Archaeological expert Magdy Shaker, chief archaeologist at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, said that the British Museum, which was recently discovered to have been robbed during the closing period due to the Corona virus pandemic, contains about 8 million artifacts, so Egypt has about 110,000 artifacts inside the museum, in addition to artifacts from several Other countries, especially since Britain was in the past a colonial and occupying country for a large number of countries, was able at that time to extract a large number of artifacts from different countries of the world, so that the British Museum is one of the largest archaeological museums in the world.
110,000 Egyptian artifacts inside the British Museum
Shaker added, in exclusive statements to “Al-Dustour”, that the most famous artifacts of Egypt are inside the British Museum, as everyone knows the statue. The Rosetta Stone There, but we also have among the most prominent archaeological holdings the statue of King Ramses II, part of the chin of the Great Sphinx, part of the outer covering of the pyramid of Khufu, 150 mummy and coffins of the Egyptian civilization located inside the British Museum. The museum also includes antiquities from a number of countries such as China, Chile, Pakistan and Greece. Many countries demanded its antiquities after the museum announced the theft.
Shaker pointed out that Egypt has demanded on several occasions to restore the Egyptian antiquities, but the responses come from the British side that they are preserving them, explaining that the resignation of the director of the British Museum, who enjoys a high position within British society, confirms the magnitude of the disaster, especially since he did not come out of the British side that The theft amounted to 2,000 artifacts and dates back to the fifteenth century BC to the nineteenth century BC, and this is what has been inventoried so far, pointing out that it is an opportunity for pressure to restore Egyptian antiquities.
For his part, the Egyptian archaeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass described What happened in the British Museum is a crime against the whole world, as the theft of antiquities from the museum in this way is a major disasterThere must be a popular claim that this museum does not deserve to display Egyptian antiquities.
Hawass emphasized that the existence of the Rosetta Stone inside the British Museum is a fatal mistake, because this stone is the icon of Egyptian antiquities and its place should be in the Grand Egyptian Museum in Egypt, explaining that Egypt is the one that owns Egyptian antiquities even if they are found in museums in America and Europe or anywhere in the world. Antiquities must be preserved from theft or wrong restoration.
Hawass called on UNESCO and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to hold an international conference to withdraw Egyptian antiquities from the British Museum because it is not trustworthy of these antiquities.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Supreme Council of Antiquities have not issued any official statement to comment on the British Museum incident.