Following The Sun

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/01/egypt-protecting-king-tut-and-other-treasures.html It's good that some people want to protect the treasure and not loot it.

Wow! I would like to shake that engineer's hand, and all the other people who lined up to protect the museum. It's horrible that anything was destroyed, but these guys really stepped into the breech, risking serious injury or death!

I would too. It'd be ashame if the museum got looted and the artifacts damaged, destroyed or lost. As the one guy said, that's 5000 years of history that'd be lost.

I think the museum is a victim of geography. It's close to the government building, which means most of the serious protesters and police are busy with that. That leaves those who take advantage of chaos to loot freely.

Sadly, it would seem that the protesters were reacting to something they had already seen. A gang of people had already entered the building through a skylight. They attacked two mummies, one of which is believed to have been Tjuya, mother of Tiye, the principal wife of Amunhotep III. The identity of the other is unknown at present.

They also destroyed several statues of Tutankhamun, a royal fan, several peices from the burial goods of Meseti, dating to the 11th Dyn., including a model boat, statue and possibly other goods. Numerous other objects were damaged including some shabtis, bronzes and ceramics.

Some of the individuals were caught by the protesters and military who secured the site, but it is believed some may have escaped. As many as ten individuals may have been involved, and it is believed that they may have been members of the museum's security team.

More info:
Pavements of Silver

The Eloquent Peasent

I got another link regarding the museum break-in. Apparently the heads of the mummies heads were ripped off and the other stuff according to Hawass can be restored. Here's the link: http://www.suntimes.com/3582558-417/museum-egypt-antiquities-artifacts-military.html

Coming a bit late to the thread, but I've been watching the news closely and have several links on my FB page. I'll have to copy them over a little later.

Latest I've heard was rather ironic: several items were snatched, then dropped as the looters took flight. The SAME THING happened to Tutankhamun's tomb not long after he was buried! I'm hoping they get all his stuff back.

I'm hopeful but anxious for those two statues of his that got smashed; the one of him on a leopard was one of two. The harpooner statue is said to have a similar mate as well. Let's hear it for the ancient Egyptians' love of pairs! Hopefully the matching statues are alright.

With fingers crossed,

--Sharon "Tut"