Egypt's archaeological sites are currently unguarded, and looters have been at work. Concerned Egyptologists and others have started an international petition campaign to call for the restoration of adequate security to the sites, storehouses, monuments and antiquities of Egypt. UNESCO and others have expressed willingness to help, but need an official request from the Egyptian government. Please sign the petition, and also urge the Egyptian transitional government to stop using the Museum as a jail, and to request support from UNESCO.
According to Twitter reports Thursday 3/10, the Egyptian National Museum is being used by the military to detain and almost certainly beat protesters. Now we know why the sites aren't being guarded by soldiers: in Dick Cheney's memorable phrase, they have other priorities. There's so many layers of wrong here, I'm not sure where to begin.
It's not that I'm more concerned about objects than people, but I started to write this after receiving an alert from my Egyptology group, before I read those Twitter reports. I'm not so sure now that whomever's in charge in Egypt cares sufficiently about the people or their shared cultural heritage in either abstract or practical terms (i.e. the economy).
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