Egypt's military secures famed antiquities museum

Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, directly off Tahrir Square

Well, I was half-right. I said the Museum would not become a target. Turns out, it almost did. I forgot about unconscionable looters. Thank you to those citizens that stepped in and prevented the unthinkable to happen before the army could take over. It became vulnerable after the building housing the Democratic Party (Mubarak's) was torched nearby, causing chaos.




Egypt's military secures famed antiquities museum

CAIRO – "The Egyptian army secured Cairo's famed antiquities museum early Saturday, protecting treasures including the famed gold mask of King Tutankhamun from looters.

The greatest threat to the Egyptian Museum first appeared to come from the fire enguling the ruling party headquarters next door on Friday night as anti-government protests roiled the country.

Then dozens of would-be thieves started entering the grounds surrounding the museum.

Suddenly other young men — some armed with truncheons taken from the police — formed a human chain outside the main gates on Tahrir Square in an attempt to protect the collection inside.

"I'm standing here to defend and to protect our national treasure," said one of the men, Farid Saad, a 40-year-old engineer.

Another man, 26-year-old Ahmed Ibrahim, said it was important to guard the museum because it "has 5,000 years of our history. If they steal it, we'll never find it again."

Finally, four armored vehicles took up posts outside the massive coral-colored building in downtown Cairo. Soldiers surrounded the building and moved inside to protect mummies, monumental stone statues, ornate royal jewelry and other pharaonic artifacts."


Main Hall of the Museum

[My personal reflections on the Museum after the jump...]

The Museum is massive and is overflowing with artifacts on display and in storage. It is two stories high and every hall is crammed with precious items from times long gone. You can spend days in there and not see everything. It is a great place to sit and reflect--it has such an atmosphere of its own... impossible for me to describe. A major refuge for both antiquities and lost souls, located in the busiest part of Egypt. --ND