As Matthew Shaffer notes, the NDP (Mubarak’s party) headquarters in Cairo was torched earlier today. No one is moving to put out this fire. The nearby luxury Hotel Conrad is now also burning. Professor Tadros is concerned that an immediate neighbor of the NDP, also on Tahrir square, overlooking the Nile, is the world renowned Egypt Museum — the treasure house of Egyptian antiquities dating back thousands of years. This museum houses the Tutankhamon treasures, mummies, irreplaceable artifacts, priceless jewels and statuary, and a library. The burning or looting of this museum would represent an incalculable loss to humanity.
Well, it wouldn't be the first time Egyptians burned history - how about the library of Alexandria.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe Egyptians didn't burn down the library at Alexandria. Why would they burn it down? It was theirs!
The best historical evidence indicates that it was Julies Caesar. There are some legends that it was the Catholic Church, but the best evidence really does point to the Romans.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe museum is full of jahiliyya so there is justification for burning it down. But jahiliyya can be and is often overlooked in the cause of lucre.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseANOTHER museum about to be looted?
Surely, we can all find a way to blame Bush for *this* one, too.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe museum belongs to Egypt. And Egypt belongs to the Egyptians. That's messy, sometimes, but the LAST thing on any decent person's mind today is, "gee, I hope Mubarak's tanks keep the riff-raff away from the museums."
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRiotLibrarian,
As the story goes, after the Islamic conquest of Egypt in the 7th Century a new Muslim overlord contacted higher authority on what to do with the remaining texts in the Alexandrian library. He reportedly received the following reply:
"If it agrees with the Qur'an, we have no use for it; if it disagrees with the Qur'an, it is false anyhow; so in either case burn it."
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMarkJ,
That story has been thoroughly debunked by many historians (but accepted by the credulous). The most likely causes were Caesar's conquest or the attack of Aurelian a couple of centuries later.
Cromulent,
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThat's the most ignorant thing I've read in a while. Egyptians take a great deal of pride in their antiquities and their history. They would not intentionally destroy. My guess is the looting would be for purely economic reasons. Much of the motivation for these riots are economic in nature and the museum holds objects more valuable than what is any vault in the country.
The Library at Alexandria was apparently destroyed upon multiple occasions.
By the forces of Julius Caesar in 48BC (so yes indeed the Church of Rome could have had no involvement, unless those dastard papists employed time traveling monks ;-)
By Emperor Aurelian in cica 276 AD in a sacking of Alexandria.
By the Coptic Pope Theophilus in 391 AD
And perhaps on multiple occasions after the Muslim conquest in 642AD
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseDave: what's worse is that the Iraqi museum was primarily 'looted' by museum workers just before the invasion reached the city. The initial news stories about the museum were wildly inaccurate, not unlike reporting from New Orleans during Katrina.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"7.43pm GMT:CloseLink to this update: External Link
Al-Jazeera is showing some great live footage of the looting of the National Democratic Party headquarters – and is reporting that the protesters are forming a "human shield" around the nearby national museum."
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse@Lonesco - "those dastard papists employed time traveling monks ;-)"
If Dan Brown reads this, he's likely to find the storyline of his next book.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRelated questions - - the accepted rule is that "stolen" antiquities must be returned to their lands of origin. But, what if the lands of origin can neither preserve nor protect them? Aren't they part of the shared cultural heritage of all humanity, not any one national or ethnic group?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWouldn't these treasures have been safer and preserved for all humanity forever in London or New York or Paris?
bwarsch -- it's messy, but those artifacts held in the Egyptian library are Egyptian. It's the right place for them. If they are lost in a revolution, well, history happens.
"Shared heritage of humanity..."; whatever. Humanity's fine. All of these artifacts have been exhaustively examined. They're just a tourist attraction at this point, and it's pretty hard to get too worked up about them. This way of thinking leads down a dark road. Saddam kept Iraq's artifacts safe, too.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHmm...maybe that King Tut burial mask on eBay is legit.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe burning or looting of this museum would represent an incalculable loss to humanity
Well, a loss to the people Egypt allows to enter.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI don't think Jews will suffer any loss.
I am taken aback by some of the comments on this thread. A) This article is right, the loss would be incalculable. Try replacing the Sistine Chapel. B) Everyone has access to Wikipedia. C) To panic: go read how Mubarak became president.
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