Tutankhamun Treasures stolen from the Egyptian Museum Cairo

14 February 2011 - Filed under Tutankhamun

Staff at the Tutankhamun Exhibition in Dorchester are alarmed at the news that some of the treasures of Tutankhamun have been stolen from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Early reports during the Egyptian unrest, suggesting that some of the treasures of Tutankhamun in the Museum had been damaged by intruders, had been rejected by Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. Hawass asserted then that only one Tutankhamun item had been damaged.

But an inventory just carried out has revealed something much worse. Some of the treasures are actually missing! The latest report issued by Zahi Hawass reveals that in all 18 items of Tutankhamun and Amarna objects are missing from the Museum.

Michael Ridley, The Director of the Tutankhamun Exhibition in Dorchester, said this was devastating news.

Standing in front of museum facsimiles of the treasures of Tutankhamun in the exhibition at Dorchester he said, “It was terrible to hear that some of the objects from the tomb of Tutankhamun had been damaged, for they can at least be repaired and restored. But the news that really important items from Tutankhamun’s tomb have actually been stolen is devastating”

He continued, “These treasures are unique and irreplaceable. They are priceless. We can only hope that they will be recovered. They are so well known that it would prove impossible for the thieves to sell them on the international market. This however leaves the danger that having discovered that they are impossible to dispose of the thieves may decide to destroy them. They have survived over three thousand years let’s hope they are recovered intact.”

“We have accurate museum facsimile replicas of some of the missing items in the Tutankhamun Exhibition in Dorchester, but of course nothing could possibly replace the originals.”

2011-02-14  »  admin