Egypt's Sites to Re-Open

The History Blog has posted that Egypt's archaeological sites and museums will re-open tomorrow. This is good news for their economy, but the bad news is that the looting was more prevalent than first suspected.

Several sites and storehouses were broken into during the protests, including tombs in Saqqara. There have also been reports of illegal digs throughout the country, something difficult to monitor when the entire country is essentially an archaeological site.

Zahi Hawass also apparently covered up the fact that several items were stolen from the Cairo Museum, including a rare statue of the heretic Pharaoh, Akhenaten. A 16 year-old boy found the statue by a garbage can in Tahrir Square and gave it to his mother who in turn showed it her brother, a professor at the American University in Cairo. He called the authorities and had it returned.

Photo from Zahi Hawass.