Schultz. German archaeologist Dieter Weldung -- who bought a number of stolen objects, including 12th dynasty bronze statues unearthed in Fayoum in 1985 -- has also been banned.
