The world’s most important antiquities are at risk amid the escalating violence in Egypt. Reports have surfaced of petrol bombs searing the gardens of the famed Egyptian Museum.
“International museums are on high alert for looted Egyptian artifacts and some archaeologists have even offered to fly to the country to help safeguard its ancient treasures,” Reuters reports.
Among the Cairo-based museum’s most treasured collections is the treasure buried in Tutankhamun’s grave – the only ancient royal treasure to have survived in its entirety. Though the collection reportedly remains mostly unscathed, the increasing severity of the demonstrations means the threat to Egypt’s archaeology icons remains at an all-time high. On Friday, a small group of looters damaged two mummies before being captured.
“So far the museum is safe, but we don’t know what’s going to happen, because [the protests] are out of control,” one official who had been in contact with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, went on to note that the museum-threatening bombs were believed to have been thrown by protesters demonstrating in favor of President Hosni Mubarak.